Riptide Magazine

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BODYBOARDING!

Thursday, 07 July 2011 13:03

Apparently today is the 40th Anniversay of the Bodyboard - let's freakin' party!

You see Tom Morey shaped his very first board way back in 1971 and he named the Mach 7-7 as his first creation was formed on the 7th of July (the 7th of the 7th) - cool huh?!

To kick things off, we've got a few classic shots of Mach 7-7s in action from Riptide's early years. The opening picture was Mr Paul Roach when he first began hunting for the badger. Next up you have Mike Stewart at Shark Island in one of Chris Stroh's legendary shots (check Strohy's Bodyboard Musuem for more gold). Looking at the shot you'll also see a little kid with the yellow sleeved springy, that's is Adam "Wingnut" Smith, already sitting near the top of the pack.

For those of you with the eyes of a tiger, you'll probably notice that Mike's board has Turbo on written on it. That's because Turbo's founder Russ Brown (Turbo stands for The Ultimate Russ Brown Obsession) produced Mike Stewart's first signature model, the Pro-Comp.
We'll have more on Russ' contributions to the sport for you shortly.

Rest In Peace Brett Young.

We've also got you this piece by Tom Morey that was written for Riptide #100, July 2000 (you can find past issues of Riptide here).

Blind Imitation.
By Tom Morey
Dearly beloved friends, and that's what you are to me, every special one of you out there riding waves.

While the vast majority of mankind is still in the dark (most of the time indoors) following superstitions and getting sucked into cults that separate one from the other over beliefs, you are out there experiencing the wonders of God's creation firsthand with people of every supposed "faith", soaking up the light of understanding and getting brighter and brighter in all ways, clearer and clearer in all regards with each day. For, among other things, you are learning directly about dealing with the ever-changing cycles of nature and this is the foundation of real learning.

What I want to talk to you about then, at least to the clearer ones among you, is about breaking away from blind imitation. Don't get me wrong, blind imitation is cool, it's how we learn to walk and talk, it's what goes on before maturity, but there comes a time when you want to wake up and figure things out on your own. Here's a solid example of how we are all steeped in blind imitation - even the greatest ones/

Back in 1971 I made the first boogie board 54 inches long. Not because it was some great and clever dimension, but because the blank I made it from was 108 inches long and I simply cut that blank in half. During the next couple of years I brought the length down to something more like 48 inches because 54 was - in fact - way too floppy given the materials we were using in those days. Then one day I figured that if I pinched the length down to 42 and a half inches I could ship four boards at one, via the United Parcel Service limits instead of three.

This was back in 1977. Twenty-three years ago! So as my shop and the guys who had branched from it opened new manufacturing plants and more and more competition came into being, souls weighing anywhere from 40 pounds to 250 pounds all rode 42 ad a half inch long boards. What's up with that?

Millions of dollars have been spent between 1977 and 2000 on research and design and advertising and on sponsorship of hundreds of professional riders. 5'6'' to 6'2'' tall, 130 to 200 pounds and guess what? To within half an inch all of them, all the top riders for the past 23 years, all of the Yanks, South Africans, Aussies, Hawaiians, everyone of them have been riding basically the same length board. Ask the big one why he rides a board so small and he has a great and definite reason. Ask the smallest one and he also has a reason, ableit a different one.

Now, do you think they've all ridden this same basic length because it's magically special? Or can you imagine that all 20,000,000 bodyboarders over the years have naively, blindly following each other?

What else in your life are you just going along with? What else might you be better off changing or be smart to get out of?

............................

Bodyboarding - Happy Birthday to You!