Surf Design History

Friar Tuck Surf Design commenced making Kneeboards in Brookvale, Sydney in the early 1970's. Brothers Peter Ware, a renowned glasser of quality surfboards, and John Ware, kneeboarder and shaper, were the founders of the business.

Kneeboarding was booming in Australia in the 70's and the need to employ more workers quickly occurred. David Parkes began an apprenticeship in board building at the Ware's Brookvale factory in 1978.

The Kneeboarding contest scene at this stage was highly competitive with Peter Crawford being the dominant figure. With the introduction of the Friar Tuck twin fin kneeboard, shaped by John Ware, and David Parkes' first of six Australian Kneeboarding Titles the Friar Tuck label became established as the number one board for performance and quality.

In 1981 Peter Ware moved the operation to Byron Bay and, after a brief shaping stint with Terry Fitzgereld at Hot Buttered, David Parkes also moved to Byron and took control of the business in 1983. Demand for Friar Tuck Kneeboards was high so additional shapers like Dale Ponsford and Albert Whiteman were employed to keep up with the high volume of orders.

Except for a brief period in 88/89, while David Parkes was traveling the world surfing and shaping, the Friar Tuck factory has been in it's current location in Byron Bay. While Parkes was overseas Albert Whiteman made the Friar Tuck boards in Ulladulla until his untimely death.

During the last 20 years or so a parade of Australia's best Kneeboard riders have surfed
under the Friar Tuck banner. The likes of Peter Cooper, Baden Smith, Albert Whiteman, Simon Farrer, Craig Ashdown, Steen Barnes, John O'Neil, Marcus Hague, Mark "Muno" Stewart, Dale Ponsford, Damien Coase, Greg Best, Peter Holman, John Gerlach, Albert Munoz and Ian Cameron to Murray Weir, kelvin Weir (World Jr Champ) Hamish Christoph (World Cadet Champ) and Craig McDonald from New Zealand.

David Parkes continues to shape boards in Byron Bay and utilizes the design thread that has been passed down from the early single fin days through to the multi-finned boards of today. Order a modern Parkes with the classic Friar Tuck logo today!

    


a timeless classic!