Robert "Nat" Young (November 14, 1947-) |
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Nat Young has more words written about him than any living surfer -- partly because he is an author who doesn't exactly shy away from making himself a subject.
His most recent book, an autobiography, is titled "Nat's Nat and That's That." But however you view his legendary self-regard, Young's fame is thoroughly deserved. Of all the surfers, he best defines the great shifts that took place in the sport and the art of surfing between the Malibu days of the early '60s and the high-performance explosion of the ensuing decades. Robert Young was born in Sydney, Australia, and grew up in the small coastal suburb of Collaroy, right between two classic Australian breaks -- North Narrabeen and Dee Why. His backyard was the beach. By the age of 14, "The Gnat" gained his nickname (for the smallest gremmie on the beach) and outstripped it, standing over 6 feet tall with long powerful arms and legs -- perfect for a surfer destined to paddle like a shark and carve turns few imagined could be done. At 16, he won the 1963 Australian open men's title, igniting a friendly rivalry with fellow champion Midget Farrelly -- a rivalry that grew into a lifelong feud. Young might have remained a purely local surfing phenomenon were it not for the creation of a true world championship in 1964, won by Midget at Manly Beach, Australia. The event gave Young a target. He won the Junior division, and by the time the next world contest came around in 1966, he had focused all his primeval surfing instincts on it. With Bob McTavish and George Greenough , he designed and made a board he christened "Sam." At 9' 4" and 2 5/8" thick, it was shorter and considerably thinner than most boards of the day. In addition, it had a finely honed fin based on Greenough's "spoon" kneeboard theories. Young took Sam to California, warmed up at various spots on the Ranch for three weeks and came to the world contest at Ocean Beach in San Diego with an unstoppable act. "He swung his board like an ax," wrote ace reporter Drew Kampion. The world had a new champ, and boy, did it know it. Australian writer John Witzig quickly filed a splendidly inflammatory series of articles in both U.S. and Aussie surf magazines. These articles blasted California surfers for their lazy, laid-back lines and claimed Young's brilliantly aggressive riding as the true Aussie style. The statement became an archetype for successive generations of Australian surfers, from Michael Peterson and Terry Fitzgerald, through the likes of Simon Anderson, Mark Richards, Tom Carroll, Gary Elkerton and even 1999 ASP World Champ Mark Occhilupo. Meanwhile, Young pushed the limits, earning "Animal" as a new nickname, riding stubby 5'8" double-enders, diving into hippieworld on a coastal country farm and beating the rap on a couple of marijuana-related charges. Through this period he kept winning contests, including the 1970 Smirnoff Pro on Hawaii's North Shore, and reached surreal surfing peaks at the magical pointbreaks of Broken Head and Lennox Head -- on the far north coast of New South Wales, Australia. During that time, he fathered two children, Nyaomi and Beau, with his first wife, Marilyn. Always larger than life, Young stayed in the forefront at the start of the pro era, running third in the inaugural Coca-Cola Surfabout in Sydney in 1974 and donating his prize purse to a left-leaning political party. By the late '70s, he divorced Marilyn and was running a successful surf shop and surfboard design business not far from his boyhood Collaroy home. In the early '80s, he married Ti Deaton and worked on the first volume of what would become a virtual industry in surf flashback media: The History of Surfing. And part of it was made into a movie on Australian surf history. He even ran for government office on an environmentalism platform (and narrowly missed election). At all times, Young has maintained an international lifestyle, constantly traveling on surf and ski missions. He has also maintained an extremely high level of surfing skill well into his 50s. Young now lives in Angourie, northern New South Wales, with Ti, daughter Nava and youngest child Bryce. The parallels between Young and current master Kelly Slater are unavoidable. Both came upon a surfing scene in some need of revolution; both had extraordinary athletic abilities that might've seen them succeed in other arenas; both dreamed of new ways to ride waves and forced dramatic change on surfboard design and on their competitors. Oh, and both were -- are -- ruthless competitors. Young won four world longboard titles through the late '80s and early '90s and still competes in the annual World Masters championships when his schedule permits. -- Nick Carroll, October 2000
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