Amazingly, it's 50 years this week since the start of the Shortboard Revolution! Easter of 1967 fell on 24 to 27 of March, and the annual Bells Beach contest was the launch pad. It was a most exciting gathering of the Aussie surf tribe, with Nat Young as ruling World Champ, Midget Farrelly the '64 World Champ, emerging greats like Wayne Lynch, Ted Spencer, Russell Hughes, and Baddy Treloar. Everyone knew there were rumblings of change in the air.
I was in an anti-competition phase and surfed perfect Winkypop for the whole Easter alone. I had shaped two vee-bottom shortboards at Keyo's as experimental, both in the mid seven-foot range. My inspiration was surfing for the previous 3 winters with George Greenough on his kneeboard, carving vertical arcs and roundhouses. I wanted to do that standing up. It worked.
- Bob McTavish
"My memory may be failing me, but I seem to recall taking it to Hawaii and riding it at Pipeline on a very small but clean day. I remember that it flew along, was fast & smooth on the plane, but I think that the big wide tail made it quite difficult to turn."
- Paul Witzig
Photos by Micky Munoz and John Witzig
