GSI Noosa Festival of Surfing 2008

ASP LQS 2 Star Men's Event
Banana Boat Women’s Pro
Noosa, Queensland
3 - 9 March 2008

Results/Photos/Videos etc

GSI Noosa Festival of Surfing 2008 unveils new additions

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 2 March, 2008 : - - This year the Global Surf Industries Noosa Festival of Surfing is a winner itself, rolling out a number of new additions and elements to the entire Festival program since its inception 16yrs ago. The ‘Feet of Fame’ is sure to set the pathway for others to follow, literally!

Surfing Icons Hayden Kenny OAM (Australian Surfing Hall of Fame) and Bob McTavish will be part of the first official ‘Feet of Fame’ ceremony. This Monday (3rd March) at 3pm on Noosa Main Beach/First Point our debutant inductees will have their feet planted firmly in Noosa forever when they step into wet cement leaving footprints that will never be washed away by a rising tide again!

As the first person to ever surf the ideal waves of Noosa Hayden Kenny can recall just how amazing it was to be out there amongst the breakers solo, “There was absolutely no one around back then, I had it all to myself, it’s probably hard for surfers today to picture what that was like but I can tell you it was simply fantastic to get those long rides one after another”, said Hayden.

The then 20yr old Kenny explains some of the reasoning as to why and how he lucked it for so long, “From 1957 -1961 I surfed Noosa and rarely saw another, you’ve got to understand communication was very limited too back then, in fact it was pretty spooky being out there at times, there was nothing around and no one to tell, I would drive down from Maryborough on my way to Alex Headland and surf it if there was a pretty big sea running and then head on home.

Bob McTavish : photo John Witzig

Standing at Boiling Pot (Noosa National Park) looking to Tea Tree Bay you could see the perfect waves further round but there was no need to lug a heavy board all that way because the waves were just great right in front of me and nobody in the water”, said Hayden. At age thirty, Hayden won the National Surf Life Saving Championships Ironman Title and set in place a tradition that still sees the salty brine flowing thru the Kenny veins today.

It was 28yrs ago his son Grant Kenny made history by taking out both the 1980 National Surf Life Saving Championships Junior and Open Ironman Titles (A feat that hasn’t been achieved since) and at 16yrs of age saw him become an overnight sensation himself.

Hayden and Faye Kenny’s other boy wonder Marty will be taking part in the Festival of Surfing this year also. The seasoned endurance paddler will be a very relaxed starter in the field contesting the ‘Le Monde Ocean Marathon on Saturday the 8th march.

The gruelling open ocean test will take competitors charging north from Mooloolaba along some of the most beautiful waters South East Queensland has to offer past Mudjimba Island, Coolum, Sunshine Beach, Noosa National Parks hidden coves (Hells Gates) and finishing on Noosa’s Main Beach.  

Bob McTavish was born May 14, 1944 in Mackay Northern Queensland, Australia. He began surfing on a 16' hollow paddleboard at the age of 12. He began shaping surfboards at 17 in Sydney, worked for the major manufacturers of surfboards in Australia including Larkin Surfboards, Dillon Surfboards, and Keyo Surfboards.

Bob, a natural shaper and a competent surfer was constantly looking for better equipment ideas and how to use the power of waves. In 1965, on a trip to Noosa, Australia he hooked up with friends Nat Young and George Greenough.

After their trip, with influences of Nat and George, he helped design a surfboard for Nat they called “Magic Sam.” This surfboard was a thin-railed and lighter 9-footer with a Greenough high aspect fin. Nat won the world championships on this board.

In the beginning of 1967, McTavish concentrated on an entirely new bottom design. The design consisted of a deep “V” shaped into the back third of the board, and a wide tail. He called this surfboard the “Plastic Machine.” For seven months, these boards got lighter and smaller; down to 7'6" with a weight of 14 pounds. All had the new type of fin invented by George Greenough.

These “high-aspect ratio fins” came from the template of a blue fin tuna. For the first time, fins gave turning leverage to surfboards rather than just steering them.

On a recent visit to Noosa Bob McTavish described one of his very first trips to the region with the legendary Pa Bendall, “We had to take the long way around through the hills in his old truck and navigate these rough tracks to get there but when we did, it was a sight to behold. The waves were rolling in forever, the further out we looked the bigger it got and these perfect shaped waves were just reeling down each point, it was such a magnificent thing to experience”, said McTavish.

www.noosafestivalofsurfing.com   

Previous reports:
# 1 : Oz stars Emma Snowsill and Craig Walton hit GSI Noosa
# 2 : GSI Noosa Fest of Surfing honors 'Bustin Down the Door'
# 3 : Dave Rastovich drops in on GSI Noosa Festival of Surfing
# 4 : Men's pro at GSI Noosa Festival of Surf scores LQS 2 star 
# 5 : Noosa Festival of Surfing will host memorabilia auction 

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Darren Landers
Media Manager | Noosa Festival of Surfing
darren@freshlogicmedia.com.au

Garth Prowd OAM
Managing Director | USM Events
gp@usmevents.com.au

Georgie Hannon
Event Management | USM Events
georgie@usmevents.com.au

Festivals - Surfersvillage