Surfing folklore has hardly any Phils for some reason… but anyhows, in Edwards we have one for all. Photo: Driver/A-Frame

Many surfing ‘firsts’ are open to debate, particularly when they occurred in an era when relatively few people cared about, much less documented them. Thus anecdotal evidence manifests somewhere between myth, rumour and ‘oral history’. Down the years, Phil Edwards himself has been the first to deny or downplay his prime status as the first to turn a surfboard: “I saw Miki Dora doing it at San o, he was inspired by Kivlin and Quigg, who were raving about Rabbit Kekai, so maybe the credit should go to Rabbit. But I did like turning”. Edwards graced a 1966 Sports Illustrated cover and made sizable strides into the mainstream, becoming the first ever ‘pro’ surfer in 1963 after signing a board deal with Hobie, although scarcely in the mega bucks realms of today’s pros, “A lot of people made money from surfing back then, but I wasn’t one of them.” Edwards did admit to being the first to surf Pipeline in 1961, although just to see if it was indeed possible to ride the perfect looking wave, rather than for any glory hunting purposes. Furthermore, in an era when surfing was beginning to flourish as a fashionable, poseur lifestyle choice, he would often respond when asked about the ‘beach scene’ “The beach is something I walk across to get to the surf.” An understated pioneer then.