(Re)reading The Surfers’ Bible: The affects of Tracks

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size

Notes

 1. Most surfing magazines have short lives (Surfresearch 2007). The oldest magazines are the American-based Surfer and Surfing, launched in 1960 and 1964 respectively, and the Australian-based Surfing World which first appeared in 1962. The first edition of Tracks was published in October 1970.

 2. By framing their analysis of Tracks within patriarchal and masculine hegemonic structures, Stedman (1997) and Henderson (2002) arguably present only one aspect of surfing culture which they tend to conflate with lad culture as represented in Ralph, FMH, Loaded and Zoo (Whannel 1999; Wheaton 2003). According to Wheaton (2003, 200), lad magazines typically cover leisure pursuits that ‘can be mastered quickly and easily’, unlike surfing that is inordinately difficult (see also 216). Indeed, the role of peer pressure in pushing young surfers to persevere through the learning phase should not be discounted. Whereas lad magazines identify work as a foundation of identity, niche sporting magazines blur the distinction between work and leisure, particularly among professionals for whom ‘“working” life is one long hedonistic journey’ (Wheaton 2003, 208). Furthermore, although both genres ‘celebrate high-risk culture’, lad magazines advocate a ‘calculating hedonism’ that incorporates notions of maintaining the body through exercise and diet; Tracks devotes little space to these topics.

 3. Conceptualizing texts as cultural artefacts, Margaret Ezell and Katherine O'Brien O'Keeffe (1994, 3) observe that they contain ‘the imprint or inscription of the human on … the page’.

 4. A perception of one's whole body emanating from its somatic sensations. In his history of human relationships with the sea, Alain Corbin (1994) draws on the concept of coenaesthesis.

 5. Maureen MacKenzie (1994, 12) insists that paratext is ‘culturally learned and sub-culturally developed’. This may explain why readers are most at ease with those styles with which they are familiar and why editors generally advise readers well in advance of forthcoming changes in layout (e.g. Tracks January 2000, 2; February 2000, 2) and why the changes are advertised to established readers as improvements (e.g. Tracks October 2002, 10; June 2007, 14). On the other hand, niche magazines aimed at specific cultural groups need to constantly revise and revitalize the paratext to stay in touch with the preferred styles of their ever-changing readership (Wheaton and Beal 2003). Over its history, Tracks’ material form has passed from an oversized tabloid newspaper to an A4 full-colour magazine. Henderson (2002) lists the key dates for the changes in production including: four colours March 1974; full colour December 1976; stapling, hot press production and improved quality of photographic reproduction November 1990; full-colour glossy cover January 1995; colour glossy pages August 1997.

 6. This strategy also involves close cooperation with advertisers. A gatefold cover means that the first advertisement is spread across three pages. Built around a high-action photograph, sparse text—sometimes present only in the form of a logo—and fragmented typography, these advertisements merge ‘seamlessly’ into the magazine (Wheaton and Beal 2003, 163).

 7. Translation: Surfer A, ‘How is our local break?’ Surfer B, ‘Small, wind-effected, and crowded with non-locals’. Surfer A, ‘Not worth paddling out then’.

 8. This becomes clear on reading the definitions of terms such as ‘Captain Coulda’ (n. a bitter old surfer who consistently proclaims his surfing potential was never realised due to a number of factors, none of which are his fault) and ‘shark bait’ (n. any surfer fond of early morning paddle outs through local river mouths).

 9. ‘Grommies’—adolescent or preadolescent surfers.

10. The Urban Dictionary defines ‘hoot’ as a good time. See http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term = hoot

11. A cartoon hedonistic pig produced by Tony Edwards, Captain Goodvibes (see Figure 1) appeared in Tracks between June 1972 and August 1981. Goodvibes quickly became a cult hero. See http://members.ozemail.com.au/∼ xbum/world.htm

12. Even cultural insiders can struggle to interpret parody and irony (Wheaton 2003, 212). For an example in Tracks see Davey Cathels' letter to the editor (November 2003, 44) and the latter's response.

13. Nonetheless, MacKenzie (1994, 13) believes that reading in this manner is still a ‘fundamental cognitive skill’ that requires ‘synthesising a sequence of partial texts into a coherent whole’.

14. In 1997 the Association of Surfing Professionals reorganized the women's World Championship Tour and World Qualifying Tour to raise the level of charging among females (Booth, 2001b, 12). While women continue to debate the subject (e.g. Pretty and Dickinson 2006), the intensity of competition and level of performance has undoubtedly increased (e.g. Buffy 2003).