Tom Blake and the origin of the surfboard fin
My October 1999 40th anniversary collectors’ issue of Surfer magazine documents a story of the 25 most influential surfers of all time.
Second only to legendary Hawaiian Olympic swimmer and surfer Duke Kahanamoku, Tom Blake comes up and as the story goes “To put it simply: because Tom Blake was, we are” that is for those of us who are surfers.
Born in 1902 and passed on in 1994, Blake’s single biggest contribution to the sport of surfing was the invention of the surfboard fin.
Documented by some as the single most important area of wetted surface on any wave craft, today the value of good fins is understood by even average surfers.
As a matter of interest, South African Shaun Thomson also cracks a nod in the 1999 story for redefining the art of tube riding, birthing the beginning of pro surfing and casting a completely new light on surfers as athletes and model citizens rather than beach bums — James Bond with a hot cut back as the story puts it.
Tom Blake began surfing in the time of Hawaiian carved redwoods and the alaias and olos.
He experimented with bottom rockers, tail configurations, routed decks and in 1926 he invented the first hollow board.
In 1928, he won the first Pacific Coast Surfriding Championships using his new design.
In 1931, he introduced the first commercially manufactured surfboard, the Tom Blake approved model by Rogers manufacturing in Venice, California.
All of these boards were without fins. Riding a board like this is something a little like a shopping trolley with a mind of its own.
In 1935, Blake was the first to put a fin on a surfboard and traversing the open face of the wave became the new game rather than riding straight in.
Ask any beginner surfer while their memory is still fresh, the day they experienced riding their first open face is a monumental occasion. This is not a sensation that is quickly forgotten.
Beyond a complete redesign of boards and forwarding the revolution, Blake also pioneered the first sailboard, the first ever surfing book Hawaiian Surfboard; he built the first waterproof camera housing and ran his photos in National Geographic and Los Angeles Times.
While serving in the coast guard during World War 2, he taught Ocean Rescue and introduced thousands to the sport of lifesaving and surfing.
More than this while The Duke nobly represented a spiritual link to surfing, Blake did not just surf but he made a life of surfing and he provided the modern model for those of us who have come after him.
A snappy dresser at age 79 pictured in the 1999 Surfer magazine, writer Sam George comments “we still look like him, we still dress like him and we still surf like him”.
Long hollow timber surfboards gave way to the styrene and epoxy craft stimulated by the aero industry of World War 2.
The revolution continued to short board polyurethane foam and polyester resin.
Along the line somebody thought if one fin, why not two?
World champion Australian Mark Richards was not the inventor but he was the refiner and perfecter and truly put the concept on the map.
Along with his likable personality and wounded gull style, Richards rocked the surfing world with his twin fin in 1978.
And if two, why not three, it took another Australian, Simon Anderson, to configure the correct placement of three fins in 1980 and today, 40 years later, this is still the most popular concept of how to rip waves.
The bottom line though is it all started with Blake.
Today, the main fin impetus is with how to fit, lock and locate the fins on your board as plug in, screw in, and adjust lock and locate options are continually refined and redesigned. Fin materials vary from plastics to epoxies to polyesters, bamboo and carbon fibre.
We are fortunate to have very high quality carbon fibre fins locally manufactured by Alex Rossouw at Mach fins in East London.
Quad four fin boards have experienced a bit of a revival at present and five fin bonzers are a little over the top.
The joy of switching fins around is a little like kissing a new girl every day, just nobody gets upset with each other.
As soon as I can get back into the surf, I am going to play it dead safe with my 7’2” minimal thruster, old and conservative. It is probably why I am still married.
Thanks Tom Blake.
In 1935, Blake was the first to put a fin on a surfboard and traversing the open face of the wave became the new game rather than riding straight in