Surfer Henry Jones on the 43-year evolution of the iconic Merimbula Classic

As a key founder of one of Australia's most iconic and adaptable water sports events, the Merimbula Classic, Mr Jones said his affinity for the ocean came from two things.

The first was his childhood babysitter and the second was the 1956 Summer Olympics.

"I grew up almost on the beach. I lived at Manly," Mr Jones told Bega District News.

"When I was three, mum had another baby and palmed me off to Mrs Parkes, the next-door neighbour, who took me to the beach every day to look after me.

"By the time I was 15, I could swim, run, do all the beach things that were busy in those days, but I couldn't ride the boards because they were massive.

"Then, in 1956, the Olympic Games were held in Melbourne, and four American surfers came out with their brand new Malibu surfboards.

"They had a fin on the back, made of light materials, and could be carried!"

Suddenly, teenagers, like young Henry, could take to the surf with confidence thanks to the manoeuvrable Malibu, the forerunner of today's surfboards.

Before this, lifesavers and surfers used "toothpick" boards that were finless and featured a timber frame covered with varnished marine plywood sheets and were hollow for buoyancy.

The invention of the modern surfboard didn't just open up the waves; it unlocked the entire coastline.

It sent a generation of surfers with roof racks and fishing guides to "discover new points and places".

"You'd throw the board on your roof racks and then go looking for surf. It ended up going from exploring the coast to Indonesia and Hawaii," Mr Jones said.

"We bought fishing guide magazines that told us where the beaches were and how to get to them."

By 1972, Mr Jones and his wife, Trish, decided to relocate to the Bega Valley where the pair would work as primary and high school teachers for the next three to four decades.

But the seawater in Mr Jones' veins always remained and his love for surfing became a constant pastime.

"Surfing, you get wet. It's an age-old thing of almost being a baptism. You're getting in that water and when you come out, you always feel better than when you went into it," Mr Jones said.

"There's something stimulating about your senses and your skin, you just feel really good after a surf, but there's also the competitive side of trying to get better at it."

After a handful of tuna fishermen discovered the world of windsurfing during a trip to Hawaii, a few years later, they decided to bring this style of surfing back to the waters of Merimbula.

"They started in the lake and then they discovered the bar where the entrance to the lake is and the wind is in a really great direction for reaching out to sea then roaring back in," Mr Jones said.

"Instead of just packing up and going home when the wind came up and ruined the surf, we suddenly discovered we could surf all day."

In 1981, this bunch of surfers became the backbone of the Merimbula Classic competition and the founding members of the Merimbula Sailboard Club.

Mr Jones became the first president and John Smythe became the first contest director.

According to Mr Jones, the event was strategically positioned on the Far South Coast.

He reasoned that since it lay between competitions in Sydney and Torquay (the Sony Surflite and Rip Curl), young surfers would need to pass through the area regardless.

"The contest just kept getting bigger," Mr Jones said.

"Along came Mambo who decided to sponsor us. Even though it was the Merimbula Classic, everyone called it the Mambo until the [surf brand] sold."

Since then, Raging Bull Surf had become the major sponsor of the event.

Although the Merimbula Classic originally started as a windsurfing competition, Mr Jones said the event kept evolving as new technology and water sports developed or became popular.

"Things blossom, the perfume spreads around the place, everyone is stoked and then after a while they are ready for something new, so they take off in another direction," the 82-year-old said.

Previous competitors have said the event was one of the best competitions of its kind, and was a celebration of wind and waves, with wave sailing, kitesurfing, wing and foil surfing, and stand-up paddle board (SUP) surfing disciplines.

In 2025, the Merimbula Classic celebrated its 43rd event across November 27-30.