The innermost limits of pure fun (1969)

1968 was a very important year in surf history. Until that epoch most surfers used to surf with longboards. These kind of boards were slower and easier to handle. That is the iconic image we nowadays have of surf in its beginnings: the typical beachboy driving a cadillac with a foam longboard by his side. But surfculture was about to change. George Greenough, Robert "Nat" Young and Bob McTavish, two american surfers and an australian sharper realized that the popularity of surf was stagnating and soon looked for a solution.

A couple of years of years before, during the World contest in San Diego, Young tried to compete with a shorter version of the common 9´6´´ board because he had no money to afford the longer version. So, Young approached shaper McTavish and asked if he could come up with a solution to his problem. McTavish had already some ideas about shaping a board far thinner then every other boards, but it was only when he met with kneeboarder Greenough, in Noosa Heads, that both finally came up with something. The shortboard was born.

The innermost limits of pure fun, made in 1969, only one year after the reinvention of the surfboard, is one of the first surf movies from that revolutionary period in surfing. What today is a piece of nostalgia, back in its time was an innnovative film, featuring point of view cameras and other technical novelties. The amateurish making, the groovy soundtrack and the opportunity it gives us to witness surf history make it a pleasant experience. What could be better than watch the birth of the shortboard from the highly personalized perspective of its inventors?

Verdict: 7/10