Surfers can spend hours arguing about the merits of a board. On Friday, they can hear from three men who have spent decades making them.
Bob McTavish, Chris Brock and Gunther Rohn will share stories from their lives in surfboard shaping at a live podcast in Lennox Head this Friday, November 6.
Presented by Morning of the Mo and hosted by the LAGO podcast, the evening brings together three local makers whose careers span different generations of surfing and board design.
The discussion at Lennox Head Cultural Centre will explore their experiences in a craft that has helped define the Northern Rivers’ surfing culture.
The event promises stories from shapers as they ‘share their journeys across different generations of surfers and surfboard craftsmanship’, according to its listing.
For McTavish and Brock, that shared history stretches back more than half a century.
In 1969, the pair started Country Soul Surfboards with Gary Keyes and George Greenough in an old farmhouse behind Yamba.
Two years earlier, McTavish had shaped his first Plastic Machine while working in Sydney, helping usher in the shortboard revolution.
His subsequent experiments ranged from surfboards to windsurfers and light aircraft components, according to the company’s history.
Friday’s gathering offers a chance to hear about that changing world from the people working at the shaping bench.
The all-ages event runs from 6pm to 9pm at Lennox Head Cultural Centre, 1 Mackney Lane. Tickets are available through Eventbrite. Free parking is advertised, and the listing allows refunds until seven days beforehand.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
