surfresearch.com.au  aust womens' weekly : surfing, 1960

"Who are these handsome surfboard champions?
Where are these beaches?
Can I REALLY learn to ride a board from the instructions in the book?"
These were just a few of the questions I fired at 19-year-old Sydney boy Lee Cross.
Lee, a suntanned blond from Bronte Beach, had just shown me a copy of the ''Australian Surfer," a book which he had written and published himself.

'"Grab your swimsuit next , Sunday morning," he offered. ' "and we'll be off with my surfboard to find out."
So at 8 o'clock that Sunday morning Lee and some of his surfing mates called in a car, with surfboards tied on the roof to take me along on their usual weekend wave hunt.
The forecast was that the best surf would be rolling on Sydney's northern beaches, M
decided to start at Fairy Bower, near Manly.
Travelling north to Palm Beach, we would have 16 surf beaches to choose from
The boys said they would looking for "hot-dogging'' waves (long, tapering swells) on which they could "go down the mine" (ride their boards, sometimes hundreds of yards).
We beeped our car horn to a passing truck with surfboard piled on top.
I buttoned a heavy coat over a chunky sweater and began to feel excited about surfing on a sunny winter's day.
As we crossed Sydney Harbour ...

Page 85

... Bridge to the north side ( I was strictly a south-sider, coming from Bondi!), Lee Cross told me a little about himself and why he wrote his book on surfing.
Lee has been a keen surfboard rider for four years and spends most of his weekends and holidays riding the waves.
Since he left high school two years ago he has worked with a North Sydney advertising company.
He believes that surfing should be given more encouragement as a world-wide sport.
So Lee set out to produce a book about the Australian surfer, the best surfing spots, how to ride a surfboard, about the new South Pacific Surf Riders' Club (the first successful attempt to form a club to cater for the needs of the surfboard rider), with pictures and news about the local champions.
And he did just that, with the help of some of his teenage surfing mates.
The dramatic cover shot of a surfboard rider was taken by 17-year-old Terry Flemming, of Bronte, a trainee photographer with the Sydney Water Board.
Illustrations and jokes were drawn by an 18-year-old East Sydney Tech, art student, David Letts, of Newport.
Lee was telling me of his plans to bring out a second edition of the book before the end of the year when we arrived at Fairy Bower.
One of the "Bower Boys" filed that the "waves were on"and the surf was "too much" (his term for fabulous).
We raced to the top of a cliff overlooking the spot where the boards were starting their journey "down the mine," about a mile off Manly Beach.
The surf looked wild and rough, but the boys had it mastered, and the champs of this area, like "Nipper" Williams, Bob Pike, and Glen Richie (all pictured in the book), dared to ride with no fear of hitting the craggy stone bottom.
We were off again, giving Manly a miss, and were heading for a closer view of the Queenscliff bombora.
The great bombora, where the sea surges over seven layers of rock, nearly two miles out from North Steyne Beach, thunders in a big sea.
lt has been conquered by only a handful of boys, including 21-year-old Dave Jackman, of Freshwater.
Three months ago "Jacko" successfully cracked four of the mighty bombora waves.
(See picture above.)
Northwards again, we passed Freshwater, Curl Curl, Deewhy, and Long Reef without stopping.
The surf was too big and there was danger of losing surfboards, which would go crashing against the rocks and so "ding" (a bang which splits the fibreglass on a surfboard) badly.
The boys told me that Long Reef usually supplies the works- everything from 3ft. to 30ft. waves.
The top man among some mighty locals of this area is Peter Clare, the senior surfboard champion for 1961.
The Collaroy boys were really "hot-dogging" on "Pitt Street" shoots (waves with five or six riders catching them), but we were orí to find where the surfboard riders from the south side had "camped" for the day.
We didn't have to go far.
As we reached the sands of North Narrabeen we could see cars, surfboards, and riders, and we knew that this was THE beach for the best surf.

This popular sport is a mystery to many - so, here's . . .

WHY don't you, too, join in the fun?
Don't say, "I couldn't do it."
You could, quite easily.
Here are the FOUR main steps for the beginner.
I've just tried and found them successful.
Follow the lessons and with plenty of practice you'll be "hot-dogging" (riding confidently, expertly) something like champion style in a few months.

(Photograph) STEP ONE: Kneel or lie (whichever you prefer) on your surfboard so that it floats level in the water.
Paddle out, swinging both arms together, beyond the breaking waves.

(Photograph) STEP TWO: To "crack" your first wave, lie flat.
Let the first wave go by.
When the second is about 20ft. behind start paddling until you feel the swell lifting you along.

(Photograph) STEP THREE: Making sure that your surfboard is moving with the wave, slowly rise to your feet (about three-quarter way back from the nose of the board) in one movement.

(Photograph) STEP FOUR: Bend your knees -slightly, one foot in front of the other, and lift your arms to the sides. Try to lean a little forward and let the board make its own way to shore.

TIPS FOR BEGINNERS
Paste these handy hints in your beach hat:

- New surfboards can be bought from specialised board manufacturers or sporting stores, but for the beginner a second-hand surfboard will do fine.
For a ''bargain" board, ask a dealer, or scout around a surf club.

- Before taking your surfboard into the water, rub the top with paraffin wax, which is available at chemists.
This stops you from slipping off the glass-like finished surface.

- The fashionable "zip-tweeds," those long cotton shorts that so many surfers prefer (they are comfortable) to ride in, can be made by cutting down an old pair of slacks or jeans.

- Look after your board.
Don't drag thc fin through the sand; carry it to the water's edge.
Repair a split in the fibre-glass covering immediately.
Keep clear of the experts, but close enough to note their movements.
Don't, however, try cutting across another rider - it can mean trouble.

- If you take a tumble, try to fall clear of your surfboard and dive deep to avoid being struck by it.

- Most surfing beaches have special areas marked off for board-riders.
If the beach where you're surfing has no such restricted area, keep clear of the water "between the flags," don't go near any large group of surfers "on foot."

- Practise on land, rising to a standing positiftn in one movement.
Lie flat and try to get to your feet by pushing up with your arms.
This will soon become an automatic movement.

This week 20 Australian surfboard riders, eight of them teenagers, will meet in Hawaii to form a team to compete in the International Surfing Championships at Makaha Beach in December and January.

It will be the first time Australia has been represented by an organised team at the championships, which bring competitors and spectators from all over the world every year.
All members of the team paid their own fares to realise this dream of most surfboard experts.
Some used the savings of two or three years to travel by ship.
Others took advantage of an airline company's "fly now, pay later" plan.
Unlike most overseas travellers, the boys didn't take much luggage.
Swimsuits, "zip tweeds" (long pants worn on surfboards), and a few casual clothes were all they thought they'd need - so that's all they took.

And, of course, their boards!
Each of them took two boards - a special malibu-type, the light and easy-to-handle board used on most Australian beaches, and a big, solid "elephant-gun" board, used in heavy surf.
Bob Evans, of Narrabeen (one of Sydney's northern beaches), organised the team and arranged for it to compete in the championships.
The boys will contest junior and senior surfboard championships and body-surfing events.
The South Pacific Surf Riders' Club supplied the team with T-shirts in the Australian national colors - gold and green.
This newly formed club, which has a modern clubhouse at Narrabeen, hopes to sponsor
an Australian team to Hawaii for the surfing titles each year.

The members of the Australian team are:
Bob Evans, at 32, is the oldest member of the team.
He believes that some of the Sydney surf-riders will be a real challenge to the established champions from California.
David Jackman, 21, of Harbord, is a surfboard builder by trade and well known to Sydney board-riders as "Jacko," the boy who rode four big waves over the Queenscliff bombora earlier this year.
John Williams, 21, of Queenscliff, is another surfboard builder.
Owen Pilon, 18, of North Narrabeen, is a process worker in a city electrical firm and has saved for this trip since he started work several years ago.
Graham Henry, 20, of Harbord, is known as "Buz."
He works hard at various jobs during the winter so that he can spend the whole of summer riding the waves.
Mike Hickey, 24, of Bilgola, gave up his job as an insurance clerk to become a member of the Australian team.
Jim Geddes, 17, of Narrabeen, sat for the last exam for his Leaving Certificate at his school, Waverley College, a few days before leaving Sydney for Hawaii.
Ian Wallis, 21, of Collaroy, is a city storeman and describes Hawaii as "the surfboard rider's paradise."
Bernard Farrelly, 16, of Narrabeen, is known as "The Midget."
A surfboard builder by trade, Bernard was the junior champion of Sydney's surfboard riders this year.
Bob Pike, 21, of Manly is a woolclasser and says his main interest in going to Hawaii is to see if the waves are really as big as everyone says.
Mick McMahon, 25, of Harbord, is a butcher.
Before leaving he said, "I'm keen to have a go at the big waves and look at the Hawaiian girls."
Graeme Treloar, of Manly, is a commercial traveller and Sydney's senior surfboard champion.
Gordon Simpson, 21, Harbord, is a former surf champion.
Ron Grant, 22, of Wollongong, is the only non-Sydney member of the team and the only one who has previously competed in surf races over-seas - in California.
Ken Bate, 18, of Manly, works in a city stockbrokers and has been saving for this trip since he started work three years ago.
John Bill, 20, of Manly, gave up his job as an accountant to join the team.
Ben Acton, 25, of Harbord, a member of the Police Force, got leave of absence to make the trip.
The other three members of the team are Reg Shortland, 19, Laurie Short, 18, and Roy Sloan, 18, all of Maroubra. 

Young American film producer and camera- man Bruce Brown, of California, really gets himself into deep water.

Bruce makes films (the action pictures on this page are "stills" from them) on surf-board-riding, and while he some times shoots film from tops of cars, helicopters, and boats, the main location set is in the water.

Bruce, blond and tanned, recently toured the east coast of Australia showing his surfing films to local enthusiasts in hired halls and theatres.

"I find the best angle to film surf-board-riders is right in front of them," said Bruce, "and that's why I'm usually in the water."

His 16mm. color movie camera has a specially designed waterproof case.
Bruce treads water, sometimes hundreds of yards from shore.
He films surf- board-riders as they speed toward him and then ducks to let the boards go over his head.

"I've picked up a few stitches (though no serious injuries) learning when to duck," said Bruce, "but it seems the only way to capture the height of mighty waves."

He also attaches a camera by suction-caps to the front of his surf- board and paddles out to join the riders.
Moving on his board beside the riders, he films them as they speed past.

Bruce brought his three full-length surfing movies to Australia.
Titled "Slippery When Wet," "Barefoot Adventure," and "Surf Crazy," they were filmed in the surfs of California, Mexico, and Hawaii.

Each movie runs for an hour and a half and shows the thrills and skills of surfboard-riding.

Bruce commentates from the stage during the color films, telling who's riding the waves and all about the beaches on the screen. "This gives it a personal touch," he said, "'and I can adapt different styles for different audiences."

The background music to the films, which seems to capture the sound of the sea, was composed and played by Bud Shank, a popular American jazz musician.
A big band backs Shank.

Bruce, 24, from Dana Point, California, has been interested in photography for eight years.
At 18, as a member of the American Submarine Service, he was stationed at Hawaii.
While he was there Bruce produced his first short color film of board riding.
An American surfboard building company decided to sponsor the showing of the film at seaside towns in America.

Since then Bruce has produced his three full-length movies and "about half a dozen short surfing films for television."
With his films he has toured the islands of Hawaii, most of California, and eastern U.S.A.

During his tour of eastern Australia (the tour, in January, was his first visit here), Bruce was thrilled with the enthusiasm of the surfboard-riders, mostly teenagers.
He filmed most of his new full-length movie, to be released some time this year, at surfing beaches along the coast of N.S.W.

Although the films show many local riders from the different beaches, Bruce usually takes a couple of champion surfboard-riders with him to appear in the films.

A top surfboard-riding star, Phil Edwards, of Oceanside, California, toured Australia with Bruce.
Phil, 23, nil and rugged, is a surfboard and sailing-boat builder by trade and has his own company in the U.S.

FOOTNOTE: Bruce got into "hot water" one day when he was filming board-riders at a quiet Californian beach.
Military police arrested him for "spying."

Bruce had to develop Iiis film to prove to the police that he had not been using his telescopic-lens camera to photograph a nearby "hush-hush" Army installation.

(Photographs) Bruce Brown-producer, Phil Edwards-star.

The Australian Womens' Weekly Wednesday 22 August 1962,  Teenagers' Weekly (Supplement) cover Cover image contributed by John Witzig, with many thanks, May 2011. Our cover boys are some of the surfboard riders who competed at Narrabeen, one of Sydney's northern beaches, during the rally organised by the South Pacific Surf Riders Club last season. ( -page 41). Cover story:  Australian Wins International Championship in Peru -story page 3. John noted that Midget Farrelly is kneeling in the centre of the photograph. The other surfers require identification. Note that most of the boards, probably early foam, are coloured and decals are impossible to identify. Some of the boards in the centre appear to be balsawood. Also note the twin fin bellyboard, centre of the rear row. While most wear long legged boardshorts, several are in nylon briefs. Some boardshorts have an external thick white waist cord, a short-lived fashion accessory- for example those of John Knobel (see below).

"Just had a call from John Knobel, Bondi local in the 50s and 60s.
That’s him standing second from the left in front of the red balsa malibu, wearing his home-made blue board shorts with a snazzy rope belt.
John surfed on a Norm Casey hollow 16 foot toothpick before the malibus arrived in Sydney in 1956 although he was never part of the lifesaving scene.
As a youngster he wheeled his board the few blocks to the beach on a hand cart made from a packing case.
The switch to light-weight balsa in the late 50s was an amazing break through because “they could be thrown about from the tail” and unlike the old longboards were thrilling to ride.
It was also pretty clear that shorter boards meant more fun in the surf, so his early boards were under 9 foot.
John also recalled hopping over the back wall into the lifesavers’ change rooms at Bondi to rescue surfboards impounded by the likes of Aub Laidlaw.

Peter Bowes added in some names..

Top row left – Denis Lindsay
Top row right, Hawaiian shirt – Mick Dooley
Middle row right with spikey hair – Dave Standen
Black suit – Midget
Next but one – Bob Fell
Front row right – Puppy Dog Paton."

(Photographs) BOB PIKE riding one of the great Hawaiian waves during last summer's international championships.
Below, holding the bronze seagull trophy he won in the Peruvian Championship while John Severson is presented with his cup for second place.

Wherever the surf is running best - anywhere on the coast between Surfers' Paradise, Queensland, and Torquay, Victoria - there you'll find Bob Pike.
Enjoying the sun, sand, and salty spray, he's also training hard, for in a few months he plans to be off again to South America to defend his title of Surfboard Riding Champion of Peru.
 

BOB, now 22, won the championship last March in competition with the best from Hawaii, California, France, and Peru, and he made such a hit with the people of Lima that they asked him to come back next March - all expenses paid.

An old boy of The King's School, Sydney, Bob's home is at Manly, just north of Sydney Heads.

The first Australian to win a surf championship overseas, he was a member of the 20 strong Australian team which competed in the International Surfing Championships at Makaha Beach, Hawaii, last summer.

Because he injured a leg he had to drop out before the finals.
Several members of the team qualified, but had to return home before the finals, delayed by lack of a suitable surf, were held.

Bob, however, got a lucky break soon after the Hawaiian championships were over.

John Severson, a champion Californian rider who was visiting Hawaii for the surfing titles, offered Bob a trip to Peru.

The editor of the American magazine "The Surfer," John won all the board-riding events in last year's Peruvian championships and, before he left, the organisers asked him to arrange for Australian, Hawaiian, and Californian riders to compete in their 1962 championships.

John chose Bob and a Sydney friend, Mike Hickey, of Bilgola (another northern Sydney beach), to represent Australia.

It was all a great surprise to Bob.
"I didn't even know they surfed in Peru, but what a way to find out!" he said.

So off he went to California, where he joined two other boys heading for Peru, and they all drove down to Mexico with their surfboards tied to the roof of the car.

Taking a couple of weeks for the trip, the boys stopped to surf at all the famous beaches along America's west coast.

From Mexico they took a plane to Lima, capital of Peru, where they were put up at the best hotel, as guests of the city's Waikiki Surf Club.

During their month's stay the visiting surfers went to a party as guests of the President of Peru and were lavishly entertained by the city's citizens.

"There are several beautiful beaches near Lima," Bob said, "but the surf is small.

"The biggest waves are about 10ft. high, and a permanent off-shore wind makes the water too choppy for really good surfing.

"But Peru itself, and the people! They're terrific."

For winning the international exhibition board-riding event, Bob was awarded a bronze carving of two seagulls mounted on a marble base.

The trophy weighs 361b. and is valued at £150.

Bob said that all the visiting surfers received "royal" treatment.

(Photograph) Below, holding the bronze seagull trophy he won in the Peruvian Championship while John Severson is presented with his cup for second place.

Servants employed by the Waikiki Surf Club took charge of their surfboards, rubbed them down with paraffin wax. carried them to the water's edge, and even waited to carry them back after Bob and the other boys had finishing riding.

The servants handed them towels after they showered in the surf club, and even rubbed suntan lotion on their noses before they went out in the sun again.

After leaving school at 15, Bob did a two-year course at Sydney Technical College to become a qualified woolclasser.
He worked in shearing sheds in N.S.W. and Queensland to save the £600 for the trip to Hawaii.

During that time he visited every surf beach in the eastern States.

"Fairy Bower, about a mile off Manly Beach, is THE spot in Australia when the waves are on," he says.

"The surf in Hawaii, however, is even better-j ust like I'd always imagined.
But it is very different from ours.

"Waikiki Beach is similar to many Australian beaches- and not so good.

''But for the keen surfboard rider other Hawaiian beaches have the perfect waves.
These beaches - Makaha, Sunset, Alamoana, and the Banzai Pipeline - have the best surf in the world.

"'The waves, building up to heights of 15 to 25ft. and then dumping on the shore, are very exciting to ride.

"And the greatest thrill of all is the Banzai Pipeline.

"This is an area where the waves, often reaching 25ft., curl over at the top to form a 'pipe' before dumping on a rocky shelf of jagged coral.

"And this was the place that put me out of the Hawaiian championships.

"I lost my board going down the Pipeline, but got out of it with a few scratches and an injured leg.
My board, however, was wrecked.
All the front was bashed in and the fin was snapped off."

Notes
1962 Peruvian International Contest, Lima Peru
Inaugural contest at Kon Tiki Surf.
Large wave, small wave and paddling races.
The Big Wave contest was won by Felipe Pomar.

The same week a speciality Big Wave contest was held at Villa Beach, won by Australian surfer, Bob Pike.

Correcting the previous entry, Felipe Pomar emailed in January 2010:
I was enjoying your site when I came across a mistake .
You site shows Bob Pike from Au. as the winner of the Peruvian International 1962 Big Wave event.
Bob was my friend,and a great big wave surfer.
And he did win that event that year at Villa beach.
That event however was a specialty event.
The Peru International Big wave event was held that same week at the Kon Tiki Surf spot.
The winner of the Peru International Big Wave Contest in the year 1962 was  Felipe Pomar.
Sorry to point out a mistake in your site.
Hopefully you can correct that .
Many thanks to Felipe for this contribution.

This summer thousands of Australian teenagers will be going surfboard-riding.
With the sport growing enormously in popularity, special sections of most beaches are now reserved for board-riders, and the riders have developed a language all their own.

So if you're a sandie who dreams of riding an elephant gun out the hack, waiting to beach a boomer without going down the mine, you'd better study this . . .

ANGLE: Direction a surfboard travels across a wave, for example, left angle.
BAGGIES: Baggy pants worn over swimsuits when riding a surfboard.
BEACH BUM: A boy who doesn't work or go to school, just hangs around the beach all day and surfs.
BEACH A WAVE: To ride the same wave all the way to the beach.
BIG SETS: Groups of extra big waves, breaking and rolling in one after the other.
BIG W: Dramatic fall off a surfboard.
BLASTER: A big wave.
BLEACHIE: Surboard-rider who bleaches his hair.
BOARD SHORTS: Pants worn for riding surfboards. .
BOARD WAGGON: Car used for transporting surfboards from beach to beach.
BOATIES: Members of a surf club boat crew.
BODGIES: Lumps on knees and feet caused by constant surfboard-riding.
BODY SHOOTING: Riding a wave without a board.
BOMBIE: Short for bombora, where waves break over a reef of rocks just below the surface.
BOOMER: Big wave.
"BOWER" BOYS: Name given to expert riders at Fairy Bower, a surfing spot about one mile off Manly Beach, Sydney, famous for its big and sometimes dangerous surf.
CORNER: Changing direction while riding a wave. For example, left corner is to turn to the left.
CUT: Another method of turning across a wave. To right cut is to move sharply to the right when riding a wave.
DEEP-SEA FIN: Special type of surfboard fin, made from fibreglass or balsa, with a solid square shape.
DING: Split or hole in a surfboard.
DOWN THE MINE: When nose board goes under the surface an heads for the bottom, throwing tk
DUMP: A big wave which breaks suddenly and steeply, with most of the water hitting the bottom hard.
Can be very dangerous.
ELEPHANT GUN: A type of surfboard, long, tapered, and heavy, used in big surfs.
Used to shoot the big ones, hence the name.
EL SPONTANEO: Method of trick riding-right at the front of ihe board, feet apart and crouching over.
FLICK-OFF: Method of getting off a wave as it nears the shore. Moving to the back of the board, the rider flicks the board backwards over the wáve.
GAS: Anything which is very good.
GIDGET: A girl surfboard-rider.
GOOFY FOOT: A very good rider whoreverses the usual way of standing by putting right foot in front of left.
GRAB THE RAIL: To grab the side of the board to avoid losing it on a wave.
GREENIE: A big wave before it breaks into white foam.
GREMLIN: A mythical figure who tips up boards, or a young surfrider with bleached hair.
HANGING TEN: A trick method of riding with toes tucked over the front of the surfboard.
HAWAIIAN PULL-OUT: Grabbing nose of board and pulling it through a wave.
HEAD DIP: Trick riding - putting head in and out of a wave while riding it.
HEAVY: A big wave.
HO-DAD: Anyone who annoys board riders while they surf.
HUEY: The surfboard-riders' god of the waves.
They often call, "Come on, Huey, send the waves up," as they wait for a big one beyond the line of breakers.
HUMP: A wave.
KAHUNA: Similar to "Huey" - the god of the Californian and Hawaiian board-riders.
KING: The best rider at any beach.
LAYBACK: A supreme test of skill in trick riding.
The rider lies flat on his back, with feet facing the way board is going.
LEPRECHAUN: Surfboard-rider under 13 years old.
LOCAL: Usually a good rider who lives and surfs most of the time at a particular beach.
MALIBU: Type of surfboard made from foam, balsa, or fibreglass and under 10ft. long.
MUNCHIE: Any type of food.
NOAH: Shark, from rhyming slang "Noah's Ark."
NOSE-RIDING: Standing right at front of the board while riding a wave.
OKINOUIE: Type of board similar to the malibu.
OKS: Bermuda shorts worn for surfboard-riding.
OUTSIDE or OUT THE BACK: A long way out at sea, beyond the first line of breakers.
PIRATE: A board-rider who crashes into other riders and makes a nuisance of himself.
PLANK: Any type of surfboard.
PIG: Type of surfboard with back and front ends shaped to a point.
PITT STREET SHOOT: A wave with four or more riders on it at the same time.
POLY: Type of board made of foam and fibreglass.
POPE: The best rider of a group of locals or, more usually, the best of a number of neighboring groups.
Better than a "king."
QUASIMODO: Trick riding, with body bent nearly double, with one hand stretched out in front and the other behind.
RUBBISHED: To be thrown off wave and dumped on shore.
SANDIES: People who sit on the beach and don't usually surf; and learners.
SHORE DUMP: A wave which breaks heavily on the sand.
SLIDE: Moving smoothly on a wave-front the crest to the trough.
SLICE: To travel across a wave with sharp cut to the right or left.
STRINGER: Strip of hardwood set into a foam board to strengthen it.
SURFTE: A fond term for a good and keen surfer. ,
SURF KING: A good rider in an area, sometimes conceited.
SURF SAFARI: A trip around different beaches to find a good surf.
TANDEM: Two people riding on one surfboard.
TEARDROP: Type of surfboard with wide back and pointed front.
TIKI: Lucky charm worn by some riders.
TOES-ON-NOSE: Trick riding, standing at front of board with toes curled over the edge.
TOURIST: A board-rider who travels from his usual beach to another for the day.
Sometimes refers to a beginner who becomes a pest to other riders.
TUBE: The area of a dumping wave between the breaking crest and the trough.
UTOPIA: Makaha Beach in Hawaii, considered by board-riders as the best surfing spot in the world.
WALL: A steep wave.
WAX: Paraffin wax, rubbed on a board to prevent slipping.
WHITE WATER: Area of surf where the waves are breaking.
WIDOWS: Girls left sitting on the beach all day while their boy-friends ride their surfboards.
WIPEOUT: A dramatic fall off a board when a rider is trying to catch a wave.
WIPEOUT WAGGON: Car used for transporting boards and riders from beach to beach.
ZIP TWEEDS: Long shorts worn for board-riding.

Three young Sydney men have formed a successful partnership with the inviting slogan "See the world on a surfboard."

THE partners are Paul Witzig, Peter Clifton, and Paul Quiney, all 21 and all expert surfboard riders.

The firm, Surfing Promotions, was formed about nine months ago as the Australian agency for an American film producer, Bruce Brown, of Dana Point, California.

"Bruce has a large studio in Hollywood," said Peter, "and travels the world shooting scenes for his surfing movies.
"He has already had three outstanding successes with 'Slippery When Wet,' 'Surf Crazy,' and 'Barefoot Adventure.' "

Paul Witzig met Bruce Brown in Hawaii two tyears ago.
Paul was on his way to join his parents for a holiday in Europe, and Bruce was filming "Slippery When Wet."

Paul, who owned his first surfboard when he was eight, said he couldn't pass through Hawaii without trying its famous surf, so he stopped off for two weeks.

"I stayed with some Californian surfboard riders in a beach house at Sunset Beach," he said, "and Bruce was living next door.

"I got to know many of the local Hawaiian and Californian riders and they wanted to know all about Australia.

"Bruce was very interested in our surfing and I offered to sponsor him on a trip to Australia to show some of his movies."

Bruce accepted the offer and this was the beginning of Surfing Promotions.

Last tour big success

After Paul had arranged showings and publicity, Bruce toured the east coast of Australia last summer with "Bare- foot Adventure* and "Slippery When Wet."

The tour was a great success.
Paul made enough money to cover Bruce's air fare to Australia and all touring expenses, a reasonable profit, and still had something over as working captial for new ventures.

While he was in Australia Bruce filmed part of his latest film, "Surfing Hollow Days."
A full-color, feature-length movie, it stars surfing champions of Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, California, Mexico, and Florida.

To a surfer, a "hollow day" is a day when the waves curve up and curl completely over before crashing on the shore - thus forming a hollow tunnel of water.

The film mostly features board-riding, but there are also exciting scenes of body-surfing, sailing, and water-skiing.

Surfers play with shark

One dramatic sequence shows surfers at Santa Barbara playing "Nip and Tuck" with a 15ft. shark.

Paul Witzig appears a few times in the film, riding huge waves at beaches on the north coast of N.S.W.

Peter Clifton stars in the water-skiing scenes, and is also shown "free-planing" - which is skiing behind a motor-boat using a surfboard (waxed heavily to stop the skier from slipping) instead of skis.

Paul Witzig asked Peter Clifton and Paul Quiney to join him in Surfing Promotions to bring this film to Australia.

"Surfing Hollow Days" opened in Sydney a few weeks ago and the firm has arranged 60 showings in Queensland, N.S.W., Victoria, and South Australia during the next few months.

Peter and Paul Quiney have been riding surfboards at Sydney beaches for about five years and met Paul Witzig while surfing.

Although Surfing Promotions means only part-time work so far, the boys signed contracts with Bruce Brown, registered their partnership, and set up a modern office at Newport (a beach suburb on Sydney's north side), where they employ a secretary to do typing and answer inquiries.

(Photograph) EXAMINING a sequence in the film "Surfing Hollow Days" are, from left. Peter Clifton, Paul Witzig, and Paul Quiney.

Paul Witzig has just completed fourth year Architecture at Sydney University.

As head man and organiser of the firm, he flew to the States a few months ago to make official arrangements with Bruce Brown to bring "Surfing Hollow Days" to Australia.

When the film arrived in Sydney he had to arrange for it to be cleared through Customs and the Censorship Board.

(Photograph) PHIL EDWARDS, of California, riding a huge wave at Sunset Beach, Hawaii.
Phil, who is recognised as the best surfboard-rider in the world, stars in the film which is now being shown in Australia.

Peter, a copywriter for a Sydney advertising agency, is the Press agent and publicity officer for Surfing Promotions.

He has organised an extensive advertising campaign in local newspapers and national surfing magazines, designed posters and pamphlets, and has arranged radio and television interviews to promote the film.

Paul Quiney is studying accountancy and works as a junior accountant in a city office.
He handles the legal side of the firm, the financial worries, and the theatre bookings.

Surf safari with film

The firm owns its own film projection unit and employs Peter Hamill, 20, a surfboard builder, to run the projector at every showing.

Paul Witzig, on university holidays, will tour with the film for the whole run.
And Peter and Paul Quiney will take their annual holidays to help him.

The boys are making the tour in an old car, with four surfboards tied on the roof and posters for the film plastered all over the body.

"On all our trips we keep a lookout, and Stop whenever we find a good surf running," said Paul Witzig.
"Our business trip is a surf safari, too."

The boys are not drawing weekly wages from their firm, but plan to divide the profit at the end of the tour, leaving enough in "kitty" to finance their next enterprise.

In this way they hope to develop Surfing Promotions into a profitable full-time business.

Bernard Farrelley, the 18-year-old Sydney boy who recently won the International Surfboard Riding Championship in Hawaii, became a film star at the same time.

The film, being produced by another Sydney surfer, Bob Evans, is due for release in Australia within the next few weeks,
Benard, a lanky, blue-eyed lad, is known to his friends as "Midge," and his nickname inspired the title of the film: "Midget Goes Hawaiian."
Evans, who edits a surfing magazine and has aleady produced two other feature-length surfing movies and several shorts for television, chose Midge as the star after he had won several local surfboard championships.
Work on the film began last March.
Bob, Midge, and other expert board-riders visited the best surfing beaches on Australia's east coast to record sequences for the first half of the film.
Bob then organised a team to represent Australia at the international Surfing Championships held annually at Makaha Beach, Hawaii.
Three other Sydney boys, David Jackman Mick McMahon, and Barry Cardiff, joined Bob and Midge to form the team, and they flew to Hawaii just before Christmas.
The surfing championships are not held on any set day, only on days when a good surf is running at Makaha.

Race Delayed.

When the plane on which the boys and their surfboards were travelling set down in Hawaii, they heard that the semi-finals were in progress that day at the beach 30 miles away,
An urgent phone call to contest officials delayed the last semi-final so that the Australians could compete.
The boys hailed a taxi, the driver loaded their surfboards on the roof and they made a dash for it.
At Makaha, traffic police escorted them through the crowds and thev were cheere by competitors and spectators as they hurried to the dressing-sheds to change.

The waves were really big, and the Australians were competeting against riders from California, Peru, and Hawaii in front of spectators from all over the world.
The contest is judged by experts standing on a tower high above the sand.
Points are given for length of ride, ability to manoeuvre, and good sports-manship.

As leader of the team, Bob said all the Australians surfed the 15ft. waves like veterans.
"Midge was outstanding," he said, "'and we were not surprised when he was selected for the finals.
"These were held a few days later.
Unfortunately, the waves were much smaller, breaking at three or four feet.
"Most riders paddled a long way out in the hope of picking up a few big ones, but they were out of luck.
"Midge adopted a now or never attitude, and moved to within 200 yards of the beach.
"'He cracked every wave that came along, large or small, and proved his skill so well that he was crowned champion of the year.
"We expected him to put on a good show, but winning the grand event was just wonderful."
The trophy Midge won was a statue of a surf rider and his board, carved from wood.

The presentation of this prize is a highlight of Bob's movie, which also shows Midge riding in the final.
This was the first time a competitor from a foreign nation had won the title - the highest honor in the surfing world.
Midge, who is a surfboard builder by trade, designed and made the two surfboards he took to Hawaii.
One is a light "hot-dog" board used for fast turning and trick riding.
The other is a heavier board for big seas.
The Australians shared a house on Sunset Beach, 40 miles from Honolulu.
They spent the next four or five weeks on a surf safari - travelling round the surfing beaches of Hawaii.
Bob was always on location, filming the adventures of the Sydney surfers as they rode big waves alongside the champions from Hawaii and California.
The boys are now back in Sydney, already saving for another trip.
Most of them hope to compete again next time, but Midge is determined that he will.
"I just must get back to Hawaii to defend my title," he said.

"Of course, we have a few 'ho-dads' (young larrikins), too, who bleach their hair and hang around the beaches all day," said Joey Cabell, the American who won the last international surfboard championships at Hawaii.
"But nearly all the surfers in California and Hawaii go to work or college, and surfboard riding is only a sport, not their life.
They devote many hours to it and take their sport seriously, but so do most tennis and football
players."
Joey and the national champions from the United States, Peru, New Zealand. France, Britain and South Africa came to Sydney to compete in the world surfboard championships held at Manly last weekend.
Although most of the overseas stars have to return to work next week, they stayed on after the championships to ride as much Australian surf as possible before flying home.
"Weather doesn't bother the true surf fanatic," said Gordon Burgis, surfboard champion of Great Britain.
"In Jersey last winter we were riding when the water was only 36 degrees."
Gordon, 20, lives with his parents in Jersey, one of the Channel Islands.
"Board-riding is just becoming popular with teenagers there," he said.
"I've been riding for about two and a half years now - until then it was mostly visiting Australians who surfed there."
The British championships, the first, were held at Jersey recently with competitors from Australia, France, South Africa, and England.
"Most people are surprised to hear of surf in England, but there are some good waves in Cornwall," he pointed out.

Keen Parisian
Gordon sometimes surfs at France's famous surf spot, Biarritz, near the Spanish border, with the French national champion, Joel de Rosnay.
Joel, 26, a research chemist at the Louis Pasteur Institute in Paris, drives 500 miles to Biarritz whenever he has a free weekend.
President of the Surf Club de France, he was taught to ride a surfboard by Peter Viertel, the American writer who is married to film star Deborah Kerr.
"'Peter's a champion surf rider and snow-skier, too, and brought one of the first surfboards to France about 1956," said Joel.
"Now there are two or three hundred riders on the coast."
Joel, who's married to an English journalist and has two babies, thinks the teenagers who ride the boards in Sydney are similar to those in France.
"In France they wear the same types of T-shirts and board-shorts, and have lots of fun riding the waves," he said.
"We haven't got any 'bleachies,' as you call them, but everyone's doing the Stomp there.
"We call it 'Le Surf,' but it's the same as your Stomp."
On the way to Australia, Joel surfed in California and Hawaii with Joey Cabell.
Born in Hawaii, Joey, 25, learnt to ride a board when he was seven, and became one of the island's top riders before moving to California four years ago.
He's a restaurant-owner, but had time to win the famous international surf- board championships at Makaha Beach, Hawaii, last December.
Joey likes the Sydney surf.
"We've struck some good waves here," he said, '"and the shore break (when the waves break almost on the beach) is unique.
I don't recall having surfed anything like it before."
Four other champions from California, John Richards, Mike Doyle, Phil Edwards, and top American girl surfer Linda Benson, also came to Sydney.
''Little John" Richards (as he is known) holds the American west coast championship.
A salesman for a surfboard manufacturer, he's 24 and married.
Mike Doyle, 23, of Long Beach, has been surfing for 10 years, and for the last two has won every tandem (two riding on the same board) event in California.
Mike and his partner, Linda Merrill, 19, won the international tandem event in Hawaii last year.
"Tandem riding is something quite new, but is becoming a big sport - it has great spectator interest," he said.
"Linda and I have made up dozens of tricks, starting from the simple hand-stands or her standing on my shoulders.
"We usually practise for hours on sand before trying them out."
Mike, who is studying to be a science teacher, surfs Hawaii every summer and has starred in many surfing movies, riding by himself.
"But I like tandem riding best in competitions" be said.
"Most of the single riders' tricks have been discovered, but there are still a thousand more for tandem teams."
Phil Edwards, 25, another top rider, was chosen as the international judge for the world titles in Sydney.
A surfboard and sailing boat builder at Oceanside, California, he first came out here two years ago to star in American film producer Bruce Brown's surfing movie "Waterlogged," which featured him riding at many Australian beaches.
Linda Benson, 20, is the present United States invitational women's surf- board champion.
"I've been riding for nine years now," she said, "but it's only over the past few summers, since the movie 'Gidget' was released, that girls have really taken to board-riding in California."
Linda, who lives in Encinitas, California, is a secretary for one of America's biggest surfboard shops and goes surfing whenever the "waves are on" at nearby beaches.
She always goes to Hawaii on her annual holidays, and recently "surfed-in" for the American film star Annette Funicello in the board-riding scenes in two films, "Muscle Beach Party" and "Bikini
Beach."

Durban craze.
Max, 25, is a professional lifeguard at Durban Beach and has been riding a board for nine years.
He thinks that a visiting Australian surf team took the first board to South Africa about 1954, but says it's only over the past two years that board-riding has caught on over there, and the teenagers are "stoked" (the surfer's term for crazy) about it.
"But we don't have any beachcombers," Max said.
"The Twist is still big there, but I've promised to take back the Stomp with me."
Max plans to stay a few weeks longer in Australia to surf the N.S.W. coastline.
"From all reports, it sounds as though most Australian surfs are very similar to ours," he said, "but I'd like to find out for myself."

Whenever friends come looking for Nat Young, his mother tells them, "Wherever the surf's on - that's
where you'll find him."
Nat, the Sydney teenager who recently won the World Surfboard Championship in California, spends most of his life at the beach.
"It's been the same for the past eight years," Mrs. Young said.
"Every day- morning and afternoon- he goes off surfing.
"At least I know where he is- and it's really paid off now."

At Ocean Beach, near San Diego, California, more than 80,00 spectators watched Nat take the world title.
He was riding his favorite surfboard which he calls "Sam" and took with him from Sydney.
In the Women's Championships, Australian girls Gail Couper, of Victoria, and Phylis O'Donnell, of Queensland, came fourth and sixth respectively.
Nat, 18, scored 293 points to win by 63 points from Jock Sutherland, of Hawaii, and 70 points from Corky Carroll, also of the United States.
"The 8ft.(?) waves were similar to ones we get at Manly Beach- and just what I'd hoped for," said Nat
after the contest.
Australia's wonder surfer has a long list of titles.
As well as being Australian champion, Nat currently holds he N.S.W., Newcastle Hunter Valley, and Bell's Beach, Victoria, titles and has won a string of local and interstate surfboard rallies.
He has 25 impressive trophies in a cabinet in his Warriewood home, and has won tb i ee overseas trips.
As Australian champion he won a trip to the World Titles in Hawaii in 1964, and another to the recent ones in California.
Last year he won a trip to Peru for the international contest in a seven-mile paddle race on Sydney Harbor.
In Peru he won the World Paddle race and took second place to Peruvian surfer Pillipe Pomar, in the World Surfboard Championship.
"Peru as a good lesson to him- he lost the big title by one point," Mrs. Young said.
"Nat knew he could never count on winning.
He never even mentioned the possibility of pulling it off in California."
But that didn't stop him putting in weeks of practice.
He surfed every day and spent most weekends on surfaris up and down the eastern coastline.
"My favorite haunt is Noosa Heads, about 80 miles north of Brisbane," Nat always says.
"But if I can't make it that far, I settle for the good long rides at Crescent Heads and Byron Bay."
After they heard the good news (the Australian team manager, Bob Evans, rang from California), Mr. and Mrs. Young, their two married daughters, and younger son, Chris, couldn't even walk down the street without someone offering congratulations.
"And for days the phone didn't stop ringing," Mrs. Young said. "We're all so proud."

Just before he left Australia, Nat joined an interna tional sports wear company.
He will visit their main office in Portland, U.S.A., before returning to Australia via Hawaii.
In Hawaii he'll star in a movie by Australian surfer film-maker Bob Evans.
It will be released Australia wide in January.
Then, after six weeks away, Nat will be back to catch up with all his commitments in Sydney.
As a top surfer, Nat has a weekly column in The Sunday Telegraph, demonstrates and promotes his own custom surfboards, and makes personal appearances at Sydney stores.
Quiet and unassuming, Nat has definite ideas for the future.
He has made quite a lot of money from "surfing side-lines."
He saves every penny and has bought a block of land at Whale Beach in Sydney.
He hopes to become a professional surboard rider and build a house with a beach on his doorstep.

(Photograph)
WORLD SURFBOARD CHAMPION Nat Young, 18, of Warriewood, N.S.W., with some of his trophies.
He won the world title this month in California, U.S.A.

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The Australian Womens' Weekly
1961, 1963, 1964 and 1966.

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surfresearch.com.au

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