Surfer inventor, adventurer and free soul, he played a fundamental role in the advancement of surfboard and fin design, whose contribution was so impactful that it massively changed surfing forever.

George Greenough was born in 1941 in Santa Barbara, California (he now lives in northern New South Wales), a descendant of the great American sculptor Horatio Greenough.

In 1967 he surfed in Maui on a mat with fins (before bodyboarding was invented). He was the first to engrave a tube from the inside (with a 12 kilo casing made by himself). He made several surf films that until now seem hallucinogenic (psychedelia with Pink Floyd music, etc.). He arrived on a sailboat, sailing alone to look for inhospitable waves, where he captured his encounters with sharks... He made a documentary about dolphins, for which he designed a casing in the shape of a baby dolphin, which allowed him to follow and record them.

His most important contributions to surfing were two, both being totally connected.

In 1962, having used flexible fins long before anyone else had considered the idea, Greenough decided to make his own short, spoon-shaped surfboards called the Velo, so he could start surfing on his knees. Within a year, there was a frenzy to make all surfboards even shorter and more maneuverable so they could ride like George did, but doing so while standing in a full upright stance. It was an exciting time of change for surfing. The result of this experimental period was a board model that people later called the shortboard, and it became a mainstream design for decades to come.

Greenough hits his spoon-shaped Velo in the mid-1960s. (Photo courtesy of John Witzig.)

For decades, surfers had been experimenting with variations to maximize the control and direction of their boards. But it was Greenough who closely studied the fins of tuna and dolphins, intuitively understood their correspondence to surfing, and applied the science—the physics of drag, lift, push, and throw—to wave riding. The fusiform shape of the dolphin had already influenced the shape of the board. It seemed natural that the dorsal fin that powerfully propelled the cetaceans through the water would enhance the effect. Hence George's ideas about board flexibility and the importance of surfing with a surf fin.

Greenough with its single keel (Photo courtesy of John Witzig).

Surfers of the time adapted their surfboards, wearing knee pads and using the single fin design (based on the shape of a tuna fin), in order to ride the waves like George did, with a radical and progressive, which began a domino effect that ended up helping the longboards of that time to have greater wave maneuverability.

Greenough surfboards with their unique fin (Photo courtesy of John Witzig).

One of George's great personal goals was the idea of ​​sharing with the world what it felt like to be inside the tube of the wave, for which he devised a way to adapt a camera on his back to be able to capture it through images. what it can feel like being inside it. After building many prototypes, he perfected a water housing and rear-mount strap, all weighing about 17 pounds, and with the latter he released a film in 1969 called: The Inner Limits of Pure Fun that mesmerized film audiences. everyone.

Greenough with his camera on his back (Photo courtesy of John Witzig).

His images were an artistic revolution in their time, where he filmed for the first time the perspective of a surfer inside a wave, which was achieved with his modified 16 mm camera, which he mounted on his back, which also carried a platform. with a battery and lights.

Photo captured inside the tube with Greenough's camera.

Greenough's board design and photography were just the beginning. He still lives his life making new inventions and modifying things to make them work better.

Their vast inventory spans wind generators, mats, and bluewater fishing boats. He has produced other films, filmed in the South Pacific on a 39-foot backyard yacht, and has built countless practical objects that are often dismissed as extravagant.

He is currently considered one of the great surfers of all time.

Greenough showing his keels (Photo courtesy of Craig Stecyk)

Thank you very much George Greenough.