I remember Herman when I was a Grommy in the 80’s. I recall one special occasion when he and Allen Williams (from memory) were the only two out at MASSIVE Eagle Hawk neck - everyone else was too scared to paddle out.

I also recall that “day” at Clifton when he surfed his final wave - RIP - he really was a one of a kind : )

WOW! those were the days when you could have classic Goats going off - and only have two people out :big grin:

Herman really stood out in the 70’s. A great, powerful cutback that, from out the back, looked like a trench cut into the shoulder of the wave - with a huge fan of spray. He would set up the wave for one or two huge gouges - full power - he had a few muscles from stripping zinc.  I can still picture it 25 years on.

His spinner sideslip 360s were pretty advanced for back then.  One sunny day at Roaring I was out under the Cliffs with him and he just pulled them off over and over - power + control.

In the 70’s the average level of surfing was much lower and so Herman really stood out.  When I check out video footage of the Pro’s back then - eg. even the much hyped 77 stubbies contest, it shows just how good Herman was.  Herman at quality Roaring was just as good as the footage I’ve got of Shaun Thomson, PT, Michael Ho and even MP at the Stubbies.

The still shots in the magazines in the 70’s made you think the Pros were better than they really were.  But they just caught peak moments. Sitting down here in Tassie I always felt that “they” must be so much better than us.  But now looking old surf vids, I realise that a few of the best surfers in Tassie were world class.  Herman was one of those.

20 years ehh? doesn’t seem that long ago.Still remeber the day…....
To a young grommet schlepping around the South Arm area in the 80’s trying to find a wave the old Herman used to present a pretty intimidating figure. Especially when he teamed up with Maurie Ransom, Mario and a few of the other older members of the Tassie surfing hierachy of the time. But the more I got to know the guy the more I realized my perseption of him was all wrong. He was a cruiser. No one loved a good bank at Cliffy more than Herman and I can recall him putting in some of the longest session whenever it turned on. He just surfed because he loved it. Like most people I think the era I started surfing in was the best one to be a part of and Herman was the godfather of that era.
I,m not real big on contests but I was disapointed to find out that the Herman Tysson memorial comp had bit the dust so it’s good to know that some of the surfers of Tasmania will be remebering one of the most influential characters of his time with a cold beer at the Foreshore. I’ll be sure to have one for him in the west Cheers

Here’s the 77 Stubbies footage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JubyTGgcImY

Great to watch, and in the magazines back then the peak moment photos looked hot. But the level of surfing, to my memory, is no better than 10 or so guys in Tassie back then.  I’m quite surprised at how stiff they surf and the lack of any vertical action or great cutbacks.

Herman’s standard power cutback in 1977 was a lot better than any in the Video. He did them virtually every wave on old clunky single fins….

For anyone who grew up on thrusters, surfing really well on the standard 70s single fins was really hard.  Herms was hot.

I can only just remember Herman , I was a Clubbie - and still am ! I bought his mal from the old “Sea World” store after his passing and had this board for a few years- the unusual thing about this board was that it had a “Winged Fin” on it! It was a real fad that came about with boards after the Aussies won the Americas Cup in 83 the fin was designed by Ben Lexen himself! unfortunatly the mal went to heaven a few years ago but I still have the fin!

Well I can only say that Herman was a legend even before he past on.  He left the Gong in the late 60s if Im not mistaken, but even up here in the Illawarra he was looked up to as a great surfer, even by the likes of Terry Richardson, the Byrne Bros, and anyone that copped a spray from one of his cutbacks.

I moved to Tas for a couple of years in the early 70’s and one of my memories of Herm however was at Christmas dinner in about 1972 over near Bellerieve somewhere when Mario cooked the turkey. I’d somehow stumbled into the Holy Graille of Gastronomy, where Herman was demolishing this bird and witnessed him smothering it with a bottle of tomato sauce. If Heinz heard about it they would’ve sponsored him.
I had the pleasure of their hospitality for a few months at South Arm and had some great times.

Herman was nature’s gentleman and a great surfer and I still remeber that day many years ago when I received a phone call from ‘Bear’, and I was really shattered to hear the bad news.

God Bless you Herm wherever you are.

Back then we only ever had Claytons crowds. But then again, we did have Herman. I remember spending 5 hours surfing the Yard with him. He was on fire and I didn’t manage one set wave. Some days it paid to just sit and watch him.
Herman now at rest on Planet Surf where it must be starting to get crowded. Don’t forget you owe me some set waves Herman!
Mick Lawrence

My true surfing life began in 1973. Back then the only way to get to the beach was to walk 2 miles to the Shoreline Corner and stick your thumb out, praying that one of the kind surf gods with a car would stop and give you a lift. Herman was on one hand, a frightening, intimidating character and on the other a smiling, kind and generous surf maniac. Sometimes he would stop to pick you up after a night shift at EZ, sometimes he would sail past, intent on not having to share his day of waves with the hordes of hitchhiking surf pests. His cars were always immaculate and you paid a dear price if sand or wax was deposited any where within 2 metres of his surf chariot.
His strength of presence was always felt,whether at beer fests or at 5-6 foot Wedge, where he ruled supreme.This man taught me to surf-there is no greater gift!

Herman was my mate,  he was at my wedding,  we partied hard,  and we drove fast for long hours in 1963-model cars on winding, dangerous roads long before seat belts were even considered necessary.  We had inadequate wetsuits and heavy boards, we survived on food such as pies and twisties, and thrived on it as part of a close group that were on the edge of respectability in the late 60s and early 70s … surfers. But…petrol was 20c a litre
The world Herman and I and our mates inhabited in the late 60s and 70s is so far removed from the present it would feel alien to most now.  We lived in our panel vans for weeks on end in the sandunes which are now the North Clifton dune reserve, with full cooking and washing facilities and firewood on hand.  You had to, it took an hour to get to Hobart. 
The gentle giant with the gruff exterior instantly took a liking to the Clifton area after arriving from Wollongong with mate Mario Pelattelli in the late 60s and was one of the first surfers to built there.
One could instantly see in his surfing why he had the reputation from NSW as a quality surfer, and this was in the days when reputations were not easy to come by, when there was less talk and more action, and when egos were not so over-inflated.
The legendary Wayne Lynch from Victoria was known to be among the admirers of Herman’s power surfing.
He went too early our Herman, without warning,  found in the water at the place he loved. We were all shocked, but maybe he had other plans, and other beaches to walk.  “Germ” was simply a gem.

Being the young grommet, Herman and I only ever had a nodding Gday relationship in the water.  But as time went on, we independently picked the conditions and ended up at the same spots quite a lot.  So the Gdays became quite friendly. I remember watching him paddle from behind on the way back out - a unique style - head held down really low to the board and just big hulking zinc stripping shoulders powering away.  He always had first choice of the waves, I was happy for the seconds.  That’s why I can picture his power cutbacks from out the back so well - I saw a lot of them!

A classic day at Eaglehawk with just Herman and myself in 3-4ft shorebreak barrels with the bank shaved at an angle to create reef like waves was a highlight.  We traded waves, tubess and below sea-level take-offs (and grunts) for hours.  He would take the first wave of the set and send spray flying down the line and then I would take the next.

Another day that stands out was around ‘79.  A contest was on at Northy Cliffy and for some reason Herman wasn’t in it.  Instead he sat off to the side of the contest bank and put on a show of who was boss.  He had this slashback cutback going on a semicloseout righthander where he would do a full-on power cutback down the concave face of the wave just before it closed out. These were not on a nice shoulders suiting a cutback, they were on the barrelling wave face a split second before the shutdown - moves inspired by the Ian Cairn’s slashback - but probably better.

He pulled them off over and over, laying way over then at the last instant recovering to stand casually as the overhead shutdown exploded all around him.  Technically it was a really hard move (even today) - but on a late 70’s single fin it was very advanced.  Herman may not have been in the contest but he was the one everyone was watching.  I am sure he enjoyed showing up the young gremmies in the contest no end.

I also have fond memories of growing up as a young grommet in the late 70’s early 80’s whatching and learning from Herman.
I echo Scott’s comments - sometimes dark and brooding, he was always really good to me (and my dad) - free with advice and pushed me into takeoff’s that I wouldn’t have normally attempted.
As a testement to his character he is someone who was and still is sorely missed.
Cheers everyone - John Meehan

Gone but never forgotten.
The shadow that Herman cast upon all of us was but the light which continues to illuminate our lives.

Nice to hear so many classic stories and memories from you fine fellows. I see first hand from knowing a lot of you ‘mature’ aged surfers that times are different today from those days that you experienced. One thing I would say is that some things are constant and immune from change, despite what the current times present – these being the ideals of mateship and enjoying a surfers life.

AG

It was great to get together and remember a dear friend & neighbour on Wednesday night.  Also to see footage of the master at work. Nice to see a good turn out mid week and catch up with some “old” faces (minus the long hair).Lots of fond memories.
Herm would have loved it, a night of surf footage, surf talk and a few beers!

Herman encapsulated power and grace in his surfing moreso than any other. I remember playing up with the keg hose at a party. Herman gently picked me up by my collar, stared at me and put me down just as gently. I got the message!

I’ve been out of Tassie for a long time now and reading about Herman really brought back some great memories. The late sixties and early seventies were good times for a young surfer hanging out with some truly memorable characters and damn good surfers. No crowds, good swells and some excellent banks at the local beaches, especially North Clifton. Germ was both scary and likeable, and along with Mario was always where it was going off, he lived for it. Twenty years….man, where does the time go?!

Cheers Herm.

Herman and I were good mates while he lived in wollongong even though we were totally different.We used to sociallise and occasionally surf together even me being a crap surfer.Back then Herman had a hotted up HR Holden and after that a HK V8 panelvan which were allways immaculate. Herman was enormously uncomplicated and dedicated to his surfing and not an aggressive bone in his body, a gentle giant. He used to come to my parents place and eat them out of house and home and my mum would comment how clean he looked and I responded by telling her that was because he lived in the water.When so called friends deserted you he was allways there.I could tell a million stories about him. He is sadley missed. I visited Clifton beach about 3 years ago. If this enormously complex universe can produce some sort of after-life existance for us then I am looking forward to being mates again.

I came back to Wollongong from a trip to Tasmania in 1969, although i new Herman before i left it wasnt until i came back to Tasmania that i would get to know him better.
we had countless trips to the south coast together in his V8 panel van, (he even let me drive it).When i said i was going back to Tasmania he wanted to come along.
From day one he jeled with the locals,they soon found out how much he could eat….
  I’ve been surfing now for 47 years and those years surfing with Herman are still there sharing very special moments,those lucky enough to have experianced would know what i mean.
  You had to be on your toes when living with Herman.While living at Southarm he would always park his car on a slope so he could clutch start his car and get away to wedge before me,when i paddled out it was “should have been here earlier”.
  Sitting back and reflecting on the man i carnt think of a time he lost his cool.He lived,breathed and if he could,eat it,lived to surf.I belive he more than anyone influenced a lot of surfers back then.
  I was surfing on that day at Flat Rock Yamba,i remember going under a wave and i couldnt breath,felt like crap,i came home and i received a message that Herman had passed away.I found out later at that time i went under was the time Herman left us.
  To me it will always be ,
  “should have been here earlier”