It all started with the fish when the innovative shapers and board builders out there decided to revisit the past for some inspiration. In doing so they brought back some lost skills such as resin tints and hand foiled fins.The Fish Fry has been a place for these fine craftsmen to showcase their skills. We have seen some amazing boards as shapers have pushed the boundaries over the last few years. As this new look at the fish has evolved to its many forms, it has influenced other shapes and designs along the way.This has spawned a renewed interest in other board forms by this same group and a wider following.Notably the Mini Simmons, Hulls, old school Logs and Pigs. It is pleasing to note that there are an increasing number of people building their own boards as well.All of this is to be applauded and celebrated as a positive for surfing.So it is only natural that these shapers and board builders continue to share their skills with us and include these other shapes at the Fish Fry.It has truly become a melting pot of ideas for like minded people.

Byron Bay Surf Festival


Bring Them To The Beach
At the heart of experience is change. To stagnate is to bid farewell to a lifestyle of excitement and pleasure; revoke experience and the vibrancy of life slips away.
The second annual Byron Bay Surf Festival invites you to reawaken your experience of surfing with the Freestyle & Stoke Surf Sessions and Swap Meet.
An increasing abundance of swap meets around the world has seen surfers bringing together their collective quivers to swap, trade and sell boards no longer used or fallen out of favour – a cheap, if not free way to breathe new life into paddling out. The Surf Swap Meet is without restriction or parameter – simply bring a board, take a look, buy, sell, exchange or even walk away empty-handed engorged on a plethora of eye-candy.
Taking place right on the sand at Byron Bay’s Watego’s Beach, as with so much about the Byron Bay Surf Festival, the Surf Swap Meet is rare, if not unique, in that it provides an opportunity for potential new owners to try before they buy. The sheltered bay at Watego’s provides the perfect testing ground for would-be buyers or swappers, allowing as much a showcase of boards as a retail event.
There is always a board in the back of the garage or under the house gathering more dust than the rest, not necessarily because of any lack of love but just that others have taken preference. Whatever it may be, thruster, log, paipo, fish – anything at all that floats – the Byron Bay Surf Festival offers a venue for you to show off and share.
But the day isn’t confined to a barter-fest. Celebrated shapers from around the country, including , Classic Malibu, The Critical Slide Society and Morning Of The Earth Surfboards, along with California’s Ryan Lovelace and Toru Handplanes of Japan will be offering test-rides of many of their models, a rare chance enabling you to ride a swathe of different craft to expand your awareness of board design.
To inspire you further, The Freestyle Surf & Stoke Surf Session draws together a collection of professional and renowned surfers to display their talents and, hopefully, encourage them to step out of their comfort zones. Former ASP World Tour surfer, ‘Top-44’ contender and proud Byronian Danny Wills was last year coaxed by Tom Wegener to ride a finless alaia for the first time. Wegener was absolutely overwhelmed with excitement, the beach’s onlooking crowd also thrilled at the elite professional shortboarder showing his consummate abilities on equipment so far removed from his usual craft of choice.
Expanding further the day’s experiences, Toru is offering a free handplane workshop. The Japanese master craftsman has travelled his country’s coastline on a bicycle and bodysurfed and shared his handicraft with the masters of the alternative Keith, Dan, and Chris Malloy. Bringing his tools and skills to the beach, he will be whittling and educating in the art of handplanes, presenting his pintsized surfcraft and helping anyone interested to create their very own.
A day rich in camaraderie and experience unfolds on the final day of the three-day Byron Bay Surf Festival, Sunday 28th October. A nominal administration fee of $5 per board will be charged for those wishing to sell or swap their boards, but all other events for the day are entirely free of charge.
Join, share, enjoy. Byron Bay Surf Festival takes place on 26-28 October. Visit www.byronbaysurffestival for further information, a program of events and the latest festival news and announcements.
 I went to the first one last year and had a great time. We are booked to spend the weekend there.




 

Josh Hall is ready to shape a board for you ...


Josh Hall is coming down to Australia in late October , so if you would like to line him up to shape a board for you while he is here then now is the time.


"Josh Hall is a surfer/shaper from San Diego, California. His innovative shapes are a direct result of the many hours spent with his mentor, Skip Frye. His boundless energy and stoke is evident in the way he lives his life. "
Check out his sites to see what he can do for you :

Slide the Glide,
Josh Hall Surfboards  - www.joshhallsurfboards.com
Blog- The Hole in the Hall  - www.theholeinthehall.blogspot.com

Josh Hall  : jhallsurfboards@gmail.com





A night to remember

Bob McTavish and the ’48 Holden, Noosa 1966   © John Witzig

A Slide Night with John Witzig and Mike Perry

Saturday 6th October 2012 @ 7.00 (Doors Open 6.00)


Tickets $10 @ the door
Beers and a sausage sizzle will be available

John Witzig has become an icon of Australian surfing. In a ‘career’ studded by controversy, he has been a surfer, photographer, writer, editor and publisher. The former editor of Surfing World and Surf International in the 1960’s, founding partner of Tracks magazine in 1970 and Sea Notes in 1977 John has done it all. In 1967 John wrote a controversial article for the American  Surfer magazine titled ‘We’re Tops’ which claimed Australian surfers were better than American surfers. The article was later described as splendidly inflammatory.

Surf World Gold Coast is proud to announce that John will host a slide night on 6th October where he will show a selection of his photos from the 60s and 70s, with commentary on that evolutionary era in surfing when board design was changing rapidly and surfers were exploring the virgin breaks that have now become mainstream destinations.

John will be ably backed up by expat American, and world-renowned surf forecaster, Mike Perry. Though well known by the surfing hierarchy, Mike and his contributions to surfing have generally remained under the radar. Thanks to Paul Witzig, John’s brother, the night will end with the showing of 3 short film clips from his groundbreaking movies, Hot Generation, Evolution and Sea of Joy.



Tomewin Street
Currumbin 4223
PH: 07- 5525 6380
Surf World Gold Coast is a not-for-profit museum
dedicated to celebrating the history and culture of surfing.







The 7ft 10" Kiwi simmons

Roger Hall in New Zealand has just had an order for a larger Simmons. Like most of us we have only ever shaped smaller ones below 6ft so then enlarging the whole concept is a whole new ball game.
 Here you can see Rogers distinctive rail chine

 Nice flowing outline

 The chine and bottom roll being checked out



Roger Hall - Surfline surfboards New Zealand , a very innovative shaper and craftsman

Wanda Fish Fry today













Today was the first Wanda Fish Fry put on by Ben Di Donato on the south side of Sydney. Looks like they had a great day and a great turnout. Nice one mate.  www.wandafishfry.tumblr.com

Looking south

A great angle of the Gold Coast looking south to Surfers Paradise from South Straddie island with the Gold Coast seaway walls  and jetty. Nice.

This Time Tomorrow


Byron Bay Surf Festival welcomes Taylor Steele Premiere
The extensive program of events for the Byron Bay Surf Festival is already expansive. But, to add yet another layer of delectable icing onto the already heavily adorned cake, renowned surf filmmaker Taylor Steele has been invited to utilize the event in his adopted hometown to screen his latest cinematic creation, This Time Tomorrow.
The film tracks a single, epic swell as it traverses the Pacific Ocean, its reverberations felt across three continents and its shore-bound repercussions surfed by some of the world’s finest surfers in Dave Rastovich, Craig Anderson, Kelly Slater, Chris Del Moro, Alex Grey and Dan Malloy.
Spanning eight days and 18,000 miles of travel, the film, as is so often the case with Steele’s creations, breaks new grounds and opens new concepts in surf filmmaking.
Steele is using this opportunity to screen his latest odyssey as part of the Australian launch due to his involvement in the Byron Bay Surf Festival and, more specifically, in Surf Shorts, the festival’s short film competition.
Surf Shorts is challenging anyone with the slightest inkling towards cinematography to create a short film of between five and seven minutes on the theme of “Surf Culture Now – experimental surf designs.” Entrants may interpret the theme however they see fit, with parameters limited only by their imaginations.
The rewards for their efforts are extraordinary – not only are a host of incredible material prizes on offer, such as a handcrafted McTavish surfboard, a Go Pro HD2 surf camera and Skullcandy Mix Master Headphones, but Steele is also offering a mentorship to the lucky winner.
Taylor Steele has been creating groundbreaking surf films for over two decades and his accumulative knowledge and influence will prove invaluable education to the lucky winner. Such a unique opportunity could easily provide the launch pad for the talented winning individual’s film career.
The Australian premiere of This Time Tomorrow takes place on Saturday 27th October in conjunction with the screening of the five finalists’ Surf Shorts creations, the winner to be announced on the night. A stellar panel of judges, including Johnny Abegg, Justin Gane, Dick Hoole and Mick Waters, shall select the winning film, the public invited to join the evening’s exciting events, to be held at the Byron Bay Community Centre.
Submissions for the Surf Shorts film competition should be in DVD format and of between five and seven minutes in length and presented by no later than 14th October. For full information, terms and conditions, visit www.byronbaysurffestival.com and view Saturday’s events.

ASCIA meeting

2012 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Monday, 1st October 2012 (6:00pm-9:00pm) – Surf World Museum, Gold Coast
WE WANT YOU TO ATTEND
Whether you are a big player or a small time manufacturer, a supplier of materials, labour or services to the Australian surf craft industry or an owner of a retail outlet that sells Australian made surf craft products, then this meeting is for you....

The forming of an association for our industry is long overdue. If we want to survive the next decade and beyond and potentially grow our industry to be recognised for it’s quality, service and professionalism on a global scale, we need to act now. Whether it be for exports of our amazing products around the world or attracting overseas tourists to Australia without a board in their luggage, (because they know Australia is the best place in the world to buy one) then we need to come together.....

Come and voice your thoughts on our iconic industry, ask questions or simply see what other’s have to say.....but please show your support for this very important next step for all. ASCIA would like to know the primary issues that are affecting your business, which you would like to see our organisation address in its future initiatives. Please remember, we are here to help you and would love to hear you what you have to say. Please email jarryd@surfcraftindustry.com on items or issues you would like discussed at our AGM. We look forward to hearing from you!

September 22nd

Yes September the 22nd is the date for what you might call alternate surfboard gatherings. Starting with the first Wanda Beach Fish Fry on the South side of Sydney Australia put on by Ben Di Bonato.
www.wandafishfry.tumblr.com.

Then there is the 6th Annual European Fish Fry to be held at Crackington Haven , North Cornwall in England by Mick  – 01825 721 117 / 07968 175 021,  Email : lokboxeurope@gmail.com | facebook

Also on this day is the Single Fin Classic Festival of Surfing at Pietrasanta which is just 30km north of Pisa in Italy that is being host by good friend Marco Mazzini and his friends . singlefinit.blogspot.it

So if you live near any of these locations or can get to them in a couple of weeks time I am sure you will be surrounded by a group of like minded people who love to surf and enjoy riding all sorts of boards. This is something that is growing and spreading across the surfing community. 

There have also been a Fish Fry in Japan and of course the original ones in California.This is the one I went to in Oceanside in 2006.

The 6th Annual European Fish Fry

This event opens a window to the underground surf culture, and allows shapers and surfers to spend some time with other like minded shapers and surfers from all over Europe and the USA to experiment and share there knowledge, designs and interpretations of the ‘Fish’.
The Fish Fry started in California 2006. The idea was to spread the design and to avoid it getting lost in time. The results have been very positive; the growing interest in the fish design has spread the event overseas to places like Australia, Japan and Europe.
For 30 years, the ‘Fish’ design has fascinated many surfers and artisans because of its shape, performance and feeling transmitted to the surfer. Some surfers consider it a mythic design and for the cultural atmosphere the boards have created transforming it into a cult object.
AB3 stands for…anything but 3 i.e fins! Single fins, fish, quads, bonzers a go go, etc No thrusters!
For further details on exhibiting surfboards or visiting contact:
Mick – 01825 721 117 / 07968 175 021
Email : lokboxeurope@gmail.com | facebook

The Tyler Warren Experiment


From the makers of “One California Day” and “Natural Expressions” comes a new feature length surf film documenting the evolution of a surfer and his craft. Drawing from 50 years of design inspiration, the Tyler Warren Experiments explores Tyler’s surfing, influences, and interest in board design through collaboration with a number of today’s most respected craftsmen. Shot on location in Australia, California, Indonesia, Mexico, and Morocco, the film features (in alphabetical order): The Campbell Brothers, Manuel Caro, Chris Christenson, Skip Frye, Josh Hall, Devon Howard, Terry Martin, Dave Rastovich, Joel Tudor, Christian Wach, and more.

Jai Lee - the interview

Check it out here : www.driftsurfing.eu