On the morning of December 21, 1987, during a lay-day for the Pipeline Masters, Herbie Fletcher rolled his modified Kawasaki JS550 down the beach at Pipeline and offered to tow a handful of pro surfers into waves that were feathering on Second and Third Reef and rolling through to First Reef. Fletcher had already made a name for himself as a piston-loving pioneer and pest, wave-jumping his PWC at various Orange County beaches as far back as 1975, racing the lip at Maalaea a few years later, then throttling into the lineup on a huge day at Waimea in 1985. Nearly caught inside at one point during his Waimea session, as writer Craig Lockwood recalled, "Herbie gunned the engine and flew over the top of the monster—completely airborne, passing outbound surfers." Herbie then circled around outside, picked his wave, bounced down the face and through the channel and finished with an open-throttle sand-skimming exit to the top of the  berm. Most  observers were unimpressed: "Send him out there with a half-tank of gas and see how well he does," one Waimea vet said to Lockwood.

Of the small handful of pros who took Fletcher up on his offer that morning at Pipeline, it was Martin Potter, with the ride you see at the top of the page, who made the biggest impression. 

Again, opinion was mixed, but leaning negative. 

Derek Hynd, SURFER: "Day 10 of the [Masters] waiting period saw Third Reef Pipe break all day. Martin Potter kind of prostituted himself behind a jet-ski, freeboarding some ocean swells running into Pipe. Bastard! Man, it looked funner than solo Magic Mountain, and Martin's speed—once released from the rope—was phenomenal, as he rode the giant flattops at 30 MPH."

 magazine: "In a stunt Evel Knievel would be hard-pressed to match, Martin Potter has himself towed into Second Reef Pipeline by Herbie Fletcher on his Jet Ski. An unfair advantage? The jury's still out, but judging from Martin's reaction at the end of the ride, he's guilty as hell."

Tow surfing, in one form or another, had been attempted or at least talked about for years. But Potter's wave was presented as a 16-shot two-page sequence, and by rights this should have been the moment where motorized surfing took off. But the moment passed. Potter went on to win a world title two years later. Herbie continued to buzz various lineups in Hawaii and California. 

Kerbox, Hamilton and Doerner would change the game, and get all the credit, in 1992. Menace he may have been, Herbie Fletcher deserves equal billing as a tow-surfing cofounder, and Potter's wave should probably be seen as the ignition switch to the whole thing. 

TOW SURFING '87: "A STUNT EVEL KNIEVEL WOULD BE HARD-PRESSED TO MATCH"

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