Al Knost Rides The Original Tri-Fin

Back when we were filming the Shaper Profiles for Stab in the Dark starring Dane Reynolds, we sat down with Malcolm Campbell. In the ’70s, along with his brother Duncan, invented the first standard tri-fin, better known as the Bonzer. A board that since has been replicated, and often thoroughly bastardized.

To this day, the Campbell Brothers’ Bonzers are some of the most sought after sleds in the realm of alt-surfing. Malcolm is soft-spoken, his face leathered by years in the sun, voice harshened by decades in the shaping bay, and his design knowledge enriched by much of the same.

The modern thruster is a manipulation of myth and archetype.

When Malcolm and Duncan, along with Channel Islands, shaped a Bonzer for Dane in SITD, it was a cop out, since CI is the sponsor board builder of DR, and Stab in the Dark is the search for the most high-performance surfboard in the world. A Bonzer is decidedly not that. 

More recently, the Campbell bros have teamed up with RVCA and Alex Knost—a gentleman’s whose surfing complements the archetype of the modern surfboard with aplomb. As you can see by the above edit, Al’s flow and knowledge of how to draw line and fit an oft ill-fitting surfboard into a wave’s face is on a level all its own.

Knosty.

The Campbell brothers have shaped variations on brainchildren for everyone from Kelly Slater and Joel Tudor to Taylor Knox and Brad Gerlach, but you won’t hear them boasting.

When you’re the most influential figures in a niche design pursuit, there’s no need to pump your own tires.

Malcolm and few things of undeniable beauty.

Tomorrow night in Laguna Beach at Thalia Surf Shop, RVCA is a having a little party to celebrate this collaboration. The flyer is below, if you’d like to attend, it’s in your best interest to jot down the information.

If you’d like to shop the collection, click this button.