Getting old and crotchety I guess got me thinking about the Worst Surfing Invention ( WSI ) of all time.
My vote is for LEGROPES. Sometimes useful when surfing offshore reef, rocky points and coves etc but by Christ they have encouraged some gumbies into the lineup !!
How many of the millions in the current newbie plague would even contemplate taking up surfing if they had to actually swim for their board. How about the personal satisfaction of a surf when you did’nt fall off and lose your board. The rotation in the lineup was always a bit more organised when at least some percentage of the surfers were retrieving their boards after a wipeout.
Not to mention the loss of business suffered by the honorable Dingfixer !
G’day mate,ya get my vote!!Imagine the glee of ding fixers worldwide,not to mention previously crowded pointbreaks free of kooks!!I had a dream,a dream where order was returned to those capable of surfing in a world of surf schooled kooks,with no manners and no idea!!Then lineups would return to those who belong.
I dunno, there will always be people learning. whilst the line up may be organized while people are swimming for their boards, I for one am happy for leg ropes as i am safe while paddling out from being speared by a huge and heavy beginners log… so i spose its got its good points…
Boothy,when i learned to surf,i would go outta my way to stay outta other surfers way.This part of the game has been long forgotten,with the advent of the(surfschool) educated beginner.Perhaps they should teach things like etiquette,manners and respect,before they fill already overcrowded lineups with those incapable of surfing without a lifesaver attatched to their leg?
Ha! Im 44 and swim 50 meters in 29 seconds without diving in a 25 meter pool.
But just b/c I swim good doesnt mean I want to swim around in shark infested waters (where I surf), or have my board spear the 8 y/o girl wading along the shore (water is warm here).
Believe me, really bad inventions have been done…you just have never heard of them…cuz they are really really stupid and never made it past the commerce laugh test. I’ll try to find one later and post it.
a few years ago a friend of mine got caught in a school of spinner sharks (black tips that jump clear out of the water and spin) that were chasing baitfish (in earlier mentioned shark infested break)…one of them bit the leash right next to the board near his feet…fuggin guy was being pulled back and under for a couple seconds then the leash broke and he paddled ashore. ABSOLUTELY TRUE STORY…no lie.