This is late news but the McTavish team put in some great results at this years ANZAC Dawn Surface, hosted by Burleigh Longboard Club. McTavish retail guru Dave English posted a win in the over 40's, and Greg Tilley also upheld the honour with a 5th in the over 60's. Roisin Carolan also placed 3rd in the ladies AND had a great result in the Byron Malibu Classic the week after. 

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Hollywood Dave English, on his way to a win in the over 40's

GT - hitting the lip in the over 60's

McTavish Surfboards has been nominated for 2 categories in this years Australian Surf Industry Awards. We've been nominated for both 'Retailer of the year' and 'Core board store of the year' - both for our Byron Bay HQ. Voting is open to the public and you can come along and cast yours by clicking here.

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Yep its here, the 'Byron Bay the meeting place' DVDs are now available here. I've already raved about it but will go again - this docco is the best, its an awesome picture of Byron Bay, the locals, the lifestyle and what made the town what it is today. Bob is in the film and gives a great portrait of life in the area over the years. A great Christmas gift too. the DVD folder itself is a postcard, so you can order it online and have it posted to a friend (or to yourself) for Chrissy! 

Also, if you're in Byron this week, and you missed last weeks showings (OR if you want to go see it again like I do) its screening again at the Byron Bay Community Centre on Monday 12th December at 7pm - tickets here.

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Its here, its official, its summer! Warm water and crowded waves here in Byron Bay, but you can overlook the crowds as the town really comes alive and pumps right through till Easter. I'd love to say its 30 degrees and sunny but as I look out the office window its pouring rain and 22 degrees - not the ideal kick-off!

Last night was the premiere of the 'Byron Bay - the meeting place' docco at the Community Centre and it was completely sold out! We were so glad we got tickets as the film was amazing, a fantastic look at what makes Byron special - and Bob seemed to totally hog the screen-time ;-) recalling some stories from Byron's past. There was also some great live music from local artist Garrett Kato. We'll have DVD's of the docco in the online store and in our Byron Bay showroom prior to Christmas - its well worth a watch.

View trailer for the docco here. 

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Got a mo? Got a pre 1980 board under the house? Wanna raise some cash for a good cause? Well you're in luck, this Saturday (Dec 3rd) is the Morning of the Mo event, being held around the Byron-Ballina coast. There is a decent swell forecast for Friday afternoon so hopefully it'll be pumping and the Mo-men will be tearing it apart. For more details go here. If you can't compete head along and take in the spectacle, its bound to provide a few laughs.

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In a couple of weeks time (Oct 21 - 23) Byron will be hosting its first ever dedicated surf festival. The event isn't about competitive surfing and will focus more on surfings influence in the art and music scenes, as well as a display of hand-made boards. Lots of great shapers like Simon Jones and Tom Wegener will attend the weekend, and Bob will be opening the festival on the Friday night (Oct 21st) at the Stone and Wood Brewery - so get to Byron for the weekend and enjoy a beer and some of Bobs tales on the night! More details here.

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Last night was the Surfaid International fundraiser at the Byron Bay Brewery. It was a great event aimed at raising funds and awareness of issues happening around the globe at some of our most popular surf destinations. Surfaid has projects running in areas such as health, malaria prevention, clean water provision and dozens more. Get involved in the great work they do by donating here.

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A big congrats to McTavish team rider Roisin Carolan who scored runner-up in the junior womens division at the Aussie Titles down at Bonny Hills last week. Here are a couple of pics of the action. Thanks to Darrell Nash at Nashyspix www.nashyspix.com and Andy Carruthers from Salt Images www.saltimages.com.au for the use of the photos!

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Roisin strutting her stuff for the judges at the 2011 Aussie Titles

Off the top

A nice cutty

NSW team surfer Joshua Croad hits the lip on his McTavish F4

Last night was the first ever Kirra Surf Tradeshow, where vendors were invited to showcase a range of product and do a presentation to over 300 'Black-label' VIP Kirra Surf customers. The night was a great success, with a ton of pro surfers in attendance including Parko, Mick, Taj, Bede and Richie Lovett. We were showcasing our new Sumo and NEO models and everyone was keen to organise a ride! At the end of the evening there was a board giveaway and a brand new custom McTavish was won by Kana, a super stoked young Japanese surfer living on the Gold Coast for the next 12 months. Next years event promises to be even bigger and better and may even coincide with the Kirra Pro so stay tuned.   

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McTavish VIP Rod Boyce with Bob and 2X World Champ Mick Fanning

McTavish Wholesale Manager Greg Tilley shows Hat-dog Hatten the new Sumo model

Glen 'Rocky' Rawlings interviews Bob on the future of board design

A super stoked board winner Kana, all the way from Japan!

Bob and Kana talk through her new custom

I just got back from Randy Rarick’s incredible Hawaiian Islands Surf Memorabilia Auction in Honolulu. Just incredible! It was the feature event in a week of amazing surf events… more on those later.

The auction featured about 70 great boards.  On my first cruise along the racks of auction boards, my eyes immediately fell on my favourite, and the one that ultimately took out the biggest price. It was John Kelly’s ( local redwood shaper since the 1930’s, and co-inventor of the Hot Curl) personal board, that he shaped and learned to surf on 80 years ago. It was bought by a collector from Connecticut, for $43,000. He showed up, won the bid, and left. Pretty cool!

My second favourite was the second highest pricer, a Greg Noll racing paddleboard that he brought to Australia in 1956 for the Olympics in Melbourne. It was as sleek and streamlined and functional now as it was then. So advanced, with custom knee wells, a splash spoiler, drain holes, and a glistening white glass job over chambered balsa. Amazingly purchased online by the Australian Maritime Museum for $28,500.

Five boards that I shaped fetched high prices, but nothing like those. My Plastic Machine pulled $5,000. My Greeno-inspired flex tail about $4,500 I think. So much was going on, signing autographs and stuff, that I actually missed the final outcome of that little sweetheart.

All in all, Randy’s Auction is the greatest indoor surf event I’ve ever attended. You think I’m an old shaper. How about hanging with Joe Quigg, shaper since 1927? Rennie Yater, and several others, since the forties. I was a pup amongst the prime pack of surfboard makers on Planet Earth. A real treat.

Bob