| NUMBER 4 |
˙ The ‘sorry it never happened’ issue ˙ This issue has been published as a historical record for the kneeboard surfing community by kneeboarders. Thank you to all who contributed originally and please drop me a line if you want anything removed.
| N UM BE R 4 |
Contents ˙BALANCE˙
P.6 North West
P.14 Wedge
P.22 SHAPERS: COve Pads
P.28 ALbert Munoz - the interview
P.36 UK gallery
Graphic Design: Bryn Dampney Editorial: Duncan Jones, Bryn Dampney Contact: bryndampney@gmail.com Contents: Ross Dillon, rail locked in the far North West. PIC: Tony Warillo
Contributing Photographers: Tony Warillo Bec Farrer Brad Colwell Steen Barnes Crox
Alex Callister Contributing writers: Ross Dillon Brad Colwell Max B BIG THANKS TO ALL!
B
alance runs through everyone’s life every day of the week: work against pleasure, over indulgence against abstinence and action against contemplation. When the balance is right life feels good and time passes smoothly. Conversely when things are out of balance everything seems harder. I find this even when the scales appear to be tipped in my favour. If I’m having a quiet time at work and lots of surf time I find I can get lazy. The lack of focus can lead me to get out of synch with the tides or which surf spot has good banks or the optimum swell size etc. The quality of my surf experience inadvertently suffers. During the times when I have some work on I’m much more focused on getting everything right to maximise my surf enjoyment and end up having a better surf. The balance factor is present in surfing as well – swell direction, wind direction and tide all have to come together to create surf. Everyone has their preferred balance of conditions which mostly depends on their ability or the type of waves they enjoy surfing most, be it tubes, rippable walls, huge lumps or small lined up swell - it’s all good and on the whole we probably all like a mix of it all. Balance works in the line up too. Somedays you’ll get a good mix a characters out there and everyone seems to find their place and get their fill of waves. It’s always a fragile mix though and often all it takes is one hassler to paddle out and ruin it. It never ceases to amaze me how one selfish attitude can spoil the whole balance of a line up. Board design is also a careful balance of different factors – size, plan shape, rocker, bottom contours, rail shape, fin number and fin placement all works together to create a desired feel. Perfection for one rider can be misery for another. The magazine’s pretty late in coming out this time and that comes down to balance as well. Having a gap in the balancing act that is day to day life and finding the time to put everything together has finally happened and here it is. We think this is the best issue yet and maybe that’s because it’s got a healthy balance running through it! Sincere thanks to all who contributed. Hope you enjoy it. The Kneelo Mag Crew.
¡Duncan Jones, finding his balance¡ Portreath, UK Pic: Alex Callister
| A K NE E L O A D V E N TURE |
·THE FAR NORTH WEST· Words: Ross Dillon
Surf Pics: Tony Warillo
E
Other pics as credited.
very night the North west coast befalls under a sky that
all manner of gibberish. I don’t know Bec that well, but I thought
contains more starlight than black space and the glow of
for a second we were getting hugs!! As this is happening Simon
campfire fueled By Mallee root and aromatic Sandalwood
staggers from the drivers side, looking like he just got off the
fills the silence during the low ebb in conversations.
plane from a direct flight to Sydney from London Via Capetown. The offshore winds that had been grooming a week of pumping
The bitter cold of the desert night demands warm clothes.
6-8’ of swell for us, had smothered the track into camp with
Beanies, jackets and sleeping bags replace the board shorts and
100 meter sand drifts. The sand gets to deep for the axles, the
zinc cream of daylight hours.
solution is to hit the sand hard enough at speed to axle-grind and float your way across the drift. 150 km of doing this with a
On one such night the evening beach front “happy hour” ales
camper attached to the back end had caused Simon to be a little
were downed with our fellow campers, when the skyline to the
fatigued!!
north was pierced by headlights . An exciting event, to be sure, after ten nights of staring across the fire at the head of a man
After the insane crowds,wetsuits, large fat bombie reefs and
with whom i have just spent two months in a car.
pseudo-hippy village vibe of the south west the Desert Camp was a welcome shift. Our reality became boardshort warm water,
Initially I stare down the approaching vehicle with disdain. Disdain
arid desert air, Indonesian quality lefthanders reeling below the
that can only come from being a local for 1 more week than any
majestic rise of one of the most iconic headlands in surfing
potential newcomer. Through the week I had stink-eyed anyone
folklore and the daily sightings of dolphins, whales and sharks.
who even looked at camping near us. Now the headlights came straight for us. My hackles go up, I stifle a low growl. What is it
With all the sea-life, fishing between swells is a popular pursuit.
about peoples need to camp on top of others? Hang on!! It’s the
we might have been better off reading, we are not, dab hands
Farrers!!
at catching fish. I improvise by swimming baits out, amongst
Setting the line for another perfect 10.
several species of tasty fish. In frustration I practically bounce the The car hasn’t stopped and Bec is out running towards us! She
bait off their heads and they are not interested. We try lures, we
is saying something about being happy to be here and speaking
try everything, but no luck. But we did get one bite. Above: Camp view. Left:The journey.
The only fishable stretch of cliff in the camp is known, quite
a fish. But no, Damo’s animation was the result of Ben’s pissy
originally, as “Fish Rock”. In full view of the camp, “Fish Rock”
little Tailor being engulfed by the Grouper!! The brute bent
works much like the surf here does. At the first sign of someone
Bens rod to breaking point and beyond, his favourite rod was
else fishing or surfing. The whole camp springs to action and
demolished by
the solo adventurist will not be solo for long. Under fish rock,
this curmudgeon of the deep.
unbeknownst to us, lives a 60kg Grouper. A kind of pet to the station-hands and camp regulars, this thing will emerge and
We all saw red. Lures were swapped for Grouper rigs, soft
strike at any fish unlucky enough to be skull-dragged across its
shelled crabs were skewered onto heavy livebait hooks. The
trajectory, by unwary fisherman such as ourselves. The one fish,
frustration of not catching any fish had blinded our judgement.
that Ben hooked on our entire trip met with the
We no longer cared that this leviathan was someone’s pet, a
grouper. I was back from the cliff edge fixing a lure, when Damo,
member of the camp community. No, to us he represented our
typically standing back commentating, let out with a squeal not
failure as fisherman and I would not stop until I was elbow deep
out of place on a pre-teen netball court!
in his slimy entrails.
At first I thought he was peeing himself because Ben had caught
It was as if he read our thoughts, the troll did not leave his ledge
“...so in the morning he might slip out into the surf undetected by the masses that were slowly growing with each swell�
Above: It’s all about the rail. Below: Inside navigation. Right: Ross on recharge! Opposite bottom: Nothing more to add...
again that evening or any other time we tried to extricate him. The same baits and lures that had him destroying our tackle the previous weeks did not stir him. Luckily for him and perhaps for our own sanity the next swell arrived and fishing lost its lure. In anticipation of the coming swell, Simon dreamt up a clandestine plan, to carry his boards and filming equipment out onto the point under the cloak of fading light to be left there overnight, so in the morning he might slip out into the surf undetected by the masses that were slowly growing with each swell as the North West season filled in. I’d be lying if I said that this kind of preparation to film didn’t make me anxious. The scrutiny of the camera, was hard to ignore and I almost felt that being filmed was comparable to surfing a heat. The inclination to nurse turns and over-think situations lurks in the back of the sub-conscious. When you see the amount of trouble the Farrers go to, to organize boards, filming equipment, kids and food for the day. Stap it all to their backs and then hike 2km through sand dunes, you feel the need
to bring your “A-game”. Unfortunately turning on your best surfing isn’t like flicking a switch, for most of us. And then there is the fear of injury. Damo hacked into the wave face of a three footer, buried his rail a little to much and the wave gobbled him up. Nothing to consequential, but as he surfaced and I paddled over the shoulder of the wave, he floated sideways his mouth barely above the water and let out a groan of frustration and agony. After a plane flight, a week of sleeping on the ground and the incessant teasing and ridicule from his fellow campers, Damo had succumbed to a chronic back injury. Never mind bringing your A-game, Damo had spent twelve months, doing extra work to afford the time and money to visit a place he may never get back to, and now this!! He hobbled back to shore, with the promise of a heavy dune walk ahead. As we towelled off we tried to console Damo, but it was no use. His back may not of been broken but his spirit was. He sat away from us and tried to pull himself together. Luckily
Grant pulled up in the Landcruiser with a fridge full of frosty ales( god bless that man) . This made it easier to coax Damo over the first set of dunes, though he was walking like he’d just had his first prostate check. With a liquid anti-inflammatory drink in his system he was good to go. This called for more amber medicine back in camp later on and a feast for the Halberts, Farrers, Ben, myself and our kid Damo. As is appropriate with a hangover, the swell had presented itself the following morning. We had slept a little later and our lack of cleaning up the night before had doubled the usual 4,000 flies that dogged your every move. The flies are insane out here. Picture tiny little flies, they get behind the lenses of your sunnies, they dodge your hands to get at the saliva of your mouth, they hide in their thousands inside your car and they almost make cooking or eating impossible. Couple this with a drop toilet system, where flushing involves handling a communal bucket of saw dust to cover your stool while batting away flies and your dealing with ripe conditions for the spread of viruses. Being a bit of a grub, I thought nothing of swatting 50 flies off the top of the sauce bottle before use, not realizing I would be the first of a few to go down. The whole camp succumbed to dysentery. On the upside, as a result of my churning guts, I spotted a creature I’d never seen before. At 3am, one delightful morning, arguing with myself as to whether I need to grow a tail or vomit, I decided I’d hack my guts up. Not thinking straight I turned to ralph and my head torch shone directly into the bottom of the pit. Amongst the horror of a mountain of stool I was unloading my innards into, was something that looked like a giant centipede and he wasn’t alone, there were a few of them writhing amongst sludge. If I wasn’t sick before I was now.
“One thing I learnt after years of solo traveling. Watching your mates in perfect waves is better than surfing them yourself�.
Being a health professional, Simon steered his family clear of
Above: It’s all about the rail.
the sickly, broken campsite next-door until the incubation period had passed. He then bravely marched in and replenished my dehydrated self, with his vast first aid kit. We had a movie to
Below: Inside navigation. Right: Ross on recharge!
shoot! Opposite bottom: Nothing
I felt privileged, to have come along on this trip. I grew up watching Simon surf in and around contests, but to witness his surfing in perfect waves, his composure and ability to put it together while being filmed was a real treat. I still remember one set on a clean five foot day, he called me into a smoker, as I was blown out in the channel I was closely followed on consecutive waves by Grant and Damo, both shacked for the entire length of the wave and finally Farrer, Traveling forever inside a luminescent, aqua, twister. One thing I learnt after years of solo traveling. Watching your mates in perfect waves is better than surfing them yourself.
¡End¡
more to add...
WEDGE
Wedge. You either love to surf it or there’s no way in hell you will paddle out there. Most are the latter.
The swells march in out of the south and pile up on the due south facing jetty (thank you Army Corp of Engineers), then come off and cross up the next wave in line and cause it to almost double in size and power. That power is what draws me to surf a wave that is not really considered a boardriding wave most of the time. There used to be the Kings of the Wedge, and there are a lot of bodyboarders out there now. Paddling into a Big Wedge peak is like no other surfing experience out there. I liken it to grabbing a bull by the balls and seeing how long you can hang on. Not the smartest thing to do but what a rush! It just jacks up and you go weightless, that drop is what I love about surfing out there. One of the most iconic kneeboarders and shapers, Ron Romanosky is a big reason why I started kneeriding. Back in 1975 my Dad took me to watch The Wedge during a swell
dubbed “THE MONSTER FROM NEW ZEALAND”. As we were walking up you could see the swells lined up along the jetty and huge waves breaking in the usually tranquil harbor. But then I saw a huge perfect peak, at least 30’ on the face and a kneeboarder paddling into it at its biggest. He free fell forever and reconnected about 2/3 of the way down cranked a bottom turn with more speed and power than ayone I had ever seen. That was Romo! I watched him and Bill Seiler, among others make some and get pounded by many more for 4 hours that day and that was it. I was HOOKED on the Wedge and kneeriding in general from that day on. I have made many trips and surfed some pretty heavy waves, but I still compare any big drop to the Wedge and there really is no comparison.
Every kneeboarder should try it at least once, chances are they will come back. Words: Max B. Pic: Mike Fernandez
Kneelo Mag wanted to learn more about one of the newest kneeboarding products on the market and how it got started. We contacted Casey Patelski of Cove Pads in Costa Mesa, California, just up the bluff from Kneelo Cove (a state of mind and kneelo mecca)... KM: Why did you start a kneeboard deck pad company? Casey: Well, I was surfing Romanosky Kneeboards for maybe 30 years, and Ron Romanosky always offered a rubber deck pad that was recessed into the deck of his boards. That was a lot better than just wax and hard fiberglass and foam that would delaminate in a matter of weeks. It felt pretty good. So in 2007 I learned about a website called KSUSA.org and saw a whole international perspective of kneeboarding that I had no idea even existed. That’s w here I saw many new board shapes, fin placements and deck pad designs. Being a product designer and US patent holder, I love to tinker. When I get into making something I like to make it functional, high performance with superior materials that fits a majority of users, in this case kneelo’s. I wanted a high performance deck pad and started trying and studying what was on the market at the time. Just like the story of the Three Bears, some were too grippy, some were too hard, some were too high, some were not durable, and some were just a pad. I wanted a durable longer one piece, low center of gravity pad, that I didn’t feel under my ribs; to be able to adjust my stance in mid wave in an instant with a quick release and regrip that offered more leverage in the foot area with a tail block, that I couldn’t get off the shelf. I went into “make it as good as it could be mode”. KM: So what did you do? Casey: I started with a clean slate and started researching and developing materials, thicknesses, grip ranges, adhesives, shapes, all being sport specific to knee boarding. Having a background in engineered rubber and plastics, I had a good resource base to start prototyping with. I started surfing the new designs myself and selling the pads out of the back of my truck to my buddies at Kneelo Cove. These guys would eventually
come back with input on how the pads were performing. I would look into the economics and function possibilities and release the next version with the improvements they wanted. I owe a lot of the Cove Pad success to the guys at Kneelo Cove here in So Cal for all their input and support during the development days and today. When you start with a clean slate the possibilities are endless. KM: What is the current status of Cove Pads now? Casey: Well, we have an IPO on the NY stock Exchange… Bill Gates called me last week…and Eric Clapton wants me to give him kneeboarding lessons… you know, the usual. No, really I think we have a really good formula now for most surfers because I can make Cove Pads for old school style all the way to state of the art knee board surfing, that have a good purpose built- functional design, with quality and durability, while offering modifiable design options to a surfers performance requirements. All Cove Pads are hand made. As of March 2012, some of the top wining competing kneelo’s are either surfing on Cove Pads or we are designing one for them. Thanks to the internet, PayPal, KSUSA.org’s web site, the US Kneeboard Surfing Titles and the Phillips Island comp in Australia, there is an international presence now. The best compliment I get is when a kneelo tells me “I don’t even notice or think about the pad when I’m surfing”. Of course a re-order for the quiver is really cool too. KM: What’s in the future for Cove Pads? Casey: Hopefully better surfing by expanding the performance of an overlooked but very important piece of kneeboard equipment. No distractions, just flowing, hitting it hard and making it.
A kneelo doing what a kneelo does best, Ross Dillon straight up south swell charging.
I repeat, a kneelo doing what a kneelo does best, Ross Dillon straight up south swell charging.
is for ALBERT What better example of a kneeboarder? An individual who has followed his passion for the craft from humble beginnings in his homeland of Puerto Rico to resettling at the epicenter of kneeboarding on the other side of the globe. Between Albert and his peers, a new wave pushing and re-defining the boundaries of progression in kneeboard surfing. Working with legendary shaper David Parkes along the way, refining equipment and experimenting to attain the desired level of performance. Hard work helped realize a lifelong dream; one of the byproducts is a role in the collaborative outlet to get the best in kneeboarding out to the masses via legless.tv.
A story that must be told... All pics: 16images/Steen
KM: First up congrats Albert on your World title! AM: Thank you so much! Lets rewind back to the beginning and Puerto Rico...
P
UERTO RICO
A definite characteristic of kneeboarding is the small concentrated pockets of dedicated guys dotted around the globe, describe for us the kneeboarding scene in Puerto Rico and how did it come about?
other along? My brother and I spent a lot of time in the water together when I was growing up, he pushed me a lot for those first few years, before going to university in America. One thing I learned from him was the importance of flow in my surfing, how style, flow , speed, and power are not independent, you can’t have one without all the others.
very poorly in the event (didn’t know much about intereferences at the time), but I made it my mission to absorb as much as I could from every kneeboarder in the event. One thing I realized is that there was no set standard for kneeboards, I believe this is true to this day. In the end I managed to purchase one of Sergio Peixes shapes and rode that thing to the ground. The board was close to what I ride today, 5’6”x23”x2 ¼” tri fin.
“I wanted something different among a sport rapidly becoming conventional. My brother had been a diehard kneeboarder for over 20 years and lent me my first board.”
Kneeboarding in Puerto Rico, as in most places around the world, held low but tight knit numbers. Notable names include Rex Roettger, Carlos Baco, Carlos ‘Pollo’ Banuchi, Efrain ‘Frencho’ Echandi, Edgar ‘Chief’ Hernandez and my brother Kike ‘Gator’ Munoz who introduced me to the sport. These guys helped fuel my passion for kneeboarding in ways I will never be able to explain. Running into any one of these guys in the surf spurred long chats about equipment, watching and pushing each other in and out of competition. There was a definite tribal feel among kneeboarders, I believe this is still true today. How old were you when you started kneeboarding, what tempted you into trying it out? I first started kneeboarding when I was about 15, after a few years of standup surfing I realized it just wasn’t for me. I wanted something different among a sport rapidly becoming conventional. My brother had been a diehard kneeboarder for over 20 years and lent me my first board. What was that first board like? It was shaped by a local shaper and was 5’4” x 20 ¼” x 2 ½” with the fin placement of a surfboard, super narrow nose and a sw allow tail. Did you have a regular crew that helped push each
What did most guys out there ride in the early days? Back then, before the internet facilitated the dissemination of design ideas, people all had their own ideas as to what designs worked best. There were a few guys that would splurge and get Buddy McCray to ship them Blast kneeboards to Puerto Rico. The shipping was exorbitant at the time and I couldn’t afford it so we evolved my brother’s designs as best we could and tried riding as many different boards as we could get our hands on. Did you have much outside influence or awareness of what was happening in other kneeboard communities outside Puerto Rico? What was the first exposure you had to what was happening on a larger scale? In 1994 I was lucky enough to represent Puerto Rico in the ISA world titles in Brazil. I ended up doing
I know when I first saw video footage of the Oz contingency my mind could hardly take it all in. Did you have a realisation moment of where kneeboarding performance could go? I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a copy of Simon Farrer’s first ‘Sparrow has landed” vid when I was 17. In my mind that video set the bar for what kneeboarding could be, and what I wanted to be able to do on waves.
Where did you go from there? Well, after that I graduated high school and went to Uni in Florida. Not the place I would have liked to end up wave-wise, but the university was only 6km away from the beach and I had a lot of die-hard surf friends (with cars). Living in Florida taught me two things; 1.You can ride a kneeboard in crap waves, and 2. Riding crap waves makes you a better surfer. I have always believed that surfing well in crappy waves requires a lot more skill and dedication that sitting and waiting for the surf to get good. After 7 years at Uni in Florida I decided it was time to move on and start a career in California.
C
ALIFORNIA
So to the next stop, how did you end up in California and how old were you by then? I was 23 or 24 when I moved to California, it was 2001 and I managed to get a really good job.
Unfortunately the job entailed a lot of time spent sitting in gridlock traffic and it simply wasn’t for me. Was it a very different scene? Definitely, I arrived in California about five years too late. The contest scene had died down and very little was going on. The numbers were there, I ran into kneeboarders all the time in the surf. I had visited California for US titles events in the past and knew a few of them. I remember reading about you in the infamous Surfers Journal article on the death of kneeboarding circa 1996. Do you think the outcome of the article had any negative/ positive effects? I think it had both. One positive effect was that it brought kneeboarding back into the eye of the mainstream surf mag reader, even if it was only for a short few pages. The main negative I found was in some of the captions, I remember reading something about how kneeboarding demands good waves, I found that to be totally incorrect. Since then I have realized this is opinion is more common than I first thought. Did you see any growth in kneeboarding in the US pre KSUSA? Not really, although the gatherings we had prior to KSUSA really taking off were really inspiring.
B
OARDS
When did you first hook up with David Parkes? Having a good job in Calfornia meant I could splurge and get some boards, I tried getting boards from local shapers well experienced in making kneeboards, but the results weren’t up to scratch. I decided to spend a bit more and get a board from Parkesy. This was also around the time when I found out I was able to go to the 2002 worlds in Australia. I realized that to have a go against that sort of a field I needed better equipment. Most of the boards I had ridden at the
time had been made made by standup shapers, all had their drawbacks despite my insistence of being in the shaping room while they were being made. The first board I got from Parkesy was terrible, way too fat in the rails. I ordered another one straightaway and told him to take some of the volume away. I picked up that board at the comp and after a bit of getting used to the board went unreal.
There are tons of similarities between my and Chayne Simpsons boards. We will often swap boards to try them out and chat about what works and what doesn’t. As far as testing boards, I pretty much ride everything Parkesy makes me, there is no point in simply putting a board under your arm and in a whim decide it wont work. It’s easier to simply ride a board a few times and get to know what works and what doesn’t.
What directions have you been exploring recently? Board refinement is a continuous process; there is always something new or old to try out or a combination of things. There are a number of old design concepts that really work individually, but in combination with the wrong things it just doesn’t work.
Have you ridden his boards exclusively since? Pretty much. Do you think spending that amount of time with the same shaper has given you a greater understanding of how a board works for you? I think it has, but more importantly it has given me the chance to really work on communicating my ideas better. You can tell a shaper twenty things you like or don’t like about a board, but if you can’t articulate them in a clear manner that both understand you may as well be speaking different languages. Do you have a process for developing boards with Parkesy? Yes, but how that works is a secret! Do you do direct comparisons with other team riders? How do you go about testing boards?
Its no secret you’re very much into the history of kneeboard design evolution. Where did this desire to collect kneeboards come from? I think it came from the lack of kneeboards I had seen prior to moving to Australia. I slowly became obsessed with tracing back the evolution of kneeboards. I have had a lot of fun collecting, riding, and restoring these old boards. I should start getting rid of some, my garage is getting a bit full. Its also no secret you have a large collection of classic boards through various points of evolution. Have you learnt much from riding them? I have learnt more from riding old boards than I could have ever imagined. I think riding old boards makes you a more versatile surfer. It also keeps things interesting; you can get into a really bad rut sometimes and lose motivation to go surfing. Riding something radically different keeps things fresh and challenging. It prevents trying to surf your best all the time, every time. This allows you to shift gears and look at surfing from a different perspective. Most old boards I have ridden were never designed to perform by todays standards, you cant ride them
hard. You cant expect to have a 1977 single fin slab be able to bottom turn like a 2011 tri fin, but it sure is fun trying!
Not really, it’s as if I found a place in the world where I had to least change my lifestyle to suit the environment.
Is there a clear cut path in how boards have morphed in to what most people ride today? I think there is still a lot of diversity in board designs these days, the evolution of individual designs now (with globalization playing its role) have become more convoluted, ideas are being borrowed from a number of sources in different corners of the world. Tracing back evolution of individual designs is getting harder and harder and I think that’s a good thing!
What have the biggest benefits been? Waves Who do you regularly surf with?
Only when we in a heat against each other. The well established kneelo contest scene in Oz must be a huge help in sorting strategy and contest savvy. Was it tough competition when you first got there? The first comp I entered in Australia I got knocked out in the second round. It was devastating. The competition has always been tough, but in a good way. It pushes you to surf better, more critically, take bigger risks, in and out of comps.
“You can tell a shaper twenty things you like or don’t like about a board, but if you can’t articulate them in a clear manner that both understand you may as well be speaking different languages.”
Do you have a favourite? Definitely, Parkesy made me this 5’8” that is simply magical! The board truly feels like an extension of me. It goes where I want it to go, lets loose and hangs on exactly when and where I want it to. We have been trying to copy the board for years and years with some success, but copies are never as good as the original in this case. When I started riding the board it had blue wings sprayed on the deck. Since then I have had it fixed a number of times, sprayed it green and rode it for almost all of my heats during the worlds. Since then I have put it back in a board bag and tucked it away in my garage for safe keeping.
Chayne Simpson, Simon Farrer on occasion. Then there are the WAKAs, who hold regular pointscores.
How long have you been there now? I first came in 2003, so its been 8 years now.
How quickly did your surfing progress once regularly getting amongst it with those guys? I think the biggest shift in my surfing came when I stopped wearing fins (flippers). I remember it taking months to get used to the extra paddling which was very frustrating. Once I was used to it I started kneeling further back on the board and was able to draw tighter turns with a lot more power and speed. I was able to ride stiffer boards without having to push them any harder to get through turns. Watching Chayne, Troy, Steen, Simon, Gavin, Matt Gallagher, and others close up gave me a new perspective as to how they were doing what they were doing and what I needed to do to incorporate those moves into my surfing.
Was it a big lifestyle shift?
Are you always competitive in the water together?
O
Z AND THE TITLE
Was the decision to make the move to OZ largely based on pursuing progression in your surfing? Yes, that and trying to find a place where I really felt at home. All the other places where I have lived have their good and bad points. Australia just seemed to be the best fit for me.
Who were the guys with the most contest savvy and consistency? The guys who are always in the finals aren’t there by accident. These guys make it there every comp and it has a lot to do with their ability to adapt to the conditions and adhere to the current judging criteria as best they can.
How long have you been focused on winning a World title? Since I first came close to winning one. The first time I made it into a final of an ISA worlds was in 1998, surfing against Jamie McHugh, Gigs Celliers and Sergio Peixe. Gigs smashed us but I ended up in second and from there I have always wanted more. When did you realise a title was well within reach? After the hooter blew and the final was over. What do you do to prepare in the run up to a Worlds contest? There are tons of ways to prepare for a worlds, I cant say for sure my preparation this time around was the best or that it will work for other people. In short I surfed every chance I got, no matter what the conditions. Is state of mind of equal importance to the physical aspect? State of mind counts for 90% of it at least. Physical aspects are important, but your level of fitness cant
count for much if you cant keep a level head in a pressure situation. Was board selection quite clear cut by the time the contest came around or were you still trying new things (I hear you and Chayne both had a lot of boards with you!)? Board selection was a total mystery to me going into the comp. I had just received three boards from Parkesy and I hadn’t been able to figure them out even though I had been riding them for weeks. When I got down to Phillip Island I tried them all out and decided the old favorite was the one I could trust the most. Since then I have realized that one of those boards would have actually gone better given the conditions, but I just hadn’t gotten my head around it at the time.
surfed it as hard as I possibly could. Ended up on the shorebreak panting and seeing stars, then I knew that even if I didn’t win at least I had surfed it as hard as I possibly could, given 100% and if it wasn’t to be I could live with that.
How did it feel paddling out for the final? What was
helped me get there. Bet the party went on all night?!!! Not really, I was home by midnight and had to change a very dirty nappy first thing in the morning (my son’s nappy, not mine!). Reality brought me back down to earth pretty quickly. The truth of it all is that its great to have won a world title, but that’s only one part of my life, every other ball that’s in the air needs to be juggled, life has to go on. Kneeboarding is a huge part of my life, but its not everything, Ill never make a living out of it, but as long as its fun Ill keep doing it. What else is going on in your life? Well, I am in the process of wrapping up a PhD, I have a toddler at home and another baby due in August, my work with legless.tv on top of full time work, the list goes on and on.
Did you feel confident in your equipment at the start of the contest? Not at all, but I warmed up to it after a few heats. How many heats did you surf in total? Not sure, maybe 7 or 8 including the age divisions. I was seeded to the round of 64 this time around so there were fewer days when we surfed. Although we spent less time on the beach hanging out, we had the advantage of being able to stay out of the sun and surf spots away from the comp. World’s contests are as much about endurance as they are about surfing. You have to preserve your energy for the long haul and peak at the right times.
running through your head? I have been in that position so many times before, and always had the wrong ideas in my head. Its incredibly hard to maintain a relaxed, stable mindset, any little thing going wrong can trigger a negative thought and ruin everything before you even get in the water. I honestly don’t remember what was going through my head at the time, which is probably a good thing because I was probably not thinking about anything at all.
Was there a point where you thought it may just have slipped out of reach? During the open final I knew I was trailing the whole way, we couldn’t hear the beach commentators so we had no idea exactly where we were. I didn’t really see many people catching waves but I knew I wasn’t surfing my best. With about 3 minutes to go I found myself out the back by myself and a medium sized set was looming, I caught one of them and
What did it feel like when the final horn went and all those dreams and hard work had finally taken you to the ultimate achievement? At first I didn’t really feel anything, I was relieved it was over, I was happy to see my family on the beach. Then it all sunk in when I was lifted up the beach by Tom Novakov and Jethro Cooney, I realized how lucky I was to have achieved what I had achieved and how greatful I was at the many people along the way had
Now you’ve won your first World title are you going to stay focused on the next title or is that one massive item crossed of f on the list of things to do? Definitely a huge tick in my bucket list. I am not really all that fussed about trying to win another one. I think there are other people out there who deserve a world title more than I do and it may be their turn to step up and take it. However I do enjoy going to world’s events and if I am there I am there to win. What are your personal goals for the next year? Finish my PhD and be a good Dad is my primary goals. I also want to keep fit and make sure I am enjoying my surfing for years to come. There are tons of things in my surfing that I need to work on, it’s a continuous process, and its not going to stop just because of a trophy in my bookcase. Again, congratulations on your first, no doubt of many, World titles and for taking the time out to do this interview.
Al l hail the new king!
T
HE FUTURE IS LEGLESS -
As a collective, legless.tv has probably the most explosive combination of elements for up to the minute surfing documented by a World class photographer and access to information new and old many may not be aware of. What was the real drive and ethos behind starting up legless.tv? Albert: We think the main idea was to show the best of kneeboarding and only the best. To showcase all the things that make kneeboarding unique. We never set out to create an everything-you-ever-wanted-toknow-about-kneeboarding site; there is no point in doing that in my opinion. We think the accessibility to massive quantities of information these days makes it hard for people to find the gems amongst the rocks, we decided to show the gems and only the gems. Steen: Albert is correct, we believe kneeriding has never been presented in a format that is appealing on all levels. We wanted to showcase the progression that kneeriding has taken, and show its history and vast array of characters associated with kneeriding. Picking out the Gems is a good use of words. Chayne: The driving force for me is to show that there is more to Kneeriding than PC, George Greenough and Tube rides on Slabs... And if we can convince
a few people that kneeboarding is a ‘legitimate unorthodox way to ride a wave‘ then cool. Any negative vibes out there? Albert: Sure, but you will get that with anything, you can create a website that gives away money to everyone and you will get negative feedback. Steen: You gotta love the negatives, we turn them into positives. I often wonder why people waste energy being negative. Chayne: Haven’t witnessed any negativity towards the legless.tv if thats what you mean. We laugh at the narrow minded types... There life must be pretty boring. Do you feel as a platform it’s more applicable and attractive to a wider audience rather than just the die hard kneeboard crew? Albert: We hope so, the die hard kneeboard crew is really quite small. We want so show kneeboarding in a positive light, as a legitimate unorthodox way of riding waves. Steen: This is an opportunity to show kneeriding on a level that is has never been presented before, we have already had more opportunities from the bigger world, than we have in the last 35 years. The Surfers Journal recently had a legless.tv video on their main page with a link back to our site. This alone put
kneeriding out in front of more people than it has been for a long time, and may I say in a very positive light. Chayne: The diehard kneeboard crew are already aware of how much fun kneeboarding can be and what is possible, we want to show everybody else. This seems like a great way to do so to start with... At the rate the site is picking up pace who knows where it’ll go and who will see it. It’d be cool if there were some grommies out there checking it out and frothing on what they see. How did the hook up with Cyrus from Korduroy.tv come about? Steen: This happened through hours & hours of social networking, via facebook, swellnet.com, magicseaweed and many other sites that have welcomed a quality presentation of kneeriding. Posting on these guys facebook pages, sending links to the editors etc. and their websites, has had an accumulative effect on those who see and talk about kneeriding. This accumulative effect caused a breakthrough with The Surfers Journal posting our video to their main page. At this time we where posting links on Kordurouy.tv’s facebook. Cyrus Sutton (creative director for Korduroy.tv) contacted me and was excited to see that kneeriding was showing so much forward movement. He said that The Surfers
Journal was calling Troy Simpson the Dane Reynolds of kneeboarding. This ignited his interest. Cyrus already had a planned trip to Australia and said he would like to include in his stay, a visit to Wollongong to see kneeboarding for himself. The rest flowed. What was his reaction to the level of surfing and equipment? Steen: Once Cyrus was here, I organised for Albert & Chayne Simpson to meet up with him. What better place to do this that Albert’s kneeboard museum, the back shed. To say the least, Cyrus was stoked to meet the number 1 & 2 kneeboarders in the world. He had already seen footage of the boys, so he was highly aware of their skills. To say he was impressed was an understatement. We also gave him a run down on some kneeboard shapes and the history behind them, he loved the variety of outlines, rail foils, fin setups etc the kneeriding offers. Do you think the outcome and the audience it reaches will have a big impact? Albert: Its hard to expect anything massive to come from all of this, I will be quite happy if it helps show kneeboarding in a positive light, as a viable means of riding waves. Steen: I think if the bigger audience can see the Aloha that floats in the kneeboard community, the
contributions kneeriding has given to surfing and as Albert says, its actually a viable way to have fun and ride a wave. Then we will stoked with that. Chayne: Its pretty hard to have a big impact on anything these days without throwing $$$ around. Any impact would be nice, and i feel that is already happening. Moving forward, what are the future plans for legless.tv? Albert: More videos, we need to gather up more video footage and make up some more clips. Steen: As above, also I am enjoying finding good kneeriders tucked in pockets around the world. I will endeavour to profile these guys and spread their Aloha. If your one of these guys, let us know by contacting us via the Legless.tv site. You will also see some more history of the sport slowly makes it way on to legless aswell. Chayne: Hopefully the crew at Google will make an offer soon and we can all retire... But seriously, fast clips of fast surfing is what we need... Proof that kneeboarding can keep moving foreward. Steen and Troys photography just keeps getting better so the photos will continue to be impressive... and more crazy characters. Basically just keep having fun with it.
Do you think that kneeboarding will ever expand beyond its current levels of participation or is the level its at now more sustainable? Albert: Its hard to say, regardless of the numbers I firmly believe that there will always be kneeboarders. There will always be people out there who want to surf and at the same time not be part of the surfing masses, people who want to be different and explore that individuality through riding of waves in ways other than standing up. Steen: Its actually at a very cool level right now, people who are riding kneeboards, are surfing for the right reason. If more people see things this way, who knows! Chayne: I love the fact that its pretty low key. Its like one big happy family now. No ego’s No Bullshit, just people enjoying what they do. The more people that do it though, the more money will be thrown around meaning equipment and talent levels will improve so im a bit torn as to whether i’d like it to expand. Anything else you would like to add re the future of kneeboarding? Steen: The future is what you make it, the Kneeriding Clubs in Australia & the US are a great reminder of this. Aloha. Chayne: What happens, happens...
Just keep surfing and keep having fun!!!
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Th e lesser sp otted Rich Smith in th e sp ot. Pic: Crox
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Ward o froth in g . Pic: Alex Callister
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Du n can Jon es on ed g e. Pic: Alex Callister
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Corn i s h m a g i c. Pic: Du nca n Jo n e s
Hid d en treasu re. Pic: Du n can Jon es
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