I remember when I first saw one. The surfer was flying down the line in Barra absolutely working the wave from top to bottom. Later, on the beach, I recognized him and that’s when I really saw it.

It was a beautiful looking surfboard with a disfigured tail and mismatched fin set up. I couldn’t help but stare and think, wtf is that? Up until that point, I had never seen one up close. Simply put, it was an asymmetrical surfboard. Yes, an ‘asym’.

A few months later at Seaside, another glimpse of a mutant blade. This time it was Ryan Burch on one of his early pickle forks. The weird tail and double-tipped nose providing yet another shock to my symmetrically conditioned system. I later learned that both boards were somewhat related since the surfer at Barra was also a San Diego local and they were made in the same shop, only by different shapers.

What I didn’t know was just how big of an impact they were about to have on surfing — and how hooked on them I would eventually become. It didn’t happen overnight.…