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ross renwick : board design test, 1959 |
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Charlie's board might perform well in the small surf on Saturday. but Saturday night's southerly could mean that on Sunday, Freddie's board is best, with Charlie left cursing and swearing.
Broadly speaking there are two types of surfboard, with countless compromises and variations in be- tween. At one end, essentially for smaller surfs, is the pig board. At the other, for larger waves, is the "speed board". In between are hundreds of compromises, each an effort to capture as many of the advantages of each design as possible.
We can have a
pig board for the smaller "hot-dogging" type of surf where it is ideal.
But the pig board
has disadvantages in a big surf that are not always evident until the rider
starts the three hundred yard swim back to the beach.
Most board men
hate swimming and any addition to a design that might help prevent a compulsory
dip will have plenty of followers.
| We can have a
pig board for the smaller "hot-dogging" type of surf where it is ideal.
But the pig board has disadvantages in a big surf that are not always evident until the rider starts the three hundred yard swim back to the beach. Most board men hate swimming and any addition to a design that might help prevent a compulsory dip will have plenty of followers. The pig board
has a wide tail and a tapering nose.
|
 conventional, though not as deep as some. |
Somewhere in between
these two extremes the Sunday rider, and the expert who only has one board,
hopes to find an efficient compromise; one that incorporates the good qualities
of each without the mediocrity that compromise often brings.
Recently we rode
a board that seemed to achieve as many of these dual qualities as possible.
Malibu Club Board
Designs approached us with two boards.
One was a very
nice pig board. symmetrical and efficient looking.
It was known
under a code name, Malibu Club No.2.
It performed
faultlessly, with all the features of a well-designed pig board.
But the real eye-opener was Malibu Club No.1.
The Malibu Club
No. 1 is an imaginative and successful attempt at a compromise between
speed, turning-efficiency and paddling ease.
It is a board
that was hoped would be the perfect all-round unit for the average board
man who wanted a board that he could ride in any type of sea-big or small,
smooth or choppy, wind swell or ground swell.
In this aim the
designers seem to have succeeded.
We surf-tested the Malibu Club No.1 over a period of three week-ends, when a wide variety of surfing conditions were encountered.
The board we used
was the weight we prefer, about 26 lb.
It was nine feet
long and its maximwn width was just under 22 in.
It was an exact
replica of the Malibu Club No. 1 plan which is offered for sale by the
designers.
None of the possible
variations suggested by the designers was employed.
Its measurements
made it ideal for a rider from 11 to 12 1/2 stone.
| The first weekend
found the surf small and very windblown.
A light westerly had been blowing all week but, by Saturday had switched to the sou'-east and was pushing up very bumpy, small waves with choppy fronts. Average size was about six feet. The waves were moving and breaking swiftly. We threw the board
in the water at Deewhy, which was quite crowded, particularly when a good
wave came up.
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Those who tried
to operate them from the back soon got into "falling- off-backwards" trouble.
On the day, the
Malibu No.1 seemed to be the most efficient board at Deewhy, getting out
of wave after wave while the pig boards were going down everywhere.
It was stable
and firm in difficult conditions, so it follows that the same would doubly
apply in easier ones.
Once on the wall
of a wave the front could be approached with as much ease as a pig board,
but it was also possible to move a long way back to keep the nose out of
the choppy water.
The next weekend
was wild and windy with a cyclone nosing around Sydney and most of the
metropolitan beaches shut for surfing.
At Palm Beach
13 to 14 ft. waves were running, standing up steep and high on the shallow
inshore sandbanks.
The No.1 was in
its element, flashing across waves and nearly always beating the break.
Pig boards on
the same wave were being left far behind whilst those in front had to be
passed.
It proved very fast across steep waves, and turned well, though it had to be watched at this point, for it tended to leap out of the wave.
| Generally speaking,
its performance was perfect for big-sea conditions.
The next weekend
was windless with eight ft. ground swells rolling in consistently.
With these three
weekends we finished the tests on the Mallbu Club No.1 and returned it
to its designers, thoroughly convinced that their imagination and experience
had produced a design that would not date in half a season.
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Now a completely new (for Australia), facet of the sport is being probed - the formation of a surfing- social club - a club of devotees of the surfboard; a club where surfers can relax in comfort, drink, play, discuss waves, boards and beaches.
Nobody will deny that the Surf Life Saving Association is incredibly efficient in the art of saving people from the surf, but faced with broader issues - such as the intangible, but very real challenge of the short board - they are incredibly lethargic.
The fantastic
interest generated by these tiny slips of balsa has begun a drift away
from the surf clubs.
The boards are
easily managed by lads of 10 or so in light surfs.
Normally, these
youngsters would join surf clubs when they reached the required age, but
now they find that they can have all the fun of surfing and board riding
without belonging to a club.
Now they reject
the rigid discipline of the surf club, fearing that they might be required
for patrol when t.hey could be out riding boards in a good surf.
The result? A
percentage of the already established membership of the Surf Association
is wavering,
while the actual
source of membership - the teenage male - finds that the surf clubs have
little to offer them in comparison with the thrills of being a surfing
nomad.
The fault lies
partly at the door of the Surf Life Saving Association.
During the four
seasons that small boards have been establishing themselves in this country,
the Association has done little to cater for the increased interest.
This is the first
season that they have compromised.
Experimental
"hot-dogging" contests will be held at surf carnivals.
Previously they
have held only paddling races - a rather incongruous business - for if
ever a craft was designed for anything BUT paddling, it is the balsa
surfboard.
Maximum riding
efficiency of these boards is attained when they JUST float the rider.
and no more.
At this point
of floatability, paddling efficiency is very low.
But the S.L.S.A.
has persisted in wasting good carnival time holding races for 16 ft. boards
and surf skis, both single and double.
I would be surprised
if 16 ft. boards now comprised two per cent. of the gear used on our beaches.
No doubt a small
band of enthusiasts will scream their protests, but I think holding races
for 16 footers could be compared with holding a Monte Carlo Rally for steam
cars.
The same thing
applies to skis; but although they're "old-hat", they have limited use
as pieces of rescue equipment.
But the S.L.S.A.
continues to encourage them competitively, catering for a minority, and
almost
completely ignoring
the short board majority.
(Board designer, Gordon Woods. offered to build an experimental tandem balsa surfboard, to be used as rescue equipment. His offer was not accepted.)
It is obvious
evolution that surling-social clubs would spring up sooner or later.
It is a matter
of wonder that the S.L.S.A. has not been faced with the problem before
this.
The trend away
from the surf clubs had to come.
Now the Mallbu
board has provided the immediate cause.
The S.L.S.A.
will have to find a means, not to combat them, but to llve in peace with
them.
They will have
to provide better clubhouse amenities than the bare dressing-room - cold-shower
- boatshed type of clubhouse now in use.
The Federal Government,
which has sidestepped the financial issue for years, will certainly have
to foot a certain percentage of the bill, to ensure that this Australian
Institution does not deteriorate.
Apart from the tangible assets of surf lifesaving, there is the almost unrecognised intangible one - the fantastic publicity value overseas of the "virile Australian lifesaver".
The S.L.SA. will
have to begin their own type of public relations campaign to win back to
the
organisation
the glamour appeal it has always had, and which it is losing the short-board
men - many of whom are fast becoming surfing giants in Australia.
It can't be denied
that the glamour of the Surf Lifesaving Association is one of the motivating
factors behind many applications for membership.
There is no reason
why two types of club should not live side by side: the surfing social
clubs will be filled with devotees of board and body surfing.
They will in
all probability, become a major (if unoftlcial) rescue force, in themselves.
Two of the men
who are forming the first of these clubs, the South Pacific Surfrlders'
Club are Gordon Woods and Bob Evans.
Between them
they have over 30 years of surf club service.
They both think
that the present trend is inevitable but hope for utmost co-operation between
the two types of club.
Gordon Woods says:
"There is no
reason why a prospering social club, catering for board riders. should
not financially assist a surf club on the same beach."
Bob Evans goes
into more detail:
"No matter where
in the world you may be, the mention of Australians and Australian sportsmen
gives rise to debate as to how a continent of such large proportions yet
comparatively tiny population can arrive at such world prominence in so
many fields of athletic endeavour.
It is generally
attributed to the fact that sucn a large proportion of the people are actively
engaged in participating in one sport or anotner, if not through their
individual skill then through some form of sporting club where they are
encouraged to develop team spirit.
"Which brings us to the point in relation, the sport we are thinking of, the individual and somewhat unusual skill - surf-riding.
"Through the auspices
of the Surf LIfe Saving Association of Australia the young man has always
been encouraged, through active competition, in attaining emciericy in
surf life saving operations and a keen spirit
of sportsmanship.
"In the last two
years there hss been a noticeable outburst of enthusiasm by hundreds of
surfers in
the sport of
surf riding, through the introductiori of the Malibu surf board and the
smaller body-board. Their portability and ease of handling has resulted
in thousands of them being used, and so many previously un-surfed locations
are being opened up, that it is now considered the local standard equals
that of Hawaii and California.
"In March, 1959,
approximately 150 enthusiasts got together and discussed the possibility
of forming a club, developing a code of ethics to encourage and develop
surfriding skills, and to become legally recognised as a social, sporting
club.
Surfers wanted
to enjoy the many comforts established in similar clubs, whether they be
gold, football, cricket, rowing or bowling.
Why not surfing?
| "It was decided
to establish a pro-tem committee and to open lists for membership, limited
to 250.
Well, over 150 surfers have already signed and with enthusiasm mounting the membership is fast filling. Any adult who has more than a passing interest in surfing should consider himself eligible. Whether tastes are passive or active they will be catered for. "In drawing a
parallel, we could mention the Outrigger Canoe Club of Hawaii or the Club
Waikiki in Lima, Peru which are both world famous as sporting and social
clubs.
"Lima, Waikiki, Sydney -the world's top surfing centres." If you are interested
in joining the South Pacific Surfriders' Club write to either:
Image Right :
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Australian Outdoors November 1959. Pages 30- 31 and 74. |
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