Just general surfing stuff

[Davros]

Watching a skillful knee boarder is great. Modern kneeboarding sort of gone the way of modern long boarding in that they try to emulate short boarding manoeuvres. Example is Gavin Coleman from a few years back.

[Yuke Hunt]

Gave a guy I worked who knee boarded a vintage slab style kneeboard. He got rid of the fin box and made it a quad I think. I thought it was a shame because it was original condition and I would have given it a crack with a big Flexi fin myself standing up.

Yeah, thats exactly what I'd like not to see happen to that Skipp of Wyre's.

[Beanpole]

I've known a couple of very good knee boarders very well. Still remember walking up the beach at The Pass many years ago and seeing Peter Crawford absolutely killing a small fast barrelling right through to Clarkes.

[carvin marvin]

I've known a couple of very good knee boarders very well. Still remember walking up the beach at The Pass many years ago and seeing Peter Crawford absolutely killing a small fast barrelling right through to Clarkes.

Same, saw him at Crescent, early 80's I think it was, had never seen anyone so fast reacting and energised on a wave.

[Beerfan]

So I need my Realsurf brothers' advice here: somehow a few years back I ended up with this 70's Skipp kneeboard with a flex tail. The thing is sick, but I haven't ever really successfully surfed it- I've tried it on a fairly weak swell and I thought it might float and get on waves well being fat as, but I struggled and suspect one needs fins and knees to surf this well. Should I try and swap it at this retro board swap they are putting on at Colefale this weekend?

Might get a sweet 70's thruster or something. Thoughts?

image.jpeg

image.jpeg

Might be worth something. I have no idea but throw it on gumtree with a silly price and see. If no takers, swap it

[black duck]

Heres a shot I took at Yamba last year ...

Nice shot Wombs

[Wyre]

Thanks, all.

I'll head to the board swap and see if a hipster wants it for his Bertleman thruster.

If not, Gumtree it is!

[Yuke Hunt]

PC was the catalyst for my earlier forays into kneeboarding. Back then the top kneeboarders like him were so far ahead of the game it was ridiculous.
Kneeboarding has become somewhat of a novelty nowadays, being overtaken performance wise by the modern shortboard ... but the legacy lives on through the ongoing use of design concepts developed by guys like PC. It was Steve Zoeller who inspired Simon Anderson to whack a third fin on his twinny .

Cross pollination in surfing isn't anything new. Neither is guys getting screwed over by selfish individuals. A real bugbear of mine is Peter Drouyn's claim to inventing man on man surfing. He, or she as it likes to be called these days, is no stranger to controversy, having claimed in the past to have quelled the uprising in Hawaii after Bugs got belted. He did this by flying back to Australia immediately after, yeah right. When Bob McTavish released his autobiography, heavily laced with history of the shortboard revolution, Drouyn got all hot under the collar then too, stamping his feet and trying to tell anyone who'd listen that it was him who done the shortboard inventing.
Back to my bugbear ... 1977 and the Stubbies contest at Burleigh, the "first" man on man surfing contest, invented by none other than Peter Drouyn. Well a rarely publicised fact is that the original owner of Frier Tuck Surfboards, one Peter Ware, had successfully implemented a man on man surfing format for a televised kneeboarding contest at Maroubra well before Drouyn ever did. To make matters even worse the organisers of the Stubbies actually flew Peter Ware up from Sydney to explain the concept. After the meeting they said they'd fly him back up (next year?) for the contest. Pete never heard from them again, and surprise surprise if Mr Drouyn didn't take the credit for inventing man on man.

[aaarating]

A very interesting insight Which just goes to show you can't trust those hot looking chicks - particularly the ones with dicks. Man on man does seem a rather apt descriptor for Drouyn nee Windia's trans curious mindset of that time although you'd need an army of psychologists to argue about that.

[Beerfan]

Thanks, all.

I'll head to the board swap and see if a hipster wants it for his Bertleman thruster.

If not, Gumtree it is!

At a garage sale in Bulli. Mt woodgee 80's thruster in average condition for $20. Complete with glass on fins lol

[Wyre]

Hmm. Yeah, na..

[Wyre]

@Womble, yeah that is interesting- I can imagine knee boarding was a hotbed of progressive moves until short boards caught up.

Maybe like bodyboarders might feel a tad hard done by charging all these slabs previously considered unsurfable as a stand up, only to have them wrenched away. "This is Ours now"

[Davros]

I've heard Mctavish ripped off Neal Purchase Snrs short board concepts, and so it goes on.

[Beanpole]

....And Midget reckons he invented everything.......but Nat reckons he invented everything......and Dick Brewer reckons he invented everything......and Geoff McCoy reckons he invented everything.

[Davros]

....exactly. It's a complete mongrel of a past time.

[The Mighty Sunbird]

Surf looks good in Portugal now

[BA]

Solid, but lots of shutdowns.

[Yuke Hunt]

Solid, but lots of shutdowns.

Very closey-outy. Yesterday had some good surfing.