An addition to the Hurley Surfing Australia High Performance Centre in the form of a wave-shaped miniramp with airbags on the high end is supposed to help Australian Surfers learn aerial maneuvers in the ocean. While the jury out on how much of this training actually carries over to actual waves, it sure looks like fun. They should make everyone ride actual surfboards with skateboard trucks mounted on them, or possibly even Streetboardz. It worked for Simon Woodstock! More details at Surfing Australia.

Andrew Maunsell is a toy designer by trade from Sydney Australia. He’s collaborating with Greg Bennett from Bennett Surfboards (Not affiliated with Bennett Trucks) in Brookvale, Sydney. Bennet produced a skateboard brand called Golden Breed in the 70’s. The result is a series of two old school hybrid skateboards based on old 60’s era shapes and technology, with a little bit of updating. The trucks were originally NOS Fairfax steel wheeled contraptions, but the steel wheels and axles have been replaced with Metaflex wheels and solid axles. The decks are the brand new Fiji White Cedar hand screened. The first 50 “Big Surf” are vintage longboard style, and the second 50 (still in the works) are going to be shorter with a dragster theme. Andrew doesn’t have a web site yet, so if you are interested you can contact him via email, available if you download this flyer. Loads of pics after the jump. I love the aesthetic of this era of skateboards. Andrew says the modified trucks actually turn well too.

A Steve Caballero inspired surfboard graphic, made for the man himself. Details are sketchy, Facebook only links. Shaped by Lucas and Sons, as seen on Old School Skateboarding.

Björn Holm of Finland made a surfboard out of recycled skateboards. It’s the shell only so it’s probably not as heavy as it looks. I cracked up after watching the video, it’s almost like a SNL Digital Short. Everything is so serious, and there’s all the ice, and all of the sudden it’s over and the poor guy hasn’t even gotten to ride it yet. [Source: Hypbeast via Freshngood.]

The California Surf Museum is having an opening for a skateboarding exhibit called “Clay to Urethane: 1965-1975” that will coincide with a book signing with Ben Marcus, the author of SSkateboard, The Good, the Rad and the Gnarly. Some skate legends confirmed to attend so far: Logan brothers, Steve Cathey, Denis Shufeldt, Frank Nasworthy, Gregg Weaver, Chris Yandall, Dale Smith, Jim Goodrich, Eddie Katz, Buddy Carr, Pineapple Saladino, Larry Balma, and more. Saturday, August 13th from 4-7 pm.

So maybe it wasn’t feasible to make the giant halfpipe shaped roof of the Museum of Surf actually skateable. There’s still the bowl, right? Surely that pool-like structure in the roof is a skateable tribute to the connection between the roots of skateboarding and surfing? Markus Suchanek recently visited it and found otherwise. Check out his photos after the jump. How is that this museum has no web site?

Given the nature of the birth of our sport, it’s no surprise that a Museum of Ocean and Surf might draw inspiration from forms that inspire skaters as well. Seriously, it’s got to be a coincidence that it actually looks like a half pipe. There’s also allegedly a pool of sorts (see middle righr and bottom) but ironically enough, none of the surface of this structure appears to be actually skateable. I mean, that would have been something. See the Museum of Ocean and Surf in Biarritz, France by Steven Holl Architects in collaboration with Solange Fabião. [Source: ArchDaily] – Thanks to Matty B. and Urban Kravos for the tip.

Cool title for this inspired surf instrumental by the band The Five out of Brisbane, Australia. Miseri Loves Company is from their 2010 ep titled ‘For Five Nights Only’. The video has schoolyard skateboard footage form the 70’s.

Sa Ka Roule has some cool pictures of what must be the French equivalent of a Hobie, Makaha, or G&S. There are some old ads, pictures of a vintage board with a possible crazy looking truck modification, and the inevitable nostalgia revival. Check it out.

This is an old decal, you know, the kind you put in water and slide it off onto a plastic model. I found it on eBay, but there wasn’t any information on it other than “vintage”. I would have guessed 60’s but The name Aaron Loyd turned up a surfboard shaper who was in business in Pismo beach in the early 70’s. Whenever it was, it’s pretty obvious this came from a different time. I don’t think this type of racial stereotype would fly nowadays. Loyd Surf is now a father-son operation. I’ve got an email into them to see if that was the case, and maybe find out a little more.