"The Eighth Annual Surfer Poll," SURFER, June 1979

This year’s Poll marked the renewed continuance of an event that has seen and celebrated many fine moments and has honored some truly great champions and fabulous characters of the surfing world.

The SURFER Poll was first held in 1963, at a point in time when surfing had just emerged as a major acknowledged sport and pastime in the field of ocean recreation. It was at that time that SURFER saw both the need and opportunity for surfing to create a showcase in which the leading practitioners and champions of our sport would be identified and appreciated a bit, and presented to the world; a moment for the entire sport to pause and say “Hey, thanks,” to the great individuals who contribute so much.

The very first SURFER Poll winner was a surfer whose selection immediately lent the award a great deal of stature, a surfer who other winners would be forever proud to join, a surfer who for years during the mid- to late-'50s epitomized what the word "best" meant—for rarely in any surfing era has any surfer been so clearly visible as just that, #1, as was the elegant stylist Phil Edwards. The award came maybe three or four years too late but was nonetheless unanimous. Significantly, a woman’s champion was not selected in the first SURFER Poll. In 1963, you still had a long way to go, baby!

In 1964, one of the great all-around watermen of all time, Mike Doyle, currently of Morey-Doyle fame, was voted Number One by SURFER readers around the world. And the Poll gathering that night was graced with the presence of Duke Kahanamoku, who was awarded the first Surfer Cup, symbolizing outstanding contribution to the sport of surfing. Significantly, a woman’s champion was selected in the 1964 Poll, and that champion was the all-time great Joyce Hoffman, daughter of another great surfer, Walter Hoffman.

In '65, Doyle and Hoffman repeated as the surfers’ choice for Number One, and that year's awards were also significant for being the only year in which Malibu legend Mickey “Da Cat" Dora made the Top 10.

1966 celebrated the delicate noseriding and incredibly beautiful style of yet a new breed of cat, for the readers selected David Nuuhiwa as #1, with Joyce Hoffman picked again for an unprecedented third time. In an emotional twist, SURFER Poll M.C. Hevs McClelland was awarded the SURFER Cup.

In 1967, it was Corky Carroll, two-time United States Champion, winning in a runaway; and in the women’s division—well, why even ask, as the incomparable Joyce Hoffman won her fourth straight Poll. A surfer by the name of Dr. Alfred “Barney" Wilkes was awarded the Surfer Cup. Wilkes was a stand-in for all the early pioneer surfers throughout the world who had no commercial interest in the sport, whose love for riding waves was pure and unfettered. Barney discovered a few greats himself—like San Onofre and Cottons Point, and several spots in Mexico, and the stature of the SURFER Cup grew.

And it was at the ’67 awards that a normally quiet and reserved Skip Frye, while accepting his runner-up Poll award, spoke to the assembled crowd that they were witnessing a real break-through from the old scene and the old techniques. “Fantastic things are happening,” said Frye. For it was the first year of exciting new, shorter, lighter boards which are still with us, and peace and freedom which, thankfully, are also.

In 1968, two new champions emerged. Nat Young of Australia was the men’s champ—no surprise there, as Nat had rocked the surf world with a style of aggressive surfing that can now be seen as the roots of today’s Australian influenced performance wave riding.

In the women’s division, 16-year-old Margo Godfrey finally unseated Joyce, who finished second. Margo was known as “the girl who surfed with a man’s approach to waves,” and commented, “I thought as soon as I was #1, I’d quit. But now I see so much more to surfing. I don't think I’ll give up now.” That was Margo talking ten years ago.

The 1968 SURFER Cup Award went to the Eastern Surfing Association's driving force of the late ’60s, a truly deserving Cecil Lear.

In 1969, tuberider extraordinaire Jock Sutherland was #1, and Margo continued to carve her own “era”— again in the #1 slot. The Poll was in its seventh year—and surfing, as well as our entire country and the world, was really going through some changes—including the questioning of the need for aggression in any form. As such, contests and winning itself became unfashionable. Commented Surfer Editor Drew Kampion on Polls:

The Poll does many things: it satisfies the curiosity of the reader; it gives the surfboard manufacturer the opportunity to evaluate the success of his advertising program; it gives magazine people the opportunity to gauge their influence over their readers, and it also provides lots of filler for newspapers and magazines during the dull parts of the year.

Oh yeah, it also tells who everybody thinks is best.

But there are many other unanswered questions: Are Polls useful? Are Polls redundant? Are Polls representative? Are Polls for real? Are Polls what's happening? Are Polls where it’s at? Are Polls ludicrous? Are Polls honest? Are Polls sensational? Are Polls productive? Are Polls meaningful?"

Then Drew answered his own questions: "Who cares; they’re fun.”

Fun or not, the Poll was allowed to lapse, for the world’s attention was elsewhere.

But here, in 1979, ten years later, the cycle has come around, and we had all gathered to reinstate the tradition and the heritage of the SURFER Poll by announcing the best men and women surfers for the year 1978, as voted by our readers. And the very fact that the winners were so voted by all those surfers out there in the world, made these awards from the people and by the people—and there can be no greater honor.

This year’s Poll received a flood of ballots from both East and West Coasts, Hawaii, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the South Pacific—even several Scandinavian surfers sent in their ballots.

In spite of all the votes received, however, we sensed a lack of justice, for there were some truly notable accomplishments from last year that went unnoticed by the masses, yet richly deserved recognition—and for those deserving individuals, we developed a special award: the Golden Weenie.

The first Golden Weenie recipient for 1978, receiving the Spouse of the Year Award, was Steven Oberg, husband of Margo, for not only having to live with a wife who is more famous, but being so behind her that he ripped off his clothes in front of thousands of people to bail off a cliff and save her board from hitting the rocks at the Stubbies contest in Australia. True love has no modesty. Accepting for Steve Oberg was—who else—his beautiful wife Margo.

The second Golden Weenie was The Low Profile Award—this year's award was sponsored by Diner’s Club and went to one elusive Miklos Dora, whom they have been seeking desperately but unsuccessfully for the last ten years. What we want to know is, where are you, Mickey? Not surprisingly, he was a no-show at the Poll, and we couldn't find anyone willing to accept on his behalf.

The third Golden Weenie was the Aloha Spirit Award to Fred Hemmings, for contributing to the peaceful state of existence between Australia and Hawaii this past season by pointing out to the Hawaiians exactly just what it was that they shouldn’t get too mad about.

Our fourth Golden Weenie was The Consumption of the Year Award and went to our own beloved Kurt "Mellow Cat" Ledterman for personally absorbing more catnip than it is believed to be medically possible. This probably explains how his needle got stuck on the word esoteric, and the dream-like state that he seems to exist in. All kidding aside, folks, we at SURFER truly appreciate Longboard Ledterman, and all agree that if anyone deserved a Golden Weenie, it’s him!

For the last Golden Weenie award of 1978, we were greatly honored to have the most famous surfer of all time, none other than the inimitable J. J. Moon to make the following presentation:

This next award is so very important in the sense that this is the guy that gives the entire award presentation meaning, because for every first, there must be a last; for every high, there must be a low, and naturally for every best, there's got to be a worst. So this year we've decided to balance the scales and present an award to the First Worst Surfer in the World. In order to qualify, you gotta be able to surf . . . almost. As such, the entire staff at Surfer voted unanimously to award the Golden Weenie Worst Surfer of 1978 to a guy who has truly earned this title through blemishing more wave faces than wind-chop. Please give a hearty cheer—or boo—to none other than the notorious Allan Seymour, the First Worst Surfer of the Year.

Now that the Weenies had been roasted, we were ready to get down to the next task at hand—the long-awaited results of this year's Surfer Poll.

1978 SURFER Poll Awards

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