Righting wrongs.
While our surfing is reportedly growing in participation to soccer-level heights, the core community, those who surf non-padded boards, watch surf clips, consume surf media, is still very small. And, thus, we are presented with a unique opportunity today.
Finding and returning the art belonging to Bob McTavish.
As a core surfer, you know that McTavish, now in his 80s, is credited as one of the inventors the modern day shortboard and I must direct you to the Encyclopedia of Surfing if you need more details, for we are on a mission and don’t have time to linger.
Now, Sam McIntosh, co-founder of Stab Magazine, apparently writes a weekly letter to his subscribers and this week begins by explaining how much content he and team create every week and how often there is a chance to make a mistake before pivoting to whiners who complain about aforementioned mistakes before introducing a particular incident wherein he was informed that McTavish, himself, might be bummed about a mistake though doubted because McTavish was old and probably fuzzy…
And let’s let McIntosh, himself, pick it up from here:
But it was true.
“Stab” had ordered five boards from McTavish for a previous (unreleased) EAST and had them shipped internationally for the project. Longboards, gliders, high-priced weaponry, all supposedly for Kelly Slater. In the lead-up to Christmas,
Bob’s team worked night and day to make the deadline.
Using Kelly Slater and the EAST project as cloud cover, our board orderer had juiced the wish list for the classics. The primary board for Kelly was the Son of Plastic — Bob’s contemporary nod to the iconic Plastic Machine vee-bottom. But along with it came four more designs, all resplendent in custom sprays and polish finishes:
– 11’ glider (Sugar)
– 9’9” Noosa 66
– 6’6” asym (Poach by Ben McTavish)
– Beatnik Vee bottom
Unbeknownst to us, the boards were shipped internationally and never landed in any of our offices. The Son of Plastic never appeared under Kelly Slater’s feet. And we had failed to communicate with Bob at all. The Ghost Quiver was built, shipped, and disappeared.
We followed the crumbs, uncovered the narrative footwork, and realised we’d been utterly disrespectful to one of surfing’s greats. We cut ties with the person responsible, reset the break, and after four years were able to move on.
McIntosh continued that Stab has since worked with McTavish again but didn’t detail what happened with the boards.
So what happened?
Who stole and where did they go?
Again, small core community so if the surfboard thief dare rode, they would be spotted, if he/she dared tried to sell, it would be noted. The aforementioned surfboards are around, therefore, somewhere in hiding just waiting to be found.
What we know:
1) McTavish shipped his boards from Australia to the United States for a Stab thing.
2) The person responsible got ties cut.
Let’s get out there, find those boards and right this wrong.
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I paid 2500 bucks for a mctavish, kind of felt a bit like I had been robbed too
Not felt like..u were robbed..
They were re-routed to Russia via a dark web hack and I have them and using them as props for my garden gnomes
“We followed the crumbs, uncovered the narrative footwork, and realised we’d been utterly disrespectful to one of surfing’s greats. We cut ties with the person responsible, reset the break, and after four years were able to move on.”
What the fuck is that even supposed to mean? That’s the worst strung together paragraph of nonsensical phrases I’ve read in a long time. “Narrative footwork” & “reset the break” take the cake – pull yourself together for surf journalism’s sake Sam!
Stab is run by fucking kooks.
never judge a book by it’s cover!
Didnt bopping bob also shape the early reverse Vs, asking for a friend.
Not reverse vee’s, but vee bottoms. Also known as panel vee. It was flat or slight roll in the nose with vee from middle all the way through to the tail. Reverse vee is vee in front half flattening out in the back half. Bob created the early vee bottoms to make the wider boards easier to get on rail and it loosened up the boards. He moved on to develop spiral vee with influence from Dick Brewer. Spiral vee incorporates double concave in the tail within the vee. As boards got shorter and lower volume more concave was used to provide lift on smaller and weaker waves. Many of the top shapers currently use vee in the front half for big wave surfboards as it helps tilt the boards easier over onto rail at high speeds.
some of us use RV’s in all their boards…..hybrids/step-ups/HP shortboards/Guns etc……..in fact big vees between the fins are slower and also track longer turns
I still love some of that original vee in the tail.
I travel a fuckload in unpredictable ways, yet the same lady seems to be in my local area and ready to go no matter where I end up. I can only assume she is stalking me.
I wish she’d just come and introduce herself 🤣🤣
Speed up Chas, this news is 2 weeks old. Surely it was Goggins.
Disclaimer: I bat both ways, ie subscribe to Stab AND check Beachgrit daily.
Only fair if you share your Stab login with us here.
The amount of times I’ve clicked on my own pop-up ad of Old Women Looking For Sex in Bondi…
I like the blue pill adds myself, that one with the hot milf sitting with a glass of wine! Looked like it would be a fun afternoon
That’s like $48,000 worth of boards!
Who no longer works at STAB? And ride all but one of those type of board models? And totally sucks? No contest. It’s got to be ……
Who? Who?? The cute boy who surfs with a terrific style?
This sounds like a case for Jamboards. Those nerds got their fingers on the pulse of anything surfboard related… especially in the realm of alternative surfcraft.
Ashton ate them.
More from the ‘Stab in the back series!