Quiksilver Bankrupt

Official: Dane Reynolds leaves Quik!

Chas Smith

By

Goodnight, sweet prince...

As reported here circa three weeks ago, Dane Reynolds was rumored to be walking away from a few years and a few million dollars on his Quiksilver deal. It has now been confirmed.

This string of stunning accuracy on reporting rumor (hello Twiggy! you too Kelly + Firewire! hi Stab!) has, indeed, put BeachGrit at the front of the line to receive surfing’s first Pulitzer prize. Our open hands tremble as we trust the dean of Columbia’s graduate school of journalism will appreciate what we do. Accolades aside, how do you feel about this move? Do you care?

Dane did certainly come of age with the Mountain and Wave on his nose. Remember how he used to hand draw it so cutely? But before that he absolutely thrilled in Young Guns, etc. He was everyone’s favorite surfer and he was Quiksilver’s actual surfer.

And now he is older. Still electric. Still such a wonderful personality but older. Will he ride for Vans head to toe? It seems like a natural fit but what will he actually do? This is the more important question. Will he decide that the tour is his place and compete, head down, for the next five years? Will he watch View from a Blue Moon and decide to knock John John off the perch by making the better best surf film ever? Will he become a recluse?

Only time will tell.

But do you want to know what is a virtual sure bet? BeachGrit’s Pulitzer.

 

Just in: Swamis’ surfer body identified

Chas Smith

By

Local shaper and longtime local dies under a full moon.

Two days ago a wetsuited surfer was discovered lying face down on the beach at North County San Diego point Swamis with a broken board still attached. He was pronounced dead when paramedics reached his body.

Today the body was identified as local shaper, longtime Swamis local Kenny Mann. Fox News reports:

“Kenny’s been surfing that area since he was about 10. He even made his own boards before he could drive. Swami’s was his spot. A lot of people even called that inside section ‘Kenny’s,’” lifelong friend J.P. St. Pierre said of 61-year-old Kenneth “Kenny” Mann of Encinitas.

St. Pierre said Mann had no medical condition and was in great shape. Mann was believed to have been night surfing Thursday night, which friends said he did often.

During the week, the National Weather Service put out a coastal flood advisory due to high tides and strong rip currents.

Mann and St. Pierre’s father were founding members of the surfboard company Moonlight Glassing. Now a stable among surfers around the world, the company opened in 1979.

“In the surfboard industry, [Kenny’s] a legend. I don’t think anyone has sanded more surfboards than him. He’s made surfboards for some of the biggest surfers in the world,” St. Pierre said.

St. Pierre can’t imagine was the first day back at the factory will be like.

“It’s going to be horrible. Just horrible. Our whole universe has shifted.”

So far, no plans have been made for his memorial.  He leaves behind no wife or children. 

Cause of death is still unknown.

Chuck Patterson skis on the ocean
"When I was surfing on the wave and wanted to make a turn I instinctively used my sticks which is basically silly but I instantly had the feeling that it was much easier," says the Maui-based surfer-skier-kite-guy Chuck Patterson. "That was pretty much an aha-experience."

Gimmicks: The never-ending saga!

Derek Rielly

By

Man surfs on skis; man snowboards on surfboard. It's extraordinarily fascinating!

If you wanted a word to define the current trend in surf, maybe absurd would fit. If this seems odd or exaggerated, let’s examine the evidence.

So far this year, we’ve seen the Hawaiian Jamie O’Brien set on fire at Teahupoo, Robbie Maddison ride the same place on a motorcycle and, as you’ll soon see, Chuck Patterson surf on a pair of skis and Quirin Rohleder surf powder snow on his regular surfboard.

The German label Bogner, who make civilised, if slightly pricey, sportswear, are behind this surf vs snow jam. Chuck Patterson is a SUP, ski, kite, snowboard guy and he is filmed surfing on snow skis. To compound our awe, Chuck appears unnaturally at ease in the waves.

The greatest challenge he said, “was the fact that my feet were steadily tied to the skis and the binding wouldn’t open up after a fall in the water…”

But!

“When I was surfing on the wave and wanted to make a turn I instinctively used my sticks which is basically silly but I instantly had the feeling that it was much easier. That was pretty much an aha-experience.”

Watch!

Quirin Rohleder is a Bavarian who learned to surf in Munich’s river wave. An old pal of mine, I can, and will, personally attest to Quirin’s skill in the ocean. My earliest etchings of memory are his frontside spins defecating symbolically on my Gold Coast-honed cutbacks when we both lived in Hossegor, France.

Here, Quirin greases good powder on his regular shortboard.

“It was almost like snowboarding,” he reports, “but with a less firm stand and a totally different drive.”

Do you like gimmicks? Is it restorative? Does it add something necessarily… unserious… to surfing?

Surf better today! Guaranteed!

Chas Smith

By

And in only two lessons!

I think that sometimes that you think that BeachGrit tugs the hyperbole chain, a move commonly referred to as “Click Bait” in the biz. Well that hurts my feelings. Everything we do is the best! But what you are about to see is guaranteed.

There is a man in San Diego, Mr. Dara Ghasghai, who gives surf lessons and he has a website. When I first saw it I laughed. But when I read again the the only thought coherent floating through my brain was, “Son of a bitch, this man is spitting truth!” I will not bore you further. Read his bio/introduction here:

I spent the last 12 years struggling with surfing and working hard to try and understand why I did not surf the top surfers. Through trial and error I have finally figured out the secrets to surfing and have been working on them for the past two years. I wanted surfing to become my main concentration in life and I do NOT want anyone trying to learn how to surf to go through the same struggles I did. The reason it took me so long to figure out the secrets to surfing is because I never had anyone to teach me. Now that I know the secrets I Can teach all of them to you! You never will have to go through the 12 years of struggle I did. I will have you standing up in one to two lessons max! 

The claims are not empty. For example, “Sick of going to a surf lesson and it not being geared directly to your struggles?” Well… “I pay spical attention to each individuals strugals and know how to correct every problem.”

And, “Tired of surfing and not making much improvement?” So… “I can point out your streangths and what you need to work on, I can teach you how to spot your own problems and correct them.”

But most importantly, “Do you want to increase the speed you learn surfing on your own?” Who doesn’t? “I know secret teaching methods that will help you learn very fast and be on you own. I teach only one person at a time so all my lessons are personalized for you.”

Yes, easy to laugh but how much would you like to have a man correcting your every problem. Like a personal Snips Parsons! Sign up here. But, and really, Mr. Ghasghani seems to be having the best time ever.

What? Still not convinced.

Only the crustiest, most heartless of surfers would fail to see the beauty of this video. A catchy tune filled with valuable truths! And one more, in action at crusty, heartless Windansea!

Now that’s what I’m talking about.

Rip Curl vs Saturdays Surf
Restrained urban sensibility vs quirky fashions from regional Australia! | Photo: Brodie Carr

War: Rip Curl vs Saturdays Surf NYC!

Chas Smith

By

"We will fight them on the beaches!" promises Rip Curl's chairman of marketing Neil Ridgway!

Rip Curl’s marketing chairman Neil Ridgway rattled his saber over the weekend,  telling The Australian’s esteemed Fred Pawle that “We will fight them on the beaches!” while maybe chewing an unlit cigar and maybe calling in some air support.

The them, of course, is the boutique surf label/retailer Saturdays. Specializing in minimalist surf chic, the brand started in New York City (2009) to great acclaim and now has stores in Japan and, soon, Bondi. This news, apparently, sent Mr. Ridgway into a jingoistic tailspin.

“Good luck to them…” he continued “…We’ve got more right than Saturdays do it. (?) We can pull our own art from 40 years ago. (?) If you surf or love going to the beach then you are probably going to be our customer. (?) We don’t chase down people who aren’t our customers. (?)”

And such hot talk! So militaristic! Roar!

Mr. Ridgway once sat me down in Portugal and poured hot talk on my head too. He told me he didn’t like what I was writing and that I spent too much time describing people’s clothes and that he didn’t know what I was up to with my investment banker. He was wearing an exquisite red beret the entire harangue. It framed his face almost perfectly. And even though he was steaming mad, brow furrowed, flushed, it was a glorious thing to behold. It bumped him right up into my top five people in surf and every time I see him my heart glows. I trust when he meets the Saturdays boys they will love him too and possibly give him a blue and white striped long sleeve shirt (buy here!) It will, most definitely, set his red beret off just perfectly.

Photo: Jack English
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