Some younger dudes may not know about Sean Collins but don't skip over this name. Sean was a self-taught meteorologist who was literally the surf shop forecast man. If you needed to know about the waves and weather, this was your dude. With his knowledge of the water, he went on to create formulas to predict the weather that would affect the surf conditions. Obviously, he quickly became a huge asset to the surfing industry because this was way back in the 60s and 70s. People couldn't pull out their iPhone from their pullover to find out the forecast in seconds. This man went on to do some incredible things within the surf style industry, most of them you are probably well aware of and just had no idea where they came from.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Sean went on to use his knowledge to find the best swells in Mexico and found some of the best locations that are known for big-name surfers ripping waves on today.  He also created a surf report service called Surfline which was a call-in service for surf breaks and reports around Southern California. With the advancements in technology, Surfline quickly went online and offered live video streams of the shore. Now, it's one of the most prominent websites for checking out surfing conditions, as well as surf shops, surf style. It's the ultimate place to go for a surfer. Forget Facebook!

SEAN'S BIGGEST RECOGNITIONS

Sean has been recognized for many things within the surfing industry, and one of the major accomplishments came in 1999 when he was named one of the "25 Most Influential Surfers of the Century" by Surfer magazine. In 2006, he was named one of the "100 most powerful people in Southern California" by The Los Angeles Times' West Magazine, especially due to his positive influence that he has had on California's surf industry. 2 years later, Sean was honored for his phenomenal surf forecasting capabilities and was placed into the Surfers' Hall of Fame in Huntington Beach, California. In 2013, he was added into the Surfer's Walk of Fame and also received the Surf Culture Award. He was also honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Those are only a small list of his accomplishments, and the biggest and best one goes without an award. He was able to look at the waves and weather and determine whether the surf shops should board their windows because a big storm was on their way. More importantly, he would be able to tell those exact surf shop owners if they should also grab their boards to carve the wicked storm waves coming.

HOW HE CHANGED THE INDUSTRY

It may seem hard to fathom, but there was a day when determining what the waves were going to be and how the weather was going to change was much harder than it is today. You know, back in the day when there was a lack of technology and people didn't have all these devices to find out what the forecast is instantly. The surfers around the world relied on this guy, and not only did he know when the good waves would hit, he knew where! He was the ultimate friend to have if you were into surfing.  Aside from that though, Sean Collins was the one who created the formulas to predict the weather that we can find out so instantaneously now.  He created those formulas so that the weather could be predicted. 

As a surfer, you know that your surf style is determined by the weather. Without the waves, you wouldn't be able to surf and discover your true talent. Sean Collins is a legend within the industry for his impeccable work. He was also a surfer himself, and that alone deserves an entire post.