Did you know that a statue will be erected at Palm Beach as part of plans to immortalise Midget Farrelly’s legacy?
No less than surfing icons Kelly Slater, Layne Beachley, and Tom Carroll, along with the Midget Farrelly Recognition Committee, are spearheading the campaign to erect the life-sized bronze statue of the first men’s world surfing champion.
Through their efforts, the Northern Beaches Council agreed and gave permission to proceed with the statue design which will be commissioned by the Public Art Working Group.
A design concept of the bronze statue, which the group hopes to be installed at the Palm Beach Plaza, depicts Midget’s iconic surfing stance during his prime with his arm up in the air.
The Midget Farrelly Recognition Committee is led by Gordon Lang, Bruce Raymond, Christine Hopton OAM and Nick Carroll. They are now campaigning for financial support to go towards the project. The group hopes to raise at least $150,000 that will help cover the cost of its creation, installation and launching.
Born in Sydney in 1944, Bernard “Midget” Farrelly came to prominence when he won the inaugural World Surfing Championships held at Manly Beach in 1964, he was coming fresh from his Australian National Titles victory. His first major win was at the 1962 Makaha International at age 17, considered as the first unofficial world championship.
Midget, with his refined surfing style, would become the dominant figure in surfing during that decade winning again the Australian national title in 1965, bagging the runner-up world titles in 1968 and 1970, winning the Peruvian International Small Waves title in 1966 and the Bobby Brown memorial in 1968.
He established Surfblanks in Sydney in 1972, complementing his Farrelly Surfboard shaping business.
Farrelly was inducted into the Sports Australia Hall of Fame in 1985, into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame the following year and into the Surfing Walk of Fame at California’s Huntington Beach in 2007.
Midget died in 2016 due to stomach cancer at the age of 71. He was posthumously awarded Member of the Order of Australia (AM) the following year.
