George Greenough

George Hamilton Perkins Greenough (born November 6, 1941)[1]: 104  is an influential surfer, known during the 1960s and 1970s for his work in film, and in surfboard design, fin characteristics, and other creations for the aquatic medium.

The contributions of Greenough, along with Bob McTavish, to the development of short boards resulted in a number advances in surfboard shaping and other surfing technology.

George’s father, Hamilton Perkins Greenough, spent part of his career as a shipwright, building wooden picket boats for the U.S. Navy during World War II.

[1]: 41 George underwent open-heart surgery at age ten and became known as an unconventional "character", "... a thin-faced, narrow-shouldered scion ... always shoeless, often shirt-less, resin-stained Levis clamped onto his nonexistent hips with a length of rope, stringy blonde hair cut straight across at eyebrow level and flapping down over his ears.

The newer short boards were built specifically to copy the same style of banking turns and fast-down-the line attitude that Greenough was known for.

The famous "spoon"' board was created in 1961, "a blunt-nosed balsa kneeboard, 5 feet long and 23 inches wide, with a dished-out midsection and tail that slimmed down to a mere half-inch thickness".

[9] His film, The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun, was shot using a massive 28 pound camera with a water-proof housing strapped onto his shoulder which he used to show the inside of a wave.

Part of Crystal Voyager was shot at ten times normal speed, creating a continuous flow of intensely detailed images of water droplets hitting the lens, all moving in dance-like synchronization with the motion of the wave.

While living in California he redeveloped the American Boston Whaler hull to suit his particular needs, which included capsize resistance and open ocean mishandling flaws such as pearling and broaching.