Twelve years ago, Daniel Thomson had an idea. It was inspired by Bob Simmons, who, of course, is basically responsible for many of the fundamental principles of today’s surfboards. According to the venerable Matt Warshaw’s Encyclopedia of Surfing, Simmons is the man who you can thank for the “nose-lift, foil, and finely sculpted rails” that are part of your surfboard. All those years ago, Tomo took a page from using aeronautical principles and developed the strange-looking tail that he called the Jet Fighter Tail.
Jet fighter tail that looks a little fishy. Image: Firewire
Today, he’s squished that tail into a fish shape, thrown a quad fin setup on it, and added his quad inside single concave to create a board he’s calling the El Tomo Fish. Futuristic? Yes. Inspired by the past? Also yes. Looks fun as hell? Hard yes.
Jet fighter tail with a modern quad fin setup and his quad inside single concave. Image: Firewire
