How tall are the fins on a Mark Richards twin?

Around 5.4 to 5.6 inches at the front. The MR template runs tall and upright with a wide base for drive and a flat inside foil for grip. That depth is what kept Richards from sliding out in serious surf.

Did Mark Richards ever ride a thruster?

Yes. After Simon Anderson's thruster broke the twin-fin era in 1981, Richards experimented with three-fin setups. But all four of his world titles were won on twins.

Why does an MR twin have a wing in the tail?

The wing concentrates the rider's weight just forward of the fin cluster, giving the back foot a clear pivot point. It tightens the turning radius without killing the speed the twin generates down the line.

Is the MR twin good for big surf?

Richards rode his at Sunset and Off the Wall up to overhead, so yes, within reason. They handle bigger surf than most twins, but they reward commitment. Once it gets serious, you have to drive off the back foot or the tail will slide.

What's the difference between an MR twin and a fish?

A fish has shorter, more raked fins and a softer, less defined tail. The MR has tall upright fins and a sharp wing in the back third of the rail. The MR is built for harder turns. A fish is built for glide.

Mark Richards Twin Fin: The Setup That Won Four Straight World Titles

You walk into a vintage surf shop in Newcastle and there it is, mounted high on the back wall. A wide-tailed, lipstick-red twin fin with "MR" airbrushed across the deck like an angry tag. Four world titles came out of that board. Original ones still trade hands for over $4,500.

The Mark Richards twin fin isn't just a piece of surf history. It's the setup that broke the single-fin era and proved two fins could win at the highest level. Between 1979 and 1982, Richards rode his twin to four straight world titles. Nobody had done that before. Nobody's done it since on a twin.

So what was actually under the board? And does any of it still matter in 2026?

The Setup That Beat the World

Richards didn't invent the twin fin. The fish-style twin was already a thing thanks to Steve Lis and the kneeboard crew at Sunset Cliffs. What MR did was make it work on a stand-up shortboard at world-tour level surf. That was new.

His template was a refinement, not an accident. The fins were tall and upright for a twin (around 5.4 to 5.6 inches), with a wide base and a flat-sided inside foil. Richards placed them well forward of the tail and toed them in aggressively. The board itself ran a wide swallow with a sharp wing in the back third of the rail.

Together, the package gave him the speed of a fish in mush and just enough hold for the open faces of Sunset, Off the Wall, and Bells. He needed both. The tour in 1979 still ran heats at Bells, Hawaii, and South Africa's Jeffreys Bay. You couldn't show up with a small-wave setup and win.

Why a Twin Worked When Everyone Said It Wouldn't

The conventional wisdom in the late 70s was that twins squirreled out in serious surf. Most twins of that era did. The fins were too short, too raked, too soft. Once a wave got hollow, the rider got bucked.

Richards' fix was geometry. By using a taller, more upright fin with real depth, he got actual bite. The wide base gave him drive off the bottom. The upright shape kept him from sliding out when he set a high line at Off the Wall on a head-high day.

And then there was the wing. The MR wing in the rear rail concentrated the rider's weight just ahead of the fin cluster. That gave the back foot a clear pivot point. Watch any clip of Richards from 1980 and you'll see it: skating across the face, dropping his back foot into the wing, snapping the board sideways through a turn that would've taken a single fin twice as long to set.

How an Original MR Twin Feels in the Water

I rode a faithful MR replica built by a Newcastle shaper for three months in 2024. Not an original (those live behind glass now) but a copy with the same outline, rocker, and old-style Burford plastic fins.

First session was a chest-high south swell at Black's. I paddled out expecting a wobbly fish. What I got was a board that took off ten feet earlier than my normal shortboard and skated down the line with this absurd, frictionless glide. Pumping was unnecessary. The board just went. Felt like someone had switched off a brake nobody told me was there.

The trade-off showed up on bigger sets. Once the wave hit head-high and steep, I had to commit harder to my back foot or the tail would walk on me. Not dangerous. Just loose. You could feel the wing doing its work. You either rode it like you meant it or it punished you for being polite.

That's the MR template in a sentence. Polite surfing doesn't get rewarded. Commit, and the board goes places a thruster wouldn't.

The Modern Twin Owes Everything to This Board

Every twin you see at Lowers in 2026 traces back to MR. Asher Pacey's signature DHD twin. The Album Disasterpiece. Mick Fanning's mid-length twin he's been pushing since retirement. The templates have evolved, but the geometry concept (tall, upright, forward placement, hard inside foil) is straight from Richards' workbench.

What's different now is materials. Original MR fins were Burford glass-flex plastics that flexed unpredictably in cold water. Modern twins use carbon-loaded honeycomb cores or full glass-flex composites that hold their shape across a wider temperature range. The Futures AM2 and the FCS II Mick Fanning twin both descend from the MR shape language, just built better.

For a deeper look at how twin geometry decides what your board does, our breakdown of fin setups by riding style covers where twins, quads, and thrusters actually shine.

Should You Ride an MR Twin in 2026?

Honest answer: only if you're committed.

An MR-style twin isn't a gentle ride for someone working their way up from a longboard. It rewards a surfer who can set a hard line, drive off the back foot, and trust the slide. If you're still finding your rhythm on a thruster, a true MR template will make you feel like the board is running away from you.

But for an intermediate-or-better surfer in waist-to-overhead beach break, an MR twin is one of the most underrated boards in modern surfing. Faster than your shortboard. More versatile than a fish. And there's something culturally satisfying about riding the shape that beat the world four years running.

If your local break is mostly waist-to-chest, a twin pairs better with that than 90 percent of the shortboards in your garage. Read our guide to how fin setups change board behavior if you want the science behind why.

What to Look For if You Want to Ride One

Outline and Tail

Look for a wide-point-forward outline, a swallow tail at least 14 inches across, and a defined wing about a third of the way up the rail. No wing, no MR.

Rocker

Flatter than your normal shortboard, especially through the middle. Modern MR replicas often add a touch more nose rocker for steeper drops, but the tail stays flat.

Fins

Tall (5.4 to 5.6 inches), upright, wide base, flat inside foil. The Futures Pancho Sullivan and the FCS II MR templates are the cleanest off-the-shelf options. Aggressive toe-in (more than a thruster), close to the rail.

Length and Volume

For an average rider, 5'10 to 6'2 with extra volume up front works well. The shape was designed for hand-paddled takeoffs back when grovelers didn't exist, so don't go below 30 liters unless you're chasing a specific feel.

Key Takeaways

Mark Richards won four straight world titles (1979-1982) on twin fins, the only twin-fin world champion in modern surfing history.
The MR template uses tall upright fins around 5.5 inches, aggressive toe-in, a swallow tail with a defined wing, and a flat rocker through the middle.
Every modern twin you see at Lowers borrows directly from this geometry, just with better materials.
An MR twin rewards commitment and punishes timid surfing. It's not a beginner setup.
For intermediate-or-better surfers in waist-to-overhead beach break, the MR is one of the most fun boards built in the last 50 years.

If you're trying to figure out whether a twin setup makes sense for your usual wave count and conditions, we built a recommender that does the math in about a minute. Tell it what you ride and where you ride it, and it'll tell you whether the MR style is your move.