SURFERMAG.COM INTERVIEW: Mike Hynson

SURFERMAG.COM: Lopez, in the same interview, also said that the down-rail alone, and the edge control it created, was what truly made pushing the performance boundaries at Pipe possible.

MICHAEL HYNSON: Gerry and a bunch of those guys used to come to California to stay with me, and Gerry went back to Hawaii with a couple boards I made for him with the idea to ride Pipeline. From what I heard, it was a fantastic day his first time out, and apparently he just tore the place up. A friend of mine, Roy Crumb, he went up to Gerry Lopez when he came out of the water after he rode that first day, and he said to him, “my God! Those turns you were doing, you were drawing lines that looked like a lightning bolt!” (Laughs)

SURFERMAG.COM: Is that were Lightning Bolt Surfboards came from?

MICHAEL HYNSON: Oh that’s the beginning of it, yea. (Laughs again) And at the time Gerry was coming up on the surfing scene and that was why he came over to stay with me for awhile. To sort of get my input and get some guidance on what to expect. He came to get an idea about stuff I had done that did or didn’t work. He spent some time with us.

SURFERMAG.COM: And were you also giving him an idea about what to expect in the surfboard manufacturing business as well?

MICHAEL HYNSON: Well, there is a certain lifestyle approach to it and a way to go about it. His partner wasn’t really a part of the whole scene, but Gerry did want to go into the business so he asked a bunch of questions.

SURFERMAG.COM: So your relationship with Gerry was sort of like the one you mentioned before, the relationship you had with the older guys that were more established when you were first starting to get into the scene?

MICHAEL HYNSON: Well a lot of the older guys that I hung around with, they would constantly pull tricks on you. It was to a point where you would get tired of it and you knew what they were up to and would call them out on it. But eventually the understanding I got from them finally was, (laughing) “just shut the f—k up and pass it on.” Take what you learn and pass it on. Don’t bring it back; just use it to figure things out. But yea, being the older guy you have to give up something, you have to pass things on, so that was sort of the situation.

SURFERMAG.COM: As you mentioned before, you had a major interest in fin design as well. I was wondering if you could tell me about the Dol-Fin Fins you were working on in the early ‘70’s.

MICHAEL HYNSON: Well, I have always been interested in fins and understanding their purpose, and I really don’t remember the fin I had on the very first board I shaped, but at the time fins were very big and that board was so small. I do know for sure I didn’t put a big old sucker on that thing though. As far as the Dol-Fins, I got the idea for the fin box from George Downing. He came down to Haleiwa one afternoon with a board with a removable fin. I was down at the edge of the water just all over him about it. I told him right up front, within fifteen minutes of first seeing the thing, that I was going to get it made. It was such a great idea. I told him I was going to go back to California to make one for myself and told him not to be shocked at the rip off. But it wasn’t something that he had patented or anything like that. Bill Bain developed the box and then I started making fins. [Dick] Brewer and I were good friends at the time and we sort of were the guys who were known as designers, so I began to put out a line of signature fins and I had George Downing put out a 10 inch fin, Brewer made a 7 inch, and mine was a 6 inch fin. It was a fin quiver. I actually oversaw the design process of the fins because I wanted to introduce my idea and that idea was to go down and get an actual copy of a dolphin’s dorsal fin. But my signature fin was much smaller and much more radical in design than the others.

SURFERMAG.COM: So more recently you have been working making some collector boards, “red fins” and wooden longboards and stuff like that. But then an order came in from a client in Japan who wanted you to make him a fish. Instead of making just one you ended up making a few fish, and those boards have sort of gotten into the hands of a few people and have begun to create a major buzz. Can you tell me what you’re up to now and where your line of fish is headed?

MICHAEL HYNSON: Well, with the whole fish thing, I have sort of collaborated with Sean Mattison from Surf Ride who is a really hot surfer. He’s the kind of guy who is on top of the pulse to the point where he might even be making the pulse. So I’ve been working with Sean and his friends, and been taking their input and making what they tell me they need. And like I said before, one of my greatest talents is interpreting what surfers need so it has been going really well. But the first fish order, I sort of duplicated the order a few times and then I had these extras sitting around. When you look at a board, if you know what you’re doing, and have a critical eye, you can tell if it looks like it’s going to ride. And if it looks like it’s going to ride, then usually it does ride and it rides well. So I was sitting there looking at these fish and I just new that somebody had to ride these damn things. So Sean took one out and that was the beginning of that. (Laughs) He not only blew himself away but he got the attention of the crowd on the beach too. He had a guy come up to him after that first session and give him his card and say “I don’t know what your riding but I have to have one!” Afterwards, Sean told me that it was one of the best rides he had ever had and that the main factor was the down rail. He told me it had all kinds of lift and that it carried speed through turns and had such an amazing feel to it.

SURFERMAG.COM: So he was just frothing huh?

MICHAEL HYNSON: (Laughs) Yea, he said it was insane. So I made some keel fins, and then I decided to make a twinzer. I got Curtis Hesselgrave to help me put together a twinzer with Futures fins on it and the response to that has been just as strong. It’s been great to have this happen to me because it keeps me stimulated and it lets me put out stuff that keeps surfing interesting. Surfing can get boring, especially if you have a board that doesn’t ride. If I had to ride shitty boards it would be so discouraging, so for me it’s nice to be able to put something out there that is quality and keeps things interesting for other shapers and for the people who are out there riding them.

SURFERMAG.COM: Mike, you just mentioned other shapers, and spoke about keeping things interesting. I just wanted to touch on the fact that what is so interesting to me about these boards is that they are not just a look back at the traditional fish. They blend design elements from the past and the present in a way that achieves a whole new direction. A step towards future by blending the present with the past so to speak.

MICHAEL HYNSON: Oh yea, I mean Sean told me that it just allows this amazing running, gliding speed, and that on the twinzers he has been able to do these massive cut backs way further out on the face. Cut backs further out than he could ever do on a shortboard.

SURFERMAG.COM: So now that you are creating this underground buzz, and making these incredible boards...

MICHAEL HYNSON: (Laughing hard) The buzz is for sale. (Still Laughing) No, keep going.

SURFERMAG.COM: Well, how does it feel to be making an impact on the shaping scene again after so many years?

MICHAEL HYNSON: It feels really good. It feels great actually, but of course it has its own life expectancy. It’s not going to be forever and then I’ll find something else. That’s what innovation is all about.

Mike’s boards can be found at SurfRide in Oceanside 760.433.4020 and SurfRide in Solana Beach 858.755.0858, as well as at the new Billabong shop in Santa Cruz.

Dealer inquiries: Contact Pacific Surf Glass - Rick Sharp 858.864.8120

Look for Mike’s new website, www.michaelhynsonsurfboards.com, coming soon.