Phil Myers: Channeling a past master
Recently a batch of photos passed through my inbox. Taken with an iPhone, horizon skewed and focus soft, the subject of the photos was no less striking for the crude technique used. Lined up along a wall were a fleet of Free Flight 10 channel pintails. Another photo featured an unglassed 10 channel pinny resting in a shaping stand. Yet another a 10 channel pinny standing in the corner of a dust-strewn shaping bay.
There's something so aesthetically pleasing about channel bottom surfboards. However, rather than try to deconstruct why it is we're attracted to them I decided to track down the owner of the boards.
With 35 years in the surfboard industry, Phil Myers has shaped for some of the world's best surfers. He's also worked alongside the world's best shapers. Very early in his career Phil forged a friendship with Newcastle shaper and early channel bottom pioneer, Col Smith. 25 years after Col passed away from lung cancer, Phil, with help from Col's son, Rique, is again experimenting with water flow.
Swellnet spoke to Phil about Col Smith, the rebirth of Free Flight surfboards, and channel bottoms.
Swellnet: Did you know Col Smith when he was shaping?
Phil Myers: I first met Col in Coffs Harbour in the early 70s. I was working the last year of my carpentry apprenticeship and we became friends. I started shaping around 1976, first a few of my own and then full time at Free Flight around 1977. I had heard of the Jim Pollard channels that Col and Steve Butterwoth were riding. I also met Steve the same time I met Col. In 1979 I tried to make my own without seeing any of Jim's.
We used to make boards for a shop called Sea Level in Maroubra, and had a team of surfers down there: Kevin Davidson, Barry Dixon, Tony White and Mark Valla. My brother and I drove down there to watch them surf in a team competition against other Sydney clubs, which Maroubra won. Col was there as a special guest. This was in 1979. He looked at our boards and told me about what he was doing. We called into Redhead on the way home and stayed at Col's place. Then a week later, Col, Kim and a very young Rick came up and stayed with us and we started doing the Col Smith Channel bottoms at Free Flight.
From what I know, Jim Pollard was the first to do them, and Mike Davis was doing his clinker hulls shortly after. AB started doing them around the same time as I did. The other two I know that were also shaping them were Phil Fraser and Martin Littlewood. They were both from Newcastle. In that time I also shaped boards for Michael Ho, Vince Klyne and Hans Hedeman, and all the Maroubra team were also on the channel bottoms, and Narrabeen’s Greg Black was also a team rider.
What is the history of the Free Flight label?
Free Flight was started by Lindsay Grant, a Ballina local in 1975, Gunther Rohn was the first shaper and he went overseas to work in 1977. I had been shaping my own boards, and after a crash course from Bob McTavish, I took over the head shapers job at Free Flight. Neil Purchase was also doing some boards around that time. We did the Col Smith Channel for about four years, until the thruster turned up, and then we came up with a design called the hydro channel. We did that for a few years and all the other current designs of the day.
Years later I came up with a design called the vent system, a deep double concave with forward V and channels. At this time I had a young Danny Wills on board, and Newcastle’s Michelle Donaghue. Danny won numerous titles on these boards, and Michelle won her one and only pro contest on one of these boards - the Newcastle Pro. Barton Lynch was looking for a new shaper and sponsor, and I shaped a half-dozen boards for Barton and he liked them. Barton linked up with Brothers Neilson on the Gold Coast and got me a job there shaping, and I stayed there for nine years.
After stints working for Bear, Local Motion, Rawson, Noosa Surf Works, G & S, I decided to go back to the Free Flight label as it was where I started. About two years ago I decided I'd had enough of the surfing industry and took a job cleaning at Byron Bay High School. Rique Smith - Col's son - contacted me, and asked me and AB to re-do some of the Col Smith channels for his mates shop in Newcastle, called The Arc at Redhead.
Sadly, just as the boards hit the shop AB passed away. I have continued with Rick and decided that, as well as doing the re-makes of the old boards, to do a range of modern designs as well. These boards will now be available at Good Time in Brisbane, Golden Breed at Noosa and Byron, The Arc at Newcastle and we are currently looking for other shops.
Have you had much demand for them?
Everyone who sees these boards loves the look of the new and old channel bottoms, and so far the people that have brought them have been more than complimentary about their performance. The single fins are genuine retro, exactly the same as they were back in the day, and they were Australia’s most popular channel bottom. Everything is original down to the fin. I am adding the channels into all today’s popular designs with great results.
In our first conversation you mentioned you were even using the original sprayer - who is that?
All our team - glasser, sander, sprayer, etcetera - have been working in the surfboard industry since the 70s and know their stuff. Mark Cleghorn is the glasser, Michael Hughes is the sprayer, Mick Vaughn and Searl do the sanding and finish, and Todd Ingham does the FCS plugs.
Has technology made the sanders job easier or is it still a slog to sand those channels?
Our glasser and sander know what they are doing; they are craftsmen, it is as simple as that. Doing channels is not easy. It never has been. You have to believe in what you are doing and know that the result is worthwhile,
Describe the difference between the retro and modern boards?
The original Col Smith channel is the same as it was in the 70s and 80s. It's a pintail single fin and can come in 6, 8 or 10 channels. The new ones use my input of forward V double concave plus the channels, which puts the modern thruster on to its rail, which is important to me. In the smaller ones - stubby type boards - I use single to double concave with V in the tail, and the channels are reversed into the concave, longest channel being on the outside, shortest in the middle, which feeds off the single concave under the front foot through the double concave channels in the tail.
This is the same set-up I used in the twin fin models back in the day. I am using this set-up on the current four fin stubbies that I do.
How different is a 10-channel board, to an 8-channel board or a 6-channel board? 
The difference is how fast you really want to go. Col loved his 10 and 8 channels, and so does his son Riqué. Most of the boards we did back in the day were 6 channels, with the 8 and 10 channels being very difficult to make. The only difference I would say would be a bit more acceleration from the multi-channel boards. These boards look incredible, and in the end it is a labour of love to make them, but definetely worth it.
Do you think channel bottoms have a place in modern board development or is it more about connecting with a feeling?
The channel bottom has its rightful place in Australian surfing history and is as current today as it was in the 70s. It fits perfectly into today’s high performance modern surfing. It's easy for a lot of shapers to dismiss them as a fad simply because most modern boards come out of a machine and is all too easy. Let alone finding the glassers and sanders with the experience to make them as well.
It is up to the people out there to decide if they will be popular again. These boards are real boards with a history, made by people with up to 40 year's experience in the industry. They cannot be mass-produced and form a unique part of the Australian surfing industry.
Where can people get in contact with you Phil?
I would be happy to answer any enquiries either by email [[email protected]] or phone me on 0403 230 892 or go to my Facebook page.
Postscript: To view a gallery of Phil's channel bottom click here.
Comments
So stoked to see these bds being reproduced,and modern design being applied to the channel bottom.
I have some great memories surfing with Col,who I still consider one of the finest surfers I have seen in my life...a passionate surfer/shaper.......and so well respected...
Love the history lesson ...and stoked to see Rique still carrying on the family name..
I remember talking to AB about how deep channels should be,and he said,"the deeper the better the bd goes!"
I has just moved to France,and made a Cannel bottom with 1" deep channels...it was one of the best bds I ever had in Barrels....but fell apart after a month..I kept making them...but I didn't have the craftsmen to manufacture the bds...and they all eventually fell apart.
I am still in awe at the passion and the love that shapers, glassers and sanders have to make these bds..art in s./bds at its finest....everyone should have one in their quiver..
Awesome guys!!!!!
yeah had a few of Phils boards back in the 80s and early 90s and a couple of the rounded 6 channel thrusters were some of the best boards ive had.Good article.
Stoked to see Phil get off the vacuum cleaner and back behind the planer where he belongs.
"Mark Cleghorn is the glasser, Michael Hughes is the sprayer, Mick Vaughn and Searl do the sanding and finish, and Todd Ingham does the FCS plugs" .........thats a dream team if ever there was one.
I think I have just found my retirement board. Had a Col Smith in the late 70's, surf tech 6 channel in early 2000's followed by an Albert Fox model in mid 2000's. A correction on one of the names above is Martin Littlewood, not Middlewood. Love this design outline
They're unreal looking boards though I wonder about the waterflow after watching Maurice/Brutus explain his deep concaves.
Is phil the guy who does the fin foiling people talk about?
thats Phil Way at Fluid Foils.
Thx Freeride. Bit confused.
I'm trying to figure out how/why the channels are different on some bottoms. In photo 5 of the gallery the outside channels start first, but in photo 6 the inside channels start first. Is that due to bottom contour - vee vs concave? Or due to where the rocker starts?
Here is the gallery http://www.swellnet.com/photos/swellnet-sessions/phil-myers-and-free-fli...
Can't comment there?
Had the chance to ride a Martin Littlewood channel singlefin at Yallingup once loved it one of those 10 channels would be insane to have in the quiver.
Yeh, margies Marty Littlewood is a deluxe shaper and craftsman like Phil Myers as well, and as Phil Myers said, was there right in the early days, with Col Smith. He's the epoxy master too. But then there's Cal Liddle's epoxies also.
It would all depend on conditions. One of those 6, 8 or 10 channel singlies out at big, clean Winki would be a dream run, but I dread to think what it'd be like once the wind went SW. Chop and channels dont mix.
But if I had to take just one board to Indo for a season? Yep...
Clego would love glassing these babies,sanding would be a nightmare especially the 10 channel ones,enough to turn a man to drink but boy are they nice to look at.
All this makes you think about these guys already mentioned, and many, many more. Dahlberg, Gunther Rohn, Mackie, Maurice Cole, McCoy, Lynch, Egan. Way too many to list from all corners of the country. All master craftsmen. All poured so much into making boards. How many guys have had dream waves/experiences because of them.
When I left Ballina I asked Gunther Rohn to make me a board for blacks. How long would it take? As he peered through the foam dust in his footy shorts, pretty much coated in white from head to toe, he pointed to the pile of orders on the spike. When I told him I'm leaving in two weeks, any chance could I have it fairly quick, just like everyone else, not a happy face. But he did it . Deluxe job. Yet, I would watch him surf Lennox, fucked shoulders, fucked from pumping out boards day after day, not enough time in the water, so many kids and locals on cheap boards from him, getting paycheques from him. Do you think they would give the guy a fucking wave. Dog eat dog out there, the pack all over him like ruthless, frothing pirahnas. I used to marvel at his patience, his resigned attitude.
Cal Liddle is an epoxy genius, no becoming sponges if they are dinged, life time models, puts everything into giving you exactly what you want. They all do. Littlewood, Dahlberg, so experienced, honest and easy to deal with. McCoy looked after me so well for years. Sometimes I would climb up the cliff, rush to phone him, and be buzzing for a week.
I often wonder how they must feel, the way the board industry is going, having watched the clothes horses cash in. No retirement plan, no industry protection, all those hours of insane pleasure surfers have had pretty much wiped away.
No disrespect, its happening in all industries, especially gym equipment too. But. 'Great idea, great designs, hey, no thanks, I'll just get it made in China. Unless you want to match the price?'
very true uppo, so what do we do, ORDER BOARDS MADE IN AUST BY HAND, support your local Master Craftsmen, that's what.
Pay the bucks, pay extra for what you want from the Craftsman.
I found an old mt woodgee channeled 6.8 in a second hand shop for peanuts. Trouble is it goes too quick for most of the local conditions. Unreal stick. Only pull it out when the hammer needs to go down. It goes like a rocket.
I just got my hands on a Blue Spirit 10 channel single fin by Phil Fraser and its a pissa, just need a fin for it
And the starters flag is just about to fall for cyclone season. Love ya timing Doggo.
@Wildenstein about the channels , from what I know the col smith channels have the longest channel along the rails ,al byrnes have the longest by the stringer . col smith boards are definitely some of the most incredible things to ride . a feeling of drive and control like no other . im not sure about how the other guys shaping them have them channels placed but marty littlewood does a smith type version if ya ask him . rique smith has some of his fathers shape channel boards that he has kindly let me use at times all with biggest channels on the rail and they power . watching rique use them is like a trip back in time , doing huge reos and layback snaps under the lip backhand . looking at the pics on this thread most are the AB / myers type of channel , but I promise you the smith channel is great too
The boards I would love to have in the waves I love to ride.
What I find interesting is the acceleration we get from a surfboard with this design, and the fact MC is talking about potential weakness in the board. In aviation, like the old WW2 Junkers JU 52, the clinker type panels were stronger (like corrugated fences) but created a lot more drag in terms of airflow. in the boards it would appear the opposite, perhaps the additional surface area due the channels would help in the tail area of a board. Also, the channel boards suffer in choppy faces, whereas in a boat hull design it would seem to assist in chop?
back to dreaming, like having an 8 channel on a jefferies bay type wall without the hordes
Have been lucky enough to know Phil Fraser for over 20yrs...After a number of years Phil has recently returned to the shaping bay.Although aloof to all but a select few if you can get one of his boards you are buying a piece of art...
Just quietly I will give you a hint of one guy who hand shapes (no machines) just hands everything by hand. Since the late 1960's and is as far as I am concerned the guru/inventor of the successful Flextail board. Non other than Mitchell Rae owner shaper of Outer Island surfboards. If you haven't ridden one of Mitchells boards you are missing out on something very special. If you like speeeeeed! You won't know till you have ridden one. The difference is Mitchell's eye for perfecting perfect boards. Specialises in Big wave GUNS. Look at the web site in Google OUTER ISLAND SURFBOARDS. I have been riding Mitchell's boards for over 25 years and would not go back to anything else. To tell you the truth a lot of surfers I speak to look at my boards and say F*** how good is that board. Outer Island boards stick out like a sore thumb they have eyes on the nose of the board so as you are surfing the good spirits of the ocean protect you. As Albe Falzon Film maker of Morning of The Earth quoted " I don't invest in real estate I buy Outer Island surfboards". THESE BOARDS ARE BUILT TO LAST FOREVER! If there are any Outer Island riders out there look forward to any interesting thoughts you may have. Cheers
Kerry
I was a Free Fight man through and through then the thruster revolution kicked in and then for a year or two most of the boards I tried with 3 fins were just terrible. I suspected most shapers didn't understand the dynamics and fin placements etc. Luckily, I started to see local NSW Central Coast guys riding Outer Islands and I could even pick from a distance who was riding an Outer because of the way these boards went. You could truly notice that they were different and they just went beautifully.; poetry in motion. They were like a ride on a magic carpet. Got my first one way back, then been a loyal Outer Island tragic for over 25 years. Mitchell is the Man. Recently got my teenage daughter her first Outer.... because only the best will do!
Hi Freddieffer,
I remember Free Flight boards are they still around mate, JOKING ONLY!!!
Love your work it would be good if all us lucky guys got together for an Outer Island non professional grass roots surfers only knock out comp day up the Coast some where. What fun it would be all Outer Island riders. Great catchup and the stories that could be heard. Mitchell can judge it HAHAHAHAHHA! Cheers
Kerry
haha that's funny Kerry, I'd be knocked straight out before I even got to the lineup - care of a dodgy lower back lol... I can only manage small conditions 2-3 foot max as my back just can't take it. Thanks for the thought tho.. Cheers Freddie
OK that would be fine 2-3ft get out super mals out hahahahah. I'm 60 next month and cant keep out of the water. Have a good weekend mate.
Hi Kerry
yeah i own a number of outer island boards actually , i have found them to be some of the best built and bueatiful boards i have ever owned , there fast and great to surf , and mitchell is a good bloke as well definately a good move the day i ordered my first outer .
cheers
bish
Bishmann, Love your work it would be good if all us lucky guys got together for an Outer Island non professional grass roots surfers only knock out comp day up the Coast some where. What fun it would be all Outer Island riders. Great catchup and the stories that could be heard. Mitchell can judge it HAHAHAHAHHA!
Outer Island riders know the difference between a good board and a Great board that has the EDGE over the rest.
Cheers
Kerry
Phil Myers has been uploading numerous board porn shots to his Instagram account. Well worth a peruse:
https://instagram.com/philmyersfreeflight/
Any one fancy a FreeFlight 6'4 double flyer round square 6 channel bottom ...brand new never waxed with a set of Simon FCS quad fins included - $550 neg
Gumtree :Gold Coast
geez Udo i wish you could copy the link....thanks anyway,gonna have alook.
Out of curiosity i put in an offer
Offer of $500 accepted..its all yours Simba - enjoy it
Simon quad fin sets are worth at least $150.
hahai cant find it.....
The guy listed it as freeflight without the space.
Free Flight 6 channel square tail 5 fin gold coast. stick that into google should come up on gumtree...Paradise Pt
thanks mate did find it but might pass on it so its all yours
I would have bought it if it was a bit narrower.
Now I'm interested in some bargain Maurice Cole's, but they're on the central coast. Bit far for me.
Picked up a second hand 5'10" Free Flight 6 channel twinny recently. Fast as fook. People who don't know talk about channels tracking but this thing is proper lively. My keel fish and Simmons track way more. Love Phil's work.