Fish or Single Fin?

[pat42]

Cheers Libby........ A fish sounds tempting.

I just wonder why they disappeared for 30 odd years if they were so good!!

[Brent]

This is the very topic I'm trying to get myself to start a decent thread on.

What it was like being a surfer in the 1980's and not really knowing other options existed - or not knowing anybody who could even shape them. Sure people still rode twin fins I had friends who rode them...but the power of Simon Andersons amazing performance design literally steamrollered everything else overnight, honestly it was like within 2-3 months all single fins disappeared. .. there was no internet, surf mags here were 3 months behind California & Aussie, Surf shops were where you went to buy drugs. I did know there were pockets of differently shaped twin fins about, Santa Cruz & places like that where Steve Lis & others like him existed. Mals were non-existant.

My first thruster in 1982, in hyndsight, was remarkably fish like. Almost 3" thick all over, 20" wide, squash tail & only 5'10" long. If you google an image of Simon Anderson's Energy thrusters of the day. That's what my Tom Deakin shaped board looked like. Nowdays the very same board would be called a hybrid fish.

[Phil]

I just wonder why they disappeared for 30 odd years if they were so good!!

i think its becuse people want to make the best out of the waves we get, at least in this country. people want a short board that will perform in messy onshore conditions were shortboards struggle to make it though close out sections and you have to keep pumping to stay on the wave. fishes will be able fly through those sections with more speed and genrealy perform much better in mushy messy conditions.