The history of Peter Crawford
Moderators: Moderator, Jack Beresford
-
- Legend (Contribution King!)
- Posts: 341
- Joined: Tue Dec 28, 2004 9:43 pm
- Location: PASO ROBLES CA
- lowrider
- Ripper (more than 100 posts)
- Posts: 217
- Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2003 1:41 pm
- Location: Noosa, Australia
Damo, that's all I had; only had a photocopy courtesy 'Riq de Kneelo'
For those in Queensland:
The slab & another spoon of mine will be on display at the Noosa Regional Gallery from Friday 8 Feb to early March, as part of the
'Art of Surfing' & 'Surfing the 60's' exhibition,
held in conjunction with the Noosa Festival of Surfing.
There's an opening from 6pm friday, with booze etc.
Joe Larkin, Peter Troy, Bob Cooper attending & speaking.
It's good to sneak a couple of kneeboards in there!
I think the function is open to all...
For those in Queensland:
The slab & another spoon of mine will be on display at the Noosa Regional Gallery from Friday 8 Feb to early March, as part of the
'Art of Surfing' & 'Surfing the 60's' exhibition,
held in conjunction with the Noosa Festival of Surfing.
There's an opening from 6pm friday, with booze etc.

Joe Larkin, Peter Troy, Bob Cooper attending & speaking.
It's good to sneak a couple of kneeboards in there!
I think the function is open to all...
DVDs with some footage of Peter Crawford.
G'day all,
Long time haunting this site but first time post! Came across these little gems and thought I must share.
DVDs with some footage of Peter Crawford.
"Why Dee Why" http://austyles.com/ydy.htm
"Ocean Rhythms" http://www.utmostspirit.com/about-us/production-notes/
I only saw Peter in action once before and that was in a "Solo" soft drink commercial in the 70s. If my memory serves me correctly he was getting barreled and then does a re-entry (are they still called that now). I think at the end a hot looking babe gives him a can of "Solo" which he drinks of course. Would anyone know where I could get a copy of this commercial or know of any other surf movies that Peter may have appeared in?
Kind Regards
Mike
Long time haunting this site but first time post! Came across these little gems and thought I must share.
DVDs with some footage of Peter Crawford.
"Why Dee Why" http://austyles.com/ydy.htm
"Ocean Rhythms" http://www.utmostspirit.com/about-us/production-notes/
I only saw Peter in action once before and that was in a "Solo" soft drink commercial in the 70s. If my memory serves me correctly he was getting barreled and then does a re-entry (are they still called that now). I think at the end a hot looking babe gives him a can of "Solo" which he drinks of course. Would anyone know where I could get a copy of this commercial or know of any other surf movies that Peter may have appeared in?
Kind Regards
Mike
-
- Grom (25 or less posts to site)
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Tue May 19, 2009 1:21 pm
- Location: Belmont Shore
Re: fin shui
Randy, next time you come up I have a great SJ article on PC you must see.stonefish wrote:now its coming back to me, thanks for the Peter Crawford review, things do get a little foggy reviewing the 70s. the board is really nice. the fin set up......? all good!
Peace and Boat Drinks.......
PC
Aside from the tiny "finlets" on PC's slabs, did he ever venture into multi-fin set-ups??? I guess what I'm asking is did he try design without the large centered singlefin?? Anything like traditional tri, keel, quad?? Highly curious!!!!
- hart
- Legend (Contribution King!)
- Posts: 928
- Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2003 4:46 pm
- Location: Dee Why, Sydney.
Re: PC
Frank
Did PC experiment with multi-fin boards
He did ride them on occasion..but never went back to them
He hated twin fins and quads..they gave him no drive or verticality
He acknowledged thrusters for their resemblance to single-fin-trifins in that they had a centrally positioned, longitudinal centre fin (giving a hint of the feel of his slabs) but was most critical of their performance in the barrell
Peter's tube riding was second-to-none at the time..but given the flat rockers of his slabs, he approached the tube much differently to contemporary kneeboarders like Farrer
PC would trim by positioning his board level (in whichever line he chose) and allow the tail to actually break..giving him a stall characteristic and the ability to accellerate (by rail re-engagement) any time that it was needed
Thrusters wouldn't let him do this and he felt that they dragged his tail up the face of the wave, taking his board beyond level and thus, losing his trim-line
Farrer on the other hand, uses this thruster characteristic to his advantage because his rockers allow him to do so. Modern rockers allow a more vertical trim to compensate for the lift that is otherwise generated by the thruster set-up
hart
Did PC experiment with multi-fin boards

He did ride them on occasion..but never went back to them
He hated twin fins and quads..they gave him no drive or verticality
He acknowledged thrusters for their resemblance to single-fin-trifins in that they had a centrally positioned, longitudinal centre fin (giving a hint of the feel of his slabs) but was most critical of their performance in the barrell
Peter's tube riding was second-to-none at the time..but given the flat rockers of his slabs, he approached the tube much differently to contemporary kneeboarders like Farrer
PC would trim by positioning his board level (in whichever line he chose) and allow the tail to actually break..giving him a stall characteristic and the ability to accellerate (by rail re-engagement) any time that it was needed
Thrusters wouldn't let him do this and he felt that they dragged his tail up the face of the wave, taking his board beyond level and thus, losing his trim-line
Farrer on the other hand, uses this thruster characteristic to his advantage because his rockers allow him to do so. Modern rockers allow a more vertical trim to compensate for the lift that is otherwise generated by the thruster set-up

Occasionally, these finlets become much larger than 'tiny'..but the area was in the base rather than tip (read lack of depth)frankfqr wrote:
Aside from the tiny "finlets" on PC's slabs........<snipped>
hart
"Mary Mary, Mother Mother,
You and me and..
God the Father.."
Richard Butler
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a7TPaQV4zo
You and me and..
God the Father.."
Richard Butler
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a7TPaQV4zo
As usual, Bruiser is right on the money
they were so much fun to ride,but then again so hard to master........which of course peter HAD mastered
the difficult bit was learning to rely on your rail as another fin cause if you turned off the tail flat you'd spin for sure.
thrusters are so much more forgiving (adding that extra bite so to speak)
I have to say I've never seen ANY-ONE ride a K-board like Peter.....
We (at DY)tried to emulate him but didnt get anywhere near him....
for those who got to see him surf, I'm sure they will never forget.............
sorry for carrying on like a wanker but this has hit a soft spot
they were so much fun to ride,but then again so hard to master........which of course peter HAD mastered
the difficult bit was learning to rely on your rail as another fin cause if you turned off the tail flat you'd spin for sure.
thrusters are so much more forgiving (adding that extra bite so to speak)
I have to say I've never seen ANY-ONE ride a K-board like Peter.....
We (at DY)tried to emulate him but didnt get anywhere near him....
for those who got to see him surf, I'm sure they will never forget.............
sorry for carrying on like a wanker but this has hit a soft spot
i remember seeing an old movie (the name eludes me) one section of the movie had a quote "surfers at dee why freefall, (clips of footboarders flying through the air and slamming) but p c freefalls and makes it" frfall on takeoff, turn hit the lip and frfall again over and over. it was the most impressive surfing i have ever seen
max

max
kbing newport
fin shui
the insights into the how and why of what he rode is great. the trifin having a tendency to drag the tail up the face is real. it means a different approach to driving in the tube. nothing that hasnt been mastered, but for myself i use a set up that does unusual things too. it feels good to still get surprised! the deep single fin has a bit of the vertical marlin tail template. ive always thought that the horizontal tail of the wave riding porpoise was a big part of the formula. not so much the shape ,but the fact that it was always sticking into the face of the wave. ............anyway this website rules over surfermag for operator friendliness.