During my archaeological digging through the surfing vaults came across two signature models with the same name .Anyone know the reasons why and did it lead to any rancour and confusion.
mpcutback
I don’t know much about Morey-Pope’s Eliminator except it was produced roughly around the same time as the Greek Eliminator which was a step-deck 1966 model:
thats quite a step.the morey-pope Eliminator was a prototype for the Peck Penetrator, wingnose etc.I wonder if any one on swaylocks remembers surfing one and why Eliminator name was shared by two quite different boards.oh and balsa your site has some beautiful boards .love that yellow pin
mpcutbak
Thanks, mpcutback, I’m glad you like it. And, as you may have seen in the “history” part, my second board ever was a Greek Maui Model, hence my interest in Greek boards… I’ve been looking for pictures of the Morey-Pope but couldn’t find any. Do you have one?
I really dig those very last longboard designs (around 1966/1967), just before the short V-bottom revolution. In my opinion, they had reached the top of what could be achieved (then) with a longboard. Some sort of swan song, you know?
yes i find that last gasp of the period very interesting .the boards were becoming quite fine tuned and than abandoned until the advancements of the shortboard were directed onto their now longer brethren.
I found a photo of morey-pope Eliminator on google which sends you to ebay .I cannot seem to reveal image,perhaps due to my poor computor skills,however there are thumbnail size photos if you click google image .like wise with peck penatrator.
I am having board made by cord uk on these lines as we speak having garnered info from swaylocks couple weeks ago .nice photos there too.actually it is more similar dimensionaly it seems to the Eliminator which was pure chance.Do you have an outlet in Guethary?
mpcutback
I’d say it’s a coincidence that there were 2 different board labels with a model of the same name. Greek was in Huntington Beach, MP was 100 miles up the coast in Ventura.
Though I’ve never seen the Greek board I’m sure it would be completely different from the MP. The MP Eliminator was about as close as you could get to a Penetrator. Though the Eliminator dims were slightly different it also didn’t have the Peck label, nose and tail blocks or back decking ( slipcheck ).
If the MP Eliminator were in these pics, it’s not, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell which one it was.
D.R.
hey!
Balsa your house looks exactly like my house…I’m glad you like my greek eliminator!
thanks DR. Until any other imput,it adds weight to the idea most events are a product of a cock up than a conspiracy .Oh and Balsa how does your Greek Eliminator behave
mpcutback
This is a question that will be much better answered by Manoa, since the Eliminator that I posted is HIS. (I downloaded it some time ago, probably here on Sways, probably in a stepdeck thread, too…)
Now, if you want to know how my Maui Model behaved… oh well, I guess you’re not really willing to read 4 or 5 pages about it, so i’ll keep that for myself…
Dennis: I bought what Dale Herd(sp) told me has a MP “Eliminator” in’65 or '66 at the Front st. shop. Over the years I have wondered if it really was an Eliminator or a proto-type referred to as a “snub”. It had the slipcheck and a MP lam up near the nose. Two stringers down the center about 6 inches apart. A nice poly fin and “waveset” box. A year or so later a friend of mine bought a board from MP called a “Contender”. Same down-rails and wing nose, but much thinner and more refinded. I would say that the Eliminator is not among those in the picture you posted. Looks to me as though we are looking at a Penetrator(on the bottom), a Blue Machine(middle) and perhaps my friends board the Contender or a “Sopwith Camel(top). My old Eliminator(if that’s what it really was), had paralell rails, a wide tail, pretty wide overall(at least 23”), almost no overall rocker(except for the tail), big wide nose, no concave, just a totally flat nose area, really thick overall and NO stepdeck. McDing
Howzit McDing,
Wow! You got a board from Dale Herd? I’d think if Dale said it was an Eliminator it probably was, or is. Now the contender… that’s a name I’d forgotten, but yeah there were a few of those too. Really, all those boards were similar. And they each could have a slightly different look depending on who shaped them. The Camel came a couple years later.
Those pictures are crops of full page MP Surfer Mag ads from back in the day. You’re right, the bottom is a Penetrator, the middle is a Blue Machine. The adds say that the top one is a Standard. Don’t even know if they were ever made except for that ad. But the one in the pic looks like a Snub even if the ad says it’s a Standard. If you look close it has distinct down rails in the tail. I don’t know of anyone doing down rails in the tail with and edge in ’67. What was Morey thinking?
Dennis
Dennis----Here’s what’s really funny!. I live on Maui and know Tom’s son Sol. We are connected via a local surf school that I do repairs for and Sol occassionally does lessons for; “Maui Waveriders” (Tom Castleton). I had a lot of fun telling him about the Morey/Pope Invitatational noseriding event and all the differant people that I saw there. Weber/Iggy, Hynson, etc. I remember hanging out at the shop one afternoon and seeing some “Hippies” walking along the tracks and Morey calling out to Cooper to come out and see the “Hippies”. I have known about you and your shaping abilities for years and have seen a few of the Penetrators that you did in the '90’s for Ventura Surf Shop. I shape here on Maui and am heavily influenced by “downrail” theory, via Diffenderfer/Hynson and MP.
Great to read those slices of period DR and McDing and also have practical information from the source.Could i ask what the difference was between Blue Machine and Penetrator?what i have read it appears that Penetrator Had Narrower template ,But hey what do i know.Also with a modern application would you make many changes in design?
mpcutback
McDing, funny story about Morey, Cooper and Hippies. I thought Cooper was the original Hippy…nah, only joking. He is 10 years my senior and the guy that gave me my start. I very much looked up to him.
mpcutback, The foils are the same for the most part but the Penetrator has a more parallel outline, the Machine has more hip in the outline and is generally about ½ inch wider. The modern versions are the same as their early counterparts just nicely refined I’d say.
thanks for posting the photos of the boards .
they look a right lively pair . I ll put them with my other coveted wish list.Not on your continent otherwise i would be filling out order form now .
mpcutback