Hot Buttered Drifta Mk 3 top view

Terry Fitzgerald was an astute student of surfboard design theory. The high performance twin fin designs that began to dominate surfing in the late 1970s was at odds with his surfboard design thinking. Fitzgerald made a number of changes to his boards to enhance performance, reducing nose area and adding small trailing fins to improve hold and turning ability. As usual these boards were highly technical with design elements such as fins foiled inside out and dropped (fluted) flyers to provide even more drive and hold. Fitzgerald was still pursuing such designs in 1981 when the 3 fin "Thruster" was introduced a phenomenon he describes as "the death of the single fin". This board, like many Hot Buttered boards, features the art of Martin Worthington in an eye catching design.

top view