Eddie Aikau
Edward Ryon Makuahanai Aikau, the lifeguard and surfer, who was famously lost at sea in 1978.

Saved: The Eddie is back on!

Quiksilver and the famous Aikau reach tentative agreement to hold the Eddie this year!

Do you remember back in September when we reported that Red Bull had been flying back and forth to Hawaii to meet with the Aikau family in an attempt to secure media rights to the 2016/17 Eddie?

(The 10-year Quiksilver-Aikau deal was about to expire so the Aikaus were shopping around for a better deal.)

And, then, a few weeks later, that Quiksilver were going to pull out of the event because an agreement couldn’t be reached with the Aikaus?

And, then, when talks officially broke down, and it was revealed contest permits were owned by Quiksilver, that was that?  No Eddie?

Instead, Quiksilver were playing around with different titles: The Quiksilver: In Memory of Jose Angel, The Quiksilver: In Memory of Todd Chesser, The Quiksilver: In Memory of Brock Little.

Our money was on The Brock, of course. How could it not? 

Today we can reveal that pragmatism has finally prevailed. The Aikaus need the Quiksilver permits; Quiksilver has a ton of Eddie gear that still needs to be shifted.

Our source suggests the 2016-17 event, if it runs, and most likely it won’t given it’s only been run eight times in thirty years, will be The Quiksilver: In Memory of Eddie Aikau. 

But next season? Up for grabs, baby!

Now, what was your favourite moment from this year’s Eddie? This is mine! A platoon of rescue skis… beached… by a thirty-foot closeout.

 

 


Mikala Jones
You toss a subtle hand drag to set up, get your line locked in. So deep, so easy. So long as you don't do something stupid, like bail for no reason, you're gonna be flying out in a few seconds with your heart in your throat and a mental image that'll last for decades. Every eye in the lineup is on you. You're gonna be a hero! | Photo: @mikalajones

Surf Quiz: What would you do?

The barrel of your life. Paddler is sucked backwards and puts you in a cartwheel to destruction. Your response?

It’s been a while since the last installment of What Would You Do? Mainly because I haven’t been able to think of anything good. There isn’t much variety in the surf experience, couldn’t come up with anything realistic. Don’t want to get too weird with it. Start writing stories about trans-mermaids luring men into underwater fuck palaces.

But I’ve got something today! With a video demonstration to boot. Easy to keep it short and sweet.

So… you’ve locked in to a world class stand up barrel. Easy roll-in entry, big open section you could make it through with your eyes closed. This is the type of shit most surfers dream about, never actually experience.

You toss a subtle hand drag to set up, get your line locked in. So deep, so easy. So long as you don’t do something stupid, like bail for no reason, you’re gonna be flying out in a few seconds with your heart in your throat and a mental image that’ll last for decades.

Every eye in the lineup is on you. You’re gonna be a hero!

One guy is so wrapped up in your feat of derring-do that he paddles mid-face then…just…stops.

He’s staring right at you, all forward momentum gone. Three more strokes and a duck dive would have put him safely out the back. Instead he pokes the nose in from a dead stop, doesn’t penetrate, then starts getting sucked back over the falls.

His board comes flying backwards into the barrel, whacks you in the face, and sends you on a hell cartwheel to destruction. Turns a beautiful situation into something that’s about as bad as it can get. Excepting an imaginary world where the trans-mermaids grab you while underwater and bundle you off to their fuck-palace.

Your board’s broken, your face hurts like a motherfucker, and Mr Doofus is reeling his board in right next to you.

What would you do?


Rumor: Dane’s new brand is “Former!”

Finally! All is allegedly revealed!

How am I spitting such rad right now? How am I backing up post after post after sweet sugary post? Cuz I drunk foo! I dranking vodka black cherry sodas like they going out o style but sit down for a minute because I just figured out some hot hot hot hot hot hot stuff. Some Dungeons and Dragons level bizness. Some… like….. ummmm…. illuminati shit.

Remember Dane Reynolds’ and Craig Anderson’s super brand Destroyr? Remember how it died? And then came back to life? And then died?

Well it is totally alive now and not called Destroyr at all but now Former!

Like…..

FORMER!

Like…

Not LATTER!

And how do I know this?

Because back-masking.

Because I grew up in the era when bands would layer Satanic messaging into their albums.

Because vodka black cherry sodas.

Of course you have seen Dane Reynolds’ and Craig Anderson’s etc. film on Stab but have you played it all the way to the end when skaters Ausyn Gillette and the gorgeous Dylan Rieder show up and the music hammers? And the word “Former” floats at the top of the screen?

Watch it here!

And the name is so Former!

Right?

Yeah!

It’s such a stairway to heaven! So bustle in your hedgerow!

Will you buy?

Will you wear?

Will you thrill?

Of course you will!

Dane Reynolds is back and at Tilly’s soon!

Hope reigns supreme!


Rage: I’m so angry at Surfing (magazine)!

Just kidding! But angry Facebook live face rules!

I don’t understand technology and it makes me lots ashamed. I ain’t hiding, like some, my technological inabilities underneath a blanket of faux too-cool-for-shit-bro. No. I’m just dumb. My brain is soggy. It doesn’t work good no more. Millennials are stealing from me while I peck at my keyboard all confused and dumb.

But I just googled something just now and saw Surfing magazine doing a Facebook live thing about which 540 was better. Kelly’s or Albee’s. A snowboarder taught us all today that we, as surfers, are confused and dumb when it comes to rotation and neither Kelly’s nor Albee’s were 540s but maybe 720s instead.

Whatever.

I went to their Facebook live and was totally confused. Like, why hasn’t Surfer eaten Surfing yet? What does Surfing bring to this world besides grown men drooling over teenaged boys? Seriously. The Inertia is for closeted lesbians, Stab is for East Indian fake computer bots, Surfer is for my 50 year old brother-in-law but what’s Surfing for?

Seriously.

Just kidding!

I know! For hot high performance action! Right? Yeah! And their Facebook live thing dissecting hot high performance action is right on!

So I clicked.

On one side of the page was Albee Layer with an eyepatch. On the other Side was Kelly Slater mid poop. And lots of hearts and thumbs up scrolled past underneath.

A ticker of engagement!

There was an option, though, for an angry face. I started smashing this button as furiously as I could, trying to fill the whole thing with angry faces.

I couldn’t win.

There was always either a heart or a thumbs up floating amidst my rage.

The moral of the story is that Surfing is happy place!

And also, why the hell are Surfing readers voting for Kelly Slater? It’s a matter of minutes until that publication is eaten by Surfer.

Seriously.

Just kidding!


Exclusive: A sneak peek at JJF in Tahiti!

A turn that makes me red in the face!

Hurley could not have picked a better person to follow with a camera for twelve months or a better time in which to follow. The series is slick but, more importantly, feels significant. Maybe because we are witnessing a unique talent coming entirely into his own.

Yes, Twelve shines and episode 5 finds John John Florence in Tahiti. Remember when I said he wasn’t going to compete at Trestles because I had inside information that he was injured? Look at how right I was! Here’s an exclusive photo of John John hobbling with a cane!

screen-shot-2016-11-21-at-2-13-31-pm

But want to know what Blonde Ambition went and did to me? He went to Trestles and competed! Here’s an exclusive clip of John John Florence giving ‘er hell on a meaty turn. Really leaning into that balky knee!

And boy is my face red. I will never go off half-cocked like that again, predicting nonsense etc. Oh who am I kidding! Guess what I just heard? Dane’s new brand ain’t called Destroyr and is being unleashed on the world any day now!

But back to John John Florence. Episode 5 releases tomorrow. Here its teaser. Gorgeous! My face! So red!