Another month gone, another extension added to the surfboard racks. Got mine split into a South Wing and East Wing now. The second hand board market remains a buyers market with prices well under those achieved in years past. Now isn't the time to cash in on that MP your old man bought in '78 and ever-so-reverently passed to you during a solemn father to son moment.

Nope, the market has tanked and it not only shows in the low prices but the number of entries on eBay. This time last year there were almost twice as many second hand boards on eBay. The pattern is broad: people are simply holding onto boards till the market returns.

On another note, an attentive reader recently accused me of an unhealthy infatuation with Geoff McCoy. Said I'd run at least one McCoy in each instalment of the Board Bazaar. Suitably chastened I not only pledged to include more variety in the Board Bazaar but to also issue a fatwa. No more McCoys till the decree is lifted!

...but that didn't last long. During February this McCoy singley appeared on eBay posted by Cheyne Horan himself. Why the change of heart? It's more than pedigree, this board is surfing's version of the Copernican Revolution. A wholesale shift in belief. It's the very first 'no nose' board McCoy and Horan created, designed to be surfed totally off the tail it led to many subsequent breakthroughs including the Thruster. In medical terms this board is Patient Zero, and it's in amazingly good health. A sole bidder bought it for $7,000.

Aussie surfers of the mid-80s should remember this board. The Wayne Roach-shaped Force 9 with distinctive decal and under-the-glass Billabong sponsor belonged to Gary Green. Throughout '85 and '86 this board (or very close relatives of it) were under Greeny's feet in a series of ads, photo spreads, and covers, including Surfer Magazine (at left) and Surfing World. It sold for just $50 to a bloke who has far more boards than sense, he's even got a nice li'l Greeny spread on his site.

Another pro board! This time it's Damien Hardman's 1997 Pipeline Masters gun. Shaped by Eric Arakawa it's 7'4 long by a lean 18" wide. Hardman was knocked out in Round 2 by 40-year old Michael Ho in what was then the Chiemsee Gerry Lopez Pipeline Masters. Ho went on to surf the final against Johnny Boy Gomes, the only time in history two trialists made a final. JBG took the honours, the only time he did anything honourable. 23 bids were placed with the winner scoring Dooma's gun for $570.

Let's wind it back a few decades. Californian Dewey Weber was known as the Little Man On Wheels for his energy and prodigious output, yet it's rare to see his boards in Oz. Besides a legrope plug this 9'4" is in original condition, it's in good nick too though the wax betrays some use. The seller value added the deal with an authentic Dewey Weber Team jacket. Look cool in the 100% real polyester jacket (none of that fake stuff) while pulling up in the carpark. Don't tell me it wouldn't go down a treat in Noosa. 12 bids took it to $1,038.
Tom Hoye emigrated from California to West Oz in 1971. Judging by the logo Hoye brought some Wild West sensibilities with him, and just some straight out wild ideas too. Hoye invented his 5 fin 'Da Claw' set up 20 years before Kelly whacked a nubster in his quad. This board, however, predates that having just a solitary fin set inside a fairly straight forward planshape, albeit one clearly made for big waves. Despite having "Made for your pleasure" inscribed on the stringer the board went without a buyer.

All through the 70s Michael Cundith shaped for Sky, and then in 1979 he started up Airborne. Does that strike you as odd? The choice of label names was wide open yet he chose a similar moniker. Sky - Airborne. Was it a Sky subsidiary, or the result of an acrimonious split? Who knows...what we do know is this 5'10" swallow tail twin was found "hanging in a cafe screwed to the wall - the hippy bastards." Aside from four bolt holes and a capuccino tan it's in good nick. Popular too, 23 bids took it to $141.

The importance of provenance! This red 70s-influenced single has all the elements of a classic era Lightning Bolt, except for a shapers name. It's clearly been restored, so were the initials painted over in the process or is it bog standard backyarder? The seller copped some questions by punters caught between skepticism and wanting to believe. I mean, if it had any of the bolt shapers' initials it'd fetch a grand minimum, probably more, but without it's worth no more than an old Tuflite. A lone bidder bought it for $280.

With Kraftwerk-style computer font, sharp nose and angular rear, plus a sand-to-a-1000-grit-then-polish finish, this board is so 80s it hurts. 1982 to be precise, Flock Of Seagulls were #1. Plus it's got a scoop deck and Turbo Fins™ (squint and you'll see the side fins are actually curved - Webber wasn't the first!). This 5'9" Strapper is in every regard a classic of the era. All original too, can't see a mark on it. It copped a lot of interest with 15 bidders taking it up to $472. Good coin for a regional label.

The late 80s are of interest to dedicated board collectors as it was then the functionality of boards changed. Less workmanship was involved, sprays disappeared, gloss coats too, materials became lighter. In short, surfboards became dispensable. This Glenn Minami Blue Hawaii falls just on this side of that divide. With no colour save the big arse logos, one of which spruiks 'Speed Finish', which we really thought made us go faster, it's purely utlilitarian. Aesthetics be damned! I got this one off Gumtree for just $30. Plain as it is I'm happy to have a Minami in the shed.

Till next month, happy hunting.

Previous Board Bazaar's for 2015:
January