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One of
the greats
As one of Australia’s iconic Brookvale Six, Keyo
is steeped in Australian surf history and has
always acted as the common thread between the
surf, the craft and the community.
You don’t end up as one of the founders of the
modern Australian surf industry without being one
of its pioneering brands and a major player in the
shortboard revolution.
For surf brand Keyo, it all started in the Northern
Beaches of Sydney with the legendary Denny Keogh
and his openness to innovate. In 1957, a young Denny
started shaping surfboards from a garage, and in
1959 officially opened the Keyo Surfboard factory and
retail store in Brookvale, which would soon become
Australia’s surfboard manufacturing centre.
The first surfboard shaper that was brought in to
help out Denny was none other than Midget Farrelly,
winner of the 1963 Makaha international. In fact,
Denny even shaped the board that Midget rode to
victory in the first World Surfing Championships held
at Manly Beach in 1964.
Bob McTavish also joined Keyo in 1967 where he
shaped his Vee bottoms and wide-backed nine
footers, which in part kicked off the shortboard
revolution. Bob even designed the ‘Keyo Plastic
Machine’ vee bottom models that ended up selling at
the astonishing rate of 70 per week.
During the early days, other high-profile shapers and
surfing royalty that worked with Keyo consisted of
Kevin Platt, Neil Purchase, Geoff McCoy, Col Smith,
Phil Cooper and Mickey Mac. In 1968 Nat
Young also came on board and produced
another popular model, the Tracker.
Later that year, sadly the Keyo factory
burnt to the ground but was quickly
re-opened in the premises right behind
the gutted factory.
In 1972, things were fast-changing, and
Denny acquired the Hobie Cat franchise
to begin building catamarans. This meant
that, by 1974, the production of Keyo
surfboards stopped, giving way to the high
demand of the popular Hobie Cat.
Fast-forward to the mid 90's and a young
Johnny Gill married Denny's daughter,
Vanessa, and continued the legacy of
producing Keyo boards. The iconic name
in surfboard manufacturing has thrived
through many long and competitive
years in the surf industry by consistently
embracing production technology, designing
with ingenuity and perfecting quality through
craftsmanship. To this day, the brand is still family
run and owned by Johnny and Vanessa.
Now based in Kincumber on the Central Coast of
New South Wales, Keyo creates all kinds of stylish
surfing craft and cloth on an international scale,
complete with beachy tints and down-to-earth styles.
As one of the greats, you can really tell when you
pick up a Keyo board that it has been passed down
through many talented hands and perfected over the
course of Australia’s rich surfing history.
keyointernational.com
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