Here’s a prediction for 2016: forget the Hypto Krypto, the next surfing phenomenon to sweep line-ups worldwide will consist of fully-clothed boys and girls in sun-hats surfing bodyboards, after the manner of their hero Tom Curren. What a sight it will be! Here is the trend-setter in question, joined by Brad Domke. Video by Ian Boyd:

Date: May 9, 2015
Location: Playa San Diego, Oaxaca, México
Riders: Brad Domke and Tom Curren
Music: “The Desert Touareg” licensed from AudioJungle.net

I finally got around to revisiting a hard drive containing footage from a surf trip to Punta Conejo Resort last spring. While we were scoring a small, playful swell, Brad Domke and Tom Curren were quietly staying at the resort and joining forces to explore uncrowded surf. During one afternoon session the two showed up while I was shooting video of our crew. It was my impression that Tom was learning to ride a number of finless wave tools from the skimboarding master and seemed to progress quickly this day. He started out catching waves with a Boogie Board on top of a blue soft top board. Clearly the additional floatation allowed him to easily catch waves before bailing the soft top after takeoff and standing up on just the Boogie. Then he progressed to catching waves on just the Boogie and finally on to the skimboard. Regardless of the progression or the board, Curren is the ultimate style master and one of my favorite surfers of all time.

On a production note, I wasn’t traveling with a decent fluid head tripod so most shots are unacceptably shaky by my video standards.