Surfing’s quirkiest character Peter Drouyn back on Gold Coast

The man who changed world professional surfing is back.

PETER Drouyn, the man who created the man-on-man format for world professional surfing, will be Surf World’s next special guest.

Drouyn on Drouyn will be the sixth event at Currumbin’s Gold Coast Surf Museum, which has so far in 2019 featured women’s stars, big wave champions, writers, photographers and fundraisers.

There’s not much that Drouyn hasn’t done.

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Now 70, he has always been known for putting it all on the line but his biggest gamble and what would prove to be his defining legacy was the introduction of the man-on-man format at the 1977 Stubbies Surf Classic at Burleigh Heads.

Peter Drouyn introduced the man on man format at the 1977 Stubbies Classic, Burleigh Heads. Picture: Dick Hoole

The colourful and somewhat controversial character shocked many in the surfing world when undergoing gender change into Westerly Windina in 2009.

Although by 2017 at the Windansea Reunion, Drouyn returned to the surfing great.

Always the entertainer and innovator, Drouyn was one of Australia’s – if not the world’s – best surfers in the late 60s and early 70s.

The Gold Coaster was the most successful Queensland sportsman in 1965 and 1966 when he won back to back national junior titles.

In 1970 he took out the Australian Open men’s title, finally overcoming Sydney’s national champions Midget Farrelly and Nat Young.

In the same year he placed third in the world titles at Johanna, Victoria.

Like his main rivals from the 60s Drouyn had made the successful transition from longboards to shortboards.

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He even started making his own brand of shortboards and was heavily influenced by the Hawaiians’ narrow mini-gun pintails that had become the latest shortboard design.

I can still remember when Drouyn pulled off the first floater at barrelling Kirra Point on those radical, racy boards that were only 17-inches wide and then he blew everybody away with the first, carving 360-degree turn at Greenmount.

The 1980 Stubbies Classic in the peak of its popularity attracting thousands of spectators to Burleigh Point. Picture: Dick Hoole

There’s no doubt he inspired a raft of new emerging Queensland talent such as Michael Peterson, Peter Townend and “Rabbit” Bartholomew – known as the Coolangatta kids.

In 1973 Drouyn entered the famous Sydney Nida acting college paid by his mentor and filmmaker Bob Evans.

Drouyn had excelled in high school plays, taking on the main role of Tom Jones and earnt cameo roles in TV and movies. ... although he complained that Nida hadn’t taught him enough about method acting.

Bob Evans, who had directed and produced many popular surf movies, decided to send Drouyn around the world, filming his unique brand of surfing while impersonating heroes like Marlon Brando.

Drouyn and Friends was Evans’ last surf movie and while not a huge commercial success, the movie of Drouyn surfing at double overhead Outside Corner at Uluwatu, Bali, is just as relevant today.

Drouyn on Drouyn is on Saturday, July 27 at 5pm with tickets on the door at Surf World or via Eventbrite.