Spirit of Surfing

Spirit of Surfing is a low-key initiative started in 1995 by longtime surfer, Peter Cuming, surf elders Rob Connelly and Nat Young, as well as surf artist Roscoe Kermode. Spirit of Surfing was established to promote the traditions of free surfing; respect for the ocean, the land, and indigenous and local cultures wherever surfers are and travel; fostering community spirit; and an harmonious relationship with the natural environment. These key messages are shared and encouraged in the water amongst surfers and through other opportunities such as festivals, forums, gatherings and local surfing communities. It was first presented to the Angourie Boardriders in late 1995, at Yamba, in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. They adopted the general Spirit of Surfing (SoS) principles in their approach to their activities including a stronger focus on active beach restoration work as part of their regular surfing sessions and competitions. Peter Cuming liaised with Nat Young, past world short and longboard surfing champion, who supported the aims, and raised the concept in his working relationship with the World Longboard Championship Tour to engage in adopting the principles.

The Surfers Code, or Tribal Law (Lore) as it was initially called, was developed as an SoS project by Rob Conneelly, based on the verbally shared "Gentlemen's Rules" of old; seeded by ideas and discussion of the concept between Conneelly and Cuming, liaison with Aboriginal musician-surfer, Merv Graham, surfer Wayne Murphy, and design support from Roscoe Kermode. This resulted in a “Tribal Law” poster which emerged under Roscoe's skilled hands, and was launched at the Margaret River Surfing Classic in 1996, which also included an “expression session” to promote creative ‘free’ surfing. It was again part of the Margaret River Masters Surf Classic in 1997, and the focus of a project with local community healthcare groups in Margaret River, sponsored by the W.A Health Promotion Foundation, in response to growing surf related injuries, and promoting the necessary safety aspects of surfing along the powerful South-Western Australian coastline. In October 1998, at Margaret River in Western Australia, the group erected a Tribal Law (Tribal Lore) plaque at Surfer's Point, explaining surfers' principles of right-of-way, safety and respect in the water.