Sean Collins - Telegraph The veneration of surfers for the ideal cresting swell, and their dedication to tracking it down, is legendary. But for decades after surfing's popular rise in the postwar era, such waves usually proved elusive. Flat calm oceans frustrated surfers everywhere, including Collins, who had grown up on the beaches of California. Determined to maximise his productive surfing time, he began to scrutinise meteorological data and maritime charts. But instead of using them to predict what effects weather might have on shipping, he investigated what the consequences of offshore storms might be for surfers in Hawaii, or Mexico. "I was obsessed," he once said. Number one with getting good waves, and number two because it was a personal challenge. I was just thinking of myself. His predictions would have counted for little had they not been accurate, but they almost always came up trumps (Collins himself estimated a five per cent failure rate). Instead of being forced to drop everything and rush to the beach as news spread of great waves, surfers were able to plan their trips. Soon Collins was being besieged by "friends of friends" calling up for forecasts, and realised that his insight could become a money-spinner. In 1984 he co-founded the telephone tip service Surfline, before leaving in 1986 to found his own company, Wavetrack. By 1990 Wavetrack was doing so well that Collins was able to buy out Surfline, which he transformed. A few years later it was fielding nearly a million calls a year, charged at $1.50 each. By then Collins was investing in cameras, which beamed live pictures of wave conditions onto his website, Surfline.com. The site now issues predictions to 1.5 million people each month, for locations from Bude to Maui. Such were his predictive powers that he even became known as surfing's "Alan Greenspan." Surfline's proprietary swell model, known as LOLA, is now so well regarded that it is used by America's Coast Guard. Sean Collins was born on April 8 1952 in southern California. His father, Whitney, was a builder and former naval lieutenant in the Second World War who took Sean on trips as far as Hawaii and Mexico in his 50ft sailboat. Sean started surfing on Seal Beach, California, at the age of eight, and soon his favourite part of the sailing races in which he and his father competed was the leisurely return trip, when he could scout out secret spots to go surfing. The combination of sailing and surfing helped him to find the best waves. "I've been in storms 100 miles out at sea, then surfed the same swells the next day," he said. I was always looking at charts to plan my surfing and sailing, and developed a keen sense about the ocean, which is at the core of what I live for. Sean was educated at Wilson High School in Long Beach, California, and took a few lessons in meteorology at Long Beach Community College. But after leaving full-time education he mostly dedicated himself to surfing, taking odd jobs to fund his perpetual quest for the perfect wave. That changed in 1983, with the birth of his first son. "I had to get a real job," he confessed, and when he was asked the following year to help found Surfline, he seized the opportunity. The eventual success of the business allowed Collins to devote much of time to chasing waves, and he would happily leave the office at a moment's notice to go surfing in Mexico; he took trips as far away as China. In 2005 his book California Surf Guide: Secrets to Finding the Best Waves was published. In 1999 he was named one of the 25 Most Influential Surfers of the Century by Surfer Magazine. Sean Collins was playing tennis on Boxing Day when he suffered a suspected heart attack. He is survived by his wife, Daren, and their two sons. Sean Collins, born April 8 1952, died December 26 2011