Here’s the specs: 5’4″ high, 22″ wide, 2.75″ thick. Double foiled large ply twin keels. Traditional as far as Mini Simmons go.

Bob Simmons was onto something 70 years ago and this shortened version is a model that is going to continue to drive surfboard thinking forward in leaps and bounds.

Dates: 9th May, 6pm,  to 3rd June 2012. Hours: Mon-Fri 11am-Late, Sat-Sun 8am-Late

Space: Cafe Sel et Poivre, Darlinghurst http://seletpoivre.com.au/

Address: 263 Victoria st, Darlinghurst NSW 2010

Opening Night: Tuesday 8th May, 6pm. FREE BEER.

SURFER. Sun kissed to be kind. Crows feet marked to the eyes. Cracked lips. Bleached hair. Blood shot eyes. All character scarring and anything but a mask for the honest vitality that is a. Surfer. Photo Artist and surfer Dean Dampney looks back at his fellow wave riders with the artful eye of a man that knows his kind. These medium format black and white photographs will leave the viewer with a surf stoked grin and a prolonged moment or two at least, indadvertedly scanning the horizon for the next set.

14″X 14″ framed and mounted digital prints from 6×6 medium format black and white film. Editions of 20. For more information select ‘contact’ from menu options above

Special Thanks to:

Sel et Poivre for providing incredible food and a photographic friendly space.

Tour Travers for the Bordeaux wine.

La biére blonde Gallia / la p’tite Parisienne depuis 1890 for providing premium beer.

The crisp clear water has spoken. The soft cool autumnal hues call like a siren. And with small peelers meeting the offshore right now, it’s time for this gibberish to stop. I’m throwing a glidey number in the forby and heading down the track RIGHT NOW, in dire hope that this surreal beauty does exist beyond this screen.

If these aren’t enough to tear you away from that artificial glow, get down here, www.atdusk.com.au, and be well prepared to make your own speedy escape to an organic and beautiful reality!

And here’s more on Tyler from the Korduroy guys:

I’ve just got my hands on a Mini Simmons myself from Mick Mackie, and have found that it’s faster in trim than any finned craft I’ve laid my hands on. More of that to come though.

Lofty Riding the Stand Up Boogie

“This thing has been titled the SUB by Shaper Dave Porter of Treehouse Surfboards from Bulli” states the rider pictured, Lofty, in our recent correspondence.

I guess most stand up surfers accustomed to more conventionally shaped wave riding craft, would use the word ‘thing’ to describe a board like this in more of a curious or even derogatory sense.

That’s not the case here with Lofty, nor is that our view here at Submerge. This ‘thing’ is part of the new wave of surf craft innovation. Borrowing inspiration from; the drop knee body board riders, the alaia/finless guys, and every other surfer/explorer that looks to combine trim speed with controllability and drive, the SUB is where it’s all going.

Here’s some interesting points by Dave in terms of what’s gone on to create the SUB:

Lofty and I are friends and he had this idea in his head for a board that had all the foam positioned in the smallest practical area.  Lofty is a really intuitive surfer; he also body boards and kite surfs.  He felt like he was forced to surf a certain way because of the length of most boards and the swing weight in the nose which he felt was unnecessary.

He needed a way to communicate his idea so we sat in front of some surfboard design software, projected it onto a wall and sat there tweaking it until we were happy.  I then made some templates and hand shaped the board from a block of XPS foam.  A fair bit of refinement happened at the hand shaping stage, particlarly the deck roll.

The board is 4’5” x 21” x 2.75”.  It has a quad fin set up.  Big single concave for hold and fins positioned further back than usual for drive.  It is built from stringerless XPS foam for extra floatation and durability.  It is composite laminated with glass, epoxy resin and a hoop pine laminate.

The idea was that it was a small wave board and would be fast in trim due to the very flat rocker and reduced drag due to the boards surface area.  We had imagined riding it finless but Lofty has found it to work the best as a quad.

We hadn’t imagined that it would perform in larger waves but Lofty has certainly turned a few heads surfing it on some pretty solid days at Sandon Pt.  Its super fast in trim so it’s only a matter of time before we see Lofty negotiate some speedy barrels on it.

Next time you’re feeling a little boogie in your step, you might actually be finding yourself dropping down a bomb wave on a big day at your home break, propelling yourself at mach speed down the line and wondering how the hell this funky dance began. Round applause to Lofty and Dave, ‘coz it’s guys like these that will advance surfing consciousness beyond the aggressive stop/start nature of conventional thruster surfing.

In tow we had Barney Quinlan, the current Oz National Alaia Champion, and a couple of super groms from Barney’s home beach of Bondi. Roman and Freddie turned heads everywhere they surfed on their 4′ El Nino finless foamies. Derek Hynd the master himself gave the boys huge kudos and in his own words described that before him was the future.

In beautiful offshore peeling 2′ to 4′ conditions the groms unaffected by the attention continued to surf their brains out, performing forward and reverse spins at speed, throwing down layback drifts and getting cover ups with panache.

In the world of finless creations it was unreal to see a variety of home made alaias. Strategies and shapes varied, but performances were super strong for all. A couple of guys that blew our minds were Harrison Roach, and Brendan Weir! Congrats to the guy we now call French Fred who took out the challenge. Although we didn’t see him in some of the better waves around the points, by all accounts his win was truly earned. Not to be confused with Bondi Fred who made it to the Semi’s and likewise earned a huge rep for incredible surfing.

Stoked too to catch up with Tom Wegener. That Cali grin was infectious and we were really humbled by his abilities on his new foam finless model, The Albercore.

Stay tuned for the video footage as it comes in.

- Dean Dampney, Submerge(d) and finless.

Freddie Super Grom from Bondi, showing his mastery at The Merlin, his favoured hand jive and secret weapon in the Finless Challenge.

Bondi Super Grom Roman stands nonchalant before the camera minutes before showing the impressed Tea Tree line up what 38kg's and finless can do!

surf with eye catching flow and style

be a Pipeline specialist

sail around the world

relish in the wholesome goodness of family life

If you ticked off one or more of the above boxes, it’s worth checking out what Aamion and Daize Goodwin in the Goodwin Project.

There’s inspiration here big enough to make or break you.Enjoy.

When I came out on my alaia, Jarrad got inspired to ride his ‘lid’ prone and see how it felt. First wave he was straight up on it and was trimming with speed. Soon after he was throwing down reverses, 720s  and basically a whole new and really impressive act.

Meanwhile, neither of us lost a fin on the shallow shelf (that’s right we didn’t have any), and basically we were having one of the most stoked sessions ever. In 1′ waves!

There’s something to this whole finless block of rubber/foam thing and I’m pretty sure we haven’t seen the end of it.

Check out Jarrad in this sequence below:

all photographs courtesy jarrods super cool lid lending wife

“El Mar, Mi Alma” (The Sea, My Soul) is shot entirely on 16mm film in Chile and features two of our favourite surfers of all time – Dave Rastovich, and Ramon Navarro. If you haven’t heard of Ramon he’s South America’s and one of the worlds best water men. Alongside these guys you can expect to see footage of Joel Parkinson and others as well.

The trailer looks amazing so get down to your local cinema and check it out.

Check dates for screenings near you:

• Check dates for screenings near you.

• 18 Nov – Byron Bay – Dendy Byron Bay – 7 pm – ($18) 20 Nov – Yamba – Yamba Cinema – 4:30 pm – ($12) 22 Nov- Surfers Paradise – Arts Centre Gold Coast – 7:30 pm – ($18) 23 Nov – Sawtell – Sawtell First Avenue Cinema – 7:30 pm – ($15) 29 Nov – Avoca – Avoca Beach Picture Theatre – 7:30 pm – ($16.50) 30 Nov – Manly – Manly Cinemas – 8:30 pm – ($18) 1 Dec – Paddington – Chauvel Cinema – 8pm – ($18) 2 Dec – Bulli – Heritage Hotel – 8 pm – ($17) 9 Dec – Huskisson – Huskisson Pictures – 8 pm – ($12) 10 Dec – Ulludulla – Arcadia Cinemas – 8 pm – ($12)2012 14 Jan – Torquay – Surf World Museum – 8 pm – ($15) 19 Jan – Adelaide- Mercury Cinema – 7:30 pm – ($18) 23 Jan – Melbourne – ACMI – 7:30 pm – ($18) Tickets available at the door or online. BUY TICKETS ONLINE - http://www.moshtix.com.au/Search.aspx?s=0&q=el+mar&c&v=0&p=0&from=20111115&to=20121115 Via www.moshtix.com.au, 1300 GET TIX (438 849) and all moshtix outlets. For more information visit www.elmarmialma.com

How do the hand planes go O?

“Ha – yeah, they’re pretty fun. Bit of a revelation how good they go too – Was getting full section waves out censored, deep pits, speed changes to stay in the pocket etc.”

Step by step is:

* Find plywood

* Draw creative planshape

* Cut out with jigsaw

* Use angle grinder and electric planer to get your rocker, rails and bottom contours right (my swallow tail one has a deep single concave)

* Sand

* 2 coats of clear lacquer

* Cut strap to size and screw in place

* Go surfing!

Yeah….go surfing!

We reckon that Trent is the best new school surf photographer to come out of Oz. Not only are his images pleasing to the eye, but they come with a good Pacific Ocean dousing of humility, honesty, style and grace.

Trents just published his first book called Chasing The Curve – A Portrait of The Sea. Check it out below and give him some support by putting in your order for Christmas. If you were to put a price on the time and effort it takes to create these kind of shots and factor in the cost of film, a book like this is basically priceless. It’s selling for a lot less than that!

For Book Orders:  www.book.tmphoto.com.au

Trents Website: www.tmphoto.com.au

Taking it one step further the modern day alaia facilitates controlled turning at close to full trim speed. Basically no fins means no drag and what results is a very close to friction free experience when riding across a wave.

So the alaia; goes super fast, is maneuverable, is extremely responsive, and it is also made of wood. What’s the downside I hear you ask? Well they’re incredibly hard to ride and even harder to paddle!

Get over it. If you’re inclined to try something a bit different and you’re a fellow believer in discovering perfect trim with the sensation of travelling at mac speed, then the minor obstacles of paddlability and transitional difficulty are worth working to overcome.

The experience of riding an alaia is as fundamental to surfing as it gets. The speed and the alternative lines that they facilitate invoke sensations that are unparalleled in other surf craft….you’ve just got to put in the hard yards to get there.

Leading the charge in alaia craftsmanship is Tom Wegener - he’s a friendly guy, look him up.

Pictured below is a Tom Wegener hand shaped alaia, #306. Stay tuned.

Stork is also producing shot after shot, session after session, of the kind of images that’d make even the most experienced veteran surf shooters proud. Pretty amazing for a guy that only started shooting seriously in the last couple of years.

This won’t be the last time we back one of the good guys who’s prepared to go over the falls on a 12′ bombie over 4′ of water just to get the shot. Aichner….look out that might just be the head of a Stork you can see inside there.

Mark has been kind enough to share some of his insights alongside some of his images.

Enjoy.

That Angle

 I’ve been trying to nail this angle for months. I’d say its 50% luck and 50% tenacity. Its getting to know the fine line between where you think your heads going to get taken off by the lip or risking it and keeping it held above the surface to capture the surfer fly past within a meter from you.

Inside Out

 Digital photography has allowed these shots to become more and more common. Though similar to a wave breaking, no two will be the same. Lighting, angles, colours, wave shape, camera make, camera settings and a tweak on the photographers point of view changes everything. The possibilities are endless.

Shippies

Trying to shoot an unfamiliar wave is always a gamble. I didn’t know where to sit or what to expect at Shipsterns for the first time. Only to take advice from my mates “Just get in there and get the shot!”

There are photographers down there treading water in places that only surfers wiping out will tread, I’ll get there eventually. I just like how the lip line parallels the Bluff.

Bubbles

I find forcing things in life doesn’t seem aesthetically pleasing. The result is never what you wanted. Its better to let things happen. Something as simple as letting bubbles rise to the surface?

all images courtesy of tim pascoe

Perfect 4′ to 5′ barrelling lefts to yourself, the yacht, and your best mate about to come out and join you for one of the best sessions of your life – what more could a surfer ask for.

The tail of one of Mark Rabbidges finless surfboard creations pictured above.

If you’ve ridden an alaia, you’ll appreciate that they’re hard to paddle – a 2 hour session can leave you feeling like you’ve just paddled The Molakai Challenge.

Then if you’ve had the opportunity to witness Mr Derek Hynd riding a finless foam creation, AND he’s paddled past you (as you sit neck deep on your alaia) for the eighth time since your last (unsuccessful) wave, THEN you’d be tripping if you didn’t want a slice of that.

Enter master craftsman and ex world number one surfer, Mark Rabbidge.

Mark Rabbidge (one of Dereks mates), has been shaping finless boards and riding finless for over six months now. Mark gave us a go of his creation pictured above and for the couple of sessions we rode it we paddled around like we were 17 year old grommies surfing perfect waves for the first time.

We caught a ton of waves and the smiles were ear to ear. Now Hynd is the man but we still ended up coming in with few backhand 360′s in our recently expanded finless repertoire…and it felt pretty cool, particularly considering they were executed at speed and with function.

Marks’ still in the experimental stage but what’s interesting is that as a byproduct of finless foam boards, he’s creating some of the fastest boards on water, with or without a fin. We consider that one of the key elements to surfboard design is controlled speed, and as surfer/shapers like Mark continue to push the envelope, we’re going to be moving all that much faster in the places that matter.