


A young PT at Black Rock 1975 with his fish. Like those flames.A big thanks to PT for his support , he lives in the States but has been to all 3 Fish Frys down here on the Gold Coast.
Sean Mattison as you know is a well known Fish Man from Oceanside California and Fish Fry supporter. He has just forwarded these shots of himself and PT enjoying their first session on one of his new designs the Moon fish that he made up for PT under Sean's new label Von Sol. PT brought down a board of his that he wanted Sean to ride that he had shaped in 1974.
PT and Sean wax up. PT with the Moon Fish. His 1974 shaped board in the middle.

Sean giving PT's 1974 shape a real good work out.
PT's not past giving the Moon Fish a good shake down as well.
Some nice action shots care of Lance Smith.
Moran did a lot of water time and John had all the other angles covered. Great day all day.
Tyler was off to give one of Tom Wegener's hollow Paulownia Tuna's a run.
Tyler chilling with the Paul and Dain from Sea surfboards. In the foreground a couple of boards by Josh Hall and Manny that tyler brought with him.
Looking forward to the release of the film. Check out his blog for further updates.
“Shaper’s Night at the Museum” went off with great success on Wednesday the 9th of September. Surfing icon Bob McTavish was the keynote speaker for the not-for-profit event which was held at the recently opened Gold Coast Surf World Museum in Currumbin.
Shaper’s that were there included DHD, Al Byrne, Passion8, Bourton, Full Force, DMS, Dorrington, D’Arcy, Chris Garrett, Grown , Hellfish, FIREWIRE, Diverse, Astro Surfboards, Joe Larkin, Tony Dempsey, Dale Chapman and of course Bob McTavish.
Local muso Dan Hannaford entertained the crowd as they had a few beers to warm up
Al Byrne, a great shaper , innovator and a funny bugger to boot. Kiwi as well.
Bob explaining his new quad fin setup, where the width of the back fins are set at the same length of your foot , so as to give you the most control and power.
Bob McTavish captivated the audience as he showed off his new fin placement system and explained the logic behind using your foot size to customise fin placement on surfboards. It wasn’t all technical, as Bob took us all back in time to uncrowded perfection of Noosa, sleeping in surf clubs and surviving on a shilling a day.
Al Byrne and John Milne were also guest speakers and gave the crowd some different bottom design ideas which included channel bottoms and 1 and a 1/2 inch thick concaves.
Nice turnout of interested folk.
John Milne from Hellfish then pulled out a show stopper. His “fish” surfboard with a vibrant lifelike fishy artwork has to be seen to be really believed. The “fish” is trippy and looks like a giant lure.
Shaper’s were all invited to bring along a board to showcase, a crowd favourite was Full Force’s hand shaped gun featuring a spray of rock goddess P!NK and her husband Carey Hart. Dan MacDonald (DMS) also provided a good looking twinnie, which also proved to be very popular with the crew.
The night really was something special.
“The Gold Coast Surf World museum is totally reliant upon community support. Volunteers make up the entire staff roster, we are always on the lookout for people willing to help out”, said Bob Pankhurst, one of the museum committee members.
‘Shaper’s Night at the Museum’ was an initiative of three volunteers, Nikki Jackson, Werner Kotze and Gus Goozee. They are hoping that following this project they can source unpaid work experience in various areas of the surfing industry.
For further information contact:
Surf World Museum Gold Coast: (07) 5525 6380
Nikki Jackson: 0432 743 599
Gus Goozee: 0406 080 309
Werner Kotze: 0431 469 856
The legendary Bob McTavish will be amongst the line up of guest speakers at Surf World Gold Coast’s “Shaper’s Night at the Museum” that will be attended by the who’s who of Gold Coast surfboard shapers on Wednesday, 9 September 2009 from 6.00 pm.
The event will give shapers the chance to come together for a relaxed night at Surf World where shapers and the general public will get the chance to interact in what could be the first of an annual event for the recently opened museum.
When asked to be one of the guest speakers, McTavish replied: “I’d be stoked and honoured to speak about shaping at the museum. I’m keen to support your museum. It’s really cool.”
Bob McTavish started surfing when he was 12 and began shaping at the age of 17 and was the inventor of the vee-bottom surfboard. He was Queensland state champion in 1964, 1965 and 1966, and was runner up in the Australian National Titles in 1966. Bob has appeared in about 10 surf films. Australia’s Surfing Life magazine selected Bob as the “Most Influential Shaper of All Time” in 1992. In 1996 he was inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame.
The night is being held as a non profit event and all proceeds will go towards Surf World Gold Coast. Guests will get the opportunity to hear first hand how shaping and surfing evolved over the years and where the industry is heading and will take a tour through the museum’s big surfboard exhibition.
It promises to be a night not to miss. The public are urged to book their tickets quickly as numbers are limited and should sell out quick. Tickets can be booked by sending an e-mail to shapersnight@hotmail.com. Tickets are on sale for $10 each and will include snacks and refreshments.
The event is supported by Southern Cross University through their Diploma of Sport Management (Surfing Studies) course.
For further information contact:
Karen Hutchinson Ph: 0439 226 057
Yes I have the word from Sean Mattison that the Fish Fry is back on the agenda. Not AB3 or something else but a Fish Fry - just FISH . Like it was when I was there for Fish Fry 4 in 2006 at Oceanside. The fish isn't dead guys . So it is Sunday September 13th. More details when they come to hand. We had some 35 + shapers at the Alley Fish Fry and the Japanese one was a huge success . The fish is influencing a lot of the shapes that are out there now. Too soon to pull the plug guys. 


Here is some fine wood work for sure . Five or six mixed woods all chambered and shaped . Beautiful gloss finish . Click on the image for a bigger view of the detail. As you can see it has become one of Rogers regular rides. So it is no show pony , but a great performing board. Roger is a little rugged up for the New Zealand winter .