I know this should be posted in the “In memoriam” section, however AB’s contribution to shaping makes acknowledgement of his passing worthy of mentioning here.
http://gosurf.co.nz/2013/08/rip-allan-byrne-passes/
MrT.
Very sad to hear.
Such a great talent, his boards something out of this world.
Rest in peace AB.
Sad to hear, He will be missed…
a true craftsman i can still remember sanding his chanel bottoms and the fins were all glass ons in those days wow much much respect for this man also his surfing was alltime on one accasion we were surfing the tweed bar 6 to 8 foot easy just me and him and one other friend lets just say i was shitting bricks but had bretent i wasnt because i was with AB who was playing around like it was 3 foot we were scrambling to get over the sets youd see him swinging around taking off incredable, those three years of working with him in the early 90s was something i will never forget what a wealth of knowledge he had and shared with anybody can not say enough good things about him ,he was always up for a chat on one accasion i even saw him talking to a kneeboarder that just what he was like, always be in awe of him ,my eyes are starting to welt with tears writting this RIP AB my thoughts are with his family miss you very much cheers ra
Bummer.
Quite inspiring.
I shaped lots of those six-channeled boards.
Always gave him credit for the design.
Everyone who shapes should do one.
Better yet, shape, glass and sand one.
RA, I feel ya on those glass-ons, did lots of those too.
Legend.
RIP.
I consider myself lucky to have shared a factory with a Roger Firehock for close to 6 years, a man of the same vintage as Al.
Allan was a hero of mine long before I had ever meet him.
I don’t really get owe struck from people. But, Every time Al came over to our factory for a chat, It was like a god walked in.
One day while Al was at our factory talking foil with Legend shaper Geff Darby, he said to me, “Hey i’ve got these guns shaped up for Hawaii pop over and I’ll show you how thin you need to go in the tail” I was really taken back, like “yeah, yeah, for sure”… But why I thought to myself, He didn’t have to?. Just a selfless beautiful human.
The respect I have for Allan is un paralleled and i’m proud to have known the man, the Legend.
Thank Allan, You will never be forgotten.
R.I.P
sad
A great loss …AB leaves quite a void…integral part of the Gold Coast scene for so many years , but was always a proud Kiwi…
At G-Land you could always tell when someone was on one of his 6 channel shooters as the rider was going noticeably faster then those who weren’t.
RIP, may your family find comfort in the fullness of the life you lived…
Posted on facebook by a friend that grew up with Allan in Gisborne, he would have been 16 in 1966.
...OK...this is how it goes, for me. There was the older guys at the beach who were the echelon and then there were the guys who were pretty much my own age group , Brownie, Billy, Ronnie, Barry Robbo, Teri Ward, Cryp, Ran, all groms, great surfers and great nose walkers and 'AB ' or as we new him...Alan. He crossed both age groups...he was better than everyone. An all round great waterman...swimmer, surf lifesaver, and surfer..he really had no peer. Early one morning (checking the waves) I was standing at the old Midway Surf Club , which was two old army huts beside the lighthouse in front of the womens surf lifesaving buildings (none of which exist anymore) but they were 1/2 way between Roberts Rd. and the now Midway Surf Club...and AB rolled up on his bike. He had just got back from the '66 World Champs in San Diego..he told me all about it (me slack jawed..famous surfer names rolling off his tongue) but he had also picked up some new music . He told me some names which meant Jack shit to me..but anyway the surf wasn't doing it, so we shot over to his parents place in Awapuni Rd, a 100 metres from the beach to do a soundcheck... Up until then most of us were listening to the English bands, The Stones, Kinks, Beatles, Animals etc. and some of the "new sounding" American bands. He put ( about 6:30 in the morning) on this black guy, a geezer named Jimi Hendrix. Well fuck me!! Right there at that moment my life changed..a door had opened! I had never (and neither had anyone else..to this day!) heard anything so exciting and liberating. He had bought back a few albums...Paul Butterfield: East/West. John Mayall: A Hard Road. Love: Forever Changes, Cream : Fresh Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced...none of us were! Truly liberating times..for everyone..musically and personally. I was the proud owner of 5/6 AB boards, all swallows, but never got to surf/own a channel. His shapes were so clean, so sexy. You could stare at them for ages..and without being in the water see them and you on the waves...magic! Believe all the eulogies..he really was a super nova when it came to surfing/shaping. More importantly he was a beautiful human being..a Zen master. A little ditty...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YjRD4hHEdRE
...OK...this is how it goes, for me. There was the older guys at the beach who were the echelon and then there were the guys who were pretty much my own age group , Brownie, Billy, Ronnie, Barry Robbo, Teri Ward, Cryp, Ran, all groms, great surfers and great nose walkers and 'AB ' or as we new him...Alan. He crossed both age groups...he was better than everyone. An all round great waterman...swimmer, surf lifesaver, and surfer..he really had no peer. Early one morning (checking the waves) I was standing at the old Midway Surf Club , which was two old army huts beside the lighthouse in front of the womens surf lifesaving buildings (none of which exist anymore) but they were 1/2 way between Roberts Rd. and the now Midway Surf Club...and AB rolled up on his bike. He had just got back from the '66 World Champs in San Diego..he told me all about it (me slack jawed..famous surfer names rolling off his tongue) but he had also picked up some new music . He told me some names which meant Jack shit to me..but anyway the surf wasn't doing it, so we shot over to his parents place in Awapuni Rd, a 100 metres from the beach to do a soundcheck... Up until then most of us were listening to the English bands, The Stones, Kinks, Beatles, Animals etc. and some of the "new sounding" American bands. He put ( about 6:30 in the morning) on this black guy, a geezer named Jimi Hendrix. Well fuck me!! Right there at that moment my life changed..a door had opened! I had never (and neither had anyone else..to this day!) heard anything so exciting and liberating. He had bought back a few albums...Paul Butterfield: East/West. John Mayall: A Hard Road. Love: Forever Changes, Cream : Fresh Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced...none of us were! Truly liberating times..for everyone..musically and personally. I was the proud owner of 5/6 AB boards, all swallows, but never got to surf/own a channel. His shapes were so clean, so sexy. You could stare at them for ages..and without being in the water see them and you on the waves...magic! Believe all the eulogies..he really was a super nova when it came to surfing/shaping. More importantly he was a beautiful human being..a Zen master. A little ditty...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YjRD4hHEdRE