Chapter: 7
Long Division
- Return of the Longboard
- Simon Anderson and his Mighty Thruster
- Surf and Destroy
- Terror from Below
- The Unsinkable Tom Carroll
- An Explosion of Talent
- Tom Curren's Mile of Style
- How to Turn a Circus into a Riot
- I Predict Waves in Your Future
- Cult of the Surf Photographer
- Video Killed the Surf Movie
- Waves for Sale
- Surf Boom Redux
- Terminally Hip
- Super-Sizing the World Tour
- Somebody Should Do Something
- Surfers vs Apartheid
- Make Room at the Top, Obrigado!
- The Last Big Wave
- Eddie Aikau's State of Grace
- A Beloved Rival
Simon Anderson and his Mighty Thruster
![Simon Anderson, 1981. Photo: Hugh MacLeod](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/f1hjpcr4/production/d1f65ab189f68dc0af37a85bdab1b82e78249fc5-900x506.jpg?w=640&h=360&q=65&auto=format)
Simon Anderson, 1981. Photo: Hugh MacLeod
![Simon Anderson, 1981. Photo: Craig Fineman](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/f1hjpcr4/production/0a59dac6aad4564e4ecf3e32d2d740bfe7c5faa7-900x506.jpg?w=640&h=360&q=65&auto=format)
Simon Anderson, 1981. Photo: Craig Fineman
![Simon Anderson, 1981. Photo: Jeff Divine](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/f1hjpcr4/production/63c49f047f82ba008678ce403b7562a6fd98464f-900x506.jpg?w=640&h=360&q=65&auto=format)
Simon Anderson, 1981. Photo: Jeff Divine
![Simon Anderson, Sunset, 1984. Photo: Jeff Divine](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/f1hjpcr4/production/f51c9665710c39afd6423496eb928d1be3e0fb12-900x506.jpg?w=640&h=360&q=65&auto=format)
Simon Anderson, Sunset, 1984. Photo: Jeff Divine
![Simon Anderson wins 1981 Coke contest](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/f1hjpcr4/production/c91ac666a701f57ae79d8cd7424f9dc2c2701c57-900x506.jpg?w=640&h=360&q=65&auto=format)
Simon Anderson wins 1981 Coke contest
Anderson called his new board the “Thruster.” He claimed it wasn't a sexual double entendre. Nobody believed him.
In April 1981, just a few weeks before the Dewey Weber Longboard Classic, an oversized Aussie pro surfer and boardmaker named Simon Anderson walked down the stairs at Bells Beach holding a new type of board he’d winkingly called the “Thruster.” It was a peculiar-looking craft, with a narrow nose and three small fins placed in a triangular cluster. To a casual observer, there was no reason to think...
Subscribe or Login
Plans start at $5, cancel anytimeTrouble logging-in? Contact us.