“I’m Going to Start All Over Again,” an uncredited interview with David Nuuhiwa, ran in the April 1968 issue of Petersen's Surfing magazine. The introduction reads: "The past year, 1967, was not a bright year for Hawaiian-born David Nuuhiwa. Although it was an experimental year of great meaning to surfing’s controversial star, it did not help the record book. What is David’s future? What new philosophical attitudes has he developed? Where is surfing going? What happened in 1967?" This version has been slightly edited. 

Last year you placed seventh in the AAA contest ratings. Most people expected you to do much better. Would you care to comment on this?

I didn’t surf as good as I wanted to. I should have done better. I had a few hangups, I guess. My experimental surfing was really good, though.

Well, it was my attitude. It wasn't good—and it hurt my surfing. I’ve talked this over with my family, and they said I made it to the top too fast, and didn’t know how to handle it.

I guess I got kind of cocky. And then I dressed kind of wild. And the judges didn’t go for it. 

Do you feel that your dress and attitude affected your score with the judges?

Yes. You know long hair, beads, and stuff. Hoppy doesn’t want surfing to get a bad image. And when I’d lose a heat or something, I thought they were just against me, and then I started not caring.

Do you believe Hoppy Swartz or the judges scored you down intentionally?

I don’t now! But I did then. Things just started mounting up and . . . 

Yes. This year I’m really going to surf contests. I’ve thought the whole thing out with my family. I’ll surf much better this year—freer.

What are your thoughts on the way contests are run?

Well, I don’t think they’re up-to-date. We’re doing a lot of new things and the judging isn’t keeping up.

We’re working further inside the tube and our turns are really radical. The judges don’t know how to score these things, at least California judges.

What would you suggest to improve the California judging system?

Get more young surfers to judge. Like Bing or Brewer. Even the club presidents—Roy Crump. Just younger guys. [Surf] photographers would make good judges

Would you have the new WSA do away with the present judges?

No, they’re doing a good job. Just some younger guys who know what's going on, who go surfing where we do. But the judges we have now are good too.

You mentioned before the interview that you had a new outlook on life. Would you care to tell us about it?

Sure, I’ve talked with my family a lot, and they’ve helped me see new things. I’m going to start all over again. I’m going to work my way up again. This time I’m going to help my friends learn what I’ve learned. Surfing’s beautiful and everyone should be a part of it. Before it was just a cutthroat game. 

Everyone was out to cut each other’s throat—the manufacturers, the surfers, everyone. Stealing designs. Working everybody. It won’t be that way anymore.

Yes, even there. We’re going to surf freer—no holding back. It will be free surfing like we surf when there aren’t any judges around. Just each other. We’re all good at doing things our own way. We appreciate each other.

There's free surfing and there's contest surfing, and up until now contest surfing has been restricted. You'd surf the way you think the judges wanted you to. That will change this year. Everyone’s going to surf free, even in contests. It’ll be outasight!

Do you have any plans in '68 besides surfing?

Yes, I’ve really become stoked on designing boards. I’ve got this new board with two V-bottoms, and Bing has set up a deal with Brewer for me to design and test surfboards. It’s really neat.

Yeah. We design boards. I test them and design, too. Brewer’s the best shaper. I’ve learned a lot from him. But we work with other guys too. A lot of the best riders, the family.

Oh no. I mean all my buddies—Dora, Joey [Cabell], [Tom] Padaka, Jock. You know.

David, where is surfing going? What is the future of our sport? 

We haven’t done anything yet. We’ve just begun to do things on waves. Surfing’s so beautiful! Everybody else is out demonstrating and going to war. Surfers are lucky. They’ve got good goals just being out in the waves. We can go where we want to go. Like Dick says—we can do our own thing.

David Nuuhiwa (1968)

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