Every surf town has it’s own surf stars and legends. Those surfers whose influence and charisma set the tone for the area and remain part of the fabric of those areas for years to come. Sometimes those same local legends have talent enough and travel enough to earn respect in the other surfing arenas of the world. Pensacola Beach local Gary BZR Turner is one of those whose influence as been part of Pensacola surfing since the sixties and whose surfing reputation has been known through out the United States and in Hawaii.

Growing up during the sixties and seventies when style and earning it in the real waves of Hawaii meant everything..BZR was that local style master who also shined in the big surf of the islands. A natural born surfer from a surfing family, BZR has surfed well through all of the surfing transitions from the Long Boards of the sixties to the first short boards and through out the performance era. He has been that surfer who can surf on any type of board in any type of condition and still make it look easy.

When asked who the biggest influences to his surfing have been during his 44 years in the water he is quick to mention both Wayne Lynch and David Nuuhiwa, but says a host of others have been influential on how he approached wave riding and the equipment he used. He says some of his fondest memories of surfing are the years he spent in Hawaii during the Busting down the door era proving he could hang with some of the best in the world in real waves.

Whether it was being introduced to shaper Harold Iggy by new friend Bobby Owens or Mike Purpus showing him around the North Shore and making sure he got a pair of Lighting Bolt surfboards shaped by Parrish, the experience left a lasting impression. The seasons he spent riding big Hawaiian surf with his friend Mark Foo and others are the type of memories which stay clear and close to the heart.

Says BZR about the sixties and seventies surf scene, the major difference between then and now is…you had to earn it the hard way then, there was a pecking order…you didn’t just walk up to the beach and go surfing some place like Hawaii or southern California being from Florida without knowing someone and being able to cut it in the water.

Many of the youth paddling around line ups today don’t know what it means to have respect because they never had to deal with a crew that would enforce it. ” If it hadn’t been for my friends Hank Warner and Skip Frye, I would have had a hard time fitting in on my trips to southern California. Surfers were way more territorial back then and Florida surfers were just not given that much respect ” he says.

Another huge difference is equipment says BZR. Some of the really good surfing being done on equipment from that era is mind blowing because most everything since the short board revolution was in an experimental stage. Surfers were trying many different types of boards attempting to get an edge.

There was no pro tour then, but the winner of the U.S. championships always got to go to Hawaii to surf in the contest and so that was the focal point of competition surfing in the United States. Contrast that with today, where surfing equipment has been dialed in for a very long time. A young surfer can buy a board today and be reasonably sure he will be surfing well within a much shorter time than it took in the seventies because the boards today just work.

Back then, you never knew what you might see show up at a contest or at your local beach.  New designs might be a dog, or they might make a major impact.  Kind of like the first twin fins…they were really fun front side, but really funky backside until Mark Richards tuned them in. Once they tuned them in they then had a major impact on performance surfing.

His view of the retro movement is positive.  Says Turner, ” it’s good for the kids to surf some of the stuff we did back then and see where today’s surfboard came from and the extra talent and dedication it took to surf that old equipment.

In the seventies, board builders were not all the same and there were no machines. Guys like Skip Frye would make beautiful thin surfboards that would work way better than the average stuff being sold during that time and not break. ” one of the best boards I ever owned during the transition era was a purple egg shaped by Skip… That thing surfed unreal.

If you look at the fact that BZR got 5th place in the 1974 U.S. championships and 4th place in the 1975 U.S. championships losing the eventual winner Ricky Rasmussen, your looking at someone who surfed against and with some of the best surfers in the world during his prime and is still remembered by them to this day.

BZR recounts a time when he was surfing small Pensacola Pier by himself and a van pulls up with a couple of outlines and faces that seemed familiar. When one of them paddled out and began to catch a few waves with him he realized it was Mike Tabeling. After a few more waves Tabeling ask him to come to the beach to meet a friend of his… when he arrived at the van he was shocked to see of all people, Nat Young, who was there to bring his new film, ” The Fall Line ” to Pensacola.

“That’s the kind of thing that used to happen at Pensacola Beach, ”  remembers BZR. The folks who you read about in magazines since you began surfing,  would sometimes find their way to your home beach. It made the surfing world seem smaller and special.

One of the funniest parts of the Nat Young and Mike Tabeling visit was BZR’s mom recognizing the two surfers from posters on his wall before he introduced them. When asked if he remembered how the two surfed, the familiar reply was, ” Tabeling was the real animal ” that guy could surf with the best of them.

Years have passed since those days. There have been other well known surfers from Pensacola from every generation, some of which have even made marks on the A.S.P. tour…but one of the things that still remains consistent is BZR’s surfing. He is still fit, still part of Pensacola’s fabric and after last 44 years surfing…still the style master.