"Bob Evans at the World Championships," Surfing World, Volume 1, #4

The World Championships are now history. “Midget” Farrelly’s success in the World Title gave Australian surfers a clean sweep of the contest events. But surfers other than the major prizewinners also captured the attention of the judges and the 65,000-plus crowds. Here 

 editor sums up the conditions and the styles of the major competitors.

The Junior finals were notable in that no new faces emerged, with the standard of riding never reaching the high level of the seniors.

The Junior title resulted in an all-out duel between Robert Conneeley (South Bondi) and Robert Young (Collaroy). Both riders were well matched and Conneeley’s narrow victory came only after fierce competition.

The interest in the women’s event was high and no one could have been disappointed as their display was the best yet seen in this country.

One of the most impressive performances was that of Victorian girl Gail Couper. After gaining further experience in open company Gail will be a real threat in future events.

Hilary Nicholson, of Coffs Harbour, came through with her usual confident driving rides, but she has not yet established the fluid body motion in her turns and trimming that will allow her to be our top girl surfer.

Linda Benson, of the U.S.A., and Phyllis O’Donnell, of Australia, were performing like the national champions they are, but where Linda (a goofyfooter) was having some trouble with the white water in the mostly right slides, often grabbing the rail, Phyllis was completely at ease on the swell which was identical to the Queensland-type waves with which she is so familiar. Her placement in the wave was ideal and her trimming and arching through the hollow sections pretty to watch.

Linda had one good left in which she was able to show that going south things might have been different. Though every ride these great girl riders made earned spontaneous applause, Phyllis O’Donnell was a decisive winner.

The senior final for the World Championship matched about as strong a field—Joey Cabell, L. J. Richards, Mike Doyle, Bernard Farrelly, Mick Dooley, Bobby Brown—as you could get with the prevailing surf conditions.

The breeze was now a slight onshore northerly with the swell still four feet and well shaped. The crowd was steady at 65,000, the sun bright and warm, the atmosphere gay, but tense.

From the moment of the starter’s gun, it was a furious pace and an intense 50 minutes of surfing.

LJ Richards (U.S.A.)
Not as consistent as in the quarterfinals when his technique was really beautiful. “Little John” gashed his lip in a collision with his own board during a tight turn and had to have the wound stitched. After this, his concentration seemed to suffer and it was only toward the end of the final that his best form returned. A stroke of bad luck for “Little John.”

Mick Dooley (Australia)
Surfed beautifully in the semi’s and looked a definite threat with his easy looking, controlled style. A temperamental performer who firmed to favoritism, Mick appeared nervous in the final and though riding very well let himself be upset by the more aggressive styles of other competitors. Dooley is gradually settling down as a contest performer and with a little more experience may surprise everyone by the depth of his ability.

Mike Doyle (U.S.A.)
Was as consistently good as ever. Definitely an opportunist, his slightly flamboyant functionalism is a joy to watch. Mike was a favorite with the big crowd, surfing in inspired fashion, though it was obvious he would have relished a slightly more powerful wave. Mike is a big man and there were times on the slower sections when his board showed a tendency to settle under him.

Bernard “Midget” Farrelly (Australia)
Surfed intelligently and conservatively. It was apparent to me that Farrelly was at all costs out to prove that “functional” could only be interpreted one way. This was not to challenge the wave, but to use only the most critical part of the swell, then, demonstrating minimum effort, maneuver only as much as these rather unchallenging waves suggested. I consider, though fairly mundane to watch, his performance an ideal interpretation of the available conditions.

Joey Cabell (U.S.A.)
Was at the top of his form and often demonstrated through small quirks of ability that perhaps he was the best surfer in the water. At all times Cabell challenged the surf and many times created critical situations by power surfing a wave offering only limited possibility. Several times Cabell came through the white water on the nose. He has a way of locking his knees together as leverage against the soup and this sometimes gives the impression of premature effort. During his stay in Australia, Joey showed his ability is unrestricted under all conditions. Unfortunately, during the contest, he had a definite tendency to become over-aggressive among an already small field of top performers. A large part of the crowd favored Cabell’s performance, and undoubtedly it was great, but as the judging system did not favor over-aggressiveness, it was certain his point score must suffer.

Bobby Brown (Australia)
Considering he was the youngest competitor in the final, and allowing for the bigness of the occasion, Bobby Brown’s performance was a classic. Though not strictly functional, some of his manoeuvres were dramatic and beautifully executed and his bottom turn from behind the breaking curl is the best I have ever had the good fortune to see. Brown surfs for fun in a pre-meditated sort of way and in every ride is invariably found tight against the most critical part of the wave. By making his approach a little smoother he would undoubtedly be a better contest performer, but personally I would prefer to see Bobby Brown retain his more radical tendencies. Surfing would lose something as a spectacle if he was to become too dedicated to functionalism.

The final of the World Championships climaxed a wonderful two days. From the reactions of the thousands of who attended and the even higher numbers who watched on television, it was evident that surfing has benefited in every way.

1964 World Surfboard Championships

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