Bodysurfers Think Simpson’s Contribution to Sport Is Fin-tastic

Fred Simpson remembers exactly when the idea for an extra-wide fin hit him.

“I was at the bottom of the Wedge, pinned down,” Simpson said. “It was at that moment that I thought to myself, ‘If I get out of this, I’m going to do something about this.’ ”

Simpson, 58, has been bodysurfing since the early ‘60s.

“Surfing the Wedge is my passion,” Simpson said. “I needed a fin that would enable me to take off on a 25-foot peak.”

It took him until 1983 to design and produce the Viper Surfing Fin.

“With my partner, Don Redington, who had the money, we made a fin that had a seven-inch blade and gave the bodysurfer that power he needs to take off,” Simpson said.

Simpson, who lives in Costa Mesa, was surrounded Wednesday by bodyboarders who are using his fin during competition at the U.S. Open in Huntington Beach.

“I didn’t know what a bodyboard was when I came up with the fin idea,” said Simpson, who has held jobs at Xerox and other electronics firms. “It was obvious that this was going to be a growing market, so I redid the molds in 1990 and shortened the blade to five inches.”

The fin is produced by Simpson’s company, Pacific South-Swell, which is named after the condition that produces the huge waves at the Wedge. The Viper is not exactly a household name, but Simpson said he’s not trying to corner the fin market.

“We tell the stores not to sell our fin to the beginner or the tourist,” Simpson said. “Our fins are made up of thick, U.S. blue-collar rubber,” Simpson said. “It’s for the guy who knows what he’s doing out there.”

Just last week, Simpson made world champion Mike Stewart his partner, having bought out Redington in 1989.

“He has his ideas, I have mine,” Simpson said of his new partner. “Plus, what better person to have using the fin?”

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World champion Kelly Slater and another top surfer, Rob Machado, are competing in the U.S. Open this week, but were unable to participate in last week’s AirTouch Pro because they were busy recording songs for an upcoming CD.

According to Machado, the CD is being produced by T-Bone Burnett and will be on the Epic label. The surfing/singing duo has no name for its band yet and no touring dates have been announced.

“So far, we’ve recorded six songs,” Machado said. “All the songs are written by Kelly and me, and it should be out by February.”

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Sophia Mulanovich of Lima, Peru, is the youngest competitor in the women’s surfing event at the U.S. Open.

At 13, Mulanovich is in Huntington Beach with her mother and her friend. Mulanovich, speaking through an interpreter, said she surfs a killer spot back home and hopes to do well.

Back home, Mulanovich is in the middle of her school year. “There’s no school because of winter vacation, so I thought I would come up here,” she said.

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Where have you gone, Brent Hilliard?

Hilliard, who attended Dana Hills High, once was one of the most promising young opposite hitters in indoor volleyball.

He disappeared from the U.S. scene last year to play in Belgium, where he led his professional indoor team, Maaseik, to the Belgian league championship.

Hilliard has returned from Europe and will dabble in the beach game before returning to Europe in the fall.

He will play with Team OP in a Bud Light Pro Beach Volleyball League four-man tournament, beginning today at Seaside, Ore. If he impresses OP Captain Dusty Dvorak with his beach skills, Hilliard will accompany Dvorak to the Bud Light tournament at Hermosa Beach beginning Aug. 16.

Hilliard led Long Beach State to the 1991 NCAA volleyball championship and helped the United States to the bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics. Hilliard played with the national team through last year, when he helped the United States to the silver medal at the Pan American games at Argentina.

But Hilliard sprained his ankle after the Pan American games and that, combined with a nagging knee injury, led U.S. Coach Fred Sturm to cut him. That’s when Hilliard left for the more lucrative courts of Europe.

“I had pretty much done everything I wanted to do as far as my goals with the national team, so I went overseas and was healthy and had a good year,” he said.

Hilliard, who lives in San Diego when he’s not playing in Europe, made himself available for the four-man league last year but played only sparingly with OP and with Paul Mitchell. Dvorak picked him up last week after cutting Leland Quinn, formerly of UC Irvine.

“I’m sure people were pretty skeptical,” Hilliard said. “I just kind of come home and play a little bit here and a little bit there [on the beach] and if somebody wanted to pick me up, that’s fine, but it’s not my meal ticket by any means yet.”

Hilliard plans to play professionally indoors in Europe a few more years, but hopes someday to make the transition to the beach game.

“Eventually I will make the jump,” he said. “Whether I’m successful or not is a whole different story.”

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Linda Hanley, formerly of Laguna Beach High, and Barbra Fontana Harris, who lives in Laguna Beach, are top-seeded heading into the WPVA Evian Invitational, which began Thursday at New York’s Central Park.

The eight-team invitational is one of the premier tournaments of the season and provides an excellent preview of the top teams heading into the $100,000 Evian National Championships, Aug. 18-20 at Huntington Beach.

Fontana Harris and Hanley, who finished fourth at the Olympics, have a good shot at winning the invitational in New York. They are the only team of the tournament’s top three that remain the same from before the Olympics.

Nancy Reno split with Olympic partner Holly McPeak and joined Karolyn Kirby, and McPeak joined Lisa Arce. Reno and Kirby are seeded second for the Evian Invitational and McPeak and Arce are seeded third.

Patty Dodd joined Angela Rock for the tournament and they are seeded fourth. Rock won the Long Beach open with Kirby, defeating Dodd and Arce in the final.

On the Beach runs weekly during the summer. Witherspoon and Hamilton can be reached at (714) 966-5904.