"International Surfing Championships," by Norman Phillips, Petersen's Surfing Magazine, May 1964

Towering waves up to 20 feet high, rides as much as 600 yards long, stolen boards, a disqualified Australian team, stowaways, small surf not over six feet high, and some 67 injuries combined to make the International Surfing Championships at Makaha Beach an extravaganza which will be rehashed wherever surfers gather for years to come.

First-place winner was Joey Cabell of the WindanSea Club. He turned in a magnificent performance, riding waves up to 20 feet high and even so, his competition was so keen that his style can only be rated a 

In the Women’s Division, Nancy Nelson of Long Beach, representing the Waikiki Surf Club, copped the kudos, while Fred Hemmings of Surfboards Hawaii took first place in Juniors. The team of Mike Doyle and Linda Merrill, both of Long Beach, captured the tandem event with some of the most spectacular stunts ever seen on the long two-man board.

Cabell, who spent the first 18 years of his life on the beach at Waikiki before moving to California where he now makes his home, won the title by good judgment as much as by good surfing. Although pressed hard by teammate Mike Doyle and by such stars as Buffalo Keaulana, Kealoha Kaio, and others, he waited for the big point waves rather than taking everything that came along.

And fierce ones they were, too. The original programming of the events had called for Women’s, Junior’s, and Tandem to be run off first, with Men's to be reserved for a grand finale. However, monster rollers began to come in on the famous Makaha Beach, located some 45 miles northwest of Honolulu, and the judges quickly re-shuffled the program so that the Men's could take advantage of them. Said Gil Salfen, president of the sponsoring Waikiki Surf Club, “These waves were Men’s waves, strictly and absolutely.” He added, “We wouldn’t have dared to put on Women’s or Junior’s events for fear of casualties.”

It was under conditions like these that Cabell showed his class. Waiting for the big ones carrying lots of potential scoring points, he caught them right out at the point and rode in beautifully, several times riding at least 600 yards to shore.

Discussing this event afterward, Wally Froiseth, Events Chairman and Head Judge, said in an interview: “The competition was very close, obviously. However, there was no question but that Cabell won. Both Keaulana and Canha looked good, but they didn’t catch the type of point-winning waves that Cabell did.”

It might also be fairly said that anyone who merely lived through some of the rollers should have been awarded a trophy.

Defending champion Midget Farrelly of Australia failed to finish in the first four places. He too surfed beautifully, but on a borrowed board because both of his had been stolen from the beach. There is no question but that he was handicapped by having to use an unknown board, but even so it was doubtful if anyone could have beaten Cabell, so hot was he.

Cabell, a successful restaurant operator on the Mainland with dining houses in Newport Beach, Calif., and Aspen, Colo., gained his first athletic prominence as a topflight snow skier, later entering active competition on the surfboard.

More moderate conditions had prevailed during the preliminary events a few days earlier. Surf ran from eight to 12 feet high and 117 men turned out for the eliminations, with 34 of them qualifying. In addition to these 34, there were a few seeded entries, among them last year’s champion Farrelly, Robert (Nat) Young, Barry McGuigan, and David Haynes.

Then it began to pick up when the semifinals arrived. Waves 15 to 25 feet high rolled in, causing coordinator John Lind to say: “We’ve been waiting for these waves for 12 years,” this being the 12th running of these International Championship events. Froiseth added that these were the biggest waves he has ever seen at Makaha.

It was even rumored on the beach that one experienced and expert surfer formally withdrew from the semifinals simply because he didn’t want to risk riding them. Certain it was that Froiseth felt it was necessary to call all contestants together and remind them to be careful. He also instructed them that if they saw any of their opponents in trouble and failed to forego competition snd stop to give aid, he would be disqualified anyway.

In short, you might get the idea that it was kinda hairy—and you’d be right. Probably the best rides in the semis were put on by Cabell and Kaio Kealoha. Both of them caught a 20 foot, three-type wave about a half-mile out. They got it right at No. 3, crossed it for an estimated 200 yards, then rode it another 600 yards to the shore.

And you know, standing on the beach and watching them, it looked so easy and so effortless, the way they did it, that one tourist who knows nothing of surfing was moved to remark: “So what's it all about? It looks as if anyone could do that. They just ride it in."

Cabell rode to victory on a 25-pound regular, time and again shooting the tube and coming through it without getting wiped out.

The first attempt to run off the Junior's trials had to be called off because, of all things, the position the sun. Several hold-ups delayed the starting of the event and by the time got underway, the sun was directly behind the riders and the judges couldn't read the contestant’s numbers. This made accurate scoring and judging impossible, so the trials were off until the next day.

But not taking a back seat to any were the ladies. Twelve of them came through the semifinals, among them defending champion Nancy Nelson plus three former titleholders. In addition to San Diego's Miss Nelson, Marge Calhoun of Long Beach, the 1958 women's champion made the finals, as did Anona Naona of Waikiki, the champ in ’61, and Linda Benson of San Diego won the title in 1959.

Marge's daughter Candy made finals in the second heat, as did Miki Briggs representing the Outrigger Canoe Club.

Surfing conditions were far from ideal for qualifications, since a Kona wind roared in which whipped up a chop. Waves averaged only around seven feet in height, with an occasional set of 10 footers coming in. The surf itself ran from fair to good, but the chop made it difficult to display good form at times. Even so, competition was keen and most of the entrants got off some good rides.

When the 12 ladies hit the beach for the finals it was another story, was almost no wind, a bright sun shone down, and the surf ran from six to eight feet high. The pattern was solid, regular, and predictable, with an occasional set of 10-footers coming in for the surfers who wanted to wait it out. Competition was extremely close and several judges admitted privately that only a few points separated the contestants.

Final judging saw Miss Nelson wind up the winner, with Joey Hamasaki of Inter-Island Surf Club in second place. Third went to Jan Husic, unattached, while fourth went to Anona Naone of Waikiki Surf Clubs. She was the only former champion to place among the first four. Mrs. Calhoun, in spite of a magnificent performance, lost out by a close margin of points, as did Linda Benson.

In the Junior competition, Fred Hemmings of Surfboards Hawaii took first place, with Jay Clarke of Outrigger Canoe Club second, Leroy Ah Choy, Inter-Island Surf Club, third, and David Ching of Nanakuli in fourth.

The final match of the championships was the tandem event, with some of the trickiest two-person boarding ever seen in the Islands. Winners were Mike Doyle and Linda Merrill of Long Beach. One official stated to this reporter, off the record, that their performance in both compulsory and freestyle tricks was the finest ever seen in the history of this International Competition.

Second place was a very close decision between the teams of Nappy Napolean with Laura Blears and Rabbit Kekai with Momi Adachi. The final nod went to the former, dropping the Kekai-Adachi team to third place. In fourth was the Fred Hemmings and Margie Stern duo.

Napolean is one of the most prominent of Island surfers, while Laura Blears is the daughter of the famous professional wrestler Lord Blears, now a prominent Honolulu businessman and property owner. In the third-place team, Rabbit Kekai is, of course, a former champion, while his partner Momi Adachi is a University of Hawaii coed, a home economics major and a top-flight student.

The fact that she is a brain did not stop this reporter from falling madly in love with her since she is unquestionably the most beautiful sight we saw in the Islands. She is just as charming and sweet and well-bred and cultured as she is beautiful and we seriously considered kidnapping her and taking her back to the Mainland as a souvenir of our trip. We were informed, however, that the Honolulu police rather frown on such actions by tourists and when we reflected on the fact that our wife probably wouldn’t like it either, we abandoned the plan.

We don’t think our wife would let us keep her anyway.

In the tandem events, a one-hour period of surfing is allowed, during which five compulsory figures must be performed. Judges score on the way these stunts are performed, plus additional points for riding ability, judgment, sportsmanship, and length of ride. During the time allowed, the contestants may catch as many waves as possible. A score is given for each ride. The three highest scores of each contestant are added to determine the winners. In the case of a tie, an average is taken of the four highest scored rides. If still tied, the fifth ride is added in, and so forth, until a decision is reached.

Girl doing a swan, standing with one foot on boy’s shoulder.

Girl standing with both feet on boy’s shoulders.

Girl doing a forward swan while boy holds her on either shoulder he prefers.

Girl standing on boy’s knees in a forward swan.

In addition to these required figures, the contestants may perform any additional specialties they have worked out and points are added.

For this event, the finale of the 1963 classic, a moderate surf of six to eight feet prevailed, breaking a good way out and giving a comparatively long ride to shore. It might well have been considered absolutely perfect for this event since it had length and power enough to let them put on a good show, but still wasn’t so high that the teams would spend more time fighting it than performing.

The surf pattern at Makaha is well-nigh ideal, anyway. It’s a fairly small bay, perhaps a mile or so across the mouth, with a sharply-shelving bottom. The water is deep right up to the sand line. The sand itself is coarse, very coarse, more like river sand than that usually found on ocean beaches. Its color is a rich tan, somewhat the shade of decomposed granite.

The surf forms off the northern point of the bay and rolls in, confining itself mostly to the northern one-third of the beach. From the left on down to the southern point of the bay the water is mostly calm and, unless the giant rollers are coming in, you can paddle out through surprisingly quiet water.

Customary practice is to hold to the left going out, through the quiet water, until you get beyond the points. You then turn and paddle parallel to the beach for a short way and you are now on the outside, in a position to watch for the bigger sets. There are no reefs in this area either, so all you have to worry about is surf and flying boards—no rocks, shoals, or coral banks.

This isn’t the story for the south end of Makaha. Here, swirling, treacherous currents surge through rocks and reefs and it must be rated a dangerous area. In fact, one of the judges performed a daring rescue in the midst of the competition.

Judge Buzzy Trent of Maile, Oahu, while standing on the judge’s stand and watching the contestants, glanced down the beach and saw four young men struggling against the current which was sweeping them into a dangerous, rocky area. They were at least a mile away.

Thinking quickly, Trent ran over to his car, which had a board on top, fired up his engine, and drove down the road which parallels the beach until he was opposite them. He put his board in the water, paddled out to them, and got two back to shore safely on his first trip. They were Jim McKenzie, 18, and Pete Ready, 17, both of California.

Going back into the water after the other pair, Trent lost his board and had to swim out to them. He reached the exhausted duo, George Stransky, 17, and Jim Ellis, 21, and persuaded them to follow him, swimming with the current instead of against it. They got the idea and he was able to tow and guide them to a nearby cove where the current eddies helped them reach shore.

Trent, a former lifeguard, then retrieved his board and returned to the judge’s stand where he resumed his officiating duties.

There were some 67 injuries during the meet, most of them among spectators. Few injuries occurred to the actual contestants. We saw Marge Calhoun sporting the grandaddy of all bruises on her left biceps, a monstrous bruise that covered most of her upper arm. Judy Dibble was wearing a splint on one leg during the tandem event in which she competed with partner Bob Moore, and although she was limping when on the beach it didn't affect her surfing. Other than these, there were few scars of battle to be seen.

Among the spectators, it was a different story. Time after time the judges begged parents to keep their kids out of the water in the competition area and all such appeals went unheeded. Loose boards were continually coming ashore flying on the famous Makaha surf, right in among little kids playing in two feet of water. It was a miracle that no larger number of injuries had to be treated by the efficient volunteer nurses in the Red Cross tents, and that they were not of a more serious nature.

Now let the orchestra play a soft, sad tune while we tell you the story of the Australian surfers. Somewhere around a dozen of them made the long trip from Down Under and received nothing but woe in return.

In the first place, at least four of them (some reports said eight) failed to get their entries in before the deadline and were disqualified. Explained John Lind, coordinator of the meet, the rules of the game called for a Dec. 14 shut-off on entries. He stated that more than a month earlier, a pack of entry blanks had been mailed to the Australian group at their homes. No reply was received, he stated.

Then, as the cutoff date came close, it was discovered that the group was in Oahu, living out at Sunset Beach. They were contacted by phone through a surfboard shop and warned to get them in, but didn't.

The applications were finally received by Lind, he stated, on Dec. 18, with a Dec. 17 postmark, three days too late. Responsible officials living up to the rules could do nothing else but reject them, he pointed out to this reporter.

But still more sorrow was in store. Robert (Nat) Young, 16-year-old flash and Australian Invitational Meet Champion, failed to qualify in the prelims and was out of the running. In fact, the only Aussie to get through to the Men’s semifinals was Midget Farrelly.

Then the blow fell on him. He discovered that both of his surfboards had been stolen from his station wagon when it was parked in Nanakuli, some 20 miles south of Mahaka, where he was staying. This was what put him on a borrowed board for the finals, which certainly didn’t help his performance.

Still more woe. The theft from Farrelly brought the total of boards that the Australian team had stolen to an absolute minimum of six, while some reports had it as high as 10 that the Aussies had kiped. Kevin Platt and Nat Young had boards stolen off the beach, while Mickey Dooley and Jack Mayes had their boards moonlighted from the backyard of a house where they were staying.

Such wholesale theft is, of course, a fine way to treat competitors from across the seas who had spent over a thousand dollars apiece to make the trip to compete, and will no doubt do much to raise the status of surfing as a sport. It also created a fine public image of surfers as a group. It can only be hoped that the guys who took them will break their necks the first time they use them.

Two of the Aussie team probably got a good licking from their parents when they got home. According to Honolulu police, Robert McTavish, 19, and David Chidgey, 17, both of Sydney, stowed away on the liner 

 and made the trip across the Pacific. Seems they were at a bon voyage party, farewelling the team, and wishing they were going too. Someone said: “Why don’t you?” and they did.

Only trouble was, they didn't buy tickets. Amazingly enough, they completed the crossing without being detected, got ashore safely in Oahu, and had a ball for days surfing on borrowed boards at Sunset Beach.

An Australian gossip columnist was their undoing. Writing in the 

, he ran an item that the boys were missing; were last seen farewelling the team and wishing they were going; added that they obviously made it. Honolulu authorities were notified and picked up the pair. After all, it was pretty obvious where to look for them—one of the surfing beaches on the Island.

Brought up in front of Judge Pence for arraignment, charges in the U. S. were dropped when immigration authorities said that they were being shipped back to Australia via Pan-American Airlines jet immediately. However, the boys face possible legal action by the shipping company for a $2,000 fine imposed against them by Judge Pence, plus some $880 bucks airfare to get them back home. It seems likely the pair of pranksters will be grounded for some time by their parents Down Under.

In the face of all the travail, the sportsmanship exhibited by the Aussies as a whole must be commented on. There were no gripes, they took what came, and while they would probably have enjoyed feeding the surfboard thieves to a couple of infuriated kangaroos back home, they acted like sportsmen all the way through.

Midget Farrelly even found it in his heart to be complimentary about the Hawaiian surf. He stated that the waves are consistently bigger than any he’s ever ridden at home. President of the Australian Surfing Association, he said the surf at Oahu was a real test of skill and daring, and added that he was happy to qualify and get into the finals.

He also offered no alibies for losing; never complained of the fact that he was working on a borrowed, strange board; when defeated by Cabell, commented only: "I did my best under the circumstances." He then added, "Cabell was great."

So the 1963 International Surfing Championships in the tropical, frangipani-scented Isle goes into history. Tremendous performances by all competitors were the order at all times. The estimated 5,000 spectators on the beach saw a thrilling spectacle put on by the finest in the game.

Now all they have to do is practice and practice and practice to get ready for next year.

Riding a board through the surf is a little like going on hashish. The addicts—and there are 18,000 of them in the U.S.—have their own fashions in everything from haircuts (long, but not too long) to swimsuits (cotton, a size too small). They speak a lingo of words like “hook” (the lip of a breaking wave) and “tube” (the cavern under the hook) and “wipe out” (a spill into the boiling froth). They listen to apostles, who preach: “When the surf is good, you’ve got to go and get it. Work is secondary. Once you’re about 30, then it’s time to take a solid job.” And they all yearn to visit Makaha, a lonely beach 40 miles west of Honolulu.

Makaha is where the waves build up to 20 and 30 ft. and race diagonally into shore at 35 m.p.h. It is the supreme test—“the place,” says one surfer, “where reputations are made.”

The man who made his reputation in Makaha’s big surf last week was Joseph (“Joey”) Cabell, 25, a restaurant owner from Newport Beach, Calif., who summers in Hawaii. While 1,000 spectators watched from the beach, Cabell outclassed 349 contestants from as far away as Australia and Peru to win the International Surfing Championships. A trim six-footer (most top surfers are short) who has been at it since he was seven, Cabell keeps in shape during the winter by skiing on snow. The two, he says, are a lot alike: “You go as deep into the hook as possible, swinging to the bottom of the wave, then to the top, then back down again—and shoot through for a long, long ride. The idea is to rock the board back and forth with your feet, just like you do with a pair of skis—then break out of the tube at the last minute, just before you get wiped out.”

Every other finalist at last week’s championships used a “gun”—a long, heavy (up to 40 lbs.) board designed for stability in big waves like Makaha’s. Cabell preferred a shorter, lighter (25 lbs.) foam-and-fiberglass board designed for easy maneuverability and ordinarily used in smaller waves.

Each surfer got seven tries. Cabell rode four of his waves almost half a mile clear into the beach, catching each looming 25-footer off Makaha’s northwestern tip, standing up for 300 yds., dropping prone as it dissolved to foam crossing a reef, then rising again as the wave formed again for the final 400-yd. sweep to shore.

Like most first-class surfers, Cabell has only scorn for the “hot doggers” who risk their necks by crisscrossing waves haphazardly. It takes art to stand, knees slightly bent, arms spread, guiding the board along the tube with almost imperceptible foot movements. And only a few ever experience the ultimate thrill. “Once in a while,” says Joey, “you get locked so deep in the tube that nobody on the beach can see you, and if a guy were just behind you, he’d get totally wiped out. You are so far back inside the wave that it breaks right over your head and around your body. And when you come out in the end, why, you aren’t even wet.”

"Makaha Contest," by Duke Boyd, SURFER, April 1964

After the last wave had subsided and the last contestant had performed, Californian and Australian surfers returned to their shores fit to be tranquilized. For some, the contest brewed a belching, sour resentment. A large group of Australian surfers sent to compete by their mother country were denied entrance due to a mistake of a technical nature on the part of the contest officials. Two boards were stolen from two of the leading surfers from Australia who had entered the contest and were awaiting one of the several elimination heats. Australia is rumored to have complained officially to the United States Government on these afore-mentioned points. It should be noted that the United States Surfing Association did not sanction this meet and, according to President Hoppy Swarts, no presiding official from the USSA was present to govern the contest functioning. This brings to mind the need for official United States Surfing Association sanctioning and uniformity of contests in order to secure for contestants and public alike, a true test of surfing ability. A sad part of these Makaha problems is the fact that this is not a mess that has just started. On the contrary, it has been going on for quite some time.

After all is said and done, it should be noted and fully understood that in no way do we say, or does anyone say, that winner Joey Cabell was not of championship form. Cabell was and is one of the greatest champions of all time. But champions of his nature deserve integrity and efficiency in the contests in which they participate.

1963 Makaha International Surfing Championships

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