NEWS ARTICLES

Man over the moon about bodysurfing

by Steven Lambie in The Sunday Mail, December 1, 1991

BURN the boogie board and put the Malibu in the back shed because the summer is the season of the "moon" board and a return to the body surfing days of 40 years ago. Or that's what Australia's first professional body surfing coach, Mr Vince Hayes, 41, would like you to believe.

One of Queensland's first full-time, paid lifeguards and a former marathon runner, Mr Hayes said people had forgotten the simple joy, and art, of body surfing and the glorious days of surfing 1950'2 style.

He is body-surf coach at the Hyatt Regency Coolum where he coaches tourists from all over the world.

Mr Hayes has applied to run schools on the Sunshine and Gold Coasts to teach surfers, tourists and children as young as five the finer points of having fun in the surf the real Australian way.

"I first thought of the idea six years ago when I went down to the snow," he said. "At the snow people hire skis and boots and then get coaching before using a natural resource for fun. On the Queensland coast we have a natural wonder, the surf, but people don't know how to utilize it properly.
You don't have to buy expensive equipment, in fact you don't even have to be able to swim to do it."

"All a person needs to do is be prepared to put their face in the water."

Mr Hayes holds all his classes in patrolled areas and said body surfing in shallow water could often help develop water confidence in non-swimmers, making it easier for them to learn to swim properly.

"First off I regard everyone as not knowing anything about the surf at all," he said. "I treat everyone the same, no matter what they say.
"The first thing I have to do is teach them where it is safest, how to spot a rip and to make sure they are wearing sunscreen."

"The ocean is great but you have to have a great deal of respect for it so I don't let anyone become over confident."





And those "moon" boards?

Mr Hayes said they were around on Sydney's Bondi Beach 40 years ago. That was before fancy plastic and fiberglass surfboards were even thought of and surfers finished a hard day eating soggy fish and chips in the back seat of a FJ Holden at the drive-in.
Hardly high-tech, moon boards are home-made by cutting a rectangular piece of plywood about 20 centimetres by 27 and smoothing down any sharp edges. The board is held diagonally in both hands with arms straight up over the head, inner arms touching your ears.

"That way you have to put your face in the water," he said.
"If you lift your head up your feet go down and you can't catch a wave."
"When you catch the wave you push down on the moon board and lift your head to see where you are going."

Those who can't live without some sort of high-tech gear can add a set of $20 supermarket flippers, or "fins".
A member of Coolum Surf Life Saving Club for 10 years and qualified in first aid, Mr Hayes is an accredited sports coach.
"I ran in 11 marathons in Brisbane in the early '80s and ran in two in two weeks. It was woo much and I don't ever want to do it again but I could bodysurf forever."

"I love winning converts to body surfing. It is a little bit physical but it all depends on what you want to put into it."