A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Alexandre, João (Dapin)

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

A surfboard with one fin, as compared to boards with anywhere from two to five fins. Surfboards were finless until Wisconsin-born surfing polymath Tom Blake attached a low-profile metal boat keel to the back of one of his paddleboards in 1935. "Never before had I experienced such control and stability," Blake later wrote.

The surfboard fin didn't catch on right away (most surfers thought it was too dangerous), but from the mid-'40s to the early '70s, with a few exceptions, all boards had one fin. The expression "single-fin," however, didn't become part of the surfing lexicon until the early '70s, with the introduction of the short-lived first-generation twin-fin board.

When four-time world champion Mark Richards of Australia brought out his version of the twin-fin in 1977, there was a split between single-fin and twin-fin advocates as to which was the better performance board. The single was more stable and predictable; the twin-fin allowed for a wider tail, which increased the planing area and made for a faster and more maneuverable board in small waves. When the surf hit about six foot, however, the additional planing surface began to work against the twin-fin, making the board skittish and difficult to control; single-fins were the rule in bigger surf.

The single-fin was all but phased out on high-performance shortboards, including big-wave guns, in the early '80s, after the new tri-fin design proved to be stable, fast, and maneuverable, trumping both the single and the twin. But the longboard renaissance, which began in the late 1970s and grew through the '80s and '90s, ensured that single-fin boards remained in production; longboards are more or less equally divided between single and tri-fins.

The "retro movement," launched in the late 1990s and led by Joel Tudor, Rob Machado, and Alex Knost, brought a renewed interest in single-fin shortboard designs from the late '60s and '70s. "They stretch your surfing out and force you to use more of the rail," Machado said. "Your technique needs to be spot-on to ride a single-fin correctly, which leads to beautiful body positioning."

In 2012, six-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore rode a Dave Parmenter-shaped single-fin at Greenmount, Australia; her fast, flowing lines were the highlight of Andrew Kidman's 2012 

Launched in 2011, the Cosmic Creek surf contest, a novelty event held at Orange County's Salt Creek, requires all entrants to ride vintage surf equipment, mostly '70s single-fins.

single-fin

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Features

Videos

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Features

Videos