Michael Peterson

It might have made sense if directed at P Drouyn, but not Michael.

I saw Michael surf many times and he was unique, no-one has really surfed like him before or since. His multiple contest wins and the awe in which he was held by the entire surfing community at the time speak for themselves. I haven't seen the magazine but if it was intended as a cheap shot at a legend who is no longer around to defend himself then I would expect that it will do their reputation no good. That said, there comes a time to let the legends fade a little to make room for all that has been achieved since.

Who wrote that article .........'surf like a girl' no fucking way - to the editor of surfing world fucking shame on you.
MP graced your covers many times and those pics sold mega copies !!!!!!!!!

I'm 57 years old and was around the place when Michael was surfing at his peak. Saw him riding Kirra at 6-8
a few times, especially one 28 day cyclone swell around 1975. Plenty of the top surfers were about, Hackman, Rabbit, PT and so on but MP was on a higher level altogether. Fastest man in the water and for that time and equipment best surfer I've seen. Surf like a girl? NO.
I have super 8 footage of that swell and Michael getting 7 barrels on one wave.

@ deanw how can we see your super 8 footage of the man? may we.

It was put on video tape, if I could find how to get it to a digital form I'd be happy to post it here.

im sure the swellnet team could advise on that.

We've got a vid to digi converter here in the office but it sounds like Dean is in QLD. Best bet would be to check film or camera houses. I got eight video tapes converetd a few years back for a reasonable price. Think it was a Rabbit Camera House, or some such generic camera place anyway.

Would love to see the MP footage...

or about $10 aust post pack qld to syd.

Yep, or that. Dean, Swellnet would be happy to pay get the tape digitised and pay for postage here and back. You'd retain all copyright over the footage.

If you'd like to take the offer up please email me at: [email protected]

-Stu

MP super 8 footage in a cyclone in 1975, thats worth money!

Yeah spent a little time in Qld through that time. One solid day at kirra there were a few absentees MP one of them, missing in action yeah but only to be surfing a macken right handed off the Tweed Bar with Murray Bourton and one or possibly two others, got round there for look see UNBELIEVABLE!

stunet wrote:

Yep, or that. Dean, Swellnet would be happy to pay get the tape digitised and pay for postage here and back. You'd retain all copyright over the footage.

If you'd like to take the offer up please email me at: [email protected]

-Stu

Will see what I can do.

@Sticky watched a few of those tweed bar sessions as well epic stuff, wayne dean surfed it solo lots of times Marty Tullemans took heaps of pics .
Deany on some 12ft plus days taking off way out on the bar and flicking out almost at lovers ,fuck some footage of that would be good see, deanw got any bar footage or know of any ?

On the original topic it never ceases to amaze me what media dish up for journalism these days.
Its a shame to see the rot creeping in to the surf media, present company excluded of course.
Here they have touched on a subject close to my heart and so I am compelled to post. Perhaps there is some context to the comment that may sway our interpretation of what was said I don't know, but in tribute to a man who I knew very well having begun my career working with him and the other great Shapers under the Tutillage of the late Brian Fury Austen, there was also Billy Grant, Graham Black Blackie, Richard Huzza Wuzza Herbert, Peter Mont Monte, Shane Egan, Tommy floating in and out, Dave Macca Macdonnald, ect, I lived with Michael or should I say Micheal lived with us, on and off for a number of years in the house on Kirra Hill overlooking Kirra Point, best view in the country in those days, front window right onto the point, so many stories to tell, Michael was a surfer of extraordinary natural ability, for his day on par with Kelly Slater make no mistake. I remember clearly about eight months before the first ever Stubbies contest (the first man on man heats) Michael had been sort of away from surfing for a while then in New Zealand, drugged out and messed up, I had not seen him for good while, he just showed up one day and asked to move back into the house, he was fat podgy pasty, he said to me Robbie I am going to win that contest. (that was six months out)Now there are no shortage of egos out there who readily make such statements then and today, but over the course of the next six months he got off the smack started running exercising pulled his diet together and claimed the 5K prize against MR who went on to claim 4 world titles, after an exhilarating semi against Rabbit. That was todays equivalent of wining the Quicksilver Pro, it his last major contest win.
Only true champions can do things like that. Us mere mortals have no hope. Such individuals deserve respect because they have earned it. I am surprised that some one would stoop to cheapen that ability using the cheapening of that reputation it to promote their own magazine or agenda. I hope they get to see this post.

Regards to all Rob Webster

I fit the 50's age group. I saw MP when he won Bells in the 70's. I'm pretty sure it was the following edition of Tracks that had this amazing photo of him doing a reo on a big one in the bowl (can't quite remember now if it was Tracks or Surfing World). Memory of his surfing that week and that photo still sticks. Made the rest of us look like girls.

Apologies to girl surfers - there's plenty of you out there who surf better than me (and the Tracks journalists)!

Did the MP footage end up getting digitized ?

Dean contacted me and I emailed back. Haven't heard from him since.

Dean, you out there? Still keen??

who cares what some journo said, just watch MPs surfing, see how good he was for those times and on those boards...R.I.P MP....

Hi Stu, hopefully getting it converted this week.

Legends always seem to grow when they die, but MP could definitely surf. I travelled a bit surfing as a kid so I was lucky enough to see a lot of my hero's of the day surfing. A few decades ago I was surfing an almost perfect 6 foot Tea Trees (the one at Noosa) with one other guy, and this unco looking guy with a board sort of shuffled his way out to jump off the rocks. As soon as he hit the water you just knew he could surf. It was MP and he was really that good. His style and positioning just blew me away. Compared to his contemporaries he was definitely up there. I was still surfing a single fin in bigger waves so I'm guessing it was probably late 70's.

Coincidently back in the day I also had a few MP surfboards. One that comes to mind was this fang tail thing that had about three pointy flyers each side and a narrow swallow tail. Can't recall how it went but I thought it was awesome (realistically the performance of any of those boards from that era is ordinary compared to today's boards)

I was in cooly from late 71-81 surfed all the great cyclone swells anyone there for the peak just up the beach from Kirra point my mates & I jumped off green mount pt to get to it solid 8-12 foot perfect lefts & rights we we the 1st guys out there & so was Keith Paul I remember greasy living in his kombi shaping a board outside his van at the peak if anyone has pix please post em or talk about it I've never seen a beach break hold its bank for so long

I haven't read the article, so can't comment on its merits. The editorial crew were more than likely just trying to catch people's eye with a potentially controversial headline and sell a few magazines.

I do, however, think it's worth pointing out that the phrase "...like a girl" isn't necessarily a negative. I've been surfing for over 25 years now, but I'd fucking love to be able to surf like Steph Gilmore or Tyler Wright or any of a (quite large) number of female surfers.

Stop and think for a minute about the way you see the world and the way you absorb what's presented to you in the media. My daughter does everything like a girl, because she is a girl, and she's fucking awesome.

I saw M.P. in 76 at Bells after winning the last three. It was points for turns and on his first wave he just stood there trimming probably earning zero points. Incredible! He came through the carpark right up to the guy i was talking to and mumbled ' Higgsy around'? then wandered off. Saw him destroy big snapper a couple of years later and took some photos. Sent the slides to tracks when he passed away but haven't heard anything. He was light years ahead of everyone.

M.P. blitzed. saw him at Bells in the 70s and saw him destroy big Snapper around '77. Took some photos and sent the slides to Tracks when he passed away but never heard anymore. He was light years ahead.

Winkie, "higgsy around"....classic...
what a pity Doherty didn't get to speak with Higgsy ...would have made the book another 100 pages long and some mindblowing reading

Higgsy is still around and doing what he does best .

udo wrote:

Winkie, "higgsy around"....classic... what a pity Doherty didn't get to speak with Higgsy ...would have made the book another 100 pages long and some mindblowing reading Higgsy is still around and doing what he does best .

Keep an eye out Udo. Sean's been doing some work in this area.

Wish Don Norris would release a few more of his 1970s MP super 8 footage.

It is actually 16mm udo and I suspect some of it was shot by Peter Crawford as Don was actually living in PCs garage for some of that period, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Often promised, never delivered.