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Step 1
The Thruster
The thruster has been standard issue for top level surfers for almost 3 decades now. Both the pros of 1982 and the pros of 2009 ride thrusters.
Invented by pro surfer/shaper Simon Andersen in 1981 it changed everything in surfing. It was legitimately a revolution in performance surfing almost on par with the short board revolution 15 years earlier.
The increased “drive” down the wave that a thruster provides versus a single or twin fin configuration is dramatic. It allows for the modern maneuvers that are he signature of performance surfing today.
It is difficult to overstate the importance of the thruster on modern surfing. For instance, after its debut, 95% of the surfing pro tour was riding thrusters. By the next year it was 99%. Except for Cheyenne Horan who had some bizarre reactionary streak in him and insisted for years more on surfing single fins. -
Step 2
The twin fin
Classic 70s, the twinnie has seen a bit of resurgence in recent years. There is a whole new generation that has come to love the twin fin configuration.
Though it lacks the drive of the thrusters the twin fin is exceptionally “loose.” That is exceptionally maneuverable. This is one of the main reasons the twin fin has found favor with “skate style” surfers in recent years.
No one knows who invented the twin fin, but it was Australian world champ Mark Richards who popularized it. In pro surfing's infancy, he was the surfer to beat and so kids from the Gulf Coast of Florida, to the Gold Coast of Australia rode twinnies from the Nixon era to the Reagan era. -
Step 3
The Single Fin
The single fin is classic and has been around since the dawn of the modern era of surfing in the early 20th century. Until the late 60s the single fin was all there was, though there were many variations.
The board pictured to the left is Gerry Lopez’ Pipe Cleaner. This was the type of board he road through the 1970s at the world’s premier high performance break, Pipeline.
The single fin is the epitome of Soul Surfing. A single fin tracks with a wave instead of encouraging “shredding.” Single fins also allow for surfers to get deepest in the “tube” of a wave.
Single fins still have a strong following even today.
