"Filmed at Crescent Head during the 2017 National Old Mal Titles.
1st place 1963-1967 division.
Shaped and designed in my local area by Bob Mctavish under the Keyo label. Sanded by Bryan Hughes, glassed by John Mantle in 1966. A very special surfboard shaped at the tail end of the traditional longboard era.
By 1965, the classic Californian style of surfing including nose rides, soul arches, drop knee turns were being mixed with tighter, more involved positioning of manoeuvres in and around the pocket of the wave. Footwork and finesse was slowly giving way to critical manoeuvres with power and speed becoming the emphasis. This short period was labelled 'The involvement era'.
In the months following this specific surfboards production, a handful of shapers based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney began cutting down the length and widening the tail of their models... this gave way to the Plastic Machine design by McTavish and these shorter boards with radical Vee Bottoms were to change surfing forever"
Footage: Gary Mcevoy
