On December 28th, 2023, amidst a hectic and utterly massive swell that slammed Mavericks in northern California, 25-year-old Lucas Fink made history.
He became the first person to ride a skimboard at Mavericks.
The Brazilian big-wave charger joined other heavy-water specialists on the historic day – a day which many were calling the “biggest day in years” – although his board looked decidedly different than everyone else’s in the lineup.
“It’s my first time ever in Mavericks,” Fink says in the video above. “I arrived straight into a bomb. Super stoked to be here; it’s always been a dream of mine.”
The bomb Fink mentioned was a massive, lurching, 25-footer (at least). He towed into the wave via jetski assist, like most other surfers were doing on this day. However, everyone else was riding thick, heavy tow surfboards designed for navigating waves of such magnitude; Fink’s board, on the other hand, was like a potato chip in comparison.
Oh yeah, and he had no fins either.
According to the Mavericks Surf Awards, the big-wave body that produced the video above, Fink was the first person to ever ride a skimboard out there.
History, made.
For Fink, skimboarding Mavs was a bucket list achievement. On social media, he wrote:
“SKIMBOARDING MAVERICKS 🔥💣
“What an epic way to finish the year. Chasing big waves and even bigger dreams. Feeling blessed.”
Skimboarding, of course, is like a not-so-distant cousin of surfing. It was born in 1920 in Laguna Beach, CA when two local lifeguards carved round disks out of redwood and began riding them in the shorebreak waves for which the town is known.
Wonder what those two sand-sliding pioneers would think of Fink?
Over 100 years later, and skimboarding is still alive and well.
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