A
pioneer and innovator, his time here was tragically cut short in a single
moment of insanity, but his legacy and surfing influence would measure
a lifetime and beyond - such was the surfing life of Cronulla’s Bobby Brown.
For one local surfer, Bobby Brown’s quiet
but heavily influential surfing career helped
inspire his own surfing life, and now, nearly
half a century on, Gold Coast surfing
identity and former longboarding world
champion Andrew McKinnon is embarking
on a journey of rediscovery and imagining
as he begins production of a documentary
film and book celebrating Bobby’s surfing
legacy and life.
Bobby Brown was an incredible surfer,
who surged from the early Cronulla
underground scene, earning a coveted
spot in the final at the first ever world surfing
Producer and local surf icon
Andrew McKinnon with his
Bobby Brown Memorial Open
trophy - won by the Gold Coaster
in 1970 | Photo: Courier Mail
LiQUiFY | 86
titles, held at Manly Beach in 1964. Bobby
was just 17 years old at the time, but held
his own well in front of 50,000 spectators
who crammed onto the Manly shoreline
- surfing against the li kes of Joey Cabell,
Midget Farrelly (who would go on to win it),
Mike Doyle and Mick Dooley. This was just
the beginning for the humble young man
from the Shire, and over the next few years
his surfing performances would light up
surfing cinema across the country with his
incredible surfing showcased in Bob Evans’
1963 film Young Wave Hunters and Paul
Witzigs’ 1967 groundbreaking movie, Hot
Generation.
The aftermath of the Bobby
Brown tragedy, as reported
in The Canberra Times,
Tuesday 22 August 1967