RETRO WITH BELINDA BAGGS

For those of you who haven’t already bought yourself a copy of SurfGirl issue 27 – shame on you, time to go buy yourself one! To fill you in, we’ve been looking at all things retro; boards, lifestyle and the girls who bring the vibe into their everyday life.

Belinda Baggs was one of girls to first influence me to try longboarding all those years ago. I asked her a few questions for the latest issue, here’s her full take on things..

What board did you learn to surf on?

I learnt to stand up on my Dad’s longboards, played around in the shorey on a boggie board called the ‘little ripper’ till I was about 11.  Then Mom and Dad got me a second hand board from a garage sale.  It was a ‘Nirvana’ early 80’s shape, swallow tail, 5’11.  I don’t remember the dimensions but it was really thick with a disco style spray in red, yellow and blue. I had that board for a few years until I learnt to ride waves.

What keeps you riding Vintage / Retro shapes?

My logs have all the elements of a vintage shape with modern function and are very refined mostly due to my weight.  I am in love with the sensation of glide.  The weightlessness when you are locked in on the nose and the inertia flowing through sections.  I like the wave to determine what I can do and where I can do it, verses forcing maneuvers and generating speed faster than the wave requires.  I feel like the single fin logs and the twin fin shortboards I ride really flow with the waves energy.  Surfing this way is quite peaceful and a way to connect with your surroundings and the ocean.

 

You have a beautifully feminine style of surfing. Was there a particular time when you felt your style clicked or is it something that’s grown over the years?

I actually grew up riding high performance tri fin longboards, it wasn’t until my first trip to California that I saw anyone riding a ‘log’.  I remember sitting on the shores of Malibu watching Dane Peterson, Josh Farberow, Jimmy Gamboa and Brittany Quinn ride these tiny waves so perfectly and gracefully.  They were having so much fun on waves that I thought were un-surfable due to my equipment.  I spent the whole summer there borrowed an old Scott Anderson singlefin log from Dane and devoted my summer to learning to surf and in turn feel what they were feeling.

 

How many boards are you riding and what do they range from?

I have 8 boards in my workable quiver and one set of swim fins!
Size 3 Da Fin swim fins
5’6” Neal Purchase Jr  twin fin
5’8” FCD Patagonia 2+1 shortboard style egg
7’0” MKD singlefin egg
8’4” FCD Patagonia 2+1 pin tail longboard gun
9’0” MKD diamond tail single fin longboard
9’2” Revelation Surfboards  diamond tail heavy single fin log- this is my noserider
9’5” Revelation Surfboards squash tail heavy single fin Log
12” open ocean paddle board.

Whats your favourite board at the moment and why?

I have 3 favourite boards.

#Takuya from Revelation surfboards in Japan shaped me a 9’2” all- round single fin log.  It’s got 50/50 rails and 8x8x8 glassing.  I use a 9.75 greenough 4A.  It’s a versatile noserider, flows really well, easy to manouvre and noserides like a dream!  It really holds in in the pocket  and flows through critical sections with ease.

#5’8” FCD/Patagonia shaped by Fletcher Choinard.  This board is eggy in shape, 2+1 fin set up, light and lively EPS closed cell epoxy.   Its good in a little bit of swell, head high-double overhead.  This board has really enabled me to make that transition between longboarding and shortboarding, and enabled me to learn and expand my abilities as a rounded surfer.

#5’6” Neal Purchase JR stringerless twin fin.  I went surfing with one of my best mates in Australia, Josh, my first week back in Oz over Christmas.  He was riding this board, I’d never really been into twinnies but it just looked so good under his feet that I couldn’t help myself but to ask for a wave.  2 waves in I couldn’t let it go, convinced him to sell it to me and it hasn’t left my side ever since!  We call it the ‘twin-slinger’. It has made the crappiest summer days turn into dream sessions.  Its super loose but still maintains its drive and speed.

 

Have you ever shaped a board? If so, what was it? If no, would you like to try? What would you shape?

I haven’t shaped a board from scratch, but I have glassed a few and unfortunately done heaps of ding repair! Ha….. The closest I’ve come to shaping anything was tearing the glass off an old egg and reshaping the bottom for a finless/ friction free design event with Derek Hynd.  The board worked really well.  I never got hooked on the finless feeling so I ended up giving the board to Derek. I would love to shape my own board from start to finish!  I would probably start with some type of mid length egg.

I remember seeing you skate on a surf movie, how long have you been skating? Have you ever had a nasty fall?

Skating came and went for me pretty quickly.  I started when I  first moved to noosa as there was a skate bowl around the corner from the house.  I mostly rode 80’s style wider decks. I did some art work for Skip from Santa Monica Airlines and he gave me a few of the longboard decks, so I naturally I started riding them more and more.  About 2 years later I was at the skate bowl, beginning to get a little to confident for my ability and stacked off the top of the bowl, fell right on my tail bone and was outa the water for a few weeks.  I’ve never gone near a bowl since!  I love surfing too much to risk it again!

Thomas Campbells work is one of a kind. The ‘lady slide’ section in ‘Sprout’ sums up feminine longboarding beautifully, you must have been stoked to be a part of that!

It is actually an ironic story as when Thomas Campbell was shooting sprout in Australia we never really had any plans to be working together.  He was there shooting many of my friends at my local break in Noosa, I was down there hanging out and as the surf was pumping almost the entire time he was there I was as always, in the water for hours on end.  I must of caught a few that caught his eye and he started filming. After a week or 2 we began working more seriously on putting something together .   
Thomas is more of an over-all artist than just a film maker.  He knows what he wants and how he wants it to look before you even get to the beach in the morning.  Knowing how talented he is I always get nervous wanting to perform and hoping that all the elements of the sea are in my favour.
After all the hard work, watching the entire film brought tears to my eyes. I think you can feel what surfing is really about and it showcases the ocean in its most beautiful, free and peaceful form.

It seems you have your priorities right in life, holding a good balance. Is that something thats always been important to you?

Thanks! I think balance is the most important thing in maintaining a happy life- balance in all different aspects of living;¬† Health, fun, friends, family, money, love, simplicity, self and even surfing.¬† I think that I‚Äôll always be striving for a greater balance.¬† But slowly over time we all learn from our mistakes and are guided into the direction we seek.¬† With a little faith to believe that we are exactly where we are meant to be that balance will be met.¬†¬†¬† In the end we are here to live and I’m going to give it my best and doing exactly that, making my dreams a reality.

Whats next for Belinda?

Good question!¬† Fingers crossed I‚Äôm going to spend the morning surfing glassy lefts on my fish out front at scarecrow with my most favorite person in the whole world (I’m in the Mentawais). In a week I‚Äôll be with my family, reading my niece and nephew bed time stories and walking them to school.¬† Then I’m headed to California working on some new styles at the Patagonia headquaters and surfing in Big Sur with Crystal Thornburg.¬† Long term – live a life in love, in the ocean, and maintaining a smile.

 

All photos courtesy of Adam Kobayashi

 

 

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