NON STOP II

Maker Norm Casey

Builder Norm Casey

Designer Norm Casey

Date1957

Object number00015670

NameSurf ski

MediumMarine plywood, Queensland maple, leather, plastic, stainless steel

DimensionsOverall: 350 x 5245 mm
Vessel Dimensions: 5.24 m × 0.6 m (17.19 ft × 1.97 ft)

ClassificationsToys, games and souvenirs

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Ron Styles

DescriptionA surf ski known as NON STOP II built by Norm Casey from marine plywood with sides made from Queensland maple. An inscription applied on the forward deck deck in red with white border reads `NON STOP II Ron Styles' and stamped in black near the stern is `Casey FW4564 Sydney'. HistoryNON STOP II is 5.2 m (17 ft) long and 600 mm (2 ft) wide. It retains the single chine section shape that had been always been used, but the hull bottom is moderately rounded, the deck where the paddler is seated is slightly convex, and the foredeck has a distinct camber. The profile has a generous amount of rocker forward, and continues with an elegant curved sheer to the stern. The skeg has been placed under the boat well forward of the stern. The ski was built by Norm Casey who had worked as a Qantas steward, which gave him generous holidays so that he was able to spend about three months a year designing and building surf skis and paddle boards at his home in Randwick. He built boards on a commission basis and advertised through word of mouth and by stamping his name and telephone number in large letters on the stern of his boards. He was typical of board builders of his generation in that he built boards on a part time basis only. The surf ski was ordered and bought by Ron Styles in 1957. Ron already owned one ski which he had bought from Norm a year or two earlier. His first ski was called NON STOP and the second (this model he called NON STOP II. Ron bought his second ski because its design was more buoyant in the surf, having a raised deck at the bow to keep the nose above water when the ski was riding down a wave. Ron was about 19 years old when he bought NON STOP II and he was very active in surfing for about four years. He surfed at Avalon where he was a friend of the surf lifesavers and was given' the freedom of the beach'. Ron then lived in Sydney's western suburbs. He had gained his attachment to Avalon during his childhood as his family spent annual six-week holidays there, camping behind the sand dunes. In addition to his two surf skis, Ron later bought a paddleboard or surfboard. It was also made by Norm Casey and Ron bought it from a surf lifesaver at Avalon after it had crashed into the rocks and was broken. Ron used his boards periodically since he stopped surfing regularly. He rode his two surf skis at Avalon as recently as January 1991, being quite a novelty on the beach. SignificanceNON STOP II is significant as an example of a type of equipment which was popular amongst surfers and lifesavers
in the 1950s.Technologically, it shows surfcraft manufacture as a cottage industry and it shows an early example
of a fin on a surfcraft. Socially, it shows surfing as a focus of youth culture with the name of the board and its owner flamboyantly painted on the bow.