Pink Floyd 'Echoes' Vs 2001 a space odyssey

Most of you will know why this is here, if not, no worries, i'll explain later. 

(There is a variety of reasons that i need to pen)

Till then, enjoy the greatest track ever produced, synced with the greatest film ever made.

Nick Carroll | Bobby Owens | Pin Tail | Bells Beach | And the Day of The Year |

Nick Carrol testing his new Hot Buttered Pin Tail

During the summer of 80 / 81 Terry shaped Nick Carroll a custom 6'5" pin tail single fin.
Nicks idea was that it'd be like a 6'9" wing pin, but sans wings, so it came back to 6'5" as a pure pin.

Lucky for me Nick gave me a bit of advice on how to surf this old girl.

"I used to shift the fin around a bit I think? Ride it on a big day and use that straight rocker to drive a long turn into the pocket or barrel. That's when it always felt best to me. Bigger waves the better"

So there you go. Bigger waves the Better. Hence the dash to Bells Beach. The swell forecast for Sept 27 looked as good as i had seen it, and what a weapon i had at my disposal to surf.

But, believe it or not, the story gets better. During the epic World Tour event at Bells in 81 a similar swell ( bigger and better) hit the Torquay Surf Coast. Making the 81 Bells event one of the most memorable in history, because of the waves, and of course, the turning point of Simon winning the event on one of the first Thrusters.

Before Simon made the final and eventually winning, he had to start his charge against Bobby Owens surfing Nicks board. Bobby was under gunned at the event like most of the surfers there at the time, so Nicks board was his alternative. The heat went down and is regarded as one of the best heats surfed by Bobby and Simon, and, the first man on man heat the world tour judges had to judge - Single Fin V Thruster .

Bobby was never going to beat Simon on that day , Simon was on Fire. But Bobby did go on to win the Trials and was regarded as one of the best surfers at the event, powering on Nicks 6'5 Pin Tail.

So here we are , similar swell and the same classic board 29 years later.
I gotta say, i was trying my best to channel the energy of Bobby, i could of used a few ounces of his Hawaiian prowess.



Trimming a few high lines on the big Bells wall


Scooting past Nick in the carpark. "WHat ! THats My Board"

Last Hope | Palm Beach

Looking forward to seeing you there folks. Kye Fitz

Hawaii | The Wing Pin Single Fin

A new quiver of Hot Buttered 'Wing Pin' Single Fins. How jealous are you?

To be able to ride Terry’s Wing Pin Single Fins in bigger waves is enough of a buzz, let alone surfing the boards for the first time in Hawaii. The lines I was drawing were a bit different to what was generally going on over their, but, that's how these boards surf. At the end of the day the game was pretty much the same, get your waves and surf them as hard as you possibly can. In a way, that’s Hawaii.
So, as much as I wanted to focus on style and the single fin glide, the overwhelming temptation is to light it up , or bust down the door in your own way , so to speak,. You easily get a sense of the competitive drive as far as surfboard design and surfing goes in Hawaii , and it obviously stems from the aggressive burst in the water over the 70’s. Surfing history is overflowing round this rock, on the beach, in the water , in shaping bay’s, glass shops and surf shops. And, under houses, just like the old HB we found stored under Jensen’s house.

Anyway , put aside the competitive surfing environment, starbucks and hobnobs, and your basically left with the greatest surf destination in the world. I don’t know if it is reflected in the photo’s, but I had one of the best times I have ever had during this last trip to Hawaii. Good waves, crowds fairly mellow, and hanging out with really cool folks.
So , special thanks to Kieron Lilliane Kawani and Yasmin, Sean Davey, Jensen Hassett, Bunter, Chris Hagan and Alia and Rena

My 6'8" Clouds 'Wing Pin' was probably my favorite board from the trip.
( I had my serious head on, just to surf a few little ones at Pipe )






Waxing up the 7'6 for a bit of a 'Sunset Beach' session.



Terry Fitz doing his thing at 'Sunset' (Back in the day).
Photo: Jeff Divine


The old 'Wing Swallow' tail stored at Jensen's place


Alia and the old HB. YOWZERS!


Kieron Lilliane Kawani and Yasmin.
I wouldn't have made it to Hawaii without these guy's.
(No i am not putting a surf shot of you on my blog Kieron, because you have to be ripping, or a Fitz. Ha Ha)
And, special thanks to Sean Davey for letting me use his photo's. Legend photog, couldn't ask for a better bloke to hang out with on the islands. Check out his bag at seandavey.com

Martin Worthington Airbrushes.

The 'Classic Wing Swallow' tail
Based on Terry's original 'Old Yellow'


The 'Modern Double Wing Swallow' Tail


The 'Modern Drifta'


The 'Classic Sling Shot' (with FCS)
Based on the Derek Hynd Pro Model.


The 'Classic Double Wing Pin Tail'
Based on the original 'Speed Thrills'


The 'Classic Area Pin Tail'
Based on the Nick Carroll original.

A few photo's of my 'Classic Drifta'

A few people have asked for some more detailed photo's of the little 'Classic Drifta' i took to Hawaii. I took these photo's in Terry' shaping bay.

The 'Classic Drifta' Re-Born

What do you do when you snap your favorite board. Try n get it copied right? So there you have it, the eldest son of TF constantly nagging him back into the shaping bay, to re-produce the specials. That’s pretty much how the story goes, and, a little way's down the track Terry is having trouble keeping up with the orders.

Yeah , my old mans ‘Drifta’ design was a part of an important design era, (79 to 83) and yes it was brushed under the all conquering Tri Fin, i liken the historical analogy with a Pink Floyd Progressive Epic being brushed aside by a Devo New Wave track.

But, to continue they story, if we were going to re-produce the boards, they deserved to be taken seriously. I think this is one of the reasons Terry had a renewed enthusiasm for shaping his boards . He knew he wasn't going to be shaping them for someone who was just going to ride them on the off day, or because it was the fashion. He could tell i had a tripped eye for the classic wings n concaves and he knew i had the style to surf them properly, because i had ridden the boards before. I grew up surfing them. A deserved recipient so to speak. The fact that i was his son came a distant second. TF is always telling me to get in line. That's his way of saying he wasn't going to shape my boards until the wind moon and tides line up. And that is fine with me, as there is a lot to be said for alignment. (another story)

So as soon as i had my new 'Drifta', it was straight off to Rocky Point to surf some Hawaiian juice..

Stoked. New board and chillin in Hawaii.
Photo : seandavey.com

Photo : seandavey.com



I yanked this bottom turn way to hard, but still got a little reo out of it in the end.
Photo's: Chris Hagan