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

Regularfoot surfer from Daytona Beach, Florida; a big-wave revivalist in the early 1980s, and very nearly the first world pro tour fatality, after a head injury in the 1983 Pipeline Masters. Massfeller was born (1955) and raised in Daytona Beach, the son of a lawyer (father) and a nurse (mother), began surfing at age nine, and moved to the North Shore of Oahu in 1974, not long after graduating from high school. In 1978, he and fellow Floridian Pat Mulhern were the surprise winners in the World Team Challenge competition at Sunset Beach, beating Australians Peter Townend and Cheyne Horan in the finals. Massfeller was featured on the cover of December 1979 issue of SURFER Magazine

The well-built Massfeller (5' 10", 170) was a finalist in the 1980 and 1983 Pro Class Trials, but was better known as one of a small group of surfers—and the only East Coaster—still interested in riding 20-foot-plus surf at a time when such outer-limit surfing had fallen out of fashion. "A big-wave rider," he said in early 1983, "can only take so many wipeouts until his number's up." Ten months later, after what appeared to be a routine wipeout during the Pipeline Masters, Massfeller, 28, went headfirst into the reef, lost consciousness, was pulled to the surface three minutes later without a pulse, and airlifted off the beach with a massive skull fracture over his right eye. Two months later he wrote to SURFER magazine to report that he had short-term memory loss and sight loss in his right eye, “but luckily I have regained most of my motor skills and memory.”

Massfeller would have permanent issues with sight, speech, and memory, but after the damaged portion of his skull was reinforced with a steel plate he was able to surf again, and in 1987 he returned to the North Shore for the winter season. 

In the early '80s, Massfeller worked as a lifeguard for Volusia County, Florida; he later worked in local surf shops and gave surfing lessons.  

In 1995, the 39-year-old Massfeller was bitten on the upper arm by a shark while surfing Ormond Beach, near his home. The injury was slight, requiring just five stitches.

Massfeller, Steve

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

The Sunday Joint

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