"Bells Turned on Great Surf," Sydney Morning Herald, April 17, 1966

The Victorian Bells Beach Open Surfing Championships finished on Monday in the best competition surf ever seen in Australia. Sydney surfers who drove to Bells for the contest came back this week with almost unbelievable stories.

The meeting ran over to Monday because the surf on Saturday was up to 15 feet and too big for the preliminary heats. For the two following days, the groundswell poured through—held up by light offshore north-west breezes.

On Sunday it was eight to 10 feet with sets up to 14 feet and on Monday it was consistently six to 10 feet. The shape held right through the three days, giving surfers rides of up to 400 yards.

Robert “Nat” Young came away with top honours. According to John Witzig, Nat put on the best exhibition of surfing he has ever seen from him.

Terry Wall, a Victorian surfer from Torquay, came second in the senior division with “Nipper” Williams, from Manly, third.

Bob McTavish, the current Queensland champion, was half a point away in fourth place. Experienced observers at the contest were surprised McTavish did not make the first three.

Two other surfers who gave grand performances in the big surf, have thrown down challenges to all comers in their divisions in the competition for the berth to California in August. They are Wayne Lynch, a 14-year-old goofyfoot surfer from Lome, who won the junior championships, and Miss Gail Cooper, also from Lome, who came first in the women’s contest.

John Witzig and others who watched Lynch’s tight-ln-under-the-curl surfing consider him one of the best juniors in the country at the moment, although he had the disadvantage of having to ride back to the wall in the surf that suited the natural stance.

Ocean Beach, across the bay from Palm Beach, took out the minor placings in the junior event when Bill Monie and Jack Mutton came second and third.

Gail Cooper easily won the women’s contest and showed herself equal in skill to any female surfer in the country.

Among the top Sydney surfers who did not have success at Bells were Robert Conneeley, Glen Ritchie, and John Monie. No doubt they are putting in some tough training for the New South Wales Championships to be held at Avoca next weekend.

1966 Bells Beach Open Surfing Championships

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