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Bernard
'Midget' Farrelly
13
September 1945 -
Catalogue
Entries:
#6
Farrelly, Square tail 6 ft 4"
#54
Farrelly Pop-out 5ft 5"
#34
Midget Farrelly, Coolite 4 ft 10" Rubber fin
Surfer,
shaper, author, windsurfer, surfboard manufacturer, components manufacturer,
hang-glider.
Born : Paddington,
Sydney
Home Beach :Manly/Freshwater,
Sydney
Nick Name : 'Midget"
1st Board - began
surfing on a Blake Hollow timber board, found on Manly Beach,circa 1955,
Age 10
In 1956 saw Greg
Noll and other members of the US/Hawaiian Surf Life Saving Team,
surf their Malibu boards at Manly Beach - see 1956.
1958
1st contest,
South Avalon, fourth
in the final
Early board building
at...
Barry
Bennett Surfboards,
Scott
Dillon Surfboards,
Keyo
Surfboards, all at Brookvale, Sydney.
Image Left : Midget
Farrelly and balsawood - fibreglass Pig board, circa 1958.
Note hand-painted
'Oval+M' at ss. and two tone offset bands at tail.
Probably not the
board shown in Junior Surfers, Manly 1958.
Surfboard
Design Modern World Magazine,
July 1971, pages 30 - 36. |
 |
 |
Midget Farrelly and Makaha Trophy,
January 1962.
Photograph : Ron Church
Reprinted in Australian Longboard Magazine
June 2004
Page |
 |
1962
Makaha International Championship-1st,
1 January 1963,
Makaha Beach, Hawaii 6 foot surf
Image Left :
Midget Farrelly
:Masterly controlled spinner circa 1963,
Pollard
page 8. |
1964 Australian
Championship
Manly Beach Sydney
Held as a preliminary
to the World Championships
1st Midget Farrelly
2nd Mick Dooley
3rd Bobby Brown.
Junior:
1st Robert Conneely
2nd Nat
Young
3rd Wayne Cowper
1964 World Championship
Manly Beach Sydney
1st
Midget Farrelly
2nd Mike Doyle
(USA)
3rd
Joey Cabell (Hawaii)
4th
L.J. Richards (USA).
5th
Mick Dooley
6th
Bobby Brown
Images
above : Midget Farrelly - Classic cutback, Manly 1964
Note that these photographs
are often captioned to infer that they were taken during the Final.
They were taken
in an earlier preliminary round, Midget wore shirt #2 in the final.
Right : Ross
Perrott, from Farrelly :
This
Surfing Life, page 12
Left :Jack
Eden, First printed in
Surfabout
Magazine, 1964
The multi stringered
foam board was strongly influenced by Phil Edwards'designs.
1964
This
Surfing Life Released
1965 Australian Championships
Manly Beach Sydney
May 1965
1st Midget Farrelly
2nd Nat Young 3rd Bob McTavish. Junior Peter Drouyn
First use of stringerless design.
circa
1965
Started Farrelly
Surfboards,
PO Box Palm Beach
919 4409
Decal image left,
with thanks,
Pete Williams |
|
1965
World Championship, Semi Finalist,
Punta Rocas Peru
,
Small waves -1st,?
Positive response to the stringerless
design sees this model liscenced to Gordon and Smith Surfboards, California.
The first of many.
1966 Australian Championships,
4th
Coolangatta, Queensland
Ist Nat Young, 2ndBob
McTavish 3rd x, 4th Midget Farrelly
1966 World Championship
finalist?
Huntington
Beach, California- finalist?,
1966 Stringerless Model for Gordon
and Smith Surfboards, USA.
Image contributed by Brandon
McKenney, October 2005. |
|
1967
Australian Championship, 3rd,
Bells Beach Vic.
See Part Five of The
Hot Generation
1st Nat Young 2nd
Peter Drouyn 3rd Midget Farrelly
Midget Farrelly rides a volan glassed
clear stringerless board, with concave nose and distinct nose lift, approximately
9 ft 2'' x 22''. Nat Young's board features 6 ft of Vee in the tail.
The basic elements of these two boards in the next six months would be
developed into the Vee-bottom Short board
 |
1967
Windansea Contest, finalist
-October, Northern
Beaches (Long Reef, Palm Beach)
Image Left
:
Midget and his version of the Plastic Fantastic Machine,
Palm Beach Oct 1967
- stringerless, Vee bottom, chamfered pod with own fin design in adapted
finbox. Carter
page 71.
This design made
under liscence in the US by Gordon and Smith Surfboards. |
1968
Australian Championship , finalist
May, Northern Beaches,
Sydney (Long Reef, ) ,
1st Keith Paull,
also Nat Young,
Ted Spencer, Midget Farrelly, Robert Coneneely, Lester Brien.
Junior : Wayne Lynch,
Held over several
rounds, huge seas forced some heats to be run at Chinaman's Beach in Middle
Harbour.
Image Left : Three
finalists, Midget Farrelly, Nat Young and Ted Spencer, ethusiastically
gulp down the sponsor's product - Milk.
From
Margan
and Finney, page 226
Note not a Vee bottom
in sight, but boards still to go sub 7 foot.
Also note advaned
fin placement on ted spencer's board.
Also see Kim McKenzie's
Hayden
Surfboard shaped by Bob McTavish, 1968. |
 |
 |
Image Right
:Midget Farrelly Noosa Heads 1968
Pintail, About 8ft
Similar board to those used at the 1968
Australian Titles
and 1st Bobby Brown Memorial Contest.
Photograph : Unknown |
1968
Bobby Brown Memorial Contest 1st,
Cronulla Australia,
1968 World Contest
2nd,
Rincon, Puerto Rico
,
See
Evolution,
Part 7
1st
Fred
Hemmings (H), 2nd Midget Farrelly, 3rd Russell Hughes, 4th Nat
Young, also Mike Doyle
(USA) and Reno Abelleira
(H).
Midget rode a Pintail 7ft10"?, Midget
Farrelly Surfboards, Red bottom with Blue wing, Yellow deck
Image, left: Photograph by
David Singletary
Surfer magazine Vol 29 No 9 September
1988, page 124 |
 |
 |
Midget Farrelly
and Rounded Pin,
Huntington Beach probably after
1968 World Contest.
Further models for Gordon and Smith, California.
Photograph : Leroy Grannis
From The
Next Wave, page 41. |
The
Side Slipper design by Reno Abellia for Inter-Island Surfboards
was
first noted at the Huntington Beach Contest, 1969.
In Australia the
design was taken up by Midget Farrelly (Farrelly Surfboards) and
Terry Fitzgerald at Shane Surfboards.
The only board that allows the surfer
to ride sideways, backwards or in a spinning circle.
The slipper has advantages a conventional
board lacks
Speed comes easy, control
is super positive through the flat bottom and low, soft rails.
Basically, the board is longer,
thinner and a diamond shape in outline.
The fin is smaller to facilitate
release only when desired.
The rails amd bottom allow a shallow
draft fin in any case, and the fin used is both adjustable and removable.
Midget has ridden this shape in most every kind of wave.
Reef surf was where the speed from
the bottom and the rails was best put to use.
In beach break the board responded
to all manouvres and created new freedoms with side slips to hold curl
position and 360's to fill the gap between peaks of sections.
Fantastic sensations can be had
riding whole sections backwards.
Th e most average surfer is going
to find this surfboard easy to ride.
Thje side slipper can't be compared
to any other board that has gone before it.
The only limitation this surfboard
has is the surfer who rides it.
Farrelly Surfboards, 230
Harbord Road, Brookvale 2018 Phone : 939-1724.
Above quoted text and images and text from...
Farrelly Surfboards Advertisment,
circa 1969.
Re-printed in Walding,
page 76.
Note : - The red board on the left has
a much wider tail than the two to the right.
- Volan deck patches.
Since 1969 he has made
a major contribution to the components industry.
1970 World Contest 2nd,
Johanna Beach, Victoria,
Australia
1st Rolf Aurness
(USA), 2nd Midget Farrelly, 3rd Peter Drouyn, also Nat Young, Reno Abelleira
and Keone Downing (both Hawaii)
See Sea of Joy, Part 6?
Midget Farrelly rides a approximate 7
ft Side-slipper with Yellow bottom/clear deck with black pinlines, but
like Reno Abellira on a similar board, surfs in the conventional manner
or the day.
1970 Gunston 500, 1st
South Africa
1973 Bells Beach Contest- finalist
Easter, Bells Beach,
Victoria
Rip Curl Bells Beach
Pro Am
First Australian
Professional Contest, Cumulated points for manourve system 'Objective System'
over several rounds (originally designed by George Downing, Jeff Hackman
and Duke Boyd and first used at 1973 Hang Ten Contest, Hawaii).
The surf ranged
from 6 ft to plus twelve feet fot the whole contest.
"Best surfing since
Bells 1963 " Rodney Sumpter, Surfer
magazine Vol 14 No 3 September 1973
1st Michael Peterson,
others Midget Farrelly,Tony Hardwick, Simon Anderson and Ted Spencer
circa 1973-4
Midget Farrelly
Sufboards leaves
Harbord Road, Brookvale address and Surfblanks factory is established at
7 Perak Street Mona
Vale, Phone : 997-2014 , 919-5319
Michaelangelo
(of mallet and chisel fame) has been doing some wood and glass fins with
beautiful laminated colours.
SW January
1974 Volume 18 Number 6 Page ?
Retail sales at Number
1 Alexandia Street, Collaroy.
Specific wave
range performance is Midget's speciality, the final interpretation of the
wave is yours.
Saturday 10-12
am only. Call Surfblanks weekdays 997-2014 (Mona
Vale), 919-5319 (Palm Beach?).
Average price
$120.00
SW January
1975 Volume 20 Number 4 Page 16?
This issue also contains
an article with photographs,
"Shaping New
Designs" by Midget Farrelly, pages 14 - 19.
Also note previous
article in SW January 1974 Volume 18 Number 4 Pages 30 - 32.
"Sanding and
Finishing a Surfboard" by Midget Farrelly,
Photographs by Bruce
Usher (of Midget and Warren Cornish).
1975
Coke Contest
Northern Beaches,
Sydney
See Photographs
top and bottom of this page.
In 1975-1980 he pioneered Hang-gliding in Australia.
circa 1976- 7
Surfblanks factory
and Midget Farrelly Sufboards moves to
11 West Street,
Brookvale, Phone : 938-3220.
Surf Magazine (ed Steve Core),
1977 Volume 1, Number 5
In 1980-1987 he pioneered surf sailing
in Australia.
Midget Farrelly Designs (mini + malibus) are available
under liscense, circa 200.
REFERENCES
Books
This
Surfing Life
Other Books
The
Australian Surfrider Chapter 1. For Real Kicks ....Bernard
("Midget") Farrelly Pages 9 - 16.
General
Web
Pages
Magazines
Tracks MagazineOctober
1990 Interview by Nick Carroll Pages 45 - 49.
Film(Appearances)
From Thoms
:Surf Movies, above.
Header Image
Midget Farrelly, North Narabeen,
Sydney.
1975 Coke Contest Competitor.
Photograph by Aitionn
Apparently a favourite photograph, a graphic
version remains the familiar logo of Midget Farrelly's Surfblanks components
company.
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