Derek Hynd didn’t always surf without fins. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
There are just a handful of living legends in surfing. Names like Gerry Lopez, Kelly Slater, and Tom Curren. Derek Hynd is up there with the best of them, but not for his competive accolades. He’s up there because he’s not only fantastically talented, but he marches to the beat of his own drum. His writing captures surfing’s spirit, and when it comes to riding finless, surfers like Hynd wrote the book. Back in 1985, he was becoming the surfer we revere now.
In this unearthed footage from Blazing Boards, a classic surf film featuring Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew, Tom Carroll, Tom Curren, Gary “Kong” Elkerton, Derek Hynd, and a few more legendary surfers, Hynd isn’t riding finless boards in it, but his style is undeniable. Floats, little 360 spins, and even a little stretch five are all included.
The footage you see here is on YouTube because of the Surf Film Archive, a group devoted to finding and restoring old surfing footage that otherwise would be lost to time. It’s a wonderful project devoted to keeping surfing culture alive and tied to its roots. Roots that Derek Hynd had a hand in planting.
