The 1977 Stubbies was a pivotal point in surf history. Peter Drouyn introduced man on man surfing and Micheal Peterson redefined what a single fin could do on a wave. My mate Keith came in today frothing with a genuine pair of Stubbies board shorts from 1977 just like MR's. I couldn't believe that the pocket plaster was the official entry form for a comp to go to the event and even surf in the elimiation rounds. Imagine, all you had to do was go to Waltons or Fletcher Jones and buy a pair of shorts and you could have surfed in the contest with MR, Rabbit, MP, the young freckle faced Tom Carroll, PT, Mark Warren, Al Byrne, Cheyne Horan, Rory Russell, O&E founder Brian Cregan, Michael Ho, Bruce Raymond, Buzzy Kerbox, Dennis Pang, Mark Sedlak, Randy Rarrick, Ian Cairns, Paul Neilsen, Simon Anderson, Peter Drouyn, Ron Ford, Bondi's Steve Jones.
The rivaly between Occy and Tom Curren through the 80's was one of the most exciting the sport has seen. Two differnt personalities, two very different surfing styles. Tom's style was that of a fulid, smooth and graceful natural footer and Occy being a powerful, radical, agressive goofyfoot. So too they rode two very different distinctive boards. Occy's Rustys where flat, thick with hard, sharp, angry rails. Tom's were smooth with a subtle pair of Al's famous hips.
Rangi's broken nose was impressive, but an anonymous Californian collector has written to me with pics of his collection of Occy and Tom's competition boards from the 80's. Wow- thats an important slice of surf history right there!
Occy’s Redemption At The 1986 Op Pro. by Michael Kew for Transworld Surf
Rivalries are one of the most compelling aspects of professional sports. In the 1980s, Australia’s Mark Occhilupo and California’s Tom Curren were surfing’s prime example, drawing huge crowds just to see them duel. Their early-1986 showdowns were legendary. In March at Burleigh Heads, during the final leg of the 1985–1986 ASP World Tour, they met in the semifinal of the Stubbies Classic, which induced major controversy because one of Occy’s best waves was grossly underscored by a napping judge. That wave would’ve put Occy into the final. But Curren won the heat and the event, and the judge resigned. A month later, on Easter Sunday at cranking Bells Beach, Curren earned his first world title by decisively beating Occy in the semifinal, in one of the greatest heats ever. “I have to be his [Occy’s] fiercest rival, because we both want to win,” the new world champ told Surfer Magazine. “I respect him, I like him, but he is the enemy. And I don’t think that it’s a negative thing at all.” Following Bells, Curren won the Marui Japan Open in May, the Gotcha Pro in Hawaii in June, plus the Lacanau Pro in France and the Fosters Surfmasters, both in August. He’d boycotted the two South African contests in July, which meant all four 1986/1987 ASP season events he’d entered, he’d won. After Bells, Occy was seemingly left for dead. Things changed at the Op Pro in Huntington Beach, a venue known for its Occy-Curren battles. Curren won the event in 1983 and 1984, Occy in 1985. “It was nearly automatic that Curren and Occhilupo would turn in the best performances of the meet,” Matt Warshaw wrote in The Encyclopedia Of Surfing. And 1986 was no exception. Peter Drouyn, who invented the man-on-man heat format at the 1977 Stubbies Classic, had suggested to Op Pro contest director Ian Cairns the concept of a competitor’s priority in a heat being decided by paddling around a buoy moored in the lineup. It was precisely what Occy needed August 31 during his semifinal with nemesis Curren. With three minutes to go, the drama grew thick. Both surfers caught waves in a two-wave set, rode them well all the way to shore, and began paddling back out. Their scores were basically equal—the heat could’ve gone either way. And since Occy had caught the first wave, he was about twenty yards ahead of Curren. Whoever reached the buoy first would win the heat. Somehow Curren made up ground on the way back out, and suddenly the two were paddling furiously side-by-side. Paddling, kicking, and giving it their all, the crowd roared in excitement. It looked like they rounded the buoy at the exact same time, though Occy just barely ahead edged Curren out. With priority, he caught a bomb, advanced to the finals, and won the contest. For Occy, it was payback, and, as surf writer Derek Hynd said, the paddle battle was “far and away the most exciting 30 seconds of non-waveriding ever lived in the modern game.”
RUSTY PREISENDORFER SIGNED FOR OCCY 6'10 X 18 1/2 X 2 1/2 ROUND TAIL. This board was recently found stashed underneath a house on the noth shore. This is the board occy rode at rocky point during the mid 80's.
CHANNEL ISLANDS SHAPED FOR TOM CURREN # 20362 SHAPED BY AL 6'4 X 18 1/4 X 2 1/2
STRAIGHT OUT OF THE OP PRO OR BELLS CIRCA 1986-1988
RUSTY PREISENDORFER FOR MARK OCCHILUPO SIGNED ON STRINGER 6'3 X 19 1/2 X 2 1/2 THRUSTER BOX RAILED SQUASH TAIL.
STRAIGHT FROM THE PRO TOUR CIRCA 1986-1988
In a nice foot note to this posting Tom & Mark have just gone up against each other at the Rip Curl Bells Easter Pro.
Aloha Damion! Just got your new post on "the Original Sting"...next to Bonzers & vintage guns, I love the Stinger shapes! I've been putting together a vast collection of Stingers from various shapers for many years now. My Aipa's are by far my favorites!...and I even have two Progressive Expressions Stingers that Joe Kuala shaped over on Kauai back in the 70's...one with a "step bottom"...what's interesting about those, is that Joe Kuala taught ben Aipa how to shape surfboards. They're both Hawaiian shaping "living legends" for sure, much respect for both gentlemen. When Gavin was over here in the islands, I traded him one of my nicest Wave Crest Hawaii Stingers for that Cooper Bonzer. You'll probably see it at the Deus Swapmeet, if he decides to sell it. Gavin also got two of my Greg Noll Transitional shapes and one of my prized (signed) 70's Brewer guns... You posted the Greg Noll Fain's Formula on your website a week or so ago. Thought I'd share a few pics of me Stingers, before I get back to the sanding room... I found a picture of Ben Aipa riding the yellow/red Stinger in one of my old 70's mags...stoked! All the boards are for sale if you know any interested parties. The yellow & red one might be going into Randy's next surf auction though, next year.
Cheers mate!
Tim
Damion, Here's a few more Stinger pics... Joe Kuala "Progressive Expressions Kauai" worth mentioning...plus a couple others that I didn't make the group shot, like the T&C Minami Stinger that I just started to restore. I have a "Stinger Bonzer" that I cut out already, just need to shape it...going to be all black as a tribute to Johnny Cash. ...That reminds me, I have to lay up a panel and make the black Bonzer fins!...going to be a traditional 3 fin model 6'9" rider. There's also a cool picture that I took a few years back over at Randy Rarick's house at Sunset Beach, when he was showing me the boards that were ready for the auction that year...one of Randy's Surfline Stingers. I have one of those too that I started the resto on, got it a few months back around Thanksgiving time. Stoked on da Stingers! Peace, Tim
The mid 1970’s is one of the most fascinating periods of surfing and innovation period surfboard development. The shortboard revolution had been underway for only a few years and iconic brands such as Lightning Bolt were in their infancy. Kneeboarders, who in many respects had been at the forefront of the designs that initiated the demise of the traditional longboard, were themselves under pressure from the new “Boogie board”, Tom Morey’s rectangular polyethylene foam slab that heralded the 'beginning’ of the plague that became modern bodyboarding. It was in this period that the first leashes or leg ropes appeared, surf films came into their own and the first international professional surfing tour was won by Australia’s Peter Townend in 1976.
In the context of this came a Hawaiian shaper named Ben Aipa whose combination of design features with single fin shortboards resulted in the shape now known as the 'Stinger'. These included splitting the tail and moving the fin forward, introducing ‘wings’ or ‘flyers’ about one third from the tail and adding a ‘step’ across the bottom of the board at the same spot. According to Paul Holmes in “Surfboards” these elements
“had the effect of creating a break in the rail line that allowed a single-fin board to release quicker and to draw tighter turns…giving rise to a more vertical approach to the wave”
Ben Aipa is not only a great innovator and shaper but has also coached and mentored numerous surfers of note over the years including Mark Richards, Larry Bertlemann, Dane Kealoha, Michael Ho and more recently Sunny Garcia and Andy Irons.
I have surfed this board and although it paddles and catches waves easily I found it stiff and hard to turn. Which makes Buttons 360' turns on a stinger in Many Classic Moments even more outrageous than when he eats a mouthful of sand!
