Kirra Catamaran Club

Kirra Catamaran Club on the beach, 1960s. Photographer Ross Johnson. TRM Collection MUS2016.53.20.

The Kirra Catamaran Club was the place to be if you wanted to get your ocean thrills in the 1960s and 1970s. A group of surfer mates who were seeking a new rush, Johnny Charlton, Dr Geoff Nelson, Herman Zonnilielt, Doug Roughton and Brian Anstee, founded the Kirra Catamaran Club in the late 1960s. The Club hosted the Australian Quick Cat Championship off Kirra Point. At one time in history catamarans lined Kirra Beach and many a young man slept under them after a night out in town.

Tweed Heads local, and round the world sailor, Andy Engwirda, recalls

Margaret and I always liked sailing and in our early days, we used to sail a little catamaran off Kirra. These were the days when Doug Roughton and those hooligans down there ran wild and we were part of the pack too. We used to go down to the Kirra Pub afterwards and have a drink. Those were the days.

Johnny Charlton was well known for his surfing skills on a plywood surf ski, but soon started using a catamaran to surf the waves at Kirra. He was thought to be the first person in Australia to ride waves in a catamaran. In the early 1950s he won the tender for the lease of the Kirra Beach Dressing Sheds and began a business renting rubber surf mats (Surf-o-Planes), beach umbrellas, deck chairs and hot showers. He was the first to rent out surfboards on the Gold Coast and was an active member of the Kirra Surf Life Saving Club. Johnny Charlton was famous for being the only person in Australia to do a pub crawl on a catamaran. He would ride his catamaran from Kirra to Snapper Rocks, stopping at any number of hotels along the way for a cold beverage before sailing on to the next one.

Kirra Catamaran Club pennants

These pennants belonged to David Carlin, a member of the Club in the 1960s and 1970s. He won the Quick Cat division of the Kirra Catamaran Club Ocean Marathon in 1970.

Kirra Catamaran Club pennants. Donated by Cheryle Carlin. TRM Collection TH2005.3, TH2005.4, TH2005.9.