Way back in time, Craig Anderson paddled into a 10-to-12 footer at Kandui Left in Western Sumatra. He was riding a board that was curiously small—a 5’4 Hypto Krypto, which was on the cusp of becoming one of the most popular surfboards in the world.
Now, nearly four years later, the Hypto can be seen in lineups the world over. It’s something that every surfer can relate to: being in a lineup and feeling under-gunned. Waves roll by as you paddle desperately, only to run away from you as you look down at the board you’re on. “Just a few more inches of foam,” you think, “and I’d have been on that!” Many surfers swear that the Hypto is the answer to that problem.
Ventura surfer Jake Kelley (who had a hand in the rescue of Andrew Jacobsen after his worst wipeout ever) recently took his little craft—the same as the one Craig was on in that famous image—to Cloudbreak, then donned a wetsuit for the chilly waters of the PNW. What this five-minute clip shows, created by Taylor Curran, is both Kelley’s weirdly good skill in waves of all sizes and the incredible versatility of Haydenshapes’ most-famous surfboard.