Hawaii Surf 72

AAS - Are you a student or a teacher when it comes to surfboard design? Are you mentoring anyone?

Mike - Life is one big class and I am a student as far as surfboard designs. I will always be a student at everything I do. I've been around long enough I guess to qualify as a teacher, but in order to teach, there has to be someone who wants to learn. Most surfboard designers today are self-taught, taking what was and putting their own spin on it. From what I've seen though, a lot of them have no clue what they're doing, and no, I'm not mentoring anyone. But I've got a lot of them wondering what I do and trying to copy me.


AAS - What surfers through history did you admire, and why?

Mike - I've always been a student of the history of surfing. I'm a big admirer of all the pioneers of the sport, but it would take books that have already been written to answer that question. I don't think this is the format on which to answer such a loaded question, however, when I finish writing my book, read it and you just might find the answer.

AAS - Who do you like as surfers today?

Mike - I like all the surfers today, yesterday, and most likely will end up liking the ones who haven't even started yet. I like all my friends who still surf, which numbers about fifty men and a few women. I think its a little unfair to name them all, because there kids are all surfing, and I'm sure to screw up all those names, so to be safe, I like all of today's surfers, even the ones I haven't met yet. Hi Surfer Dude!


AAS - Are you a perfectionist in the shaping bay?

Mike - From what standpoint can I compare myself? Perfectionist may not be a good word in my shaping bay-production, quality construction. Let's say I've always been a stickler for the word, perfect.

AAS - Are you a great shaper?

Mike - Yes.

AAS - Are you a great surfer?

Mike - Yes.

AAS - The Fish. You're now getting recognized as one of the Fish Fathers. What is your history with that design?

Mike - Fish Father, interesting concept. I've been called many things, but Fish Father is new. My introduction to the fish design came from making kneeboards for a little rat pack of surfers who rode Big Rock and some of the surrounding reefs in La Jolla, including Bird Rock. I collaborated with a hot little innovator that used to call New Break his stomping grounds, named Bunker Spreckles, Clark Gable's stepson. He was the modern day George Greenough of Southern California. I never really cared for the board, but this year there's been quite an interest. Sean Mattison, who manages and buys surfboards for SurfRide, www.surfride.com in Oceanside, and I have been working together for a couple of years. He's put me back into the mainstream of the surfboard business.


I have a tendency to get out of touch, bury myself underground, and become anti-social. He is a very progressive surfer, a historian on surfing, in fact, his whole family, his wife Chrissy, son, Matthew, and two daughters Savahnna and Kaisa are weekend patrons of San Onofre. Well, together we've managed to put together some surfboards that ride better than normal. It's a perfect partnership, one that everyone well benefit from in the long run, and yes, the Fish & its co-partner, the Twinser, a four-fin, winged-rail, double-concave tail fish have come from this surfer/shaper collaboration.

AAS - Tell me about your involvement with the Fish and its inception years ago?

Mike - I made them for a bunch of guys that didn't even standup. Guys from Big Rock and those down there with Bunker, Steve Lis, the Huffman's.

AAS - Did they come to you with ideas? How did the twin tail, twin fin concept originate?

Mike - Because they were on their knees and they would be dipping from one rail to another. Those guys had little boards already.

AAS - Who put twins on them?

Mike - I don't know. It was just part of the design.