Shaping the Future

{youtube}Y9S4q6oncOY{/youtube}

Sometimes surfing history happens when you least expect it; when the past meets the present and you time-warp back-and-forth in the moment. This occurred a few times for me at the Wavescape Art Board Auction during the evening of Wednesday, 5th December 2012, when surfer and agent provocateur Conn Bertish joined gravel-wielding comedian Mark Sampson and Wavescape’s Spike on stage to re-animate local surfing heritage. The moments were:

• The revealing of a vintage 7’6” Whitmore surfboard as part of the Family Board Project.
• The bidding for a historic 1965 photograph of John Whitmore surfing sans a wetsuit in Sea Point.
• The re-launch of the Whitmore Surfboards brand by the Whitmore family.
• The entrusting of the Whitmore board to Michaela Gabriel to surf and start it on a journey of new memories.

This video clip was taken with my iPhone. It’s an unedited fast-forward flashback of a part of the art board auction when John Whitmore’s historic contribution to South African surfing was celebrated and a visible connection between surfing’s past and its present was made in the form of this vintage surfboard. There are few instants when South African surfing’s heritage comes alive and shapes today’s local surf culture; this is one of those.

The Family Board Project was initiated by Ross Frylinck from Wavescape and Conn Bertish. For more information, and to follow the board's progress, visit www.thefamilyboard.co.za

By Glen Thompson, Surfing Historian
Email: glen@glt.co.za
Blog: http://writingsurfinghistory.org.za