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Image 1 for Rare footage of Victoria's first surfers in 1920 - “Surfing Hawaiian Redwood Boards at Lorne”

All four of these boards still exist.

Rare footage of Victoria's first surfers in 1920 - “Surfing Hawaiian Redwood Boards at Lorne”

12 November 20


From Craig Baird at the Australian National Surfing Museum: “This is footage from Lorne in the early 1920s showing the earliest surfing in Victoria. Wealthy Geelong sports enthusiast Louis Whyte travelled to Hawaii in 1919, spent six months learning to surf at Waikiki and bought four surfboards from Duke Kahanamoku before returning home to surf at Lorne and Anglesea. 

“The footage was recorded by Frank Beaurepaire (who would go on to become Lord Mayor of Melbourne) a world- class swimmer and good mate of Duke’s.

“We will be following this up with a video about creating and surfing a 9’ replica of one of the Hawaiian boards - and the story of the four boards and their history (all four still exist!)".

 TAKE THE TRIP TO 1920 HERE



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