What with so much going on in March in the surfing world, this birthday kind of slipped under the radar, but the 25th anniversary of the first (and possibly last) world championships of tandem surfing, held at the 1999 Noosa Festival of Surfing, is too good to let slide by.
Although tandem riding on a surfboard – usually a man holding a woman aloft – had been a thing since the ancient Polynesians used it as a prelude to sexual rites on the beach many centuries ago, it was first popularised by the Waikiki beach boys, including the Kahanamoku brothers, in the early 20th century when it became lucrative to provide young female passengers on the Matson Lines with the thrill of their lives, often ending in a rite similar to the aforementioned ancients.
By the 1950s it was the thing to do on Waikiki’s rolling beachies, and soon became a part of the annual Makaha Invitational, then considered the unofficial surfing world championships. Tandem survived through the ‘60s and into the ‘70s, but come the shortboard revolution it all but disappeared, only to be revived as part of the 1980s renaissance of longboard surfing. In the 1990s the surf/dance artform was led by Californian/Hawaiian duo Steve and Barrie Boehne, the latter of whom had partnered with several of the great surfers of the Makaha era. Steve and Barrie were not only great tandem surfers but great teachers, and they played no small part in the tandem revival.
A bigger part, however, emerged in the late 1990s with the unlikely pairing of gymnast and skateboarder Bobby Friedman with San Clemente classical dancer Anna Shisler. Bobby was a driven unit, prepared to take on anything to secure his moment in the sun. Petite Anna, out of the dance world through injury, quickly shared the passion to ride challenging waves in unison. Soon they were the sensation of the tandem universe.
By 1997, when the Noosa Malibu Classic introduced a tandem exhibition for the first time, I’d already seen Bobby and Anna perform in Hawaii and at the Biarritz Surf Festival in France. I can’t remember who did what, although I think pro contest director Johnny Lee was one of the leading protagonists, but I knew that if we wanted to progress tandem in Noosa we had to get Bobby and Anna to come down. As it turned out, Noosa needed no prompting, and when the duo accepted an invitation to come to the first Noosa Festival of Surfing in 1998 for a series of exhibitions and clinics, the emerging local tandem crew went nuts.
In 1999, Breaka Flavoured Milk chucked a chunk of money at us and we were able to invite the best of the best of world tandem riders to compete in a completely unofficial “world championships” for decent prize money. Taking a leaf out of the late great Bob Evans’ playbook, who 35 years earlier had held the first world championships of surfing without sanction, I decided it was easier to seek forgiveness than permission and ploughed right ahead.
Unfortunately for fans the duo of Bobby and Anna had by this time split – Anna now being known for a couple of decades as Noosa resident Mrs Josh Constable and still surfing beautifully – but we truly had a field to be reckoned with, the best of the rest of Californians and Hawaiians mixed with a tribe of locals who may have come late to the game but were in it to win it. Johnny Lee and Verity were standout locals, but Chris De Aboitiz and Meredith Saunders emerged the winners, and later in the year showed it was no fluke by taking out the Biarritz Festival tandem trophy in France.
The unofficial tandem world titles was a bold step never to be repeated, but it laid the foundations for a tandem culture in Australia which was dominant for a decade or more and still continues. These days you’re more likely to find Chris De Aboitiz surfing with a dog on his shoulders rather than a girl, but I know he can still do it! Although Johnny Lee’s old painter’s back might let him down.
Battle for the bottom at Margies
As the WSL tour plays out at Margaret River over the coming days, it’s really all about the bottom of the ladder to see who avoids the dreaded mid-season cut.
In the women’s, where 10 survive, Molly Picklum is the only Australian to look truly safe at three, behind Johanne Defay and Caity Simmers, although Tyler Wright at eight is due a result, with only a second in Portugal to show for a reasonably good season so far. Below the line we have Isabella Nichols at 13 and Sally Fitzgibbons at 14, with Bella holding a sizable points advantage over Sal.
In the men’s strong performances at Bells have seen Cole Houshmand and Rio Waida rocket into the safety zone while Ryan Callinan are a little to close to the cut-off for comfort, but should be okay. Below the line Jacob Willcox needs a strong showing on home turf and Kelly Slater needs a miracle win to keep his career alive.
