Beer-battered fish at J'Bay - video
So what is it, twenty years since Andrew Kidman released Litmus? An integral part of that film was the purity of Derek Hynd's high line glide at J'Bay, which was both mesmeric and revolutionary, not to mention improbable as the best of his surfing was done on old designs - namely keel fin fish.
Hynd's pure lines were responsible for the rediscovery of the fish and its rapid shift from obscurity to omnipresence. Within a few years fish were present in every catalogue and quiver, and what was once revolutionary became passe.
So I probably shouldn't be too precious about a beer-sponsored expression session at Fish Ground Zero, which is what this video is. Times have changed, commodification is cool, and the revolutionary leader has moved on - friction free is the name of his new game.
But what's Derek Hynd gonna be riding when, in twenty years time, a multinational beer company sponsors a finless expression session?
PS: Great surfing by Connor.
Comments
Cool.
Can someone tell me why they're running expression sessions in conditions like that whilst having the Comp in the pus seen yesterday ?
Late swell pickup on Friday maybe ?
This was after round 1 blowin. They were expecting Sunday to be bigger than Saturday so ended at round 1 and put this out there.
That was great...couple hiline FitzJoske moves in there.
Kinda feel like a beer.
Watch the whole thing - it's floating around on the web somewhere - and realise that this clip is so heavily edited so as not to embarrass SeaBass, Wilko, and to some extent Jordy.
Impressed with Conner's surfing (this clip doesn't actually do his surfing in that expression session justice), but absolutely amazed at how awful SeaBass is on a fish!
Would have been interesting to see Parko.
Well that was krap
The fantasy that you or your mates will surf better ridding a flat rocker, wide nose design from the past has been shot down in flames and crushed by elephants and then made into compost. High performance boards allow "you guessed it" high performance surfing. In certain situations a old fish style board will enhance your surfing experience, but in good waves not a chance, it will hinder your performance. Please can we stop romancing the I ride weird boards squad, particularly in Byron Bay were you can see lack lustre performances daily from this squad. You can also see intermediate surfers who will never be able to sink a rail while thinking they are somehow better than everyone else and are deluded into believing that the surfing they are doing is somehow new or cutting edge. Yes it's fun to go back to the past and fun to ride old "dogs" but these type of fish boards are not designed for high performance and thats the bottom line.
Absolutely, totally agree MP - well said.
Also just wondering why Derek Hynd is credited with bringing back the fish ???
Well it wasn't just DH, but also Tom Curren and I guess Andrew Kidman. Together they resurrected the design in the early/mid 90s and brought it to the public's attention.
Consider that in a 1994 edition of Tracks there's an article titled "What is a Fish?" which gives an elementary description of the twin keel, swallow tail design which reads as if many surfers have never heard of the design before.
Yet everyone's heard of it now, and it's largely because of DH, TC, and AK.
Did I also hear (maybe making it up) that the fish in this expression heat were based on the one Hynd rode in Litmus?
Have a look at Micro Hall on a DHD Mini Twin. He rips harder than he did while on tour.
Also, not riding a standard HPSB is probably mostly about wanting to feel something different, rather than aiming for high performance. Why do you assume that those intermediate surfers "think they are somehow better than everyone else"? Maybe they're just having a good time.
Good fish surfing is a joy to watch, but only out of those guys only Conner Coffin had a clue about how to ride one.
Jordy looked great too IMO. Agree on Seabass and Wilko.
But I'd like to see Wilko have a go forehand at somewhere like raglan to see what he can do.
I agree Conner had a beautiful style on these boards - maybe as he grew up surfing point breaks and probably has surfed many a fish before ?
but
All these guys would have a truckload more of a clue at riding these boards, than any of us !!
A DHD Mini Twin is hardly a fish style surfboard and certainly has nothing in common apart from two fins with the boards ride in this video. Why do I assume those intermediate surfers think they are better than anyone else? Because they won't go for a surf without having at least one person filming them and they are happy to drop in on long time locals who surf rings around them. In my opinion the combo of documenting their lame surfing and having no respect for other surfers demonstrates a massive ego problem and the smug look of superiority/overconfidence on their faces along with the wild claims they make to their squad members post wave (I got so deep in the barrel/did you see that massive carve I just did?/I'm ripping, hope she got that on film) just reinforces why I believe this to be true in the majority of cases.
Does anyone really believe that these boards are assisting the top pros performances or like me do you agree that the boards are holding them back?
Absolutely holding them back - but maybe these boards are just for a style thing ?
Not into them myself, but different strokes :)
http://dhdsurf.com/surfboards/mini-twin/
Not a fish style board?!? A slightly more pulled in tail, yes, but very much a fish style board.
I can understand your frustration with crowds and poseurs, but I find those all across the spectrum from super HPSB rippers to SUP riders.
I don't for a second believe that the top 34 go better on a fish - or other alternative equipment - but some very good surfers surf very well on them, and it's refreshing to see different styles of surfing done well.
Have you tried riding a proper fish in good point surf? It's something else, and a really good feeling. (I don't even ride a fish at the moment, but I will again in the future. At the mo on a mix of Pyzel, Murray Bourton, Byrning Spears, and Campbell Bros).