This no-byline article ran as "This is Skip Frye" in the February 1966 issue of Surfing magazine. Frye was 24 years old.


The conflicts of surfing competition have been coming to a head for the past several seasons. I think this year it finally exploded and there are a lot of hard feelings among a lot of people. As I look at the competition scene recently, it’s been a farce, a three-ring circus with the clowns getting most of the attention, and the true artists haven’t got what’s due them. Against my better judgment, I played the clown role a few times myself in order to try and please the judges. It’s really hard to figure out just what they want.


If the surfing world looked at the Malibu Invitational with an open mind, they would get what I'm saying. The final heat brought together the masters of Malibu. All I can say is “how beautiful it was," except for one small error—the winner didn’t win. If the people who run these things didn’t get the message that was presented with the Malibu Contest, then there's little hope for the future of surfing as a competitive sport. At least from a surfers viewpoint. Of course, if they leave it the way it is, the results will always be to their liking and they can mold it any way they want. The whole thing as it stands is putty in their hands. [Note: Buzz Sutphin won in the 1965 Malibu Invitational, followed in order by Johnny Fain, Miki Dora, Butch Linden, and Dewey Weber. Frye wasn't alone in thinking that Dora should have been declared the winner.]


This is how I define it. Hotdogger: One who displays himself on his board. Actually, he could do the same thing standing on the beach and be closer to his audience. To me, he is ugly and obnoxious and defies the beauty of nature and of the sport. Stylist: One who displays himself on his board 

 He is an artist in the truest sense of the word. A stylist does not have to be slow and smooth, necessarily. I think Dewey Weber is as much of a stylist as Phil Edwards, as they both conform to the waves. Dewey just has a faster tempo than Phil.


I think a lot of the real values of surfing have been lost through growth and commercialization, and especially through competition. A lot of people I used to respect have gone to the dogs. They're so involved in business or competition that that’s all they surf for. This hurts their riding ability considerably. Even when other surfers aren't in a contest it seems they are trying to compete with you. I hate to see people out in the water working each other over. It's not like the good old days when you'd cheer each other on. Even if you didn’t know the other guy you still gave him a good word now and then.

Surfing to me is much like playing music, there is a lot of rhythm involved. Most people play the same song all the time and eventually it gets stale. I like to surf at different tempos, different speeds. Some times you have to in order to keep up with the surf. This is where a lot of people get hung up. Some guys use the same old beat after nature changes her beat. The result is a lot of frustration. The same story goes for boards. You play different melodies with different boards. You have to have at least two boards to keep up with conditions. You need a gun for the heavies and a standard board for small surf. Some people say one board will do the job. This may well be true for them, but for me it can't be done on one board alone. I have five boards.


Being a family man now, and since I’m so involved in surfing, I’m left with little time for anything else. I do a little skateboarding on the side when there is time, though. I enjoy skateboarding because it's an excellent workout. Anybody that thinks they are in top shape should work out on a skateboard for a couple of hours. I’m sure they will feel some muscles they never knew were there.

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