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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. |
The speed board
has a tapering tail and is sometimes longer than a pig board, though this
is not essential.
It is ideal
for big sea surfing but is hopeless in a small surf where it is hard to
corner.
When the rider
steps back to turn the board it sinks at the tail, for there is not enough
wood to
support it
in the water.
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:
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