TO SAVE LIFE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 4, 6 January 1937, Page 9

TO SAVE LIFE.

GIFT SURFBOARDS. PI HA CLUB PRESENTATION. LBGESD AMD HISTORY. - % Ari«e, ye great sorts from Kahiki (far off), The powerful curling waves, Arise with the pohue hue, WeU up, long ranging surf! It is a long way from the surge of the Tasman on Piha's beach to the sweep of another ocean on the shores of Hawaii, but it seemed that that distance was made shorter to-day, when in a ceremony at Ponsonby the Piha Surf Club was presented with two hollow Hawaiian surf boards. They are the gift of Mr. C. A. Whitney, of Remuera, who returned recently from a visit to Honolulu full of enthusiasm about the effectiveness of the large hollow boards as life-saving equipment. Mr. Whitney is presenting a third board, which is to be designed and constructed in Auckland by Mr. W. T. Matthews, of Heme Bay, who is well known for his keenness and skill in model yacht building and other branches of aquatics. One of the boards is a 1935 Hawaiian model which was brought in completed form from Hoqplulu by Mr. Whitney, and the other an older board which has been hollowed out and finished by Mr. Matthews. Both are air-chambered and streamlined. The fimt is 12ft lOin in length, 22in wide and sJin thick, being slightly convex on the bottom. It is built in mahogany and weighs 441b. Mr. Matthews has made an excellent job of the second board, which was built m its original form in 1910, and as su e h represented the style in vogue until 1929. Twenty-eight inches shorter, it is now beautifully finished, and bears comparison with the larger board. Mr. Matthews is at present giving thought to the design of the third board, in which he hopes to be able to effect certain improvements. Appreciation of Club. The gathering to-day included the club president, Mr. F. E. de Guerrier. the secretary, Mr. C. R. Holt, the club Mr " H " C " Ssdford - Mr. -Matthews, who fin behalf of Mr. Whitney presented the boards to the club He mentioned that the Piha Club would ie the first in New Zealand to use the hollow lorm or board, and said that Mr. Whitney s idea was that they might be used for the saving of lives and that demonstrations should be given with them wherever possible throughout the Dominion, in the hope that similar equipment should be adopted on everv beach. Mr. de Guerrier said that it gave the club more than pleasure in accepting the boards, and added that its deep' appreciation of the donor's enthusiastic gesture would be expressed to Mr Whitney. He felt sure that the active members of the club would practice diligently and master the boards as soon as possible. Mr : Sidford said that the prominent position of the club was further enhanced by this addition to its lifesaving equipment. It was pointed out in informal discussion of the merits of the boards that the hollow 1 type is popular throughout the United 'states for water life-saving as well as for pleasure. A strong man can handle them with ease, and they are buovant enough to support three* men, so that it is a comparatively easy task to place the patient across a board and paddle ashore. Kept close to the water's edge, they can be utilised with a minimum of delay, and without the risk that'a surf boat has of capsizing in surf. The roar of the surf on Hawaii's shores was a call to the exhilarating sport even in legendary times, ing to a book, "Hawaiian Surfboard," by Tom Blake, an American champion, which has also been presented to the club by Mr. Whitney. In an introduction, Duke Kabanamoku, of Hawaii, says: " .... Yet this 'new' sport . . . . reaches back into the dim age of legends, when our kings and chiefs. found"surfriding their favourite pastime. And as surf riding has endured in Hawaii through wars, plagues and famine, it bids fair to last forever. It is my dream to some day tour other countries and personally acquaint the people with the uses of tße surfboard, for as an aid in life-saving and the physical development of growing boys and girls it commands respect the world over."

Thrill of the Sport,

"The waves will never change—man will not change," agrees the author in the view that the sport will not die. He goes back 1000 years, to a day when the young chief Kealoha paddles far out past the breaking waves, shouting from sheer excitement as be sees the ground swells rise up, blue, then green, out at sea. He selects the fourth wave. "It is within ten yards of him, towering, active, rushing shoreward, but not yet broken. His heart beats faster, his arms move faster, as the swell comes closer. Instead of crashing over him the wave lifts—ever so easily, strongly, surely—this great board, this daring boy, until it is just about to pass them. He is high on the crest; it is like looking down off a small cliff. Another deep, hard stroke, with all his strength, and he has it."

Chants were used for the making of a big surf. "Arise, ve great surfs," quoted above, was one of them. The water was whipped with a vine, and prophetic signs were watched for. The author brings his story of the surf through legend and history to the present day, when the "sport of Hawaiian kings" brings health, pleasure and safety to the youth of the world.