SUNDAY JOINT, 8-12-2018: MARK RICHARDS AND THE TWIN-FIN

Hey All,

“Two Fins, More Wins,” which is more or a less a Part Two of “Mark Richards, Gentleman Killer,” posted last week. That late ’70s-early ’80s twin-fin era didn’t last long, and apart from MR and Dane Kealoha it was a kick in the nuts for the surfing aesthetic. (Watch the video, see what you think.) Of course, the twin-fin promptly escorted us to the tri-fin, thank you very much. And thinking about those two designs, my recollection is that Richards achieved something close to twin-fin perfection, in terms of the board’s design capabilities, faster than Simon Anderson and the rest of the world’s shapers were able to craft a really good tri-fin. Don’t get me wrong. A lot of awful twin-fins were made—most of ’em, in fact. But MR had it figured out from the jump, and if you got a knockoff from a shaper who knew his business, the switch from single to twin was a revelation. Those early Thruster knockoffs, on the other hand, for all us small-wave poodles, were really hard to get used to. In other words, hats off, yet again, to Mr. Humble—Mark Richards.

If you’ve been clicking on this site for a while, you probably know that Mimi Kalland, my mom, was the EOS proofreader, as well as moral and financial supporter, muse, and really, if you get right down to it, founder of the whole show. She got the family to move from Tarzana to Venice in 1966. Her brother Daniel bought me my first board and pushed me into my first wave. In other words, no Mimi, no EOS. She died last Sunday, at home in Baywood Park, peacefully, husband and kids at her bedside. Last month she was great, cruising the Alaska coast, spent a long weekend here in Seattle with me and Jodi and Teddy. Went in for knee surgery a few days later, complications followed (nobody’s fault), and that was it. Eighty-seven full years. An unbroken run of career achievement, projects of every description, family meals, good wine, good works, and big, loud, frequent laughter. While Mimi for sure had a cynical side and was an eye-rolling non-sufferer of fools, she was an optimist at heart, and just to bring this thing full circle, she was delighted but not surprised when EOS donors and subscribers rallied to save the site last year. She believed in EOS probably more than I did. I’m working extra hard on the site these days, partly to honor that belief, but mostly to keep from missing her so much that I can’t work at all.

Matt

[Surf shot by Hugh McLeod, MR beach shot by Art Brewer]