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Stu Nettle (stunet)
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Earlier this week, surfing debuted in the Olympics, subtly moving the sport into a new echelon, so hows about a counter-weight to all those visions of the future?

In 1969, Paul Witzig released his second film, Evolution, which documented the first year of surfing after the shortboard revolution. Design hadn't yet settled and boards were still getting shorter, reaching their nadir a year later at the 1970 World Titles, so the surfers Witzig filmed were on an array of boards. What they had in common was a noticeable reduction in size from their pre-'67 length, and they were piloted through sharper turns, performed closer to the curl than had yet been done.

Recall, just a year earlier, surfers were trimming straight, walking their ten-foot boards and hanging toes over the nose. Modern eyes need to keep some context.

Shorter and lighter boards allowed younger surfers to shine, and so it was with sixteen-year old Wayne Lynch who made the cover of Evolution, and became the star of the film throwing his 7'1" John Arnold Involvement around with aplomb.

Paul Witzig only made three films: Hot Generation, Evolution, and Sea of Joy, none of which have been digitised and posted online. Only excerpts appear, such as this section filmed during the 1969 Australian Titles at Mainbreak, Margaret River.

Comments

Giovanni's picture
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Giovanni Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 12:35pm

Lynch vastly superior to every other surfer...

Blue Blue Room's picture
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Blue Blue Room Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 1:35pm

Floaters before floaters
Discovery surfing
Thanks Stu

loungelizard's picture
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loungelizard Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 1:42pm

didn't witzig also make "rolling home" with Reno Abeleira et al surfing cactus and other west coast spots?

brutus's picture
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brutus Saturday, 31 Jul 2021 at 3:16pm

yep...I actually arrived at Cactus the day Witzig left back to Adelaide to get his cameras fixed, spent a week surfing with Reno , just the 2 of us at Caves....went to Hawaii that winter , 73-74, and Reno looked after me , shaped me boards....ah was the true Aloha spirit....

loungelizard's picture
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loungelizard Sunday, 1 Aug 2021 at 11:12am

Witzig “immortalised “ by “witzigs” , a good left hand reef, cactus Ron used to speak of a 10 foot plus day there he surfed with Paul Burford

velocityjohnno's picture
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velocityjohnno Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 2:06pm

Ted Spencer did a couple of backhand grabrails too, very before-it's-time.
WL getting some great speed on the lefts there. Some of the turns he macks out in Evolution are epic (as is his frustration with the board). Love his surfing on his own shapes by mid 70s, the speed and attack are unique.
I'd love Stu to go research Midget's first Australian Vee bottom board from early '67 and do an article, those things are such fun. Only about 6 months of those boards before design moved on, I reckon it's the missing link.

SI's picture
SI's picture
SI Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 2:14pm

My wife laughed at the music!! Haha, actually is pretty funny. Some nice surfing, the longer boards are still vogue at Mainbreak at Margs.

wallpaper's picture
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wallpaper Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 8:04pm

she must have found Torville and Dean hilarious

back beach's picture
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back beach Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 9:18pm

You need to watch Allegro Non Troppo- one of the best music piece to film going for mine all to Ravel's Bolero. And its a fucken treat seeing it as a surfing soundtrack

Oink's picture
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Oink Tuesday, 10 Aug 2021 at 10:43am

All I can think of is Bo Derek ;)

SI's picture
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SI Tuesday, 10 Aug 2021 at 12:25pm

Oh Yeah, now she really got my mojo going…oh my goodness, go Bo!! I remember it well, if anyone mentioned her name back in those days everyone knew who you were talking about and I reckon she was more popular than the US president - who I’ve now forgotten, haha!!

Island Bay's picture
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Island Bay Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 2:17pm

Wayne Lynch was a super prodigy, but I still find it almost painful to watch those boards. I know it was only just the revolution, but damn they just don't fit the waves.

wbat's picture
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wbat Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 4:36pm

Wow, all day offshore. Can't remember the last time I saw that.

Actually I remember the last time I saw an offshore. Brutal winter.......

indo-dreaming's picture
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indo-dreaming Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 4:41pm

He does look more in control than the others.

God those boards look so hard to ride.

BTW. at about 5:20 is that Michael Peterson?

Ape Anonymous's picture
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Ape Anonymous Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 5:32pm

Unless I'm mistaken, it was this exact Lynchian surfing that was the impoteous for Tom Hoye's cross-world transplant.

nextswell's picture
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nextswell Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 5:53pm

Loved the trio series of witzig films. Loved it so much, 10 yrs ago I got a 7’5 Lynch evolution inspired board made. Great idea, love the board but not the easiest thing to ride. Hence doesn’t get much love these days. Got some inspiration now, might dust her off next swell.

SI's picture
SI's picture
SI Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 8:23pm

A tip. Wayne’s boards don’t work in shit waves. If you get firing barrels though, the board does a lot of the surfing for you. Just stand there eyes wide open and take it all in!! You might try saying the same for other boards, ie. that they are great in great surf, but that’s not right at all. When you’ve tried both with that in mind you see the difference. Of course these days there are a lot of great boards, but not that many as well constructed as Wayne’s. I’m no great fan of his in the “hero worship” bullshit view of the world; I never was; but he is truly a master craftsmen and well understands the ocean as a surfer (as far as that is humanly possible). Good family man too.

Tooold2bakook's picture
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Tooold2bakook Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 6:43pm

Looks just like not-finding-the-sweet spot feels

Panman's picture
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Panman Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 6:56pm

Not a legrope in sight

Spuddups's picture
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Spuddups Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 8:16pm

Wayne Lynch definitely a cut above. Amazing how far surfing has come in such a short time. Those boards look super difficult to ride well. I've tried one of those early 70's single fins and my most enduring memory was how hard it was to catch waves despite the board being 3.5 inches thick and seven foot long. I think they needed a lot of rocker so you could turn them, which meant they pushed water a bit. Basically impossible to put them anywhere near the lip without losing all your speed.

Sando1's picture
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Sando1 Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 8:52pm

(Not a leg rope in sight and) everyone in boardies, vests and springys

Yet today you’d be lucky to see (a vid of) anyone surfing SW WA in a short arm steamer at the very least.

Is it, Technology (wetsuits)? Global cooling (it was warmer then)? Just keener surfers?

memlasurf's picture
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memlasurf Friday, 30 Jul 2021 at 10:45pm

Singles were always crap even in their last gasp when the rest of the board was ok. Can’t turn them and slow out of the blocks. Those guys were real hard core no wetties, leggies, and shit boards but still going for it. No high performance centre in those days to molly coddle youngun’s. Remember Wayne grew up in Lorne when the wetties were awful and ripped harder than anyone.

Johnyuleanderson's picture
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Johnyuleanderson Monday, 2 Aug 2021 at 1:49pm

Yeh I’ve heard there was a fire burning on bells beach all the time when surf was pumping and you would surf for a bit then come and thaw off

ringmaster's picture
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ringmaster Saturday, 31 Jul 2021 at 12:30am

The music suited the surfing.

simsurf's picture
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simsurf Saturday, 31 Jul 2021 at 6:03am

"surfing debuted in the Olympics, subtly moving the sport into a new echelon" ? Still the same crappy WSL with the same crappy comps that the general public doesn't watch? Who even watched the Olympic surfing apart from the diehards?

DavoF's picture
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DavoF Saturday, 31 Jul 2021 at 7:20am

I actually watched all the Olympic surfing. It showed how the pros are so reliant on good waves. They were taken back to the days of having to surf what they were given. And the randomness of poor conditions. Made for some upsets, but that is what the ocean is about.

Current Affair's picture
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Current Affair Saturday, 31 Jul 2021 at 8:02am

Speaking of freakish goofies: Marzo going right - I prefer the surfing and music in this:

wallpaper's picture
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wallpaper Saturday, 31 Jul 2021 at 3:28pm

I don't.

Halfscousehalfcockneyfullaussie's picture
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Halfscousehalfc... Saturday, 31 Jul 2021 at 9:00am

Great surfing and waves. High quality production for the era

JBean53's picture
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JBean53 Saturday, 31 Jul 2021 at 9:44am

NB: they are all from Sydney's Northern beaches (with the exception of Lynch) home of the "short board" revolution in '69. Note also they are still moving forward and aft to keep the board "in trim", no fixed stance of later riders. They are still learning how to ride these things after cranking long boards. Great piece of surfing history.
Olympics? Gold for "circus tricks". Very dull. Hopefully the superbank is working in 2032.

Island Bay's picture
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Island Bay Saturday, 31 Jul 2021 at 1:55pm

Re Marzo: Does any other surfer have that supernatural connection with the waves? He's a total savant.

Very nice little video. Thanks.

Spuddups's picture
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Spuddups Saturday, 31 Jul 2021 at 2:14pm

+1

brutus's picture
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brutus Saturday, 31 Jul 2021 at 3:21pm

Stu, would be good if you could chase up the 1970 World titles and how far ahead Wayne was ahead of everyone......first backhand re-entrys the world had ever seen.....I remember watching on the stairs at his square bottom hand turn ....then he would just go vertical into the lip...but would always fall off at the end of the wave...

udo's picture
udo's picture
udo Saturday, 31 Jul 2021 at 3:35pm

Reno stayed at Cactus for 10 weeks...where the locals in the Penong pub mistook him for a teenage Aboriginal girl and tried to hit on him.

BigMalG's picture
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BigMalG Saturday, 31 Jul 2021 at 3:40pm

Terrific footage Stu. Wayne Lynch was one of modern surfing's pioneers. Music score was doing my head in so I adjusted the playback speed on the clip to 0.5 (slow mo) muted the sound and opened iTunes to play 'Ocean Breeze' by Pablo Cruise (1975) used in a classic surf flick from '77 called Free Ride featuring Rabbit, MR, Shaun Thompson etc. Cheers !

Fraser G's picture
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Fraser G Saturday, 31 Jul 2021 at 3:48pm

Haha wasn't anything to do with what they were taking udo...and gees what does that say about that period "teenage Aboriginal girl"

udo's picture
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udo Saturday, 31 Jul 2021 at 3:57pm

To late to Edit out ..i chuckled the way Reno said it...but yes that period..
Was supposed to post up the page where Brutus said he surfed with Reno .

velocityjohnno's picture
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velocityjohnno Saturday, 31 Jul 2021 at 5:08pm

OK, found it!

Here's some great footage of Wayne on the Evolution board under those nice cliffs that we all know and love. Hard to find as Spanish titled maybe.

Personally, I love the style & riding. If you look at just after 1:00 where he goes right and then into a crouched parallel skier style stance under the lip, this is the style the best local young longboarders will still use in approaching this situation.

yvdreh's picture
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yvdreh Sunday, 1 Aug 2021 at 4:04pm

Sick video.

NDC's picture
NDC's picture
NDC Saturday, 31 Jul 2021 at 5:51pm

Those boards ... so hard..

The prior era has a degree of stately elegance that makes it more beautiful IMHO ...

... but thank heavens they innovated and pioneered coz look where we’ve evolved to in terms of performance in 2021 - on the shoulders of giants

Makes me feel good about my decisions to swerve the single fin retro trend and the current mid length trend and concentrate on trying to take advantage of the benefits of EVOLUTION (a good name for the film then and now)

Tahnks guys

cosmic's picture
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cosmic Sunday, 1 Aug 2021 at 5:39am

Yes l remember that period well, Nat young and Wayne lynch came to cottesloe beach before that contest, l think wayne lynch won it. l was a grommet on the beach, W, lynch was the australian junior champion. And my first board was similar a cordingly 7'6" v BOTTOM, v BACK ROUND NOSE , thin rails , wide flat deck. l was 14, and It was hard to ride , It did teach me how to do a bottom turn as l had to crouch so low and push my skinny light weight as hard as possible to engage the rail... Yep no wetsuits, no legropes, just the love of surfing . levi baggies, duffle coats. what a time to be alive that was. Now riding a 5.9 twinny, A lot easier to turn .

Mitchell English's picture
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Mitchell English Sunday, 1 Aug 2021 at 7:16am

Wayne was way ahead at that time although Ted Spencer’s surfing was rad also. Interesting to see in the Evolution clip how Wayne’s fades, switchfoots and raising his hands in the air when cutting back (very midget) all belie his long boarding roots and that knee high left he rides where he walks/nose rides is a masterclass in current mid length hipster style. Watching that clip, you can see the link between long boarding and short boarding.

philosurphizingkerching's picture
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philosurphizing... Sunday, 1 Aug 2021 at 12:18pm

Big aspect of the difficulty of riding those boards was the trackiness of 50-50 rails.
Here is Spam Howard riding one, lots of good insights.

velocityjohnno's picture
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velocityjohnno Sunday, 1 Aug 2021 at 3:02pm

Yep it's all in the rails and bottom contours - put modern rails and dome deck, modern concaved bottoms on them and they liven up considerably, much easier to surf. Edit: much easier to paddle in too, they don't hold you up like the classic shapes.

Spuddups's picture
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Spuddups Sunday, 1 Aug 2021 at 3:40pm

...or even just a flat bottom. Belly bottom boards are farken' awful. That said, I reckon this guy made the board look pretty good. He's a super stylish surfer.

velocityjohnno's picture
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velocityjohnno Sunday, 1 Aug 2021 at 3:45pm

totally, flat bottom would be an improvement, good starting point.

Island Bay's picture
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Island Bay Sunday, 1 Aug 2021 at 5:22pm

Depends what you're aiming for. Soft convex bottoms trim like crazy, and it's an addictive feeling.

Those Vee bottoms were very interesting, but it took a while to realise that the Vee has to sit under the back foot then fade out to flat. Otherwise you can't finish your turn properly.

But yes, if you're a surfer used to modern multi-fin equipment, belly and single fins are not easy.

This is a soft rolled belly bottom board, and it goes pretty damn well, I'd say. Good rocker.

velocityjohnno's picture
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velocityjohnno Sunday, 1 Aug 2021 at 10:39pm

Good point about the vee having to be located back - in Midget's take, his was while McTavish's wasn't and with the latter's vee so far forward it steered the board at Honolua and made them extra hard on the North Shore.

CJ's board looks good in that - downrailed in the tail with an edge to release - those were the next two performance discoveries (Diffenderfer, Merchant)

velocityjohnno's picture
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velocityjohnno Sunday, 1 Aug 2021 at 4:06pm

Here's Midget's take on the Australian Vee bottom, scroll down to the section of the same name:

https://farrellysurfboards.com/about-farrelly-surfboards/midgets-shaping...

velocityjohnno's picture
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velocityjohnno Sunday, 1 Aug 2021 at 4:08pm

And here's Bob McTavish with Fantastic Plastic machine:

(There's two competing histories on this aspect of it)

Spuddups's picture
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Spuddups Sunday, 1 Aug 2021 at 4:15pm

Man, he was a good surfer in his time. Spotted him out at Broken a few years back and he still surfs good. Amazing how much speed he gets out of that board when he's coming off the bottom. Must have been great having Lennox to yourself in those days. I wonder if they had any idea how crowded it would get.

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petermitchell Monday, 2 Aug 2021 at 6:41am

Looks like our very own Twizz (Stuart Entwistle) at 1:40 dropping in.

tango's picture
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tango Monday, 2 Aug 2021 at 1:26pm

Thanks Stu.
For my money I still think the most extreme turn in that clip was by Nat going right at the 3:50 mark. The paddler looks like they affected it, but it was a huge smooth gouge compared to every other turn on the clip. Old bastard surfs better than that now on a thruster mal.

stunet's picture
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stunet Wednesday, 4 Aug 2021 at 7:46am

Recollecting an article from nine years ago..?

Udo the Savant is at it again.

Island Bay's picture
Island Bay's picture
Island Bay Wednesday, 4 Aug 2021 at 9:02am

Yep, Surf Detective Savant should do it.

Future collaboration with Matt Warshaw?

udo's picture
udo's picture
udo Wednesday, 4 Aug 2021 at 7:56am

Was only the pic of Wayne and 2 boards i wanted.

el Sid's picture
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el Sid Monday, 9 Aug 2021 at 8:31am

Fact Check Stu: Try 4 films "All Down the Line" , Peter McCabe surfing Gland, incredible !!