About a decade before Simon Anderson popularized the thruster, brothers Malcolm and Duncan Campbell could be found toiling away at their home in Oxnard on a revolutionary design. As Matt Warshaw, Drew Kampion, and Craig Fineman explain in the Encyclopedia of Surfing, at the behest of their father the Campbell brothers began experimenting with three fin surfboard designs. And in 1972, the bonzer made its public debut. But, for one reason or another, it never took off. And by the 1980s it was completely overshadowed by Anderson’s thruster, which quickly became the standard.
Only recently have the likes of Alex Knost, Ellis Ericson, and others drawn to alternative surfboards breathed new life into a decades-old design that could have just as easily been relegated to obscurity.
According to the vid, Al’s attraction to the bonzer design cultivated a friendship with the Campbell Brothers, and together they’ve held retrospective art exhibitions, shaped boards, and more to honor Malcom and Duncan’s innovation after all these years.
What’s more, Al rips on them – as evidenced above.
If you’re so inclined you can check out RVCA’s recent collaboration with the Campbell Brothers here.