Pat Curren Requiem

On January 20, 2023, 90-year-old Pat Curren passed away while camped in the San Diego area. Pat was a major surfing figure in the late 1950s and beyond. As a distinctive pioneer of very early paddle-in North Shore waves over 20 feet, Pat meticulously conceived and crafted the equipment he used to do that. Harking from the distinctive Windansea, La Jolla, surf culture of that period, his crew included the likes of “Pal” Al Nelson, young Mike Diffenderfer, big-wave mysto Jim Fisher, Butch Van Artsdalen, and others. 

Curren was in no way a glory seeker. He rode for the personal rush of doing something that scared the shit out of everyone else, using a strategy that accentuated the danger. Rather than drop straight down the face, he normally took off going cross-face— positioned deep on a high angle diagonally, hanging on his inner edge and little else. His line could turn into a dangerous careen to the outermost lower corner, but it did the job in a way few others would risk. 

The extreme outlines and hard aft edges on the big-wave guns Curren shaped were possibly influenced by George Downing’s mentor Wally Froiseth. Froiseth’s elephant gun was pointy and heavily bellied with rails pulled straight back from a conservative wide spot to a narrow tail with low, hard edges—leaving nothing to spin out. Curren built on these design innovations. His abilities as a woodworker stylistically matched his wave-rider persona. In his later years, he plied that skill for collectors who paid up to $15,000 for his gun recreations to hang on their walls. Not the businessman, he depended on his wife, Mary, to act as his broker. As Pat aged and his physical skills ebbed, that income became increasingly seldom. 

Today’s surf culture may be familiar with his name, at least for the presence of his son Tom, a genius contemporary wave rider and three-time world champion, declared by many as the best in the world during the heights of his run. He is also survived by Tom’s younger brother, Joe, another excellent surfer and a second generation shaper and woodworker, who lives a low-key life on the coast in Oregon. Father and sons have been quiet souls who let their actions speak for them. Before his passing, the late John Elwell, a fellow historical San Diego surf figure, commented, “Curren dropped out of La Jolla High School as a truant, served time in a juvenile detention camp where he got a couple of tattoos. His high school counselor told him he would not amount to anything. Pat took a road less traveled. History will remember Pat, not the high school counselor.” 

[Feature Image Photo by by Mary Eich]