We continue our search for the true history and current whereabouts of the square tail single fin with tiger spray that featured in the classic 1981 Australian coming of age/surf movie Puberty Blues directed by Bruce Beresford. Starring Nell Schofield. I present to you an ad from Emerald surfboards Cronulla featuring a strikingly similar Tiger spray board. Closer inspection will reveal that the board in the ad is a rounded pin tail twin fin and is missing the bold red keyline around the tail. The search goes on.
with thanks to Andrew, Steve Core & Cronulla surf museum's Chris Stroh.
World's most famous obscure surfboards 4- Square tail single fin with tiger spray Part 1
World's most famous obscure surfboards 4- Square tail single fin with tiger spray Part 2
This is the forth in a series of postings where I try to determine the worlds most famous and culturally valuable surfboards, where they are now, examine their history and celebrate their obscurity. The definition is simple, the surfboard the most people have seen and are aware of.
The next board I'd like to submit for your consideration (again) is the square tail single fin from Puberty Blues. Puberty Blues is an Australian movie based on Kathy Lette's novel about growing up the the surf side suburb of Cronulla in the late 70's. The story climaxes when the two heroines overcome their hardships and prejudices and buy their own board and just go surfing. The movie made a huge impact on me as a kid growing up in love with surfing. But it wasn't till I watched Bombora - The Story of Australian Surfing that I realized just how influential the movie really was. A number professional surfers in the documentary site the movie as one of their main inspirations to get involved in surfing. World champ Mark Occhilupo actually scored a extras part in the movie as a 10 year old grom! The highlight of the movie for me is seeing the board they buy. A square tail single fin with an unbelievable spray of a leaping tiger on the bottom. To me it is one of the most collectible surfboards in Australian surf culture history. I have been doing my research on who shaped it and where they bought it. Apparently there were two surf shops in in Cronulla in 1981 when the film was made. With help from my friend Sam who worked in one of the shops at the time (and rumor has it played the part of the shop assistant who severs the girls the chicko rolls) we have worked out is was a locally made G&S or Emerald and probably came from Steve Core's Surf shop.
We need to find out. a) How many people know of this board? b) Who shaped it. c) Where is it now? I think Keith already knows the answer to this one!
Puberty Blues is an Australian movie based on Kathy Lette's novel about growing up the the surf side suburb of Cronulla in the late 70's. The story climaxes when the two heroines overcome their hardships and prejudices and buy their own board and just go surfing. The movie made a huge impact on me as a kid growing up in love with surfing. But it wasn't till I watched Bombora - The Story of Australian Surfing that I realized just how influential the movie really was. A number professional surfers in the documentary site the movie as one of their main inspirations to get involved in surfing. World champ Mark Occhilupo actually scored a extras part in the movie as a 10 year old grom! The highlight of the movie for me is seeing the board they buy. A square tail single fin with an unbelievable spray of a leaping tiger on the bottom. To me it is one of the most collectible surfboards in Australian surf culture history. I have been doing my research on who shaped it and where they bought it. Apparently there were two surf shops in in Cronulla in 1981 when the film was made. With help from my friend Sam who worked in one of the shops at the time (and rumor has it played the part of the shop assistant who severs the girls the chicko rolls) we have worked out is was a locally made G&S or Emerald and probably came from Steve Core's Surf shop. This board needs to go to the Museum of Australia and hung on the wall next to Ned Kelly's helmet and Phar Lap's heart.
