Bruce Channon reveals the finer points of ‘ockanui’ rail, rocker and ribbing to Gary Crockett in this photo by Michael Power, February 2011.
Bruce Channon recalls being gob-smacked at the crowds and buzz surrounding the 1964 world championships at Manly, where he competed as a youngster in the juniors rounds alongside Nat Young and Robert Conneely. Leaning forward recently on the kombi bench seat in his Sydney office, where Australian Longboarding Magazine comes together, Bruce reckoned “it was just such a big day for surfing”. Ever since, Bruce has remained in the thick of an ever-expanding surfing scene, as a competitor, board maker, photographer, film-maker, magazine owner, writer and editor. He also makes and rides beautiful timber sticks – the one shown here is a refined take on a late 50s hollow ‘ockanui’. These were local clones of Californian balsa malibus, crafted by Sydney board builders who’d been blown away by the performances of visiting US and Hawaiian lifesavers at various Sydney beaches in the early summer of 1956.