Scarborough teacher Mrs Jenny Shackley (age 25) defeated girls aged 14 to 17 to win the Women’s division of the inaugural State Surfboard Championships held in the Southwest on the March LWE in 1964. Heats were held in a large swell at Yallingup and the finals were moved to Huzza surf break at Gracetown. Jenny defeated, Stefanie Meyer (17) and Tina Christon (14) to win the Title.
Jenny is a former swimming champion and mother of two daughters Janice and Penny.
Peter Bothwell (WA State Mens Champion 1968-69) “Jenny Shackley (nee Doig) comes from a surfing family. Her brother Jamie Doig was a top junior surfer at City Beach in the 60s and her younger sister Carol Doig married Floreat surfer the late David Bedbrook. Her husband John Shackley was a prominent figure in WA surfing throughout the early and mid-60s. Jenny & John had a strong influence not only on their own generation of surfers but also on the next generation of surfers like Jamie and me”
1964 Finalists WA’s First State Surfing Titles held in the southwest. Media image courtesy WA Newspaper.1964 Big waves for WA Surfboard Championships. Media image courtesy WA Newspaper.
The WA State Team (comprised of Zac Kochanowitsch Snr Mens, Barry King Jnr Mens and Jenny Shackley Open Womens) flew to Manly NSW to compete against competitors from all over the World in the first World Titles. It was an all-expenses paid trip sponsored by Ampol Petroleum.
1964 WA State Champions leave for Australian and World surfing Championships in Sydney NSW. Media image courtesy WA Newspaper.1964 First World Surfboard Titles memorabilia courtesy Dave Aylett. Left: World Titles program cover. Right: Admission ticket & World Surfboard Titles sticker.1964 WA Surfboard Champions listed in World Championship Program.Opening of 1964 World Titles. Canopus Room, Manly Pacific Hotel NSW.Image courtesy Carol Charlton L-R Carol Charlton Qld, Midget Farrelly NSW, Phyllis O’Donnell QLD, Garry Birdsall NSW, Linda Benson USA, Mrs Stafford, & Bill Stafford Qld and Jenny Shackley WA.
Midget Farrelly NSW won the Men’s World Title and the Australian Senior Men’s Title. WA competitors Zac and Barry King got as far as the semi-finals.
Phyliss O’Donnell from Queensland triumphed over international competitors to win the Australian Open Womens Title. Jenny competed in the event and was eliminated after the heats.
1964 Results World Surfing Championships held at Manly NSW. Media image courtesy WA Newspaper.
On completion of the World/Australian Championships at Manly, Jenny travelled to the north coast of NSW with some of the competitors.
1964 Surfari to Angourie NSW with competitors World Titles in Manly post event. Image courtesy Carol Charlton. L-R Carol Charlton Qld , Phyllis O’Donnell Qld, Jenny Shackley WA, Linda Benson USA & Ruth Marriot.
The following image featured on the 1994 WASRA 3rd Decade Anniversary t-shirt and event invitations. The three surfers are holding Greg McDonough Surfboards (NSW) which were distributed in WA by Scarborough surfer Wes Day.
Scarborough surfersDig Dighelli (2nd Junior mens), Jenny Shackley (Snr Womens champ) & Murray Smith (Snr Mens champ)at the 965 Winter Championships held at Scarborough. Photographer unknown.
John Shackley
Jenny’s husband John Shackley worked for the R&I Bank in the Travel Section and was a keen WA pioneer surfer.
In the 1954 John inspired the Hawke Brothers to set up their surfboard business.
In 1963 John was the Australian judge at the 10th Annual International Surfing Championships held at Makaha in Oahu, Hawaii. The Championships were won by eighteen-year-old Australian Bernard ‘Midget’ Farrelly who went on to win the first International Surfing Competition held in Manly, Australia the following year.
On Saturday 13 April 1963 John Shackley from the Scarborough SLSC and three other surfers rescued body boarder Brian ‘Pud’ Audas (former Subiaco reserves football player) from a shark attack at Yallingup. The boys went to the aid of Brian whilst other nearby surfers scared off the 2-metre shark. Brian survived but required over two hundred stitches to his arm. John and the other three rescuers were awarded Meritorious Awards in Bronze by the Surf Life Savers Assoc of Australia. Source: Global Shark Accident File.
John was a WASRA Committee Member for its first decade from incorporation in 1964 to 1974 with President Ronald Naylor of Scarborough.
1964 State Championships at Yallingup. Two competitors race in on a surging wave (above) with keen-eyed WASRA contest judges John Shackley, Bob Birch & Don Roper watching the action from their observation platform set up on the reef. Big seas destroyed the scaffolding construction holding the judges stand during the contest. Media image courtesy WA Aquatic Monthly April 1964.
In 1969 John was a WASRA contest official at the first Australian Surf Championships held in WA. His recollections of the contest were published in Surf International Magazine Vol 2 No 5.
1969 Nat Young NSW (1966 World Surfing Champion) and John Shackley at Australian Surf Championships held at Margaret River. Photo by NSW surf photographer/journalist John Witzig from Surf International Magazine.
Kevin Merifield (Subiaco footballer & WA surf pioneer). “In 1970 Margaret & I went on a surf trip to Hawaii with our friends John & Jenny Shackley. Former World Champion Midget Farrelly (AUS) was staying on the North Shore between Sunset and Pipeline surf breaks. He told John and I he would show us the best waves. I remember our first surf at Sunset with Midget. He told us it was 15 foot and not to get caught in the rip. It was damn BIG (a local called it 23 feet), Midget & John Shackley and other smart guys had gone in before a huge set came through and closed out the bay. It broke out past me and I wore 3 to 4 close-outs on the head. I lost my board and got washed in! When I got to the beach Hawaiian big wave surfer Butch Van Artsdalen told me my board was in the rip and if I wanted it back, I needed to swim out & get it. I swam a mile out to sea to retrieve my board and returned to the beach with a great respect for the power of Hawaiian waves.
John & I also went on surf trips to Kalbarri. I think John & Jenny resided in Esperance region for a while on their way over east in the 70s.”
Where are they now?
The Shackley family moved from WA to northern Queensland in the 70s.
Jenny (age 84) lives in Townsville North Qld.
Sadly John passed away in May 2022.
Many thanks to Jenny Shackley, Kevin Merifield, Peter Bothwell and Brad Cecins for assisting with research on this matter.
Jenny Shackley
Scarborough teacher Mrs Jenny Shackley (age 25) defeated girls aged 14 to 17 to win the Women’s division of the inaugural State Surfboard Championships held in the Southwest on the March LWE in 1964. Heats were held in a large swell at Yallingup and the finals were moved to Huzza surf break at Gracetown. Jenny defeated, Stefanie Meyer (17) and Tina Christon (14) to win the Title.
Jenny is a former swimming champion and mother of two daughters Janice and Penny.
Peter Bothwell (WA State Mens Champion 1968-69) “Jenny Shackley (nee Doig) comes from a surfing family. Her brother Jamie Doig was a top junior surfer at City Beach in the 60s and her younger sister Carol Doig married Floreat surfer the late David Bedbrook. Her husband John Shackley was a prominent figure in WA surfing throughout the early and mid-60s. Jenny & John had a strong influence not only on their own generation of surfers but also on the next generation of surfers like Jamie and me”
The WA State Team (comprised of Zac Kochanowitsch Snr Mens, Barry King Jnr Mens and Jenny Shackley Open Womens) flew to Manly NSW to compete against competitors from all over the World in the first World Titles. It was an all-expenses paid trip sponsored by Ampol Petroleum.
Left: World Titles program cover. Right: Admission ticket & World Surfboard Titles sticker.
L-R Carol Charlton Qld, Midget Farrelly NSW, Phyllis O’Donnell QLD, Garry Birdsall NSW, Linda Benson USA, Mrs Stafford, & Bill Stafford Qld and Jenny Shackley WA.
Midget Farrelly NSW won the Men’s World Title and the Australian Senior Men’s Title. WA competitors Zac and Barry King got as far as the semi-finals.
Phyliss O’Donnell from Queensland triumphed over international competitors to win the Australian Open Womens Title. Jenny competed in the event and was eliminated after the heats.
On completion of the World/Australian Championships at Manly, Jenny travelled to the north coast of NSW with some of the competitors.
L-R Carol Charlton Qld , Phyllis O’Donnell Qld, Jenny Shackley WA, Linda Benson USA & Ruth Marriot.
The following image featured on the 1994 WASRA 3rd Decade Anniversary t-shirt and event invitations. The three surfers are holding Greg McDonough Surfboards (NSW) which were distributed in WA by Scarborough surfer Wes Day.
Scarborough surfers Dig Dighelli (2nd Junior mens), Jenny Shackley (Snr Womens champ) & Murray Smith (Snr Mens champ) at the 965 Winter Championships held at Scarborough. Photographer unknown.
John Shackley
Jenny’s husband John Shackley worked for the R&I Bank in the Travel Section and was a keen WA pioneer surfer.
In the 1954 John inspired the Hawke Brothers to set up their surfboard business.
Brad Cecins (media commentor BTC Sport). “Young Peter Hawke, riding around the streets of Scarborough on his pushbike, was fortunate enough to stumble across local surfer John Shackley as he shaped a hollow wooden board in his garage. After the pair had talked about surfing and boards, Shackley not only offered the boy some free advice, but he gave him a book of plans and templates. It was only a few weeks later and the Hawke brothers rode down to Trigg Beach in their father’s Chevy ute to try out their first homemade board. In 1956, Peter and Len made numerous boards before moving on from wood to fibreglass with a black onazote core. The next development saw boards made from styrene and epoxy. Balsa wood boards were also shaped before settling with urethane surfboards. By 1962 Hawke Surfboards needed to employ additional staff in their Scarborough Beach Road premises.” Source © srosurf.com/BTC Sport 2005
In 1963 John was the Australian judge at the 10th Annual International Surfing Championships held at Makaha in Oahu, Hawaii. The Championships were won by eighteen-year-old Australian Bernard ‘Midget’ Farrelly who went on to win the first International Surfing Competition held in Manly, Australia the following year.
On Saturday 13 April 1963 John Shackley from the Scarborough SLSC and three other surfers rescued body boarder Brian ‘Pud’ Audas (former Subiaco reserves football player) from a shark attack at Yallingup. The boys went to the aid of Brian whilst other nearby surfers scared off the 2-metre shark. Brian survived but required over two hundred stitches to his arm. John and the other three rescuers were awarded Meritorious Awards in Bronze by the Surf Life Savers Assoc of Australia. Source: Global Shark Accident File.
John was a WASRA Committee Member for its first decade from incorporation in 1964 to 1974 with President Ronald Naylor of Scarborough.
In 1969 John was a WASRA contest official at the first Australian Surf Championships held in WA. His recollections of the contest were published in Surf International Magazine Vol 2 No 5.
Kevin Merifield (Subiaco footballer & WA surf pioneer). “In 1970 Margaret & I went on a surf trip to Hawaii with our friends John & Jenny Shackley. Former World Champion Midget Farrelly (AUS) was staying on the North Shore between Sunset and Pipeline surf breaks. He told John and I he would show us the best waves. I remember our first surf at Sunset with Midget. He told us it was 15 foot and not to get caught in the rip. It was damn BIG (a local called it 23 feet), Midget & John Shackley and other smart guys had gone in before a huge set came through and closed out the bay. It broke out past me and I wore 3 to 4 close-outs on the head. I lost my board and got washed in! When I got to the beach Hawaiian big wave surfer Butch Van Artsdalen told me my board was in the rip and if I wanted it back, I needed to swim out & get it. I swam a mile out to sea to retrieve my board and returned to the beach with a great respect for the power of Hawaiian waves.
John & I also went on surf trips to Kalbarri. I think John & Jenny resided in Esperance region for a while on their way over east in the 70s.”
Where are they now?
The Shackley family moved from WA to northern Queensland in the 70s.
Jenny (age 84) lives in Townsville North Qld.
Sadly John passed away in May 2022.
Many thanks to Jenny Shackley, Kevin Merifield, Peter Bothwell and Brad Cecins for assisting with research on this matter.
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