Team Rider Ian Portingale (Porty)

Phil and I were very lucky when you think of the surfing talent that developed at Bonbeach. Porty and Little Ian lived over their back fences from each other, and both were only half a kilometre from our place—not forgetting Robbie McCartney, who became one of the best kneeboarders in Victoria for over 10 years. Porty and Robbie were best mates, both excellent swimmers who honed their competitive water skills at the Bonbeach L.S.C.

It was there, during the summer of ’65, that Ian’s parents gave him a 9'6" surfboard for Christmas when he was 10 or 11, and he learnt the fundamentals of boardriding. Not too many other kids ever surfed the bay before school, but I remember Porty and Robbie doing so on numerous occasions—such was their enthusiasm. Ian’s dad, Maurie, was not only the mayor but also President of the life saving club, and along with his wife, Floss, lived a very healthy outdoor lifestyle. By 1969, Ian was a regular at our little backyard factory and joined us in the Kombi for surf trips near and far. He became our very first team rider, and in 1970, he kick-started a very successful competitive career with a fourth-place finish at the Vic Schoolboys as a 15-year-old.

Porty developed a very powerful style highlighted by carving bottom turns and solid tube rides. Equally as important, he was a natural competitor who made the right decisions under pressure. Confidence was a key factor; Peter Baker recalls a time when they were surfing out in front of the lifesaving club at Bonbeach. A 14-year-old Porty spotted a girl walking on the beach and bragged about taking her out. To everyone’s amazement, he paddled in and brazenly asked the young lady for a date. His gobsmacked mates were dumbfounded when he rejoined them to celebrate his success.

A string of schoolboy victories—where he often won surfboards donated by Mordy Surf—led into an outstanding series of results in ’73. That year, he won the Vic Junior Titles and the King of Sunderland Bay on Phillip Island, and placed second at the Easter Bells Juniors pitted against some strong talent from interstate. To rub salt into the wounds of sponsor Mordy Surf’s Lindsay Mudge, he won another brand-new surfboard in the Pt. Leo 500 Juniors. At the presentation, Lindsay made mention of Ian’s growing surfboard collection courtesy of Mordy, and everyone could tell he was pissed off. Porty’s loyalty saw him sell all those brand-new "ockas" to ride our boards instead.

Leading into ’73, Phil and I made the move to establish ourselves on the highway at Chelsea. A few technical details that arose relative to the zoning were sorted out by the council, which was headed up by Mayor Maurie Portingale. Our thank-you came in the form of a truly magic board that helped put Ian on the winning podium time after time. It was a white pigmented board with some clean black pinlines on the bottom—a 6-foot rounded pin that he kept for ages (see pic). Sadly, this beautiful surfboard was reversed over by Jack Trigger’s car when it was left lying in the driveway at Haldane St.

Porto with his favourite board.

Whilst mentioning cars, at 18, Ian's first ride was a well-kept brown EH Holden sedan passed down from his father. Similarly, our brother Peter inherited Dad’s EH Holden wagon—same paint job and also in mint condition. The 1974 Vic Titles at Bells was a very close affair, with Porty snatching victory in the dying seconds. I had offered him what I thought would be the last ridden wave of the heat, but he knocked it back.

His fine-line judgment placed him on the biggest wave of the day (an 8-footer) just as the hooter blasted. A couple of magnificent bottom turns and two barrels through the bowl later, he was crowned Vic Open Champ ’74, with me in second and Phil placing sixth.

Phil had received 20 stitches in the head after an accident in the shorebreak during the repechage and had been told by the doctor not to surf in the final. Our team was firing, as we also had Alan Atkins in fourth place, Robbie Mac second in the kneeboards, and Ian Cochrane second in the juniors—all of them regular finalists in most State rounds.

See the extracted text towards the end of the page.

Porty made the Vic Open final again in 1975, and because of the previous year's successful preparation, he told us on the Saturday afternoon that he was once again going to follow the exact same steps:

• He was going to the Torquay Pub for a few beers with his mates (bad move).
• He was going to ride his magic board (good move).
• He was going to surf in boardies (March in Victoria can be chilly—another bad move).

Porty failed in his back-to-back title attempt.

In 1976, Porty was once again a dominant force. Initially finishing as runner-up, he was later, in controversial circumstances, deemed the Vic Champ after Maurice Cole was stripped of the title. Invites to the inaugural Coke and Stubbies events, plus the Pa Bendall in Queensland, came his way. From ’71 to ’78, he represented Victoria at the National Titles, with '78 being another stellar year.

Returning from a trip to Hawaii, he was just edged out via a countback by Wayne Lynch at the Alan Oke Memorial contest, the final of which was held in perfect 6 to 8-foot waves at Express Point. Ian slipped into one barrel after another, but in the end, getting that close to a world-class surfer like Wayne Lynch was a great honour.

Married to Rhonda in 1979 and with a growing family, he made the move to relocate to Buderim (QLD), just near Alexandra Headland, in 1988. Porty built his own house and then moved into serious surf coaching, running his own surf schools. He was the Queensland Junior Coach from 1990 to 2003, appointed the Australian Junior Coach from 1998 to 2002, and the Australian Open Coach in 2000 and 2002. His competitive nature resurfaced to take the Queensland Masters Longboard Title in '92 and '93, plus he finished as runner-up on three occasions at the Nationals.

Porty is back riding shortboards today and has a gem of a board shaped by Simon Anderson. For close to 50 years, the boy from Bonbeach has based his life and livelihood around a love of the ocean. It commenced on a Port Phillip Bay ripple, and along the journey, he successfully navigated the powerful waves of Hawaii before settling in the crystal-clear cylinders of Queensland.

Extracted Below

Triggs

Portingpower

The Victorian Surfboard Championships held at Bells Beach earlier this month showed how powerful the State's overall surfing is.

All surfers were first class and with continuous surfing on the Sunday and Monday spectators saw some of the best surfing seen in a State championship for many years.

The men's grand final was the most entertaining event with all six finalists ripping the up to 10 ft. surf.

The first day of the contest, Saturday, was abandoned because of poor surf while on Sunday conditions improved slightly and the elimination heats of most events were held.

Outstanding surfers on the Sunday included Maurice Cole, who showed he is right back to his best with some power rides on the sloppy Rincon waves, while, Ian Portingale and Alan Atkins also showed they were there to be reckoned with.

Paul Trigger, the Australian Surfriders' Association's top surfer this year, powered through to win his heat while Kinsley Kernovski impressed by winning his particular heat.

Monday saw the surf improve, along with the enthusiasm of competitors and a great days surfing was ahead.

Alan Atkins, Ian Portingale and John Pawson all came through their semi finals to go straight into the grand final while a tough repercharge looked the order of the day.

Phil Trigger had to finish in the top three of the repercharge to have a chance of making the State team and started off the heat with two outstanding rides from the bowl.

However with fifteen minutes left Phil got flattened on the shore break and got "cleaned" up by his board, resulting in a quick dash to Torquay to have twenty odd stitches inserted in his damaged head.

His blow was made easier when he came back to learn that he'd won the Repercharge from Rod Brooks and brother Paul.

Kingsley Kernouske finished fourth with some great rides from Rincon across to the beach while Mick O'Brien was fifth with Denis "Strapper" Day sixth.

Mick O'Brien was upset by a drop-in decision which cost him a place in the final but the rule states that the inside surfer has right of way and rules are made to be adhered to.

When the women hit the water most people thought it was going to be another State title to Gail Couper.

Gail decided to surf Rincon, which she did very well, while Carol Watts surfed the bowl section.

Gail really ripped but Carol got her share also and eventually got the judges' decision.

Just as the Junior final was under way the biggest waves of the day came through, some up to 12 ft.

Mark Skelton got some of the bigger ones while little Ian Cochrane, the youngest entrant, got some mind-blowing rides right through to the beach.

Up and coming Warrnambool surfer Gary Nicol was really impressive and won the final from Ian Cochrane and Mark Skelton.

It was a great performance by Ian Cochrane to come second, a place he thoroughly deserved.

The men's grand final was set and ready to go. Rod Brooks, Alan Atkins, John Pawson, Ian Portingale and Paul Trigger.

Unfortunately Phil Trigger couldn't compete because of his injury but he rode every wave from the hill top at Bells.

John Pawson took the first wave, down the bottom up to the lip and ripping right to the beach.

He looked very hard to beat in the final.

Then it was Ian Portingale's turn to take off and give one of the best surfing exhibitions seen for some time.

Acko wasn't getting the waves he wanted but surfed well while Rod Brooks impressed on his eight foot Bonzer gun.

Paul Trigger was his usual self, consistent power all the way, looking safe right until the end.

Porty was outstanding on two big waves while John Pawson dropped in on him on one occasion.

John again ripped into one of the bigger waves while Acko gave a great exhibition on the shorebreak.

Ian Portingale left no doubt who had won the title with the "wave of the day" when he took off right in the bowl with three minutes to go, ripped down the bottom, back up for a tube, out again, down and up for another tube and sheer power and aggression all the way. A real crowd pleaser.

Everyone was stoked, a great end to a great contest, while speculation grew as to who had won this year's title.

Most thought Porty while some reckoned John Pawson would win.

While all this was going on Ian Portingale made one of the best sporting gestures I've seen when he explained to the officials that the drop in by John Pawson was his fault because he told John to take the wave but at the last minute he couldn't pull out. A great thing to see.

Ian said: "I don't care if it costs me the title it was my fault because I told John to take the wave."

Anyway it didn't affect the end result with Porty winning from Paul Trigger and John Pawson followed by Alan Atkins and Rod Brooks.

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Open competitor's view of Titles

Last wave 'kill' by Portingale

The weather map was far from favourable with easterly isobars right across southern Australia, but the Victorian titles were on at Bells over the long weekend so we cruised on down to Torquay.

Saturday came and went with onshore slop and no contest. A game of pool in the pub with old friends and ordering short spring suits from the 'Curl' for the Australian titles in Qld in May.

Sunday wasn't much better but the wind had died off quite a bit and there was some form in the 3 foot waves. The juniors were sent out and it was obvious that the younger ones were really enjoying the small waves which suited their surfing.

The tide was in a bit by the time the open heats started and generally there were few upsets, and the better riders were seeded into the quarter finals.

The kneeboard and senior men's heats were held in poor quality waves with an outgoing tide.

By late afternoon the 3 ft. peak waves had changed to 3 ft. swell lines and towards evening there were 5 ft. sets pumping through with easterly chop on them. It certainly looked promising for the next day as all the waves had been local wind swell and it appeared as if these sets were the start of a ground swell.

All the equipment was packed up and stored in the caravan in readiness for the next day.

Torquay that Sunday night was a crowd of people all buying Frosty shakes and cans of Coke. The road was like a drag strip and the whole place seemed like a suburban town transplanted down the coast.

It was great to get back to the peace of Bells Beach and we all sat around under the full moon watching the swell lines wrapping around Little Rincon Point and contemplating who would be the next Vic champ.

Monday dawned crisp and bright, not a cloud in the sky. There was still some easterly chop in the water but the wave face was glassy and there were some 6 ft. waves across the bowl in the morning.

The open quarter finals were all tough with at least five well-known riders in each one. The biggest upset during these was Maurice Cole, last year's open champion, who failed to make the semi-finals.

Next to surf were the junior semi-finalists. And then the open semis were held. The waves were breaking off Rincon Point at about 5 ft. with the gnarly rocks under the cliff ready to eat any board which came their way.

John Pawson, Alan Atkins and Ian Portingale won their semis assuring them a place in the finals.

Qualifying for the repechage event were Paul and Phil Trigger, Knackers, Mick O'Brien, Strapper, and Rod Brooks. The first three would join the other three in the open final.

Phil Trigger wiped out badly in the shore break, after the repechage had been underway for only 15 minutes, and gashed his forehead. He later received 20 stitches for his trouble.

However, he had chalked up enough points to win the event but he was unable to surf in the final.

Second was Rod Brooks with Paul Trigger scraping into third place, due to an interference penalty on Mick O'Brien.

It was 5.45 p.m. by the time the open finalists hit the water and the sun had gone behind a cloud bank. The light was failing a little, the sets were up to 8 ft. with a couple of freaky larger waves and it was a typical looking Bells with no wind blowing.

John Pawson started off well with some high scorers early in the final. He certainly looked like being Victorian champion until a drop-in seemed likely to wreck his chances.

After that incident, he only managed one or two more waves. He finished third.

Rod Brooks was riding nice and tight but the waves he chose came down too fast across the bowl. His board went to the beach twice and most other waves he failed to make and he finished fifth.

It seemed that Alan Atkins was satisfied to ride the smaller waves and although he rode them extremely well, this caused him to lose valuable points, so he filled fourth place. A fantastic last ride by Paul Trigger looked the form of a 1974 Vic. champion.

Until then it was a toss up between him and Ian Portingale (last year's junior champ.) However Ian took off on the next wave which was a little bigger and a little hollower. He killed it. That last ride of his was the best ride I've ever seen him get.

His board just flew along, jet propelled.

Twice he disappeared under that treacherous Bell's Beach lip.

At one stage his feet were almost above his head when he turned up under the curl. There was a gasp from the crowd and he pulled off the manoeuvre — Ian Portingale was Victorian Open champion.

Results
Open Men's — Ian Portingale (1), Paul Trigger (2), John Pawson (3), Alan Atkins (4).

Junior Men's — Gary Nicol (1), Ian Cochrane (2), Mark Skelton (3).

Women's — Carol Watts (1), Gail Couper (2), Mary Flynn (3).

Senior Men's — Selwyn Burrows (1), Jim Howard (2), Doug Warbrick (3).

Kneeboard — Neil Luke (1), Rob McCartney (2), Ross Stanfield-Smith (3).

— Ted Bainbridge.

Photo Caption: Alan Atkins. Gary Simm photo.

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Basics are best

By Paul Trigger. Shaper for Trigger Bros. Surfboards, Vic.

Over summer new designs seem to come through fast and frequent — many gimmicky, some basic, but all attempting to impress and capture the surfboard-buying market.

As a resident shaper at one of Victoria's surfboard manufacturers I am in a position where all new designs, good and bad, have to be researched, mostly at my own expense.

Of course the one-board-a-year surfer may even be completely put off surfing by his unsuspecting purchase of the latest fad surf board which doesn't quite live up to its supposed capabilities and reputation.

One thing we must remember however is that it's not the board that makes the surfer; there's no such thing as overnight success or suddenly being able to rip waves on a new stick, provided that his last board wasn't a complete bomb-out.

Improvement comes more directly through dedication, continual practice and a progression from one good basic board to another.

Some important factors which should be considered by the board buyer are the size and floatation of the board in relation to his weight (there's no use surfin' if ya canna catchem) and also the speed and manoeuvrability needed with regard to the range, size of waves and the type of wave to be ridden.

Some surfers like Victorian champion Ian Portingale find it necessary to have several boards so they can specialise in the wide range of waves they ride.

Ian has —

A 6 ft. 4 ins. by 19½ ins. by 6½ ins. fullish nosed, squarish-tail board for 2 ft. to 6 ft. waves.

A 6 ft. 10 ins. by 18½ ins. by 5½ ins. pin nose, squarish tail for five to eight ft. waves; and a

7 ft. 6 ins. by 19½ ins. by 4½ ins. pin nose, squarish tail for seven to 12 ft. waves.

All Ian's boards have a roll under the nose, softish rails, rocker from nose to tail increasing with length of the board and tail vees to loosen up the larger boards. Ian's always stuck to basic boards and his consistency has taken him from Vic. Junior Champion '73 to Vic. Open Champion '74.

Photo Captions & Descriptions (Left to Right)
Photo 1 (Ian with board): ● A nice clean shape. Ted with a 7 ft. by 18¾ ins. semi speed board, designed for waves from five to 10 ft. It has plenty of looseness and flowing speed.

Photo 2 (Ian with swallowtail): ● 6 ft. 6 ins. of manoeuvrability. Ian with a 6 ft. 6 in. by 19 ins. swallowtail which has a combination of rolled nose, soft rail and 6 in. tail. These features provide quick easy turns and cutbacks in up to 8 ft. surf.

Photo 3 (Kneeboard): ● Kneeboard, 5 ft. 6 ins. by 20 ins., a full template curve, heavy roll in bottom and soft rails. This creates a nice, loose shape. The kneeboard with a light scoop on top paddles and catches waves easily.

Photo 4 (Phil with gun): ● Radical or functional. 8 ft. 3 ins. by 18 ins. pin nose, pin tail. This board has a fair bit of rocker in the bottom and is designed to hang in the critical spots and really move out on long walls. It's not worth riding unless the surf is at least 9 ft. Maybe Bell's at Easter.