Including Ericeira, a very secret slab and even
Nazaré, all shot from the world's tiniest helicopter…
If his Facebook photos are to be believed,
Pedro Miranda is a striking and hirsute man of, let’s say, late
twenties to early thirties. Good jawline, a hint of a beard without
looking like he came from 2010 and two fine legs held up by a
powerful superstructure.
Pedro is part of a two-man “drone operation team highly
specialised in surf and bodyboard action shots, a niche where we’ve
been doing a lot of experimentation trying to get new unseen
angles.”
Their setup is a custom-made DJI Quadcopter with a GoPro
Hero4 Black mounted on a three-axis gimbal.
(Ladies? Are you wet?)
Pedro sent me his movie The Flying Machine today and
wrote, “The waves featured in this clip are all in Portugal, and
all captured during the last winter season. There are a few waves
captured in several spots of Ericeira, including the ‘Cave’ which
is one of the dangerous slab in the country. The most perfect waves
on the clip were captured during one of the best sessions of the
season on a secret spot of the west coast. At the end of the
clip, there’s some action on Nazaré, Garrett McNamara rescuing
Rodrigo Koxa from the rocks, a wave from Ross Clarke-Jones, another
massive one by Tom Butler, and the last wave which you may
recognise from Samsung’s latest commercial We are Greater than
I. That’s Sebastian Steudtner surfing that wave. He won this
year’s XXL Biggest Wave Award on an even bigger wave caught that
day.”
My advice?
Breeze past the first minute, it starts slow, y’see, and maybe
avoid it altogether if a cross-cultural mix of bodyboarding and
surfing ain’t your thing.
Iconic surf brand reported to be filing for
bankruptcy as early as tomorrow, says Bloomberg Biz.
Nothing lasts forever. Not the Roman Empire,
not the German Third Reich, not the ASP and, now, not the most
iconic of all surf brands, Quiksilver.
Quiksilver. Yeah.
As reported by Blooomberg Business this morning,
“Quiksilver Inc. is preparing to file for bankruptcy as soon as
Tuesday evening in a deal that would hand control of the
beleaguered surfwear chain to investment firm Oaktree Capital
Management, according to people with knowledge of the
deliberations.
“As part of a prearranged Chapter 11 restructuring, Oaktree
would provide $175 million in debtor-in-possession financing and
assume control of the reorganized company, said a person familiar
with Quiksilver’s thinking, who asked not to be identified because
the proceedings aren’t yet public. Any plan would require court
approval.
“Representatives for Huntington Beach, California-based
Quiksilver and Oaktree didn’t immediately respond to requests
for comment.
“The company had been trying to attract bidders for a
management-led buyout, ideally outside of a bankruptcy, people
familiar with the situation said last week. But that approach would
have made it harder to abandon the company’s costly leases,
something Chapter 11 will allow Quiksilver to do.
“Oaktree, based in Los Angeles, already has a connection to the
surfwear industry. The firm, together with Centerbridge Partners,
is the largest backer of Billabong International Ltd., the
Australian brand. Oaktree has a total of more than $100 billion
under management.
“Quiksilver shares tumbled as much as 78 percent to 10 cents in
late trading Tuesday after Bloomberg News reported on the
bankruptcy plan. The stock had already lost 79 percent of its value
this year, closing at 46 cents earlier in the day. The company
received a warning from the New York Stock Exchange in July that
its low stock price put it at risk for being delisted.
“Quiksilver rode the fashion trend toward surfer and
skateboarding styles in the 1990s and early 2000s, along with
names like Billabong and Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. The
company, which teamed up with athletes such as surfer Kelly Slater
and skater Tony Hawk, sponsored surfing competitions around the
world.
But a shift away from surfer fashion — along with broader
pressures on the apparel industry — took their toll. After a period
of heady expansion, Quiksilver struggled to compete with
fast-fashion retailers like H&M. Those brands lured away
Quiksilver’s teen customers with lower prices and on-trend clothes,
and the company lost its cachet with athletes.
“The chain suffered a 13 percent decline in sales last year,
with its net loss widening to $309.4 million.
“Quiksilver has been working with FTI Consulting Inc. on a
restructuring, and is using Peter J. Solomon Co. as its investment
banker. The company plans to continue with a store-closing effort
after filing for bankruptcy, according to one of the people.
Quiksilver’s European and Asia-Pacific operations won’t be part of
the filing, the person said.”
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The Virtue of Selfishness!
By Myke Bartholomew
Like Ayn Rand said, "The question isn't who is
going to let me; it's who is going to stop me."
As a surfer, I am a selfish, selfish person. I
will greedily scratch for any and all waves that peak in my
vicinity. I will roll my eyes if you are in better position to take
one. I will look at shore and think, “There are no waves for YOU”
when I see you paddling out. I will give you the silent treatment
when you get there. I will get mad at you if you get mad at me for
dropping in on you. I will shake my head in silent disapproval if
you drop in on me. I will only respond, “Good” if you ask me how
I’m doing. I probably won’t listen if you answer back. I will
audibly groan if I see a crowd in the lineup. I will avoid any
plans that conflict with my plans to surf.
I know I am not the only one to feel this way. I know this from
experience. This weekend, the breaks in Southern California came to
life for the first time in what felt like months. I surfed at
multiple spots. Each time, I was greeted by hoards of likeminded,
surf thirsty, wave mongers. I was dropped in on. I was given the
silent treatment. I was jockeyed for position. I was talked shit
to. I was disregarded.
What is it about surfing that produces such angst and
self-centeredness? A sport that is otherwise reveled for its
Zen-inducing influence? Individualism. That’s what. Surfing is a
sport that supports the one. There is no team, no roster, and no
room for anyone else. Just one person. One board. One need. When
waves are a desired but limited resource, it becomes survival of
the fittest. Competition ensues. And the needs of the one are
promoted over the needs of the many. We care less about our
neighbor and care only about our fix. Addicts. Selfish addicts.
Today when I realized this, I felt dirty. I needed to resolve
it. I sat in the lineup and let each wave pass me by. I watched
everyone else smile. It occurred to me that we are all competing
for the same thing. Not waves but happiness. The pleasure that only
comes from riding water. The replication of that feeling; that
indescribable feeling. So today, I gave everyone else my happiness
and received nothing in return. I don’t know how long that will
last.
As a solution-oriented person, I’ve been searching for a more
permanent answer. One that will offer more reward. It finally
became so clear to me: I wish everyone else would quit surfing, so
I can be happy.
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Big: Dane Reynolds turns 30!
By Chas Smith
Our favorite bird has become a man.
Has any single surfer meant more to our beloved
pastime over the last decade plus one year than the enfant
terrible from Long Beach/Ventura? Has any single surfer made
us hold our breaths, more often, or gasp as louder? I will say
non! And the boy turned 30 this weekend past. He is an
adult!
Let us, then, take a quick look back at the first half of a
fabulous career. Do you remember Young Guns 2? He was 19 then but
not enough superlatives can be employed to describe his ferocious
attack.
Do you remember when he joined the World Tour, winning rookie of
the year? His surfing was spectacular, of course, but his manner
was even better. He was hungry to learn, to grow and change. I
interviewed him at his house, around this time, and we had many
laughs and I wrote a bad story (on purpose!) which he subsequently
marked up with pen (innovative!).
Do you remember when he got 4th place in 2010? 4th in the world!
But everyone knew Dane was better than 4th. He was number 1. “The
greatest free surfer in the world!” according to Andy, or Bruce, if
I recall.
Do you remember when he quit? He did not think the tour suited
him, calling it “retarded” and broke many hearts. As much as we
loved Dane’s video bits we loved him competing too.
Do you remember when he launched MarineLayerProductions.com? A
game changer! More clips and better clips than anyone out there.
Beautiful and inspiring!
Do you remember when Quiksilver paid him 23 million dollars?
Worth every penny!
Do you remember his section in Dear Suburbia? My
favorite by far.
Do you remember when Quiksilver almost declared, and maybe still
will, declare bankruptcy (yesterday)?
What will the next decade plus one year hold for our Dane?
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Jerks: The Welsh surfers hating Surf
Snowdonia!
By Jem Evans
Welsh surfers shouldn't complain, they should learn
to shred!
There is a tiny little shit storm brewing in South
Wales. Surf Snowdonia hasn’t invited the cream of
Welsh surfing to show off their wave pool and the result is a
significant amount of moaning, huffing and even grommet abuse
which came to a head this weekend on social media.
Red Bull seem to have added fuel to the fire by organising a pro
contest at the venue and also overlooking the Welsh brothers. A
Swansea grommet opined that maybe RB weren’t that concerned by
giving us lot a shot at bogging around with the best free surfers
in the world. After a lengthy dressing down and character
assassination he was instructed to “give up” surfing by two of his
now former idols. High spirits indeed.
Ever since the invitee list for the press day in Snowdonia
was released, there have been a fair few prominent Welsh surfers
stating what a travesty it is that we were not represented at the
facility. The Inertia, a racist but otherwise well-intentioned
website, published an article suggesting it was a ‘PR disaster’
(click here), but people are forgetting that
Surf Snowdonia is a business (see Oxford dictionary) and requires
top talent to highlight what it is trying to sell.
The facility needs paying customers coming through the doors to
pay the bills, they have consulted knowledgeable people in British
surfing and have taken advice on whom to invite to surf their
waves, for free, to showcase their machine.
The top surfers in Britain got the nod, among them, Oli
Adams, Alan Stokes and Ben Skinner, all of whom’s talent is without
reproach. They dutifully turned up, tore the lefts and rights to
pieces and declared the place to be a success. Job done.
But oh, what’s this?
There’s a group of my peers that seem really upset about this.
They are incensed that both Surf Snowdonia and Red Bull have not
included any of us on their respective invitee lists: “Shame there
were no Welsh surfers invited”, “Why are we not represented?” “We
can compete at this level” so on and so forth.
Here’s the thing.
Firstly Surf Snowdonia is a private enterprise and they can do
what the fuck they want. They made a choice on whom to invite and
went with it. The fault can only be ours if we are not glaringly
brilliant enough to get an invite. Red Bull are organising a pro
contest. There are currently no real professional surfers in
Wales. This, too can only be our fault, no-one elses.
Secondly, this facility is in North Wales, four hours away from
the winging masses. Ordinarily we don’t give a shit about what goes
on in North Wales, and from a surfing perspective there is a
complete disconnect between the north and south of our green, wet
country.
Very few of us make the drive up north to surf, we have plenty
of waves down here. Why, suddenly, are we so concerned with getting
a free ticket to surf a man-made wave in the middle of nowhere? If
you want to surf it that bad, get in your car, drive up there, pay
your entry fee and surf the bloody thing.
Lastly, the only PR disaster here is the fact that the moaners
are inadvertently advertising our mediocrity. If there is no talent
shining bright enough in Wales to get even an invite to a glorified
bath tub then we really do have problems.
The only reason we’re not on any invite lists is because we have
been deemed unworthy. Tough shit. If you don’t like it, do
what Carwyn Williams did: get in your van, drive to Europe, put
yourself up against Europe’s best and become a better surfer.
Put in the effort and refine your trade. That way you may get
invited to things like this and you can stop sucking on your sour
grapes and have some self-respect.
