While I was at Sacred Craft I was lucky enough to get up close and personal with one of the most important surfboards of the innovation period. In fact its probably one of the most important surfboards of the modern era.
It is one of the first three fin thrusters (3 fins of equal size) Simon Anderson ever shaped and it is the board he rode at 15 foot Bells, the board that grabbed the surfing worlds attention.
Its all here, Simon's trademark double hips, big fat tail and hand drawn 3 fin thruster logo
It could be argued that this is the board that signalled the end of the innovation period of surfboard design as eventually every kook and pro would end up on this set up, virtually unchanged, for the next twenty five years. Actually it is the pinicle, the high point of the period, the most sucessful of all the innovations, as shapers contiued to experiment with radical fin placement, tail shapes and outlines for another 5 years before settleing on the thruster.
Here's Simon riding this very surfboard at Bells beach in 1981 and on into the history books, changing the course of surfboard design forever along the way.
Strangely the board drew little attention due to its 'original' condition, proving that you cant judge a book by its cover.
Yes, my shoulder operation is feeling much better thank you Simon.
I have attempted to replicate Simon's famous board by removing two of the fins and severely beating the nose and tail of this early 80's Energy thruster.
The truth is it has become a lot lot harder to find good quality examples of boards from the 80's at a fair price. The good news is they are being found, collected, looked after and appreciated by a growing number of collectors. The bad news is the prices are increasing but my budget has remained the same.
