NEWS DESK
Tide changes for surf industry TWO of the biggest names in the surf industry have quietly moved onto the Mornington Peninsula. Rip Curl came first, buying out Peninsula Surf and next month Billabong takes over the Trigger Brothers store at Sorrento. Recognising the strength in local branding, Rip Curl still displays prominent Peninsula Surf signs at its Frankston, Mornington and Rye stores and Billabong is set to do the same with Trigger Brothers in Sorrento. “After the Rip Curl buyout of Peninsula Surf stores six months ago Billabong needed to ensure rack space or real estate on the peninsula,” Phil Trigger said. “They approached us and we came to an agreement where they would take over the running of our Sorrento store on 5 September, with us keeping a small percentage of the business. “Unlike their other takeovers they plan to make our 50 years of surfing the peninsula a highlight of the store. Most of our amazing staff will stay and all our clothing and surf and skate hardware will remain.” Phil trigger and his brother Paul will keep running their stores at Point Leo and Frankston. Peninsula Surf founder Ted Bainbridge said the “time seemed right” in late 2015 to sell out to Rip Curl, one of the surfing world’s major brands which grew from humble beginnings at Torquay.
“With ageing directors and the stores all performing well, despite the downturn in retail, Rip Curl was the best option to take over Peninsula Surf,” he said. “We'd stocked their wet suits from the beginning and surfed over many years with founders Doug Warbrick and Brian Singer. “Having employed more than 700 peninsula kids since starting in 1974 it was a priority to have a company which allowed our staff to have a career path if they stayed in the surf industry. “Rip Curl is an international company with heaps of opportunities.” The latest move by the Trigger brothers follows the closure of their original store in Chelsea in 2005 (including auctioning 80 surfboards that were hanging on the walls), along with shops at Prahran and Mornington. The shop at Point Leo also includes a shaping bay where custom boards are made and dinged boards fixed. Point Leo was the site where the Triggers organised a vintage surfboard day which, in 2012, had 30 exhibitors and attracted about 1500 viewers. “Two years later we held another one, this time we had a display of 30 Kombies, they came in a convoy as far as you could see up Point Leo Rd,” Paul Trigger said. “In almost 40 years of manufacturing with the help of John Jolly and Al Francis and so many shapers, we have made about 30,000 surfboards.”
Final wave to one of Keith Platt keith@baysidenews.com.au
Top rider: Bernard “Midget” Farrelly, above, at Bells Beach in the mid-1970s and, top right, with Doug “Claw” Warbrick one of the founders of Rip Curl and, below left, cutting an occy strap to open the 1975 Surfworld exhibition with the Skyhooks frontman, the late Graeme “Shirley” Strachan. Pictures: Keith Platt
IT is not hard to find connect surfing on the Mornington Peninsula with Australian surfing great Bernard “Midget” Farrelly, who died on Sunday 7 August after several years of battling cancer. At 71, Farrelly’s death came as a shock to the surfing community, both here and overseas. Many of the peninsula’s younger surfers would not know that they most likely owe Farrelly a debt of gratitude. His fame came on the cusp of major changes in surfing: the advent of the shorter board and professional surfers. As Australia’s first official world champion – won at Manly 17 May 1964 - Farrelly dragged surfing into the public view and influenced the next generation of surfers who set about establishing an industry that brought the necessary equipment within reach of anyone who wanted to tackle the waves. The founders of the two biggest surfing product outlets on the peninsula acknowledge Farrelly’s influence: Paul and Phil Trigger, of Triggers Bros and Ted Bainbridge of Peninsula Surf. Bainbridge, who in 1974 started what became a chain of shops operating under the Peninsula Surf banner, remembers the mid-1960s weekly Midget Farrelly show on ABC TV. Farrelly’s “personable manner” came through the TV screen to the young lad growing up in Noble Park.
Attention Schools, sporting clubs & community groups
Free advertising listings Each month the Chelsea-Mordialloc-Mentone News will run a Community Events page, where your school or organisation can promote upcoming events, fund raisers, social events, etc. at no charge. This page is sponsored by the Aspendale Gardens Community Bank and listings are completely free. Listing should include event name, date, time & address.
Send your listing to:
Community Events
PO Box 588, Hastings 3915 or email your listing to communityevents@mpnews.com.au PAGE 6
Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News 17 August 2016
Knitting together: Angela, left, Taya, Kim, Cathy, Bec and Jaz enjoy the company at Aspendale Gardens Community Service. Picture: Gary Sissons
Woolly way to help needy KNITTING is a thread that connects the community at Aspendale Gardens Community Service. People are invited to drop in to the centre on Tuesday mornings to sip some free tea and help knit some scarves, beanies, blankets, toys, childrens’ and babies’ clothing to be distributed to the needy. “The knitting mornings offer a wonderful opportunity for members of the community to share a cuppa and meet new friends while all the while creating knitted items that are desperately needed in our community,” community development coordinator Angela Costigan said. The mornings are part of the Knit One Give One (KOGO) initiative with more than 5000 knitters across Australia. These knitters are everyday Australians who
donate their time and wool in order to create for those in need. They vary in age from an 11-year-old girl to the oldest knitter who turned 101 in February and they come from all walks of life. “There’s no need to be a whizz with the needles, we can teach you the basics and encourage all people to come along and enjoy a morning with new friends and help make a difference,” Ms Costigan said. n KOGO knitting sessions are held at Aspendale Gardens Community Service, 103-105 Kearney Drive, Aspendale Gardens on Tuesday, 11.30am. No need to book but call 9587 5955 or email enquiries@ agcsinc.org.au so organisers have an idea of the number of attendees.