Mark Richards powered his way to four world titles on a twin fin between 1979 and 1981. However, Simon Anderson’s thunderbolt performance on a thruster in 1981 quickly turned the twin-fin into the proverbial wooden tennis racket of pro surfing.
Look around any beach in the world and you can see the twin fin is enjoying a major renaissance as a recreational surf craft, but today former CT surfer Josh Kerr did his bit to challenge the notion that the twinny is an obsolete competition weapon. While Slater has flirted with the twins in heats and free surfs; Kerrsy rides his Album twins almost exclusively these days.
Josh has used them to good effect in teams challenge events for his club, Snapper Rocks, but today he made an inspired cameo in the Oakberry, Tweed Coast Pro. Josh claimed he entered the event because he wanted to keep his prodigious daughter, Sierra, company while she contested the women’s event. However, Josh made something of a statement himself when he whipped through a suite of turns on a lime green twinny that looked electric beneath his feet.
Surfing against Dakoda Walters, Sheldon Simkus and Hinata Aizawa, Kerrsy finished a confident second with a hefty 14.76 heat total. In the end Walters’ whirly-bird spins earned him the win but Josh’s performance earned plenty of praise from the commentary team. In an earlier interview with Tracks, Josh told us if he was still on the CT tour he’d definitely reach for the twin at Bells and J-Bay.
Will we ever see another CT surfer regularly ride twinnys in a heat? Perhaps not. But for the time being it’s intriguing to see how far Josh Kerr goes on his Album Twins in the Oakbery Tweed Coast Pro. He’s in to the round of sixteen and still betting on double or nothing.
