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Thomas Blake was a surf pioneer, a important force in the history of the sport. Surfing King Duke Kahanamoku is known as the father of modern surfing, and Thomas Blake is the favorite son. Blake was not just the consummate waterman but an avid inventor as well. When Thomas Blake first went to Hawaii in 1924, surfboards had wide tails, straight across at the back. In a critical slide, Blake found that the board would spin out from under him and it spoiled many potentially great rides. Blake also noticed that racing powerboats had skegs, and he asked a speedboat skipper about them. He was told that the skeg kept the boat from skidding out when it made a sharp turn around a buoy at high speed. This was Blake's inspiration.

Walking along the beach one day, Blake came across an old derelict speedboat, its aluminum skeg still intact. It was very sharp and badly pitted from the salt water but he carefully removed the skeg from the boat and carried it home.

Blake heard the unmistakable sound of opportunity knocking. The first thing he did was cut the skeg down in size, and then he carved a piece of hollow Koa (a native island hardwood) to fit over its sharp edges. He fastened the skeg to a 14 foot long paddleboard in about the same position it is today, and he was ready to try his experiment! In paddling out, Blake noticed that the skeg had a certain stabilizing effect which he was not used to, and he disgustedly said to himself, “this is no good!” Then he caught a 6 foot wave and found out how good it really was.

The skeg made the board so much easier to steer and on a critical slide it held the board from skidding out, thus putting an end to the sliding tail. Blake instantly knew that his new invention would be a success. But that was the only fin in existence at the time and it took about 10 years before the fin really caught on.