Telepeer

Viper Fin creator and Wedge charger Fred Simpson dies at age 86

January 23, 2025

When Fred Simpson first stumbled upon the Wedge in Newport Beach, he noted how the crashing wave sent a “BOOM” sound across the beach.

Simpson had been a lifeguard with the city of Long Beach in his younger years and would typically bodysurf the Huntington Beach Pier. But when he first rode the hollow barrel at the Wedge, he was hooked.

“The thing hit me on the back of the neck and I thought ‘this has got power,’” he once said of that first body surf in 1962.

“And we never left.”

Simpson would spend decades mastering the world-famous Wedge and he created Viper Fins, a duck-like rubber fin that allows bodysurfers – and later bodyboarders – to get longer rides on waves.

Simpson, 86, died on Jan. 21, his health declining following a stroke last year.

Viper Fin creator Fred Simpson charged the Wedge through the decades. This image taken in July 24, 1996 by photographer Ron Romanosky. (Photo courtesy of Romanosky)

While Simpson didn’t come up with the swim fin concept, he redesigned it in a way that revolutionized the sport of body surfing, a product that would earn a cult following in Newport Beach and around the world.

Simpson grew up in Long Beach and attended college at UCLA, where he was a swimmer and water polo player. After a short stint in the Army, he got a sales job with Xerox in Culver City.

He would go dressed to work in his suit with a Speedo underneath in case a big swell showed and he could slip out of the office, telling his bosses he needed to go to “an outside sales call,” he recalled in a 2014 interview.

It wasn’t long until he moved to the Newport Peninsula to be close to the Wedge, a man-created mutant wave that bounces off a rock jetty to double in size, creating a wedge that breaks onto shallow water.

Kevn “Mel” Thoman recalls seeing a photo of Simpson charging a massive wave in the book “The Art of Body Surfing,” the image luring Thoman from Culver City to seek out the Wedge.

“He literally wrote the book on staying in the tube when it was super hollow,” Thoman said.

At age 29, Simpson was on the TV show “To Tell the Truth,” where a group of celebrities would try to uncover a contestant’s identity from a choice of three possibilities. Bald at an early age with an appearance older than he was, no one guessed it was him riding the big wave.

Simpson also did a voiceover for “Thrill Seekers,” a movie about Bud Brown where the Wedge was highlighted. In the ’90s, he was featured on the show “How Did They Do That?”

Photographer Ron Romanosky’s friendship with Simpson dates back to the mid-1960s. Romanosky recalled how he and a friend were jumping off the rocks onto the sand, seeing who could jump the farthest.

Simpson joined in and out jumped them by a foot, despite his small stature, Romanosky said.

At that time, there were few options for bodysurfing gear. There were the Churchill fins, created in the 1930s, and the Voit Duck Feet.

But Simpson had an idea for how to make them in a different way – instead of a regular fin that looked like a webbed foot, he’d create walls on the sides of the fin, flushing all the water downward through the center of the fin instead of out to the sides.

An early ad of the Viper Fin. (Courtesy of Kevin "Mel" Thoman) — An early ad of the Viper Fin. (Courtesy of Kevin “Mel” Thoman)

It was in the late ’70s when he created a prototype out of old balsa wood and at the suggestion of Romanoski showed fellow Wedge charger Don Redington. Simpson and Redington would create the company Pacific South Swell, the parent company of Viper Fins.

A friend suggested Simpson put a dot on the fins, so in contests when the judge spotted the fins, they could give extra points. That became an iconic symbol for the Viper fins, a splat of yellow and orange paint.

The fins didn’t really take off until the 1990s, when bodyboarding grew popular.

The Wedge would become the common denominator for a group of people through the years who had a shared passion for bodysurfing and later the “boogers,” as Romanosky called those on Boogie Boards, who descended upon the wave – in part due to the Viper fins.

In the water, Simpson had his own distinct style, the way his lead arm would stretch out and his palm on the face of the wave, the other tucked in a way some called “the chicken wing.” The original Wedge crew simply called it “The Fred.”

In the ’90s, Simpson would hang out on the beach catching up with old friends, Romanosky said.

“When the waves were up, he was more interested in talking to us on the sand than getting in the water,” Romanosky said. “He just loved to talk. I would say ‘Fred, the swell is going to be gone by the time you’re done talking.’”

The Wedge Crew from the ’60s through the ’80s had a rowdy, rough reputation, but Simpson was always kind to outsiders, said bodysurfer Tim Burnham, who created the film “Dirty Ol’ Wedge,” which featured Simpson.

“Fred meant a lot to a lot of people in the surf world,” said Burnham. “He treated everyone with respect, he was so kind. He always had time for anyone who had time for him. He was a very special guy… What he created with Viper Fins is iconic in the world of surf.”

Simpson was known for his sense of humor and fearless approach to riding waves.

There was one massive day in July 1996 when Simpson was out in the water with the “heavy hitters” of Wedge Crew riders.

Waves were in the 30-foot range and Simpson didn’t hesitate to drop into the biggest bomb of the day, Thoman recalled.

Simpson had his share of spills on the waves, fracturing his spine, twice breaking his left wrist and suffering a concussion. And blood, lots of blood, through the years.

He was known for riding a wave until it ended, never pulling out, Romanosky said.

“With the closing out coming and no possible way of making it through a mega washing machine wanting to tear you limb from limb, Fred would go on until no one could see him again,” Romanosky said. “That was admirable.”

Plans for a Hawaiian-style paddle out are pending.

Viper Fin creator and Wedge charger Fred Simpson dies at age 86 Orange County Register

News Details

Viper Fin creator and Wedge charger Fred Simpson dies at age 86

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

News

CONTACT INFO

QUICK LINKS

SERVICES

CURRENT NEWS