Three-time international surf champ Corky Carroll answers your questions each week on the Beach Blog. To ask him a question, hit him up at corkysurf@aol.com

Q.  Can you give me a little history on multi-fin surfboards?

A.  That is a big story, good idea for a column that I will do soon.  But, as the short answer to your question, there were experiments with multi-fin surfboards all the way back to when Tom Blake first put a fin on a board in the first place.  The first real commercial ones were the “twin fins” in 1970, of which I was a big part of, along with Mike Eaton, who worked for Bing Surfboards at that time.  Not long after there were the “Bonzers” and then the “Thruster,” which was largely developed by Simon Anderson in Australia.  Today, there are all sorts of fin combinations that work amazingly in different surf conditions. 

Q.  Midget Farrelly was a huge part of the Australian surfing culture back in the 1960’s, but I have not heard his name in decades.  What became of him?

A.  Yes, Midget was a huge part of world wide surfing in the 1960’s.  He was World Champion in ‘64 and runner up in ‘68 and ‘70.  Great surfer and good person.  He is still deeply involved in the surf industry making foam blanks in Australia that are shipped world wide.

Q.  My husband and I love your stories.  What made a full time surfer take up writing as a second career? 

A.  I wrote a column for the school newspaper when I was in high school and that kinda got me started.  Later I wrote occasional articles for SURFER magazine which eventually led to writing comedy and stand up material for television shows.  When the Register approached me to write for them, I jumped at it because I like to write.  The challenge was to break in editors and new editors to the exciting and uncharted world of anti-grammar and off-road spelling techniques.  So far, I am semi getting away with it.  And I can write at night so it gives me time to surf in the day.  What a sweet deal.

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