© 2012 California Surf Museum SURFING LEGENDS - Nat Young Nat Young One of the World's Greatest Surfers  Nat Young has lived the surfing life for almost half a century. He is recognized as one of the great surfers in the history of the sport. His motto is and always has been to " make it a beautiful life " he believes you have only one chance and you had better make it a good one. Nat was an integral part in the redesigning of the longboard in the late 60s and a co-founder of the longboard renaissance in the early 80s. The four times World Champion still lives his life totally devoted to riding waves, surfing either a long or short board at every opportunity he gets. Nat has always loved good projects, so far he has written 5 books, 2 of which are available on this site. The other 2, Surfing Australia’s East Coast and Surfing and Sailboard Guide to Australia are collectors items. He has made 2 movies, Fall- Line(1977) and The History of Australian Surfing (1984). These days he lives an idyllic but still eventful life based in his beloved Angourie, where he combines his love for surf with his other great passion, his family. Nat's name has become synonymous with surfing. He won the Australian Open Championships in 1963 while still a junior and captured the 1971 Smirnoff title-the unofficial world championship-in 15 foot waves at Makaha, HI. A legend among legends in his own country and physically imposing at 6'3" and 185 lbs., Nat saw speed as surfing's future and became one of the motivators behind the shortboard revolution during the late 60's and early 70's. nat_young01In the 80's, Young was instrumental in longboarding's re- revolution, racking up four longboard titles and helping introduce it to the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) tour. In 1994, he became the only contest promoter to stage a world championship event at Malibu (Oxbow Longboard Championship). He has authored four books including The History of Surfing and Surfing Fundamentals and has written a directed two movies: Fall Line (1979) and History of Australian Surfing (1985). Nat took a run for State Parliament on a largely pro-environmental ticket and although he didn't win, sped the process of cleaning up the sewage problem at Manly Beach. Now Nat, together with his wife and kids, runs Nat's at the Beach, a rustic hideaway on the North coast of New South Wales. Excerpted from www.natyoung.com and www.boardom.com.