Freed From Three Pronged Competitive Shackles, Steph Gilmore Relishes One-Of-One McTavish Asymetry

Iconic is a word we shy away from.

Few adjectives are as overused, as watered down into trite meaninglessness with false embellishment, as iconic.

In surfing, there are a minute number of personalities which have eclipsed excellence, surpassed success, and cemented themselves as true cultural litmus tests — their likenesses singed into the collective understanding of waveriding.

Icons, if you will.

Two of those characters play endearing roles in this six minute collaboration. 

Bob McTavish — still sharp witted at 80 years old — is generally accepted as having catalyzed the shortboard revolution with the development of the short, wide-tailed vee-bottom design 1966.

Stephanie Gilmore, who just signed a $4,000,000 deal with Rip Curl, is surfing’s true unicorn of style, competitive brilliance, and marketing longevity. 

Together, the two wade into the tepid waters of experimentation — in the very fashion you might’ve hoped for, given the lapse in Gilmore’s CT tenure. 

“I love it that she’s not chained down by her thinking,” says Bob. “You see that in her surfing. She pulls things out of the bag that’ll blow your mind. If I can turn her on to a single fin that actually rips, I’ll be so happy.”

Click above for the collision of two stylistic stalwarts, and the modern creative process behind a one-of-one, asymmetric, vee-bottom, Plastic Machine single fin.