Chairman’s Welcome W
elcome to our Winter edition of the Surfing Australia magazine. So much has been happening this year, with so much more to come, it is hard to know where to start writing about it all. Of course, we are still celebrating the milestone of our 50th Anniversary this year, and still buzzing from the Australian Surfing Awards held last February, when we marked the occasion in some style. It was a wonderful night, and a fitting way for the legends of Australian surfing to “draw the line in the sand”. Watch out for the next 50 years! If you couldn’t be there, (and even if you were), I hope you enjoy watching the DVD presentation that comes with this magazine. Coming also this summer is the Be the Influence Australian Boardriders Battle supported by Billabong, Toyota and Nikon. This project is of particular significance to me personally. With membership of Torquay Boardriders Club as part of my history, and sponsorship of the Quiksilver Surf League during my days in the industry, I am very proud to see Surfing Australia bringing back a national grassroots club competition. Be the Influence is an important initiative battling binge drinking and encouraging responsible alcohol use. Having lost one of my very best friends to liver disease a few years ago, this is an issue about which I feel very strongly. It is great to see Billabong on board as well, giving back to the sport’s building blocks.
Of course, all our other programs continue to develop. I am particularly excited about our extension of the VEGEMITE SurfGroms program into the charitable arena, through the support of the Quiksilver Foundation. My own Foundation has been able to make a contribution to this initiative as well. Bringing Aboriginal children from remote locations, and enabling them to experience surfing for the first time, has been challenging but unbelievably rewarding. Work has started on the Stage 2 extensions at the Hurley Surfing Australia High Performance Centre, which will allow for the construction of a new dedicated sport science research centre, while also coming this summer is MySurf.tv. This dedicated IPTV Channel is an exciting development into the world of digital content and online broadcasting and will give viewers access to a massive range of surfing content on any device. As usual, I sincerely thank the Australian government through the ASC, our corporate and industry sponsors, our State bodies, and our staff and contractors, for making all this possible. I trust you enjoy reading this issue.
Norm Inn is OAM
Chairman
Contributors
RABBIT BARTHOLOMEW
1978 World Champion, Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew was one of the most explosive performers on the world pro tour from its inception in 1976. He’s the surfer’s surfer who has used his popularity for the betterment of the sport through coaching, team management and administration. It’s because of the efforts of individuals such as Bartholomew that Australia remains one of the great surfing nations.
PHIL JARRATT
Phil Jarratt has worked in surf publishing and the surf industry for almost 40 years. He has been the editor of Tracks Magazine and Australian Surfers Journal and has contributed to most of the world’s leading surf publications. His books on surfing include The Wave Game (1977), Mr. Sunset (1997), The Mountain & the Wave (2006), For The Love (with Kelly Slater, 2008), Salts & Suits (2010), Australia’s Hottest 100 Surfing Legends (2011) and Surfing Australia: A Complete History of Surfboard Riding in Australia (2012).
NAT YOUNG
1966 World Champion, Robert “Nat” Young is widely regarded as the pioneer of the “new era” of the powerful and aggressive surfing style initiated during the mid 1960s. Nicknamed “The Animal”, he redefined Australian surfing in the 1960s and into the 1970s and then came back on a longboard in the 80s and did it again. Still surfing brilliantly on both shortboard and longboard, Nat remains one of surfing’s most powerful and enduring figures.
JON COGHILL
Jon Coghill is a has-been musician (Powderfinger drummer) who is now trying his hand at writing features for whoever will publish them. He’s been a keen surfer since dropping into a 3-foot Angourie back-beach bomb on his Moray Boogie Board at the age of 12. He graduated to a Hayden Kenny single fin a year later and he’s now addicted to spending his Christmas holidays in Hawaii browning his Speedos in the Sunset Beach line-up.
Editor: Tim Brimblecombe
2? |? Surfing Australia News