“Surfer Poll—Top Surfers of 1966: David Edges Corky . . . Joyce Repeats,” SURFER magazine, July 1967

It was time for the annual gathering of the surfing clan. The San Clemente Inn, just a good paddle north of the famous break at Cotton’s Point, was crowded with the high performers of the surfing world. They mingled with manufacturers and sportswriters who were on hand to find out who was number one in the surfing world. Aficionados and handicappers had it picked as a toss-up between American champ Corky Carroll, world champ Nat Young of Australia, and the incredible David Nuuhiwa, who can make a surfboard do everything but dance the hula. When the evening was over, the crown belonged to David, who edged Corky and Nat for men’s honors. The almost unbeatable Joyce Hoffman repeated as the women's winner.

This year the men’s top ten had some notable casualties, among them Paul Strauch, who dropped from third to seventeenth place; Mickey Dora, who went from fourth to twelfth; Peru's Felipe Pomar dropped from ninth to fifteenth, and pint-sized Jeff Hakman slid from the tenth position back to nineteenth.

There were plenty of new faces in the top ten led by the curly-haired world champion from Australia, Robert “Nat” Young. And like Nat, the other newcomers to surfing’s elite echelon were surfers with impressive credentials. They included Steve Bigler, Jock Sutherland, Fred Hemmings, and John Peck.

Corky Carroll, the 1966 USSA champion, was right behind Nuuhiwa in the number two spot, followed by Young, Bigler, and Jock Sutherland. Mike Doyle, the all-around waterman from Cardiff who had the Poll two years in a row, slipped to number six position. Hemmings, the 1966 Makaha champ, was seventh, with Peck eighth, and Skip Frye ninth. Rounding out the top ten was Dewey Weber, the amazing “little man on wheels,” who has been on every SURFER Poll.

The women's division had a few surprises, but not in the top spots. Joyce Hoffman, currently on a round-the-world tour following her Makaha triumph, repeated for the third year as queen of the distaff surfers. Little Joey Hamasaki repeated in the number two spot, with Margo Godfrey moving up from fourth to third. Mimi Munro took fourth position—the first East Coast surfer ever to place in the top ten of a SURFER Poll. Josette Lagardere retained her number five position. The only casualty in the women's top five was Nancy Nelson, who slipped from third to sixth place.

The East scored another first when Florida’s Gary Propper was voted into the eleventh spot to become the first male East Coast surfer rated in the top twenty.

At the microphone as master of ceremonies was Brennan “Hevs” McClelland, the toastmaster general of surfing. Handing out the gold medals, Hevs singled out his old Makaha buddy, Dewey Weber, and emphasized that Dewey is the only man to place in the top ten in all four years of the SURFER Poll. Dewey was eighth in ’63, tenth in ’64, eighth again in ’65, and back in the tenth spot this year.

The awards banquet was highlighted by film clips edited especially for the occasion by Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman. A lot of the footage was from Greg and Jim’s new movie 

A big surprise on the agenda was the presentation of the SURFER Cup for the year’s outstanding contribution to the sport of surfing. Hevs McClelland was stunned when the announcement came that he was the winner. Tears formed in the big man’s eyes as he stepped to the microphone and said, “I’m completely surprised. I had no idea . . . .”

Hevs quickly regained his composure, however, and in his acceptance speech managed to direct a few good-natured barbs at Greg Noll, the Big Bull of Waimea Bay. Hevs mentioned that during his Island surfing he managed to take just as many big wipeouts as the Bull. After the banquet broke up and the surfing crowd drifted off for a little refreshment, Greg continued the discussion of wipeouts and really impressed Hevs with a graphic description of what it’s like to get wet from the soup of a tumbling Waimea boomer. Hevs was so shaken by the description that he decided the only solution was to challenge the Bull to a real test of his wipeout ability in the patio swimming pool at the San Clemente Inn. The Bull and Hevs were so enthusiastic about demonstrating their prowess under the waves that they forgot to take off their suits and ties. There was one flaw in the demonstration, however. The timekeeper, Don Hansen, was so engrossed in the outcome that he forgot to keep an accurate account of the time. This led to a further discussion of wipeouts in swimming pools, and before Batman could yell, “Holy Swimming Pool!” there was Don, along with Greg and Hevs, in the pool. Several others—voluntarily and involuntarily—managed to join the splashing festivities. Duke Boyd displayed his excellent form at taking gas, as did Jack O’Neill, who showed the gathering his famous Steamer Lane style—while wearing a double-breasted suit instead of an O’Neill wetsuit. And finally, the last surfer to join the group in the swimming pool shorebreak was Pat McNulty. He was taken unawares while practicing his cha-cha-cha step in a corner. Hevs and Pat cha-cha-cha’d into the pool to climax a lively evening.

1966 SURFER Poll Awards

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