Nat's Nat and thats that

[lizard king]

Hi all,

I have just been reading Nat Young's book -

Just wanted to know your thoughts on Nat Young, the man, his contribution to surfing, board design etc.

Mmmmm...can't quite make up my mind - interested in hearing your thoughts.

May you all be blessed by the deity of your choice this Christmas

[Vada]

Hi all,

I have just been reading Nat Young's book -

Just wanted to know your thoughts on Nat Young, the man, his contribution to surfing, board design etc.

Mmmmm...can't quite make up my mind - interested in hearing your thoughts.

May you all be blessed by the deity of your choice this Christmas

Love 'im or hate'im, he has made an amazing contribution to Oz surfing (Young/Greenough/McTavish). I've never met the guy, there is some anecdotal evidence to suggest that he is a bit of a .... in real life, none of us are perfect.

The book is a good read, he has experienced the highs and lows of celebrity and is now breeding some great surfing talent, Beau, Bryce etc, etc....

If you've read anything about the l/board comp at Snapper earlier in the year you would see that he can still cut it, out-surf some very talented individuals.

[Beanpole]

I reckon its proportional to how far removed you are from the celebrity.

[infectious]

got no real opinion on the guy really... hes a bit maligned for the wrong reasons though i think... tall poppy syndrome, a bit like warnie... as a sportsman you should be judged, i believe, by your skill in your chosen sport, not by your off field shenanigans... which by the way i think are great anyway... you need characters in sport, not these mindless, repetitive, winning machines with the personality of a piece of dried out seaweed... *cough cough* tiger woods, pete samprass...

great read though, one of my faves... he had me from the grunter... nearly pissed myself laughing...

reading that back, it makes little sense, but you get where im coming from...

[chrisb]

As far as surfing goes, his legend status is well-deserved.

As a person he is egotistical, pretentious (witness the Mercedes Benz references in his book), and he hogs waves (as does Beau).

Although he did contribute his winnings in one comp to Gough so he isn't all bad.

The difference between Nat & Layne is that out in the surf she will talk to others (even kooks) and not steal or hog every wave.

Nonetheless, Nat's book is a bloody good read. A good Xmas present.

[Grooter]

... you need characters in sport, not these mindless, repetitive, winning machines with the personality of a piece of dried out seaweed... *cough cough* tiger woods, pete samprass...

You forgot Roger Federer, even he took the Swiss to a new level of boring robotic perfection.

You do need characters in sport, Warnie gave so much more to cricket than just his bowling. Christ I am going to miss him.

[cousteau]

[quote="chrisb"].As a person he is egotistical, pretentious (witness the Mercedes Benz references in his book), .]... the benz reference is plain fact,unfortunately, the ammount of 1970's w123 model mercs still on the road today attests the simple, superior, automotive perfection of this era of Mercedes ( and i own one or did until the ex took her from me,so sad ).

There should be a film made of that book,amazing character, i'm sure if i met him in the surf in that era i would have thought what a wayne kerr and hated his guts

[buzzy]

I've read that book. He comes across as a complete (insert expletive)er. A great surfer, sure, but a you know what'er.

Funnily enough for a bloke very central to the "country soul" movement of the early 70's he seems to be an overt capitalist of the highest order and, as mentioned, very much conscious of status symbols. He only drives Mercs (apparently) lived at Whaly (mind you, it wasn't then what it is now), now lives in Sun Valley half the year (perhaps the most exclusive of the exclusive American ski resorts).

Also, his self justifying whining when he was bashed in his other book is just beyond the pale.

[Patto10]

Nat is an absolute tool, the man's ego shows no limits. As a result, I wouldn't buy any of his crap after personally witnessing the great man's behaviour on several occasions.

But the northern beaches breaks are full of knobs and I don't think he is any worse than a lot of the others, he just gets more publicity for it.

However, there is no argument that he has been one of the cornerstones of the Australian surf industry in and out of the water.

[Clif]

i like wombats

[Beanpole]

I've only seen him surf once at Angourie on a very mediocre day many moons ago.
I remember in the "country soul" period older guys from our beach with cars used to hit the pass when it was on. They complained that he used to throw rocks at people walking out to the take off rock and if you didn't make the take off he'd smack you in the head and tell you to go in
I'm sure this is all just malicious gossip by jealous people though.
Peace man, its so mellow out here.
Hey get off my wave.

[fong]

In the water he can be unassuming and almost friendly if there is just the two of you out. The more people in the water the greater his ego takes over until he is an overbearing loud mouthed wave hog
He has a lovely style on the wave though.
In business (and socially) he is known for dropping his own name repeatedly (I remember overhearing Grant Kenny do exactly the same - repeating his own name every sentence on the phone)

Boards - I thought He did shape some lovely rounded pins in the late 70's early 80's and did some interesting stuff with vee and concaves.

i'm just addin me own feelings here......take or leave

his a dickhead in the water out at the point.....more so for his god given belief even thu his sydney blow " once was king" innnn and can afford his rates (via very seedy means in the beginin ) THAT HE...AND HIS MOST PROTECTED LEGGED UP SON...DESERVE A RIGHT TOO EVERY WAVE

he wasn't just bashed at anga he driven out the area for being a dropin....protect my precious son...his nearly good me ...blow in sydney wanker

take that as u wat u want...truth hurts...as people age they seem find it hard let go.....so they move nth or buy two poodles and surf freshwater more

p.s i think his writing was great....the history surfing a fantastic bit work

p.p.s and mr bean.....nat throwing rocks people in glass houses .....end up with facial surgery living in the country

oh....and he couldn't shape a board save his life...his oz's greatest pretender

in the end...his that olddddd and over it and his son sooooo weak and scared in big waves.....the names almost a shame

[chrisb]

Fong, I'm glad you removed Beau from the "protected species" list. He's a w_anker just like his father.

I saw him up at Byron a few years ago. He was taking off on the outside on his mal, getting every wave he went for.

One of the other surfers out there, who had patiently been giving Beau right of way, found himself on the inside and was up - Beau dropped in and even had the hide to cut back on him eventually ruining the guy's ride.

Unfortunately as the little p_rick wasn't alone and the victim was, nothing happened. However, if he continues the way he does, he is likely to receive some "rough justice" just as his father did.

[Beanpole]

Not Young

[sean--]

Its a shame that someone with with as much surfing talent and influence as Nat Young should end up getting bashed and having to leave an area for being such a wanker but he made his bed. Take MR for example 4 times world champ and as humble and nice bloke as you could hope to meet. I wonder if Nat gets on this site.

[phil osofer]

The film footage of him surfing Broken HEAD[get it] in Morning of the Earth is an excellent expression of 'The basic rhythm of surfing"[ the rollercoaster].The wave is the teacher and a long peeling wave is the best teacher.

[Beanpole]

Nat was a hero when I was a grommet and I was surprised by how much people on the Nthrn Beaches laid into him on this site when I started reading it. All that stuff at Anga and re: junior i.e. Young Young does put it into perspective though I guess.

As I said earlier in this post its easier to see outrageous behaviour as really cool when its happening somewhere else and to someone else.

[Nick Carroll]

It's interesting reading all these comments about Nat, taken together they're a good reflection of him -- quite complex and contradictory qualities bound up in a fairly big character.

On one level he's like anyone else, when you meet somebody you tend to make a fairly quick gut level decision over whether you like 'em or not and I've always liked Nat, he's a very hard core surfer and puts a lot of energy into his life, and wears his interests and heart on his sleeve.

On other levels he can be pretty hilarious with the ego, though it's kind of softened because it's so bloody obvious -- a bit like the ego of a little boy who thinks he's the bee's knees and isn't afraid of waving it around...a bit different from the more subtle yet somehow more repellent ego of an intelligent powerful adult.

He can be cruel and dismissive of people, as can be witnessed by all the crew who've got stories of him bullying people in the surf, yet he can also be very generous and incredibly charming. It's hard to stay pissed off at him over anything if he decides to whip out the charm. I'd imagine there's quite a few people who would testify to that.

On yet another level, while Nat tends to rate himself pretty goddam highly as a surfer, he's justified in doing so, I would have to say there are very few top Aussie surfers in whom part of his style doesn't somehow live, Parko is probably the best example of that these days with his long carving turns and relaxed yet powerful stance. Warts and all Nat's part of our surfing heritage and I think a valuable and irreplaceable part.

fongy, I don't think Nat's been kicked out of Angas, he still lives there with the family for at least half the year and it's not like the guy who smashed him is exactly a folk hero in those parts.