TOM CURREN, DEREK HYND & THE FRYE FISH

Pacific Beach, CA 1990

Tom Curren, Derek Hynd and the Skip Frye Fish

If you’re one of the masses who rides a fun shape or a small wide speed machine, you owe a debt of gratitude to two men, no… three men. Derek Hynd, Tom Curren and Skip Frye.

In the early 1990’s, I was working in a small surf shop in Pacific Beach California named Windansea Beach An’ Surf. It was your classic surf shop in the 80’s: Bright obnoxious neon colored clothing and wetsuits, but this shop was different. It had classic boards lining the roof from ropes and a hefty stash of classics were stored in an attached upstairs loft. The kind of boards that weren’t yet cherished by the masses, but rather from the few that understood their significance. The shop was a throwback by todays standards but the soul and knowledge that lied within was fabric that helped shape my understanding and love of surfboards and their creators.

The shop was an old converted auto garage from the 1940’s and when the owners built it, they left on little door off to the side that housed a little shaping room and area for a desk and some board storage. It wasn’t much but it would become very significant.

The small shaping room was built for our resident legend surfboard shaper: Skip Frye. It was a rough few years there for shapers as most people wanted nothing to do with traditional longboards or alternative shapes. Saying that out loud now almost seems ridiculous. The late 80’s and early 90’s era were dominated by low volume, high rockered, clear sanded finished thrusters. Fewer still were riding anything that didn’t look like a 6’2″ bump squash made by Rusty or Al Merrick, it was a bummer but It’s just how it was back then. Luckily San Diego is a surf town, and legends and respect for those board builders who came before us was valued and that knowledge was shared.

As a kid growing up in San Diego under the tutelage of local heroes like Skip Frye, Joe Roper and dozens more, we were taught about the old board designs and they encouraged us(me) to ride every type of board imaginable. I would see boards I didn’t understand and occasionally make a stupid comment. They would be quick to drop a history lesson and an occasional slap to the head. Not until way later in life did I know how good I had it. A few other groms and myself were the exception of our age group when it came to riding boards of different outlines and eras. Often our friends gave us a hard time for trying to have too much “soul” and gave us shit for riding old boards from the 60’s, 70’s. Bird Huffman and Ernie Higgins owned the shop and between his massive stash of classic boards and Skips quiver, we were lucky to have an on-site surf museum that we could raid almost anytime. Caster Channel Hulls, Lis Fishes, old Campbell Brothers Bonzers, Surfboards La Jolla Twin Pins and everything in between were hidden in the private rafters upstairs.

It was an era where Slater was just coming onto the scene and short boards were about to become extremely narrow with flip nose rockers. In hindsight, I think that was a major factor for the lack of crowds in that era. There were no soft-tops at Costco, no surf schools clogging the line-ups, it was hard, locals were mean and that kept people away. Boards of that era were hard to ride and for beginners and “recreational” surfers alike. Most would abandon the dream quickly and move onto something easier. For those of us who were already on our journey as surfers, It was glorious. In hindsight, it was the end of that golden era of surfing before the masses clogged the lineups.

In 1990, Tom Curren had rejoined the pro tour and was surfing each contest through the trials. As a surf fan, I was so happy to see him back in the limelight after his hiatus going for a third world title. We were all huge fans of Curren. That summer the ASP circus was getting ready to invade Huntington Beach for the OP Pro but before the event, Curren and his teammates on OP would be coming to San Diego for some autograph signings. We were one of the lucky shops to host them and when Curren arrived, most everyone froze in their tracks at the presence of the master. It’s not that he was intimidating but he was everyones hero so we were all awkward and in awe of his radness (yes, I know thats not a word). After a few minutes, we got him to the autograph table, and with pen in-hand , Curren started signing away for the 100 or so people who lined-up for their chance to have a moment with their hero.

After an hour or so the line was almost worked through and Tom wanted to take a break. He walked over to our used board area to check out all the unique shapes that lined the rack. He pulled out a Frye egg and gave it the once over when our local video guy (Video Lew), followed Curren through the aisles and filmed some super awkward moments. Man, I wish I still had a copy of that tape. After a few minutes, Curren asked me about the Frye and I told him that Skip had just moved across the street to his new shop called Harrys that he shared with Hank Warner. He looked up and asked me if I could take him over there. We had a hundred people milling about in front of the shop hoping to catch a glimpse of Curren, I couldn’t possibly take him away from the signing right?

Fuck yeah I could. Who am I to say no to one of my heroes?

As we walked past the crowd, I couldn’t believe I was escorting one of my heroes to meet my other hero. I was pretty stoked to say the least. We entered the shop and Skips wife, Donna, came up to greet us and gave Tom a big hug. In short order, Skip and Tom disappeared into the back area of his shop talking about surfboards, Tom’s dad Pat, and then started connecting the dots of a shared surf history. This was a huge moment that I wouldn’t know the significance of for years to come. The “quick” visit  turned into 20 minute hangout. Soon one of the shop groms popped in saying that Bird was searching for Curren (pun intended) and that he was a little more than pissed at me. I did my best to gather Tom and as he said goodbye to Skip and the gang, they posed for a photo. I really couldn’t care less if Bird was mad at that point. I mean, how often do you have to the chance to hang out with two legends like Tom Curren and Skip Frye?

As we left the darkness of the shop and turned into the alley (Harrys was less than 50 feet away from Windansea Beach An’ Surf) I heard Bird snarl my name in non-subdued rage. Tom gave me a glance and said “sorry.” I just smiled. As we walked up, another Curren was there, Tom’s cousin, Jamie was out front and showed Tom a board he had shaped. The Curren family history is rich in San Diego, specifically Mission Beach. After signing some more posters and then signing the shop floor, Curren and his fellow team riders were off to the next signing. This moment was over but that little connection with Tom and Skip would come back around in just a few short years to change surfing forever.

Fast forward to 1991.

Derek Hynd came to our little town to say hello to his old friends, Skip and Hank. Their history dates back to the 70’s when Hank was shaping boards for Hot Buttered and for Hynd. Through their friendship, Hynd would come to know Skip well and develop their own deep friendship. Theres a funny article in an old surf mag from the early 80’s where Hynd surfs P.B. Point with Skip and describes the scene in hilarious fashion as only he could.

While on that trip to San Diego in 91’ Hynd ordered a couple boards. A traditional Frye fish and a Frye egg.

A few years back Hank Warner told me about that visit with DH- He said Hynd was looking through all the boards on Skips side of Harry’s Surf Shop and commenting on how big and bulky most of them were. Hynd was always a purveyor of small twin fins and high-performance surfing. In a corner, in a small canvas bag, Hynd asked Hank what was in there and gave it a peek. Inside he saw a twin fin. It was actually one of Skips old G&S fishes, one that he still has tucked away in his shaping room. As Hynd checked it out, he asked Skip if he could make him one. Skip did and put some color on it and after Roper glassed it the next day, Hynd took the still uncured fish in a plastic bag on the plane and flew home to J-Bay)

The classic Lis fish design was something that was never in stock in any shop at that point and was almost never even made, except for members of the Cliffs and Big Rock crew. At the time, it was considered outdated except for those who knew just how good it was. Again, the fun board category just didn’t exist like it does today. The original fish design is based around a 12” wide tail block and would have 9’x 5” Larry Gephardt keels made from marine ply. (The stories i’ve heard was that Hynd liked the board but it tracked a little too hard and wanted skip to make another slightly more pulled in and with a smaller fin setup. this is the DH fish which skip still makes today)

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THE SEARCH 1992

I reached out to Derek Hynd when I was writing the board descriptions for the Skip Frye article for The Surfers Journal in 2016. Here’s what Hynd had to add about the backstory and the actual board made for the Search.

“Nothing would've happened re: Fish at J-Bay without the other key Harry, Hank Warner. It's been important in my days to have known Hank pretty closely since '78 when he hosted Steve Wilson and myself that mid-winter. We got to surf a certain ledgy point in the fog with only a few out that is still in my Top-10 ever surfs. Hank's education re: the ways of S.D. surfing and his shaping prowess in general, was easy to trust. I'd had two phenomenal boards from Hank - a 5'4" in 1983 and a 6'9" in 1987. Anyone who ever rode that 6'9"was pretty well stunned at how it delivered. When I was hanging around down there, (in S.D.) in full awareness of what the broader span of lads liked riding for over 30 years at their favorite spot, it was a classic signal that some things don't need to change at a great wave.”

“I guess I got to know Skip pretty well via the “Two Harry's”at their surf shop - with Bird across the street. Hank and Skip together in that shop together is probably the most core surfing experience of my life. JBay was the spot where just about any board could be completely tested so when Hank put me with The Skipper the equation was a bit strange for both of us. What size, length, width, keel size? Curve didn't come into it that much with the first board, a 5'10". It ended up being too straight and big for my power to weight ratio for JBay, but not for Curren, whose only surf on it was captured by Sonny Miller.”

-Derek Hynd

That Curren segment in THE SEARCH at J-Bay as good as it gets to us. The bonus was obviously that short montage of Curren riding Hynd’s Frye Fish at small Supertubes. Little did we know how that would change the shape of things to come. The world got to witness the most popular surfer riding a throwback shape and he wasn’t just cruising, he was ripping on it. Carrying speed through the flat sections and laying the small keel fin on rail. It was a revolutionary moment that still has legs to this very day.

After that part, people were suddenly wanting boards that were shorter and wider. That became an even louder movement when Tom kept on moving forward and later appeared in Lost’s- 5’5″x19 1/4″. If his part in The Search started the fire, his footage in the Lost video burned down the house. The wider, thicker forgiving shapes suddenly had center stage and the average surfer was able to find fun out in the ocean and on the racks of surf shops, once again.

The evolution continues as Hynd continued his unique approach to wave riding and starting the friction free movement with his incredible finless surfboards. Curren continues to surf forward-thinking craft from Daniel Tomson and others of his own creation as seen in the 2021 “Free Scrubber” video from Rip Curl. While we are in the space age of surfboard design, it’s the basic little fish that Stevie Lis dreamed up 60 years ago at his sacred San Diego reef that still holds the place as one of the most versatile surfboards to ever grace the planet. Thank goodness for Hynd having the courage to order something up from the past to breathe new life into Currens surfing and as a bi-product, we all have enjoyed a renaissance of surfboard design and open minded wave riding.