SDS posted a Wetted Surfaces by Damon Hurst blog on the 8 July 2023.
It asked if anyone knew the whereabouts of the featured GL surfboard.
This is an update by Damon on what happened after the initial post.
Update by Damon Hurst
The first SDS post led to the owner of the GL surfboard; well, the owner up until 1999 contacting me. The bloke’s name is Will Axten and he rode the board between 1989–1999. We were all on thrusters then, however, Will told me the board was a single fin and so good that he kept riding it, regardless of the scorn he attracted and was also able to confirm that it was a swallowtail too. See the attached pic of Will and the fin.
Let me go back a step!
2023 Will Axten owner of GL surfboard in advt until 1999, with single fin shoved down his shirt. Will Axten pic.
I have re-attached the Star advertisement here as a reference point; you will see that the tail and fins are not revealed at all. When I first found that ad it as an undated PDF and it didn’t say where it had been published. Regardless, I decided it would add some interest to try and re-create the surfboard in the ad for the WA Museum.
1985 Star Surfboards advt featuring Mitch Thorson & Greg Laurenson. Image courtesy West Coast Surfer Magazine.
When I activated that process, I decided to make a short film with Mitch Thorson and Nathan Rose. We used the GL template in the WA Museum, assuming it was all straightforward. I have re-attached a link to that film here:
I had taken a videographer Down South with me, which was costing me money and when we got going with the filming, Mitch was emphatic that the template was for a “swallowtail single fin” and that it was likely to be the one used for his first signature series, a model known as The Penetrator; Mitch had bought the very 1st version of The Penetrator into Nathan’s factory to use in the film. The problem was when we placed the template onto The Penetrator, a single fin, there wasn’t a match, as the wide point was 1 inch back from centre, typical for a thruster not a single fin. We all scratched our heads and Mitch left us to it.
Fortunately, I had a “Plan B” for this project, which was to get Nathan to use the same template to create a modern version of an old classic, using his significant contemporary shaping knowledge. I didn’t think I’d be activating Plan B for years; but had no choice but to do it then, given the cost of the videographer. The outcome is displayed below; a pic of Nathan at work and Mitch with the surfboard – totally hand-shaped by Nathan that day. In of itself; a beautiful work of art. Unused, to this day!
2021 Nathan Rose finishing replica GLboard for the WA Museum in his Margaret River surfboard factory. Damon Hurst pic.2021 Mitch Thorson with his replica GL board made by Nathan Rose for WA Museum. Damon Hurst pic.
In order to deliver what was promised to the WA Museum, Nathan then had to go backwards and find a 1980’s 1st gen GL thruster to make sure he could create an authentic version; he called Bill Gibson and, of course, Bill being Bill had one – that part of the story is in the first post.
Just when we thought the job was done; the WA Museum replica got fatally damaged during the install process and Nathan and I had to start that process all over again. The funny thing is both Nathan and I agree, third time around, the “final” one in the WA Museum is the best one, for me the embodiment of perfect shapers flow. For this final version, even though we all know early thrusters were square tails, we decided to make it a swallow-tail, with deference to old man Thorson’s dodgy memory.
At this point, I still didn’t know when the surfboard in the Star advertisement was made, or whether it was a swallowtail, single fin or thruster. As luck would have it, I moved house and my son Giles found a box of old surfing magazines, that hadn’t been opened since 1987. Inside he found an old (but undated) West Coast Surfer magazine, which had the Star Surf Shop advertisement in it, noting the key words “when he won the Australian title”. An article in the mag titled “Shapes” by Bruce Smith, started with “Summer is basically a choice between two fins or one” which headed me in the direction of “Maybe Mitch is right after all?”. Then I found an article titled “Showdown ‘80” about the 1980 National Scholastic Titles written by my old mate Sean Murphy, who went on to become a highly skilled investigative journalist. Apart from writing the story, Sean was also captain of the West Australian team and was adamant that, even though the contest was held Down South in November 1980, no thrusters were ridden there; knowing that Simon Anderson launched his version of the thruster in April 1981 at Bells Beach. The icing on the confirmatory cake being Mitch “won the U17’s Australian title” at the meet.
From my perspective, the main point of the project is to show the continuous evolution of the surfboard; and I recon we have pulled that off!
The whereabouts of the iconic GL surfboard in the Star advertisement is still unknown; last seen in a garage sale in Freo in 1999. And the damaged version of the WA Museum replica disappeared too.
SDS posted a Wetted Surfaces by Damon Hurst blog on the 8 July 2023.
It asked if anyone knew the whereabouts of the featured GL surfboard.
This is an update by Damon on what happened after the initial post.
Update by Damon Hurst
The first SDS post led to the owner of the GL surfboard; well, the owner up until 1999 contacting me. The bloke’s name is Will Axten and he rode the board between 1989–1999. We were all on thrusters then, however, Will told me the board was a single fin and so good that he kept riding it, regardless of the scorn he attracted and was also able to confirm that it was a swallowtail too. See the attached pic of Will and the fin.
Let me go back a step!
I have re-attached the Star advertisement here as a reference point; you will see that the tail and fins are not revealed at all. When I first found that ad it as an undated PDF and it didn’t say where it had been published. Regardless, I decided it would add some interest to try and re-create the surfboard in the ad for the WA Museum.
When I activated that process, I decided to make a short film with Mitch Thorson and Nathan Rose. We used the GL template in the WA Museum, assuming it was all straightforward. I have re-attached a link to that film here:
Wetted Surface video by Damon Hurst. Run time 1.50 min
I had taken a videographer Down South with me, which was costing me money and when we got going with the filming, Mitch was emphatic that the template was for a “swallowtail single fin” and that it was likely to be the one used for his first signature series, a model known as The Penetrator; Mitch had bought the very 1st version of The Penetrator into Nathan’s factory to use in the film. The problem was when we placed the template onto The Penetrator, a single fin, there wasn’t a match, as the wide point was 1 inch back from centre, typical for a thruster not a single fin. We all scratched our heads and Mitch left us to it.
Fortunately, I had a “Plan B” for this project, which was to get Nathan to use the same template to create a modern version of an old classic, using his significant contemporary shaping knowledge. I didn’t think I’d be activating Plan B for years; but had no choice but to do it then, given the cost of the videographer. The outcome is displayed below; a pic of Nathan at work and Mitch with the surfboard – totally hand-shaped by Nathan that day. In of itself; a beautiful work of art. Unused, to this day!
In order to deliver what was promised to the WA Museum, Nathan then had to go backwards and find a 1980’s 1st gen GL thruster to make sure he could create an authentic version; he called Bill Gibson and, of course, Bill being Bill had one – that part of the story is in the first post.
Just when we thought the job was done; the WA Museum replica got fatally damaged during the install process and Nathan and I had to start that process all over again. The funny thing is both Nathan and I agree, third time around, the “final” one in the WA Museum is the best one, for me the embodiment of perfect shapers flow. For this final version, even though we all know early thrusters were square tails, we decided to make it a swallow-tail, with deference to old man Thorson’s dodgy memory.
At this point, I still didn’t know when the surfboard in the Star advertisement was made, or whether it was a swallowtail, single fin or thruster. As luck would have it, I moved house and my son Giles found a box of old surfing magazines, that hadn’t been opened since 1987. Inside he found an old (but undated) West Coast Surfer magazine, which had the Star Surf Shop advertisement in it, noting the key words “when he won the Australian title”. An article in the mag titled “Shapes” by Bruce Smith, started with “Summer is basically a choice between two fins or one” which headed me in the direction of “Maybe Mitch is right after all?”. Then I found an article titled “Showdown ‘80” about the 1980 National Scholastic Titles written by my old mate Sean Murphy, who went on to become a highly skilled investigative journalist. Apart from writing the story, Sean was also captain of the West Australian team and was adamant that, even though the contest was held Down South in November 1980, no thrusters were ridden there; knowing that Simon Anderson launched his version of the thruster in April 1981 at Bells Beach. The icing on the confirmatory cake being Mitch “won the U17’s Australian title” at the meet.
From my perspective, the main point of the project is to show the continuous evolution of the surfboard; and I recon we have pulled that off!
The whereabouts of the iconic GL surfboard in the Star advertisement is still unknown; last seen in a garage sale in Freo in 1999. And the damaged version of the WA Museum replica disappeared too.
Who knows one, or both, may turn up some time?
Damon Hurst
Thanks for providing the update, Damon.
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