Wayfaring Australian surfer Peter Troy has often been cited as the person who introduced surfing to Brazil, in 1964. A SURFER profile on Troy, for example, tells the story as follows: "While in Rio, [Troy] met the son of a French ambassador who had been given a surfboard but couldn't ride it. As he strolled down the beach at Copacabana, Troy saw the familiar shape. Using sign language, Troy borrowed the surfboard and became the first person to surf in Brazil."

Troy visited Brazil in the winter of 1964, and rode waves there, and by doing so helped move the sport forward in that country. But surfing was already popular in Rio, as Troy himself noted in a letter to his parents, dated July 27th, 1964, and mailed from an apartment in Copacabana. This version has been slightly edited.

With the initial sight-seeing over, and this next day a Sunday, I thought a day laying on the beach at Copacabana, eyeing the local talent and taking a dip now and then between sunbaking, would be a good way to spend the day. Until now I did not realize that there was surf, or that surfboard-riding was known here, and as I squinted across the road I was somewhat startled to see two young Brazilians there on the beach with surfboards. These boards were more or less an extended version of our own "ironing boards" that the "peasants" use, with the turned-up nose, except that they were 9' and had a skeg, and also some thickness and definition of shape. So, of course, I approached these guys with the idea of "conning" the use of one of these boards. After a difficult conversation they managed to explain that here at this part of the beach, they could not surf. The waves were about 6' but dumping badly and closing out in long sections. We then walked the length of this beach, down main streets, through a shopping center and a military barracks (Sydney-style—bare feet, shorts, no shirt, etc.) and then around a corner and behold, a rocky point nestled at a sheltered end of a long beach, great activity—cars, boys and girls, surfboards by the dozen, beach guards, ambulance, sea patrol, and surf. Discovery!

Within minutes I had changed, waxed up one of these boards with a candle I had bought on the street, and after clambering over the rocks and past clusters of people lounging on the rocks, launched myself [into the water].

Now came the problems. These boards didn’t float and sure behaved in a different manner, and every one of the Brazilians was wearing flippers whilst I wasn’t and the answer soon became evident. They caught the wave here as it exploded over a huge boulder at the end of the point by lying on the [back end of the] boards. They then paddled with one hand while maintaining direction and control of the board with the other, and then propelled themselves [in the wave] by kicking with these large fins. Once having negotiated the difficult drop, here being greatly aided by the severe turn-up on the nose of the surfboard, they clambered to their feet and, now standing, rode across the face of the wave until they were wiped out in the shorebreak down the beach.

Now back to myself—without fins I had little success, but managed to take off on one wave and successfully ride this strange board to the beach, and so I came in due partly to failure at mastering this sport and due partly to extremely tired muscles and the cold.

Within minutes many of the local surfers had gathered around and had begun to ask questions about me, for I was the first stranger they had met who had ever surfed their style of board as successfully in a first attempt.

So now, this day, by chance, I had encountered a race of humans who thought, acted, lived and believed as I [do]. These Brazilians have developed in an isolated area, and yet with completely similar characteristics [as other surfers].

At present these fellows here are in the process of discovering the "malibu" board, with all the characteristics of what we went through in Australia in 1957–'58 after being shown the possibility of the board by the Americans who came to [Torquay] in '56 for the Olympic Surf Carnival.

So, after surfing, I was transported to one of the surfer's houses to give my opinion on the surfboard he was presently constructing of foam with wood stringers and fiberglass, and so perhaps clear up a few of the many problems he was confronted with, esp. as this was a new material [foam], a new shape, a new concept of the art of surfing. His name was Irencyr Beltrão, and whilst in his house that first day I had a hot shower (great), ate a home-prepared meal (great), rested an hour on a soft-spring mattress (great) and so also had free medical advice; and probably from my great enthusiasm in devouring the food, the time I spent under the shower, etc, I was taken into their home with open arms.

PETER TROY GOES SURFING IN RIO (1964)

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