Order your copy of the new 2026 SURFER print issue here.
“Southern Edge” is a new film featuring Torren Martyn and Ishka Folkwell. It’s the latest instalment from the pair, whose films (and Torren’s twin-fin surfing) have helped improve the surfing cultural landscape over the last decade.
In the new issue of the SURFER print edition, we sat down with Torren for an extended chat and for a feature-length profile. The hyperbolic byline was “Surfing’s Mid-Length Messiah On Chasing The Holy Grail of Hydrodynamic Compromise.” I’m biased, I wrote it, but it includes pretty much everything you need to know about Torren and his resonance in surfing. But what about the things you don’t know? Well, we scoured the cracks and found these hidden gems. We’d advise you to watch the new movie and then dive in.
He Was No Surf Nerd
“I never had much surfing history growing up, didn’t really read the surf magazines or the film,” he said. “I just went surfing.” There was no lineage, no surf-family mythology — just a kid from Byron Bay who found the ocean and loved it.
He Has A Potted CV
From a young teen in his mid-twenties, Martyn worked a string of ordinary jobs — starting at Crazy Clarks, a two-dollar shop in Byron Bay, before working in the warehouses of Ocean & Earth, Electric, and Afends, and running a learn-to-swim school in Bali. “I didn’t think surfing was a real career for me until my sort of mid-twenties,” he says. “I’m still surprised it’s still going.”
His Mid-Length Revival Came From A Hip Replacement
“My first mid-length was a 7’9”, but it wasn’t made for me. Simon had shaped it for an older bloke who just had a hip replacement. He carried the board around for a while and then ended up giving it back to Simon, before I got my hands on it. It was more than two feet longer than any board I’d ever ridden. It just flipped everything around and was the start of an incredible journey.”
He’s Riding Twin Fins at Shippies
The thought of negotiating those steps without a trailing, stabilising fin might seem insane, but for Torren, it’s not even really a consideration. “I’ve never felt like a twin is any sort of hindrance in any type of waves. They’ve only ever helped me surf the way I like to surf.”
Related: Two Sailing Kayaks. 3,000 Kilometers of Wild Coast. Torren Martyn’s ‘Southern Edge.’
His Boards Are Designed Around Individual Waves.
Having said that, he is working with Simon on boards that will specifically suit Shipsterns. “The boards have really just evolved around the wave shape and size, rather than my size and shape and surfing performance,” he says. Each board he’s collaborated with Simon Jones was essentially conceived for a specific trip and a specific wave, almost like a film made for a particular landscape.
He’s Living In A House For The First Time
Last year, Torren, his partner and their toddler swapped the warmth of Byron Bay for a couple of acres on Tasmania’s rugged Tasman Peninsula. “We bought a little bit of land, lived in a tent for a while, and set about turning a shed into a family home. Since I was a teenager, I’ve spent my lifetime living between vans, boats, and caravans. This will be the first proper house I’ve lived in for 20 years.”
Southern Edge Is An Environmental Rather Than a Surf Film
“I would call it an environmental film because of how it celebrates the natural environment and the people we meet.” Tasmania, he insists, is the main character — not the surfing. It’s a subtle but telling distinction from someone who has always used the ocean as a lens for something much larger. Though don’t worry, he still gets coned out of his mind in the film.
Order your copy of the new 2026 SURFER print issue here.
Related: Jack Johnson Lands 2026 SURFER Magazine Cover
Original Post from this site