Huffy said...
Hi all
I was amazed at this post!
Hawaiians typically have claimed they had the roots of the sport as it developed with tourism AFTER the war. So this pre war 1939 SUP in OZ put a real cat among the pigeons as to the roots of SUP.
I forwarded a link of this post to our guys in Hawaii and its already causing a cuffufle over there. They may loose their claim to SUP roots fame!! Ah they will never admit it!
SUP mags and historians are looking at these pics closely already - can we get permission to use them?
Cheers
Huffy - KM Hawaii
If you are into history the legendary South African craftsman Fred Crocker designed the "crocker ski" in 1939. Check out this link:
http://files.legendarysurfers.com/surf/legends/lsc217_oom.html"In 1938, plans of Australian surf skis reached South Africa, yet the lack of necessary materials caused local interest to wane. The Australian designs were flattop, "closed-up canoes" with no seats. Instead, during the war in 1939, Fred Crocker, stationed at Durban Air Force, sought to build a light and stable craft from aircraft canvas. Thus was born the famous Crocker Ski: canvas on a slat frame, water proofed with aero plane dope, 3 meters in length, almost 1 meter wide, a slight banana shape from stem to stern, no point, but about a half meter straight back. It was not a fast craft, but it was stable. One could paddle on it and catch waves, standing up or sitting down -- depending on the waves -- with the paddle anchored to the nose. It too was a flat top with no seats! At this stage it was for fun, not competition."
