Tag: quiksilver

Tom Carroll for Quiksilver: Sagas of Shred

Greetings, Shredderz! Today we resume our regularly scheduled scans of vintage surf ads, which is all part of the Sagas of Shred series. This week’s entry focuses on one of the greatest power surfers of all time: two time world champion Tom Carroll, riding for Quiksilver. This ad originally ran in the July 1988 issue of Surfer Magazine (Vol 29, No 7). I love the tagline in the ad: “Real Surfers. Real Surfing. Real Boardshorts.” Carroll is definitely a real surfer, and that snap is genuine too, but uh, those board shorts are real snug. But hey, this is a vintage surfboard blog, not a fashion advice column, so I’ll choose to focus on the stick Carroll is riding.

Turns out I actually featured the photo above in an earlier post. You can see the board Carroll has here is the same one in the photo at the top of the page. While it has a Byrne Surfboards logo, you can see the board was actually shaped by North Shore craftsman Pat Rawson.

It has a very similar airbrush pattern to the 7’8″ Carroll rode during the 1991 Pipe Masters. Carroll performed an insane layback snap at Pipe that remains one of the defining moments of his career.

  • Tom Carroll and the layback snap heard ’round the world, 1991 Pipe Masters.

It looks like Carroll must have stayed with this airbrush design for years, given the Rawson board was surfed in 1988, and the Pipe Masters board was ridden a full three years later.

Another funny note of trivia about the 7’8″ Pipe Masters board: apparently Carroll snapped the 7’8″ shape during the finals, and an enterprising young Jamie O’Brien tried to sneak off with the nose before it was returned to Carroll. The whole thing is detailed in a Stab Magazine story, which you can find here.

Quiksilver, Danny Kwock and Echo Beach: Sagas of Shred

Greetings, Shredderz! I’m on the road this week, which means no fresh vintage surf ad scans for today’s Sagas of Shred entry. The good news, though, is that we’re borrowing an ad originally posted by the cool kids at Saturdays NYC. If surf nostalgia has a more classic combination than Danny Kwock, Quiksilver and the Echo Beach heydays of the Eighties, I have yet to see it. The ad you see here features a young Kwock absolutely stylin’. I nabbed this photo from an excellent interview with Kwock on the Saturdays NYC website. Sadly, I think Saturdays has discontinued their short-lived but awesome magazine project. If you can dig up a hard copy of the magazines they printed it’s definitely worth it — they are beautiful printed pieces, and mine are carefully stashed away for safekeeping.

And just in case you thought Danny Kwock was a one-tricky pony, here’s proof that he does black tie every bit as well as more casual ensembles. I found the shot of Kwock posing alongside a killer Wave Tools stick on this completed vintage surfboard auction listing. Not sure who the photographer is — if you have any info please do let me know.

Thanks for reading and we’ll be back next Thursday with more Sagas of Shred!

Fast and Loose by Surfer Magazine: Clipz

Greetings, Shredderz! Here are some of the best surfboard-related videos I’ve found online recently, starting with a must-watch from Surfer Magazine.

“Fast and Loose” by Surfer Magazine / Quiksilver

This one is worth grabbing a seat for. Surfer Magazine and Quiksilver present a nice fifteen minute mini-documentary on Mark Richards. Before Slater came along and redefined the sport Richards was the single most successful competitor in the history of surfing. Moreover, MR won four consecutive world titles on self-shaped equipment, which is a truly mind-blowing feat. I love the fact the movie also features current day pros Zeke Lau and Kael Walsh taking some MR boards through their paces. You can actually enter a raffle to win the board Lau surfed; more details here.

“Catch Fish” by William Aliotti and Ryan Lovelace

This is a short but sweet edit in which surfer William Aliotti threads some thumpin’ Indian Ocean tubes on a Ryan Lovelace-shaped twin fin fish.

Devon Howard by NobodySurf

I really like watching Devon Howard surf. He’s the new WSL Longboard Tour commissioner, and he has the chops to back up the gig. As much as I like watching him on a longboard, I actually prefer Howard’s surfing on mid-lengths. I love the smooth, unhurried style and the way he links one solid turn after another.

Photo of MR at the top of the page by Dan Merkel. You can purchase prints of the photo here and follow Merkel on Instagram here.

Nat’s Nat and That’s That: Sagas of Shred

Greetings, Shredderz! I have returned from a long and relaxing trip back to the East Coast. I may have timed the trip perfectly to miss out on the swell that’s beginning to fill in, but hey, at least I have access to my back issues of Surfer Magazine and a scanner. Today we’ve got a Quiksilver ad from a 1980 issue of Surfer Mag featuring none other than all-around legend Nat Young. Young has been making the news lately for the upcoming release of his new book, “Church of the Open Sky.”

Funnily enough, one of Young’s earlier books was titled “Nat’s Nat and That’s That”, echoing the copy you see in the Quiksilver ad posted at the top of the page.

I’m eagerly awaiting “Church of the Open Sky.” Not only does Young boast a championship resume, he has shown himself to be a thoughtful historian of all things surf related.

Thanks for reading and we’ll be back next Thursday with more Sagas of Shred!