In the mid-1970s, the surfing world suffered from a hangover after the mid-60s “shortboard revolution” began growing stale. The leaders of the movement — Nat Young and Bob McTavish in Australia, Corky Carroll and Rolf Aurness in California — were still relevant, but their surfing styles were fading from style.
Bottom turn, pull in, get barreled, kick out. Cool, but after a while…
In Hawaii, the vacuum was filled by Gerry Lopez, Barry Kanaiaupuni, and Jeff Hackman. Few California stars decorated international skies. Then, just as the Hawaiians were hitting stride, a second Aussie wave hit the shore running.
Led by Mark Richards, Peter Townend, Ian Cairns and Rabbit Bartholomew, the Australians dominated the new world, tore up the waves along with the old rules and swept almost every major event they entered, leaving American power brokers struggling to catch up.
The door had been busted down, and the Americans were now knocking to get in, much as they had when boards first went short in the ’60s. In 1971, South African Gavin Rudolph caused a blip on the radar when he seemingly came from nowhere to win big in Hawaii. This would be followed up some four years later by an 18-year-old South African who proved that Rudolph’s win was no fluke.
Shaun Tomson had it all. If he had wanted, his movie star looks could have led him to play the role of a top pro surfer on the big screen. But he didn’t need to pretend to be someone else — he was the real thing, and in mine and the opinion of many, ranked as the best surfer in the world for a time.
By 1975, Tomson and his cousin, Michael Tomson, had become part of the “Free Ride” generation. Named after the most popular surf movie of the time, the band of gypsies surfed more radically than anyone prior. When Michael Tomson dropped from surfing’s world title race, Shaun was the lone spoiler against the dominant Australians.
Footage of Shaun taking off behind Richards, who would become a four-time world champion, where Tomson squeezed out of the tube behind Richards, may not have been a deadly wooden spike, but it was undoubtedly a splinter in the side of Aussie rules.
Tomson won his lone world title in 1977. Although this is impressive, it falls short of recognizing Shaun’s innovations in tube riding and pulling through the back of a closed-out wave. It also gives no hint at Tomson’s humanitarian efforts.
Okay, this is the part when I get to name-drop. This just in from Shaun Tomson:
Chris Ahrens (“Windansea: Life. Death. Resurrection”) brings to life rumors and forgotten, half-told stories about Windansea and its surf community. His story about Woody Brown and Dickie Cross paddling down from closed-out Sunset Beach to Waimea Bay as the sun was setting is truly bone-chilling and brings to life every surfer’s most elemental fear — being caught out alone at night in monster surf. This story alone is worth the price of admission to be immersed in a rich and fascinating culture. Buy it and leave it open on the coffee table so your friends can disappear into its lore of surf.
Thank you, Shaun.
To learn more about Shaun Tomson, please check the link: shauntomson.com.
