HISTORY OF MOREY Tom Morey would now like to be known quite simply as "Y". But that won't keep us from acknowledging his accomplishments of one of surfing's own greats - a man who is forever connected to some of the most impactful inventions and innovations of modern surfing history - the boogie board, softboard and the world's first professional surfing contest. Morey was born in Detroit, Michigan (he's a distant cousin of the Dodge automotive family), but was living in Laguna Beach, California, by 1944. An amazing drummer, he was soloing by the age of 12 and later performed professionally with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Stew Williamson, Bud Shank and Conti Condolli. His love of music was rivaled by his love of the ocean, and although the two careers have come together for years, it was surfing that was destined to be his great passion. In the late '50s he created his first "concave nose pocket", became one of the first sponsored pros and invented something he called the "Wing Tip," a turned-down nose that was foiled like the leading edge of an airplane wing._ In the fall of 1957, he graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.A. in mathematics. After graduating he went to work for Douglas Aircraft as a process engineer and then held various other jobs in which he refined his knowledge of composites and materials. An experience he spun directly back into his surf-related inventions. He left the corporate world for good in 1964, moved to Ventura and started the Tom Morey Skeg Works. In 1964, he created the first TRAF polypropylene fin (TRAF being FART spelled backward), innovating the first commercial interchangeable fin system. In 1965, the Skeg Works became Morey Surfboards. He introduced the Wave Set Removable Skeg System, then offered $1,500 for the winners of the Tom Morey Invitational Nose Riding Championships, held at California Street in Ventura (generally known as the world's first pro surfing contest). The following year, he upped the ante to a $5,000 purse. In 1965, Karl Pope became his business partner and the name changed again -- Morey-Pope Surfboards. They built, tested and marketed Pope's Trisect, a three-piece surfboard that folded into a suitcase. They co-founded WAVE (Water Apparatus and Vehicular Engineering) Corporation. From 1965 to 1969, the Morey-Pope surfboard line included classics such as the Camel, the Eliminator, the John Peck Penetrator, Bob Cooper's Blue Machine and the McTavish Tracker. He then he married Marchia Nichols, now Marchia Ann Morey, mother of bodyboarding and his four sons._He founded Morey Boogie in 1974, took on Germain Faivre as a partner in 1975 and began production of Boogie Boards, using internal twin fiberglass rods for support. He soon teamed up with surf great Mike Doyle, producing and selling the Morey Doyle Soft Surfboard. He later sold the rights to Kransco Corp., and for a decade, he kick backed in Hawaii experimenting with various surfcraft and drumming with his band Brotherhood at the Mauna Kea Hotel. Looking for a major change, he moved to Bainbridge Island, Washington, and joined Boeing in 1985, working in advanced composites, while continuing a consulting role with Kransco. But he burned out on the cold, gray Northwest and moved back to Southern California in 1992, immediately reentering the surf scene. Meanwhile, as Morey Bodyboards became a division of Mattel Toys and then Wham-0, Morey consulted. But life is spirals and waves. Tom pulled the consulting plug in January of 1999, founded soft-shell surfboard manufacturing company Starwaves and changed his name to Y. "I've been More Y all my life," he explains. "I'm finally going seriously after getting rid of More, so just plain Y does it." In May of 1999, he began production of Starwaves' first Y board, the Swizzle. "Neither soft nor hard, the Swizzle combines a composite backbone with uncrushable foam flesh and a tough elastic skin." Through word-of-mouth, Morey made and sold over a 1,000 prototypes in the first 5 years. In 2004, Tom changed the company to Surfboards by Y™ and began using TomMorey.com. In 2006, Tom started making shortboards and then in 2007, expanded to stand-up paddle boards (SUPs). In late-2007, Tom combined forces with Catch Surf™ of San Clemente, California to manufacture and market Surfboards by Y™. Tom is now a consultant for Catch Surf™ and continues to create new and innovative products. As a faithful follower of the Baha'i Faith as Tom explains, "When a guy removes smoking, drinking, gambling and chasing women from his life," says Y, "there's a whole lot of time to do other neat stuff."