There was an amazing atmosphere as surfers of all ages gathered to welcome Australian surfboard innovator Simon Anderson at the Museum of British Surfing yesterday.
Anderson is one of the most influential surfer-shapers in the history of surfing. When he developed his three-fin ‘Thruster’ design over 1980 & ’81 he changed the face of surfing forever – creating a design that has dominated wave riding for the last 30 years, and remains the standard competition board today.
“We’re honoured to have Simon visit and spend so much time chatting with everyone about board design and surfing,” said Museum of British Surfing founder Peter Robinson. “The stoke was really flowing, and everyone had a fantastic time!”
He was in Braunton to launch his new range of surfboards being stocked by Tiki Surf Shop. He is now heading down to France to do some shaping before returning to Australia. Several surfers brought along their original 1980s Thruster surfboards for Simon to check out & sign.
While people had experimented with three fins on a surfboard before, Simon’s ‘Thruster’ set-up created a board that blew the everything else of the water when he won the Bells Beach Classic in 1981.
