Bonzers at Moonlight 1989-2009
I wasn’t really sure what boards to bring to Sunday’s AB3/Fish Fry. I thought about loading up all the new stock boards out of the showroom and hauling them all down to the beach, or bringing my personal quiver or just showing up in a wetsuit and a leash and just surf on borrowed boards all day. Then I remembered the Campbell Brothers Bonzer from 1989 (left) up in the attic and knew I had to bring it.
I’ve posted pictures of the ’89 Bonzer on this blog before. What stoked me out most was that my friend Brett had left his personal Bonzer for me to try and I realized it was very similar in theme to the ’89 board.
Aside from the different size, tail shape and volume, the two boards share a kinship in concept. A couple of people commented that the original board seemed advanced for the time. I remember back in 1989 (I was 19) the thing looked like a total spaceship. Five fins? Deep double concaves? E-wing rail channels? Whaaaat?
Since this was my Dad’s personal board he let the new guy learn to install fin boxes on it (with the old primitive router compared to today).
The 2009 Bonzer is 6’1″, the 1989 Bonzer is 6’5″. The rest of the dims were hard to read and I didn’t get a chance to break out the tape measure so I will try to follow up on that later. I’m stoked my Dad kept this board around because he isn’t really nostalgic and usually sells his boards after a couple of years. It’s a trip that Moonlight has been building Bonzers for Malcolm and Duncan for 2 decades.
*Thanks Brett for the loaner, I’ll ride it this week!
See also, Surfy Surfy: Astro Eggs: Then & Now
HeadHighGlassy
March 31, 2009Great post and boards–cool to see some recent surf history.
ps–Rumor has it if you say “Kinship in concept” five times fast while looking into a mirror and slapping yourself on the back, the Campbell Bros. themselves will appear in your kitchen, fully-prepared to take a custom order.
Matt Harrigan
April 3, 2009AB3 was a really fun event! Good for people interested in learning about different form and function as well as people who are already neck deep in board shaping and want to see interesting stuff done by other folks.