A Simple Idea, Complex in Nature

Torren Martyn revisits an old friend - His original Massive

True innovation often comes from the simplest ideas.

For me, it often comes from a fleeting thought or a short conversation.

A few years back, I met a man riding a pushbike across Australia with a surfboard strapped to a trailer he had fashioned out of an old pram (for those in the USA, a "stroller").

Due to his limited space and weight restrictions, he could only afford to carry one board with him. It had to work in everything, from the small, clean points of the north coast to open beaches, reefs, and bigger southern swells.

That question stuck with me: what would you take if you could only take one?

It became a design problem worth solving. Working with Torren Martyn, we began exploring what that might look like, a board that could do it all, but do it well. The result was something we hadn’t quite seen before: a mid-length, channel-bottom, keel twin. A meeting point between the glide and flow of a single-board quiver and the high-performance twin designs we’d been refining.

Torren cruising along an empty face, bathed in early morning light. - Images Harry Dott & Frankie Kaye

After a few renditions, we landed on what we now know and love as the "Massive." Not super imaginative in name, but it just describes what it is... and at the time, it was MASSIVE to us all.

Not long ago, Torren found that original 7’9” tucked away under his mum’s place, forgotten but still carrying that same idea in its foam. He dusted it off, packed it in a bag, and took it south to meet a fresh swell that was filling in on the maps.

The last time it had been ridden was almost ten years ago at Jeffreys Bay during the filming of Thank You Mother, the film. We were blessed with a month of long, perfect walls that inspired new versions of the same concept. Seeing it come alive again was a reminder that true design never really dates. The board found its rhythm almost instantly, early entry, long clean lines, and that speed and flow that makes you forget about the board altogether.

Torren down south - needessentials/Harry Dott & Frankie Kaye

Innovation in modern surfing often gets measured in small refinements, in millimetres and margins. But for most of us, it happens differently. It starts with a simple idea, something personal, something honest, and the willingness to chase it.

That’s the beauty of shaping. Sometimes the best designs aren’t new at all. They’re rediscovered.

— Simon Jones

The film about rediscovering this old friend of ours is available to watch by clicking the button below!

Watch the film here!