life in the late 1960s and has evolved into today's common thruster style, defined by its three fins, usually around in length. The thruster was invented by Australian shaper Simon Anderson. Midsize boards, often called funboards, provide more maneuverability than a longboard, with more flotation than a shortboard. While many surfers find that funboards live up to their name, providing the best of both surfing modes, others are critical. "It is the happy medium of mediocrity," writes Steven Kotler. "Funboard riders either have nothing left to prove or lack the skills to prove anything." There are also various niche styles, such as the Egg, a longboard-style short board targeted at people who want to ride a shortboard but need more paddle power. The Fish, a board that is typically shorter, flatter, and wider than a normal shortboard, often with a split tail (known as a swallow tail). The Fish often has two or four fins and is specifically designed for surfing smaller waves. For big waves, there is the Gun, a long, thick board with a pointed nose and tail (known as a pintail) specifically designed for big waves. The physics of surfing The physics of surfing involves the physical oceanographic properties of wave creation in the surf zone, the characteristics of the surfboard, and the surfer's interaction with the water and the board. Wave formation Ocean waves are defined as a collection of dislocated water parcels that undergo a cycle of being forced past their normal position and being restored back to their normal position. Wind causes ripples and eddies to form waves that gradually gain speed and distance (fetch). Waves increase in energy and speed and then become longer and stronger. The fully-developed sea has the strongest wave action that experiences storms lasting 10-hours and creates wave heights in the open ocean. The waves created in the open ocean are classified as deep-water waves. Deep-water waves have no bottom interaction and the orbits of these water molecules are circular; their wavelength is short relative to water depth and the velocity decays before reaching the bottom of the water basin. Deep water waves are waves in water depths greater than half their wavelengths. Wind forces waves to break in the deep sea. Deep-water waves travel to shore and become shallow-water waves when the water depth is less than half of their wavelength, and the wave motion becomes constrained by