Derek Hynd
Derek Hynd, Montecito, December, 2010
I ran into Derek Hynd when he passed through Santa Barbara in December. I first met Derek at Rincon in 1991 when I was 17. He was in town with then Surfer magazine editor Steve Hawk and legendary surf photographer Art Brewer. They invited me, along with my brother Tom (who was the current world champ), Australian prodigy Nicky Wood, writer/shaper Dave Parmenter and his then girlfriend Lisa Anderson (the inspiration for Roxy and a future 4x world champ) up to Big Sur for my first taste of a sponsored magazine trip.
It was quite an eye-opener for me, a pro surfer hopeful, to be in the midst of such a profound crew. I admit I was a little intimidated by Derek who was the marketing director of Rip Curl, my sponsor at the time. As a journalist, Derek’s annual critique in Surfer Magazine of the top professional surfers could make or break a reputation. I’ll never forget the first thing he said to me in the Rincon parking lot, “Hi Joe, I’ve heard you’ve been surfing really well lately”. I was probably a bit too excited and replied with a big grin, “really!?”. Derek just looked at me straight-faced and said, ‘no, I’m kidding” and turned around and walked away. I was crushed for weeks, especially after I broke my only board on that trip duck-diving at a beach break in Cambria. But, I eventually learned after further trips with him to Tasmania, Jeffreys Bay and The Outer Hebrides that he was just playing with my head, and it was just a case of Derek being Derek.
If you haven’t seen the footage of Derek on his finless board at J-Bay, I definitely recommend taking a look:
