Excerpt from "Will Smirnoff Elude Hakman Again in '75?" Ron Mayer, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Nov 20, 1975

Seven of the world's top women surfers, including Laura Blears Ching of 

 and Playboy fame, and Kim (Miss Jaws) McKenzie, the Australian national champion who turns to shark catching when she isn’t surfing, were pitted against the acknowledged stronger sex in direct competition [during yesterday's Smirnoff prelims], but couldn't survive the three-person cut in each of the seven heats. But Margo Oberg, a former Hang Ten champion, won the special cash award of $1,000—with 65 points to Mrs. Ching's 60 —by piling up the most points among the women.

[Note: the other female Smirnoff competitors were Patti Pannicia, Sally Prange, Kim McKenzie, and Lynne Boyer.]

"Richards Smirnoff Champ; Australians Dominate Meet," Ron Mayer, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Nov 22, 1975

"I hope our prediction comes true,” said Ian Cairns, nervously, after he climbed out of the treacherous Waimea Bay surf to await the outcome of the seventh running of the Smirnoff World Pro-Am Surfing Championships.

“Yes,” he said. “Australians first, second and third in the finals.”

A bold prediction, all right, but Cairns, the 1973 Smirnoff champion and one of the finalists yesterday along with countrymen Wayne Bartholomew and Mark Richards, South Africa's Shaun Tomson, and Jeff Hakman and Reno Abellira of Hawaii, doesn't make predictions lightly.

A few agonizing minutes later, Cairns' prediction came true.

When Richards was named the 1975 Smirnoff winner, it marked the first time ever in the Smirnoff’s seven-year existence and six-year stint in Hawaii that competitors from a single country walked away with the top three prizes. And the Australians were the first to do it.

"We said it before the competition started,” said Cairns, who earned $2,000 for his second-place finish. “Just because of the aggressiveness of our (Australian) surfing talent.”

The talent was true to form yesterday and the crowd could sense that Richards, 18, the youngest surfer to win the Smirnoff, outclassed all the others.

The Australians learn their aggressiveness at an early age and perfect their many maneuvers in small waves. But when they surf in Hawaii's huge surf, like the 15-to-20 footers at Waimea Bay yesterday, they don't change their style as a concession to the larger surf. And that, they feel, is their key to success in Hawaii.

Richards’ conquest marked the fourth time that an Australian has won the Smirnoff. Nat Young (1970), Paul Neilson (1972) and Cairns (1973) were the previous winners before Richards became No. 4 yesterday.

"It’s real nice,” said Richards after he won. ”I still don’t believe it.”

Richards explained his strategy and confirmed what Cairns said about aggressiveness. "I thought that maybe I could do a few more maneuvers than the other guys to get a few more points,” he said. "There was a bit of hassling going on (for position). It was pretty hard to line up. But I sat about 10 yards further inside than the others and caught a few more. They didn't catch as many because they were too far out.”

The strategy paid off beautifully. Time and again, Richards' domination was apparent as he challenged the large surf—he cut back into the face of it, a dangerous maneuver—and then proceeded to ride clear to the beach.

“The waves weren’t consistent,’’ he said, “but when they came through they were good-sized.”

For Abellira and Hakman, it was a disappointing final heat. Abellira, a local favorite who had the crowd behind him after he rescued a Mainland visitor from the swirling water of the Waimea River Basin before the start of the heat, could do no better than fifth. Hakman, trying to break into the winner’s circle after three straight years as the Smirnoff runner-up, had to settle for fourth. Bartholomew just nipped Hakman for third place to cement the Aussies’ feat.

The competition originally was scheduled for Sunset Beach but the officials decided that the 10- to 12-footers used for the previous two days of competition weren't adequate for the finals, necessitating a move to Waimea Bay.

"The power of the surf was phenomenal,” said Cairns. At times, contestants were obscured by the pounding, gushing surf and the fiberglass surfboards were flying out of the rough water like toothpicks.

Tomson can attest to that. The courageous South African lost his board midway through the final. He spent many tiring minutes swimming after it and retrieving it before he could continue in the competition.

But the action wasn't over after Richards was presented with the $5,000 top prize, the richest in surfing. Surfers, officials and spectators alike had something else to look forward to — a traffic jam.

Excerpt from "North Shore Newsreel," by Drew Kampion, Surfing Magazine, April 1976

“The reason so many surfers are here at Off the Wall,” said photographer Dan Merkel, “is that the photographers, come down here. They like to have their picture taken.”

Out in the water, hotter than hot and directly in front of the windows on the beach, surfers from a distant land were ripping the quality out of somewhat mediocre six-foot surf. There was Shaun Tomson from South Africa and Ian Cairns, Bruce Raymond, Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew and Mark Warren from Australia. There were some Hawaiians of reputation out, too: Jeff Hakman, Eddie Aikau, Sam Hawk, Owl Chapman. But ironically, it was Shaun and the Aussies who surfed most brilliantly in the grinding, sectioney, and sometimes dry-hollow waves.

“Shaun is hot” was the recurring phrase heard down the beaches of the North Shore, and the phrase was echoed by spatters of camera shutters, like insect legs rubbing together.

“The Australians are hot,” was the second phrase, frequently heard syncopating with the first.

The second wave of Australian influence in recent years has arrived. “We’re taking over,” said Ian Cairns jokingly, and not so jokingly. Nat Young, Wayne Lynch, Bob McTavish, Peter Drouyn, Ted Spencer and others got it started almost 10 years ago with their “Total Involvement” wave riding. Then came Paul Nielsen and Terry Fitzgerald. And now this new crew.

According to Cairns, the “take over” is long overdue. “They’ve been denying it for a long time, but this year they can’t. I’ll volunteer to be the Australian Egoist: We’re doing what everyone else is talking about doing.”

Indeed, it was 1-2-3 for the Aussies in the Smirnoff this year, with peach-faced Mark Richards ripping Sunset in the prelims then flying around with his gull-like outstretched arms at Waimea to pick-up first place and $5,000. Uncharacteristically unaggressive, Richards has the knack to be in the right place at the right time without resorting to various intimidating methodologies.

Runner-up in the Smirnoff was none other than Ian Cairns (a winner two years ago) himself. It is increasingly obvious that Cairns is relating to waves similarly to Barry Kanaiaupuni. They look for a lot of the same situations on a wave and do a lot of the same things. Both have the enormous power to take a late, steep drop, and then follow up with the best bottom turns around.

What Ian has (and Barry lacks) is consistency, and the ability to recover from radical moves. Cairns’ feet at times seem welded to the board, and his ability to be dumped-on and remain undumped is a classic to see.

Third in the Smirnoff was Rabbit Bartholomew, another contender (with Shaun) for the hottie-of-the-year award. Rabbit surfs loose-jointed and stylishly, along the lines of fellow Australians Wayne Lynch and Michael Peterson, and has a penchant for the back arch, which Sam Hawk and Owl Chapman also employ, In addition, Rabbit has the strong bottom move followed by the pull-and-tuck drive that used to be a Wayne and Nat favorite and works well in those come-from-behind situations.

Fourth place in the Smirnoff went to Jeff Hakman, who has written the book on Sunset Beach and applies what he has learned there to wherever he surfs. His knack for perfect positioning and the ability to bring a highly refined routine to virtually any wave, makes it look like he has rehearsed on the same wave several times before riding it for keeps. After all these years, Jeff is will still be close to the top in any North Shore professional event.

Reno Abellira took fifth at Waimea, precise and aesthetic as always. Shaun Tomson placed sixth, not finding enough vertical space to reveal much of his high-pocket repertoire.

The Australians' edge seems to be their versatility. Whether at Off the Wall or Sunset or Waimea, they are hotdog surfers, while the Hawaiians tend to base their approach to waves on long, smooth and efficient lines. The Aussies like tight moves, quick changes of direction, and spontaneous experimentation. And when you can put that together in big surf, you have it all.

Of the Hawaiians, only a relatively small number of the big names have a flexibility that can challenge the Australian domination, including Larry Bertlemann, Michael Ho, and Rory Russell.

1975 Smirnoff Pro-Am

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