Skip Frye

Born in 1941, Skip took up surfing as a teenager and quickly became one of the most respected names on the West Coast — both in the water and in the shaping bay. He spent years competing at the highest levels, winning contests up and down the coast and earning top rankings nationally. But his bigger contribution was to board design: working out of Gordon & Smith in the 1960s, he pioneered the vee-bottom on the West Coast and developed the Egg, a shape still widely ridden today. He hand-shapes every board that carries his name, surfs nearly every day, and has been inducted into the surfing, surfboard building, and skateboarding halls of fame. He has never used a surf leash.