This is a tale about Yallingup surfer/fisherman Rich Myer’s favourite longboard which he has ridden in ‘various forms’ for 25 years and is still riding today.
This is a rough translation of Rich’s recollections.
In 1997 I purchased a polystyrene longboard from Hawaiian surfboard maker Bill Foote. Bill has made surfboards for north shore surfers since the 1970s. Formerly from Sunset Beach, Bill now has a surfboard factory on Maui.
My prototype board had a yellow tint with dimensions 9ft x 21” x 2 3/8. The three fins were set up as a Cluster to loosen up the longboard. It is not a Thruster!
I rode the prototype longboard for 5 years and then used its specifications in a new Bill Foote epoxy long board circa 2002.
Version 2 was better than version #1. I rode it for 17 years; however, it did suffer some mishaps.
Firstly, I broke the board doing a duck dive in 2ft waves at Kuta Beach Bali. I took the broken board back to Bill Foote in Hawaii and Hawaiian Airlines charged me double for the two halves😊. Bill doesn’t normally fix epoxy longboards but he did for me 😊. The repaired board had a white band across the middle and a twist/tweak nose to tail. It worked better as an asymmetrical vibe 😊.
Secondly, I broke the repaired board doing a duck dive on a Yallingup left. This time I got Bam (Paradiso Surf Dunsborough) to fix my longboard. Bam isn’t into repairing longboards either, I got lucky again!
The third time. Ian ‘Prive’ Morris ran over me on his SUP at Yallingup and it snapped again! Prive arranged for Bam (Paradiso Surf Dunsborough) to fix my board again. This time the repairs made my board heavy and out of balance. It is still in one piece and I lent it to Dave Sheen to use.
On another occasion, I was leaving Dave Sheen’s place in Eagle Bay when the board flew off my car on the drive back to Dunsborough. I hunted everywhere for it but couldn’t find it! Mark Hills was doing surf reports on the radio at the time and he asked listeners to keep an eye out for my board. A disc jockey at the radio station said, “why doesn’t Rich just get another board.” Hillsy told him, “ It’s a special board, you just don’t go and buy a new one.” Anyway, it turns out a local cop had found my board and taken it on vacation to Denmark WA. After some pressure from the Busso cops the board was returned to me 😊.
I was unable to buy a replica board from Bill Foote after version #2 broke for the third time because he had lost the specifications. Then Mark ‘Oggy’ Ogram from Yahoo Surfboards in Dunsborough meticulously measured the board’s outline and rocker and recorded the specifications.
Circa 2019 Bill Foote in Hawaii made epoxy version #3 using Oggy’s specifications.
I’m still riding and enjoying my Bill Foote longboard based on prototype designed in 1997 😊.
Photo Gallery
Bill Foote Hawaii surfboard logo. Photo Jim King2013 Rich with repaired version #2 on Yallingup steps. Photo Bruce King2014 Xmas Yalls Rich surfing version #2 with Mick Marlin in his Santa outfit going left. Photo Loz Smith (RIP).2015 Rich surfing version #2 Yallingup. Photo Bruce King2016 Rich surfing version #2 Yallingup. Photo Jim King2017 Sequence Rich surfing version #2 Yalls. Photos Ian Weise.2018 Yalls Rich with version #2 broken for the third time. Lou ‘Longboard’ Corkill in background. Photo Bruce King2019 Rich surfing version #3 Yalls. Photo Bruce King2020 Rich on Yallingup reef with version #3. Photo Bruce King2020 Rich (left) with Alfonso ‘Fonzie’ Puzzarini & Bill Gibson at Yallingup. Photo Bruce King.2022 Rich with version #3 and boat Yallingup residence. Photo Jim King2022 Rich explaining Cluster fin set up version #3. Photo Jim King
This is a tale about Yallingup surfer/fisherman Rich Myer’s favourite longboard which he has ridden in ‘various forms’ for 25 years and is still riding today.
This is a rough translation of Rich’s recollections.
In 1997 I purchased a polystyrene longboard from Hawaiian surfboard maker Bill Foote. Bill has made surfboards for north shore surfers since the 1970s. Formerly from Sunset Beach, Bill now has a surfboard factory on Maui.
My prototype board had a yellow tint with dimensions 9ft x 21” x 2 3/8. The three fins were set up as a Cluster to loosen up the longboard. It is not a Thruster!
I rode the prototype longboard for 5 years and then used its specifications in a new Bill Foote epoxy long board circa 2002.
Version 2 was better than version #1. I rode it for 17 years; however, it did suffer some mishaps.
Firstly, I broke the board doing a duck dive in 2ft waves at Kuta Beach Bali. I took the broken board back to Bill Foote in Hawaii and Hawaiian Airlines charged me double for the two halves😊. Bill doesn’t normally fix epoxy longboards but he did for me 😊. The repaired board had a white band across the middle and a twist/tweak nose to tail. It worked better as an asymmetrical vibe 😊.
Secondly, I broke the repaired board doing a duck dive on a Yallingup left. This time I got Bam (Paradiso Surf Dunsborough) to fix my longboard. Bam isn’t into repairing longboards either, I got lucky again!
The third time. Ian ‘Prive’ Morris ran over me on his SUP at Yallingup and it snapped again! Prive arranged for Bam (Paradiso Surf Dunsborough) to fix my board again. This time the repairs made my board heavy and out of balance. It is still in one piece and I lent it to Dave Sheen to use.
On another occasion, I was leaving Dave Sheen’s place in Eagle Bay when the board flew off my car on the drive back to Dunsborough. I hunted everywhere for it but couldn’t find it! Mark Hills was doing surf reports on the radio at the time and he asked listeners to keep an eye out for my board. A disc jockey at the radio station said, “why doesn’t Rich just get another board.” Hillsy told him, “ It’s a special board, you just don’t go and buy a new one.” Anyway, it turns out a local cop had found my board and taken it on vacation to Denmark WA. After some pressure from the Busso cops the board was returned to me 😊.
I was unable to buy a replica board from Bill Foote after version #2 broke for the third time because he had lost the specifications. Then Mark ‘Oggy’ Ogram from Yahoo Surfboards in Dunsborough meticulously measured the board’s outline and rocker and recorded the specifications.
Circa 2019 Bill Foote in Hawaii made epoxy version #3 using Oggy’s specifications.
I’m still riding and enjoying my Bill Foote longboard based on prototype designed in 1997 😊.
Photo Gallery
Thanks for sharing Rich.
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