This opening section is excerpted from "Progressing Towards a New Direction: an Interview with Brad McCaul," which ran uncredited in the September 1969 issue of Surfing. McCaul was 16 years old.

How do you feel about recent board designs?

I think things are leveling off in board size from the radical scene of last summer—which was to see who could ride the shortest stick. Most top surfers are riding boards between seven and eight feet long, and as boardmakers learn more about lightness, volume, and flotation in relation to a surfer’s weight and ability, there is more of a scale to go by. As far as a particular board goes, the roundtail is the most popular. It works well on all waves and all boards, whether gun or pig. The roundtail gives a very free sensation.

What do you think the future holds for surfing?

I believe that now is the time for the surfers and board manufacturers to get more involved in the administrative part of surfing. The communication channel between surfers and officials should be used more, and ways to improve this communication should be of utmost concern.

What can the individual surfer do to help surfing prepare for the future?

Join the surfing club of your choice and take an active role in running the affairs of that club. Interclub competition can generate club pride and at the same time teach valuable lessons to the people running the contests.

How have you done in competition this year?

The WSA has only had one 4A contest so far and I placed fairly high. At a recent Windansea club contest at Huntington I took first. It was really a tough contest when you consider it had so many good surfers competing. I barely beat out Mike Purpus and Randy Lewis.

Who do you think will give you the most competition this year?

Rolf Arness would be considered the real threat. But with guys like David, Corky, Bigler, Martinson, Purpus, and Hakman—anyone of those guys can win. 

[Note: in 1970, McCaul won the United States Surfing Championships.]

This section is excerpted from "Brad McCaul: Surfstoked!", which ran in the March 1971 issue of SURFER.

Since late 1965—I started at Doheny on weekends. My mom took me down; you know the trip.

Santa Ana River Jetties for sure. It’s right across the street from where I live.

Is there a certain style of riding the River Jetties?

It’s speed; just full-on speed. The faster the better.

Does surfing there all the time set you up for surfing other spots?

For sure. You surf a place like River Jetties five days a week, then when the swell comes up and Swami's is 10 feet, you go surf there and it’s like Doheny, you know what I mean? That whole reef trip—a reefy wave gives you so much more time to create, whereas at River Jetties, you’ve really got to hurry to the bottom and work it. Surfing the River Jetties allows you to open up to a whole new trip when you surf elsewhere. You’re a lot more radical. It’s outtasight!

I’m content to surf 10-foot waves anywhere. California or Hawaii. If a wave’s 10 feet, it’s 10 feet; there’s no getting around a 10-foot wave.

I understand you’re working on getting upside down.

The thought is really intriguing for sure! I like riding the face of the wave. I like getting speed by coming off the bottom really hard and then ricocheting up under the lip. Like, say you take off on an eight-foot wave, there are a lot of ways you can ride it. You can stay in the pocket like Jeff Hakman does (hand motions show Hakman-style boogie to the bottom), which is just perfect! Or you can run for the money out to the shoulder and turn back into it. I mean, there a are a lot of ways to go! So you’re taking off on an eight-foot wave at Laniakea and you make a top turn like this (more hand motions), or maybe get a little more maximum speed by delaying a taste before dropping down. You know, like Barry [Kanaiaupuni] does. He stalls, then drops, giving him maximum thrust off the bottom, and if you’re in the right spot, you can come up ricochet right into here (hand motion goes high into the pocket), and lay right up into it.

And the reason you’re trying for that is . . . .

Speed! Ricocheting a surfboard means you're going just about as fast as you can go.

What qualities should your board have for this kind of surfing?

Light and loose. Loose as a goose. I don’t like hard edges; I like to stay high in the pocket—that’s where it’s all happening.

But doesn’t a hard edge help you to stay high?

The hard edge, for me, slips out. The soft edge keeps me in there. I like that round rail coming off the top, too.

Rolf [Aurness] said that the wave is just the basic framework and that you can work in and out of it, actually leaving it at times. How do you feel about this?

For sure! You come off the bottom and fly into the top. And when you come off the top, you’re flying to the bottom in a kind of unweighted arc.

How often do you get into that really high full-juice feeling?

A lot of days. I’m always stoked. I get that feeling all the time, without really trying.

How many times have you been to the Islands?

Really good. I’ve never had the chance to stay there for a long time, but this year I felt at Sunset Beach the same way I feel at River Jetties.

Do Island wipeouts have a lot more consequences for you?

Nah! I don’t think about that. I just trip on the waves.

What surfers have impressed you this year?

Lots of them. But Jeff Hakman really a lot.

Well, I'm in college, majoring in religion. After that, I’d like to get away and do a lot of deep thinking—find myself an acre up in the mountains somewhere, raise a few vegetables, keep a goat . . . .

Oh yeah. You always come back to the beach, the ocean.

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