: Board Collector

Bob Hurley twin fin

In the early 80's Bob Hurley was pushing the envelope of the then current design thinking when he started working on a faster, more radical turning short board design to suit his local Californian conditions.

Bob Hurley unloading blanks in 1982.

He feels he achieved his aim when he began working in collaboration with Rabbit Bartholomew. The result was a Hot Stuff twin fin now known as the Rab 111.

Bob says that this was his finest work and it is the design he is best known for as a shaper.

Bob with the original Hot Stuff twin fin

More recently while watching Kelly Slater and Dane Reynolds competing at the Hurley Pro at Lower Trestles it dawned on him that what these guys were trying to do in the water was being limited by their contemporary equipment and that he himself had faced this problem before in the same location 3 decades earlier.

So he dusted off the Rab 111 and shaped a couple of modern copies.

Single fly swallow tail, gentle rocker, beaked nose, just like his early 80's twin fins.

He has since teamed up with Lee Stacey and put the design into production.

Kelly at Trestles. Obviously being limited by his equipment.

Dan Reynolds. Equally hopeless, according to Bob.

I have been lucky enough to find an original 1983 Bob Hurley shaped twin fin similar to the original Rab 111 design. 6'3", single fly swallow tail twin fin.

It was a bit rough when I found it but its patched up OK and is now ready to be put to the test.

What ever is old seems to be new again.

From Surfline

Bob Hurley for Mickey. USA. 1983
I'm told Bob says Mickey is Mickey Nielson, star of the movie North Shore and 80's Team Quiksilver rider.

Bob wrote- Jesus Christ is Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

Bob and Wayne at this years Hurley Pro with a modern replica of the Rabbit Hot Stuff twin

same proportions, same set up.

Wish list. Part 3. Houston we have a problem.

3 twin fin surfboards for sale on the internet.

Eberly and Schroff.

Single fly swallow and rounded square.

For sale in Houston, therein lies the problem.

The good news is these boards are still out there and available.

China = China plate. Plate = Mate.

Put it on a rail mate!

Nectar twin fin. Part 2

This Saturday I saw this nice second hand 2012 model Nectar double fly swallow tail that has almost exactly the same tail set up as my old Nectar twin fin.

Which to me emphasizes the point of this writing this blog.

That point is to explore and evaluate designs from the past to see if and how they are relevant to the boards we ride today.

Although the tail is almost the same its very interesting to note how the wide point has dropped down the board significantly.

1, 2 lovely bumps.

1, 2 , 3 , 4 lovely Nectar twin fins. Surfer June 1981

Richard Cram Team Bolt Nectar thruster

My freind has shared this very interesting find with us.

It looks to be a US made Nectar thruster made for Team Bolt rider Richard Cram.

Its interesting that the board should carry both Nectar and Lighting Bolt logos.

My guess is Richard had the board made in the US while travelling and competing.

My favorite feature is Richards famous Red Back spider signature spray has been reinterperated as a Black Widow. A nice twist on the theme.

Red Back spier spray- AU photo by Chris Stroth

Black Widow spay- USA

Mr Cutback

Lord Ted Deerhurst- Part 3.

Jimmy wrote to say "I spotted this classic example of a Ted deerhurst twin fin the other day at Cronulla beach and asked the kid carrying it if I could get a photo.

That's him sheepishly hiding behind it as his mates looked on wondering why someone would be interested in Johnny's crap twin fin and not their Barney Rubble thruster.

But as the kid walked away feeling better about his ride his mate looked at the board in a different light.

The TD decal was huge and the real kicker was the great Pipedreams sticker between the fins with the classic Bugs image going for a 360' at Off the Wall, god I wish I had one of them for the back window.

I surfed against Ted once in a Mr Juicy contest at Port Kembala beach in the early 80s, it was a 6 man heat I came 4 th Ted 5 th, nothing to write home about, but most contests aren't. Richo won, Jim banks second. Occy came third, he was so pissed. Then his mom came and picked him up drove him home in her Celica.

Check out Jimmy's blog Lyttle Street