some thruster info

Steeno · Post by **Steeno** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 6:15 pm

Extracts from the Simon Anderson interview in Ether
Questions by Andrew kidman

taken from
http://ether-kidman.blogspot.com/2009/0 ... uster.html

Andrew: Did the Thruster come out of wanting to push single fins beyond their performance possibilities?

Simon: No. I would see a wave and I would imagine what I could do with that wave. You know what the limitations of your equipment are and you want to take it to the very edge and see what you can do on a wave. I was pretty satisfied with the single fins, how they were going and the surfing I was doing on them. It was evolving; each year I'd make improvements.

The Thruster was purely a competitive innovation, on my part, because I was dissatisfied with my performance, being a big guy, and the fact that the tour was expanding to more and more small wave locations. It was firmly scheduled in those days. You'd start on Wednesday and finish on Sunday at three o'clock - it didn't matter what the surf was like. Providing you had a good carpark, you could fit everyone in. Then, that was the formula.

Mark Richards had popularised the twin fin again, from the mid seventies. He was working on them, and was very successful on them. With the tour moving to more and more smaller wave locations, everyone was starting to move towards the twin fin.

I'd seen what it had done to Shaun Thomson's surfing: I didn't think it had improved his surfing. He was still a great surfer, of course, but he'd made compensations to his style. It was difficult to go from your twin fin back to your single fin, because your single fin felt so dead.

I was fully committed to single fins. I could not go the twin fin route. I was faced with this dilemma all the time, of having to surf single fins in two-foot surf.

Andrew: Didn't you win Bells on a single fin?

Simon: Yes, In 1977.

Andrew: How big was the surf?

Simon: It was pretty decent.

Andrew: So what did you do to combat the single fin problem?

Simon: I was thinking about it the other day and there are about six fathers of the Thruster. The Campbell Brothers came up with the Bonzer, in god knows when? I tried one, but I didn't like the overload feel. But it was a fabulous design innovation, and they should get all credit for coming up with it, at the time.

Terry Fitzgerald was doing the tri fin thing as well. Essentially, it was a single fin thing, with little side fins on the side, and the idea there was: it would hold you up high, as you did that old-fashioned high line and dropped down.

In my case, the Bonzer had had their day, and failed. Just like the twin fin had had it's day, and failed. So, in 1980, I was surfing single fins. It was Geoff McCoy and Cheyne Horan's goal to beat M.R. on his twin fin. They were waging this full campaign, and Geoff was fully inspired and fired up, to beat M.R. on the twin fin with Cheyne on his single fin design.

One of the designs they came up with was the no-nose concept. As a result, he evolved the single fin to a point where you could put three fins on his shape and it would work. I'd been surfing his no-nose concept, on my single fins, for a year. I think my boards had improved a lot by adopting the no-nose concept, and my surfing was evolving. So Geoff is the first father of the Thruster. But there was still the problem of small wave surf.

I've got all this going through my head, I've got a single fin I like and I'm surfing a twin fin in small surf. It's okay; I'm not really stoked, but I've got to do it. I've got this three to four foot surf that I'm still having problems with, and I'm in the car park one day and Frank Williams comes out of the surf (he's one of the shaper/designer/surfers from Narrabeen); he's got a twin fin with a little half moon keel on the back.

I said: "Hey, Frank, what's that do?" And he said: "It helps stabilize it."

I remember his statement. I'm thinking: "I'm having trouble controlling these friggin' twin fins over a foot, so I'll make this really stable."

I went back into the factory and shaped the first one. So Frank Williams is, like, the second father of the Thruster.

I made this first one. I knew, as a basic standard, that a single fin has this much surface area… a twin fin’s got roughly the same surface area; the fins are smaller but they add up to the same. So I'm figuring three fins: they've got to be roughly the same surface area as a single fin/twin fin. You don't have to be a genius to come up with that. So I reduced the size of the fins. We got it all glassed up, I moved the fins a bit further forward than a twin fin and I move the single fin a bit further back than a single fin. It's about to be sanded, and I'm looking at this board with all these fins on it. The back fin is a little bit longer than the current fin you're used to, and it's protruding off the back of the board by about an inch. In those days, boards were pretty short - 6'2"s - so often, your foot would slip off the back of the board. I'm thinking: "I could slice my foot off here.

"I'm looking at this back fin and I said: "Right, Steve, just sand this back fin down so it doesn't stick over the back of the board." This is my very technical, design-mind instruction to the sander, Steve Zoeller. So Steve then, under his own recognisance, sands this fin down so it's not sticking over the side. I'm looking at the board, when it's all sanded, and all the fins are roughly the same size. There's the third father of the modern day Thruster - Steve Zoeller

I made it so it would work in the three to four foot range surf. The first surf I try it in is three to four foot, with maybe some bigger five foot sets, in the Alley at Narrabeen and the thing is just going ballistic; it's going fantastic. Not only has it got speed through the start of the turn, it appears to build up speed and momentum through the turns, and it's just fantastic. The only problem is, I'm using single-fin fin panels and they're very thick fins. It seems to be dragging a little bit. So we reduce the thickness of the fins, and make a few other innovations, and we're away.

budgie · Post by **budgie** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 12:59 am

Great Post Steen,

I love how he gives so many other some credit.

Thanks Simon Anderson

I LOVE THRUSTERS

Headwax. · Post by **Headwax.** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 2:47 am

nice to see a kneelo's getting a little credit as well

KenM · Post by **KenM** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 5:58 pm

Considering he was going for a small wave answer it's amazing how he ended up taking apart solid Pipeline and winning the Pipe Masters. The rest as they say.....

hart · Post by **hart** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:37 am

Cheers Ken, and just to make a point, that was..

Bells Beach

The Coke

and

Pipe Masters

in the one year

and he still didn't get the gong (world champion)

Simon A deserves much more kudos than he receives in the surfing fraternity world wide

Not to mention KNEEBOARD community

Novakov, Farrer + Colman to name a humble few..

hart

ps

Steeno, great post mate

thanks

pps As an aside..Joke thread? go to a joke site mate..there are hundreds of them..cut and paste what YOU want and you're a hero

ksusa is for us huh?..only ONE I know of

Steeno · Post by **Steeno** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:52 am

[quote="hart
pps As an aside..Joke thread? go to a joke site mate..there are hundreds of them..cut and paste what YOU want and you're a hero

ksusa is for us huh?..only ONE I know of[/quote]

no probs bruce

, I particularly liked the Steve Zoeller (kneeboarder)mention. Kneeboarder's always seem to be involved, somewhere.

But i didn't understand your reference above, could you please explain

jdc · Post by **jdc** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:17 am

Steeno wrote: the Simon Anderson interview

it would hold you up high, as you did that old-fashioned high line and dropped down.

i found this bit interesting as I recently commented to hart how having a shape i could trust in steep waves had me riding higher and developing the ability to get a board on the rail.

hart mentioned the high line to be the older style of surfing which i thought funny as it was the method that, as said, got me to surf what seems the more up to date "on the rail" approach.

ps: good to get a chime from you wax!

Steeno · Post by **Steeno** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:26 pm

Thanks for the PM Bruce, but you could have said that here in this thread

Sooo, i still dont understand why that comment was posted in this thread at all.

It seems way off topic.

Shelfbreak · Post by **Shelfbreak** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:30 pm

Simon's explanation is such a pleasure to read. It's simple and easy to understand, puts things in a historical context and acknowledges other influences and contributors.

I remember watching the news the night he won at Big Bells in 81 on his thruster.

RMcKnee · Post by **RMcKnee** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 8:53 pm

Simon's what you might call a quiet achiever; lets his surfing do his talking.

Plus, he recently made a great quad set for Futures.

Love 'em!

stevea · Post by **stevea** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 9:46 pm

I had the privilege of working out of the Energy factory surfing and partying with Simon A during that period .He was the best surfer in the world that year and prior to it the judges just took a long time to comprehend his brilliance what he could do on a wave at Nthy inspired the whole crew including us kneelos
He shaped boards for Ken Horton a kneelo of immense talent as anyone who ever saw him surf would testify, as well as Flip Wilson a one time Oz champ
He loved to drink piss and take the piss mostly at my expense one night holding up the bar at the Antler he turns to me and says "Art when are going to stand up " to which i replied "I stand to piss cant you feel it tricking down your leg"
"You dirty little f****little kneeboarding *****"
Of course i hadnt done it but it was still my shout
Steve Zoeller took over Energy not long after the time Simon won the 3 events he was making kneeboards under the Clean and Natural logo an excellent craftsman meticulous in all aspects of manufacture another kneelo later to turn footboarder Peter Stanton was responsible for the excellent fade inserts
Thanks Steen for opening the memory vault on what i look back on as a great period in surfing

DYdamo · Post by **DYdamo** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:38 am

Hey Steve,
Great to hear Peter Stanton's name,definately one of the reason's I started K'Bing.........
I grew up around the corner from the Stanton household and was best mate's with Chris(Peter's younger Bro)and actually saw some of the first thrusters made.........
It was actually one of Peter's boards that I stole...........sorry borrowed,from under the house that gave me my first K'bing feeling..........
Everyone on the Northern beaches of Sydney would know of Peters handi-work with an airbrush.........He sprayed the wall of Nat's(I think)surf shop at Mona Vale ..............A good 35 ft mural............Awesome work....

Steeno · Post by **Steeno** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:54 am

cool memories guys, sorta stuff i hoped this post would bring out

griz · Post by **griz** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 4:25 am

steve gave mention to the immense talent of Ken Horton and the boards Simon knocked up for him of which if you checked them out was very little difference between them and a fat surfboard.Particularly the width and the fin placement , to me it was absolutly bewildering how he surfed them . I recall he had a distinct backhand going left and could punch them vertically straight through the roof and straight back down , time after time,and going right he was just plain bullshit,totally unique.
I also recall he was a pioneer of Rod Ball ski tails , but that's another thread on it's own.
The issue with his boards was driven home to me when once in the early 80's in bali I'd snapped both my boards in the first fortnight away and was faced with an early departure of some 6 weeks could I not scrounge up another board.An american mate knew a kneelo mate with a board( the now deceased Reckless Eric )who I begged to sell me his board , an ex Horton , Simon shape,and boy was I bent over for it , but hey!
It got me back in the water but to me it was almost unsurfable,unturnable and definately not punch vertically through the roofable.
The fins were ripped out and repossitioned which made it JUST surfable,did any one else surf Simon's kneeboards because I still have no idea how they did

hart · Post by **hart** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:53 am

Nov mentioned once to me that after he saw Simon A surfing an early prototype at Northy, ran straight back to his shaper at the time (Kiwi Craig Mc Donald) and had him add a centre fin to his twinnie..

Pretty small in comparison to Anderson's but none-the-less the influence (and intellect

) was there

Michael surfed that Aware Knees to his 1st (of 3) World Titles shortly after..further endorsing Anderson's North Narrabeen product and establishing a kneeboarding precedent simultaneously

hart

ps

Damo, yes Stanton airbrushed Nat Young's mural..awesome iconic building huh

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