WORLD CHAMP ON SURF COAST TO PARTY!

The crew at Rip Curl, don't need much of an excuse to throw a party, so when team riders Steph Gilmore and Mick Fanning recently won World Titles in Hawaii, it was all systems go!

On the roof top, the Rippy staff and guests partied, as the music cranked and the sweet taste of success flowed freely.

Fanning was off snowboarding after Hawaii, so the spotlight was focused entirely on consecutive, three times, World Champ, Steph Gilmore. Yeah!

The guest of honor, Steph Gilmore.

Sisters are doin' it for themselves. The Gilmore girls

Steph with Jesse Spencer from TV show HOUSE

THE SPECIAL BOND BETWEEN SURFER AND SURFBOARD.

Labour Day long weekend, in ’72 on the Saturday arvo, my best mate and I had just surfed small clean Winkipop. On the way home we decided to swing by the Torquay Pub for a couple of beers to celebrate what was a fun uncrowded surf. Unfortunately the day’s enjoyment came to a screeching halt when we left the pub and discovered our boards had been stolen.

My buddy wasn’t overly concerned as he had surfboard insurance and needed a new board anyway. I wasn’t so lucky, F#%K!.

I was surfing a lot with Don Allcroft back then who at the time was shaping for Rip Curl, after doing his shaping apprenticeship with master craftsman Fred Pyke. I’d been riding Pyke surfboards since my first new, custom board in November ‘65. Not being too cashed up I went to see if Donny could do me a good deal on a new board.

Approaching Easter was always a difficult time to organise a new board. Don told me there was no hope of shaping a board for around three or four weeks due to the Easter rush. He’d just shaped three new boards for himself…a short board, semi gun and gun. After a fair bit of verbal jousting he figured he could pass his gun onto me, as he had another at home if the waves got solid. With the autumn, winter swells on the way I could get away with the gun and worry about a shorter replacement board later.

We had a great run of waves in the 5ft plus range for the next couple of months and I surfed Winkipop exclusively on this board. The boards specs were 7’3” x 18.25” x 3.25”. flat to vee/concave bottom pintail. Surfing back then was all about full carving rail turns with down the line acceleration. This board was perfect for Winki’s long walls.

At the time, Donny was into glassing surfing magazine cut outs onto his boards as well as pencilling geometric, line designs on many of his boards. The board ended up with lots of dings…this was pre leg ropes. We eventually resined in a piece of clothes line twine to attach a crude, dog collar/rope leg rope before the commercial production of leggies. I never traded this board in…I had some memorable surfs on it and kept dragging it out on those special Winki days.

Around 1977 twin fins became the latest and greatest thing and the old faithfull pintail was retired. It ended up under houses, in back sheds before I left it out at Speaky’s barn when Dennis “Strapper” Day was shaping there. It eventually ended up in the rafters at Strappers factory, bruised, battered and forgotten about.

In the mid 90s, Don Allcroft’s son Jason was working at Strappers and discovered the board his dad had shaped years before amongst a pile of dusty, old relics. It was a time when Torquay Boardriders were organising their first single fin comp. Not knowing of the boards history Jason started repairing it to ride the board in the Boardrioders event. For what ever reason, Jason didn’t complete the repairs, didn’t get to ride the board. Strappers, Mike DiSciascio eventually completed the repairs and the board now resides at my place.

I’m often tempted to surf the board again, for old time sake, but it’s sentimental value is too great to risk damaging in a crowded Winki Pop lineup. This Board’s a great reminder of some very special surfing moments, interesting people and Torquay as it used to be thirty five years or so ago. Great memories… but remember…surfing was/is never better than …NOW! Bob Smith.

SURFING COUNTER CULTURE, ALIVE AND WELL.

As surfing becomes firmly entrenched in boardrooms. Pro surfers worshipped like rock stars, and little separating the major surf brand's.

Opportunities present themselves for small indy labels to embrace creativity as expressions of their lifestyles.

I recently discovered one of these indy labels alive and well on the Surf Coast, quietly making in roads into the surf market both here in Australia and the U.S.

RAKE is the brain child of former industry insider, local designer/artist/surfer Adrian "Ado" Knott, who describes RAKE as more personal than the corporate surf companies.

Putting back the soul into surfing. A modern twist to old surf flavor.

It is all about appreciating and enjoying the ocean, art, surfboard shaping & working in collaboration with friends on new projects & offering cool products that reflect this feeling, pieces of wearable art instead of an exercise in branding.

Go to RAKE website

SURF COAST LOCAL SPOTTED ON HAWAII'S NORTH SHORE

Local Surf Coaster Cahill Bell-Warren spotted at Rocky Point on Hawaii's North Shore.

No matter where you are, Surf Coast Sizzle will find you.

Photo by legendary Aussie surf/waterman photographer, now living in Hawaii - Sean Davey.

Check out his fantastic work on

http://seandavey.com/wordpress/

WHAT'S HAPPENING

SURF COAST'S "SUNSET DUKES" will be appearing at

"LEFT OFF THE ROCKS"

Sat 28th Nov

10pm - 1am.

SUNSET DUKES sound is a mix of stripped back straight up blues/rock, heavily influenced

by the 70's Melbourne blues scene.

Doing regular gigs in Melbourne it will be the bands first appearance on the Surf Coast in some time.

SUNSET DUKES recently scored a highly sort after spot on the bill for the "APOLLO BAY MUSIC FESTIVAL"

and will be heading into the studio to record their debut CD very soon.

myspace.com/sunsetdukes

SURF SKATE COLLECTORS EXPO

WHO IS DOUG BARTLETT?

He's a man's man...

He's a ladies man...

He's a man for all seasons (footy that is!)

Doug Bartlett is generally pissed off.


Fed on a diet of chops and beer Nick Morris and David Bowers work relentlessy under this tirades command.

Doug continually forces creativity. If either party asks if it is okay to paint over the others art the response will generally be, "I hope Doug didn't hear that." He would be absoluteley furious. He sometimes stands outside the garage door, listening to hear the conversations. If it goes in a manner that suggests conservatism towards the art, I pitty the fool who passed such comments.

Doug is a harsh task master.

Doug Bartlett is the alter ego of a collaborative union of uber talented artists Nick Morris and Dave Bowers

It's where old school techniques collide head on with new school technology.

L-R, Nick, Dave.

Nick Morris and Dave Bowers graduated from Monash University (Caulfield) in 1986, both with Diplomas in Graphic Design.

They have worked together in the Street / Surf / Art subculture since creating clothing label “UMGAWA” in 1990.

After selling the UMGAWA label, Morris worked as art director for Quiksilver. He then launched “anyhow”, his own freelance design company in Torquay.

Bowers became a regular Mambo artist, as well as working as an illustrator and musician.

Between them they have produced, and continue to produce, art for brands such as Paul Frank, Stussy, Mossimo, Lee, Globe, and St. Lenny.

They were guest speakers at the prestigious Semi Permanent Art and Design conference ‘06 in Sydney and Perth. Their work was profiled in Desktop Magazine (Jan/Feb 07), and their painting “ THE GAMBLER”, only the third canvas they ever painted together, featured on the cover. They will be speaking at AGIdeas in Melbourne in April 2008. There art has also been published in Marvi Magazine, double page spreads in Useless in Europe, Empty magazine, Semi Permanent Sydney 2004 (8 pages), 2005,Semi Permanent New York book. He has also been profiled in King Brown magazine (issue No1).

Their combined canvases at ART MELBOURNE 07 sold out in two days.

This was the first time they had shown them in Melbourne.

They have exhibited at Fresh Gallery in Melbourne, Ho Gallery in Melbourne and Tiger Fish in Torquay. The prices have almost tripled in three months after an enormously successful showing at Art Sydney. After trucking down the Hume Highway the night before the show and sleeping in the back of the car at a truck stop, art was walking out the door from the outset of the show. An empty trailer was the vision for the journey back and it soon became a reality. They are currently exhibiting at Space Junk gallery in France and Gaffer Gallery in Hong Kong.

With collectors buying from all over the country and also internationally it is boom town for Doug Bartlett and his lacky’s.

“Morris’ and Bowers’ canvases indicate that freshness is still possible in a culture exhausted by all sorts of visual bombardment.”

Dr. Claudia Calirman, New York Museum of Fine Art

Jan Juc international HQ

The inner sanctum.

The final self critic

"The Art"

Exhibition coming up at Tigerfish soon. Stayed tuned.

Check out the web site...http://dougbartlett.com.au/