pierre-agnes

Remember: Quiksilver boss Pierre Agnes

Lost at sea, but not forgotten… 

Pierre Agnes is missing, most likely gone. Slater posts this news and my head starts reeling, memories flood my vision.

His son, Mathieu, posted this morning, “I love you! I love you! You are the best father in the world so I will continue to search for you until I die.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bem4hj9HghC/?taken-by=mathieu_agnes

(Read the story of Agnes’ disappearance here.)

Pierre and his family played a pivotal role in my life.

I was barely sixteen when I met the Australian pro surfer Bryce Ellis. He swept me away by the time I was seventeen. He showed me the World. The first place he brought me was south-west France. We arrived in Bordeaux and Pierre was there to pick us up. He was the French Quik team manager, having just graduated from the University of Pau with a degree in Philosophy. It must’ve been 1986 or 1987.

Pierre drove us back to his mother’s beautiful villa on the quais of Capbreton harbor. The home was classic, elegant and full of soul. His mother that we never called anything else other than Madame Agnes was the quintessential model of subdued French capability, knowledge, intelligence, feminism and chic.
 She was a nurse, Pierre’s father was a doctor, as are his two brothers.

She taught me to make confiture, magret de canard, ratatouille and daube de boeuf. She taught me to starch linen sheets, groom geraniums, make tisane from herbs in the garden and all those other things French women need to know, me grappling to understand directives in the most complicated language in the world that would ultimately become my first language because they made me want to be French, just like them. They taught me the art of French understatement and non-definition.

Working his way from the bottom to the top, first Hodge retired, and when Murietta finally got chucked out after wreaking Quik-havoc, Pierre ended up at the helm. I was shocked by the decision, but goddammit, Pierre had dedicated his life to the cause.

I will never forget Pierre’s silent cheek-puff, suffering side-mouth-exhale while twinkling blue eyes laughed silently and that meant to say everything all the while saying nothing at all. He taught me to hide my game… de cacher mon jeux.
 His girlfriend during this period was Arbela d’Arcangues. He introduced me to a woman who would become a lifelong best friend. I lived between his momma’s villa and her parents; chateau for years as a kid. A young, naive American, I felt so blessed to have crossed the paths of people so rooted, so classy and honorable.

Working his way from the bottom to the top, first Hodge retired, and when Murietta finally got chucked out after wreaking Quik-havoc, Pierre ended up at the helm.

I was shocked by the decision, but goddammit, Pierre had dedicated his life to the cause. Of course it would be him, he’d been there since the very beginning, knew the subject in all intimacy. 
He married the stunning Poppy and they founded a family.

The night I met her, she was wearing a polka-dot Marilyn-Monroe camisole dress at the Waterman’s Ball or some shit. It was her. They got married, founded a family and he took the weight of Quik upon his shoulders.

Of course he could.

That sustained ironic cheek-puff would keep him going.

The world is a more sorry place without it, and him.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BF1KwFVj0_h/?hl=en&taken-by=pierre_agnes


Kelly Slater sings: “I like beer!”

Surfing's greatest singer/songwriter to make grand debut on world stage!

It was reported here just two days ago that the world’s greatest surfer would appear in the Super Bowl this coming Sunday. More people watch on television than anything else and so more people will see him paddling his surfboard to the horizon singing the song “I like beer.”

Now, the novice might find it amusing that Kelly Slater is paddling and singing but the surf enthusiast will know that our icon is as much a singer as he is a surfer and let us take a trip down memory lane beginning with The Surfers.

You, of course, recall the super band featuring Peter King, Rob Machado and Kelly Slater. Rolling Stone magazine described the second album thusly:

The Surfers’ best quality is their ability to present truly virtuosic rapping in ways that are commercially viable, and it would be ridiculous to suggest that Peter, Rob, and King Kelly’s talents have diminished since the debut release. But if that debut marked the very peak of The Surfers’ triumphal arc, buoyed by a swell of goodwill, the album Tubed is simply… here, arriving in the wake of a handful of solid but inessential singles that hardly compare to a zeitgeist-dominating force.

Even with rising success, The Surfers disbanded due tensions attributed to one of the member’s “extreme political position.” Undaunted, Kelly went on appearing many times with Jack Johnson…

…Eddie Vedder…

… and solo.

Derek Rielly says that he has the voice of an angel and I think it would be impossible to disagree. All of America will be treated to it, anyhow, this Sunday.


Mason-Ho

Watch: Mason Ho (Still) loves rocks!

And he has wonderful friends!

Mason Ho is a special young man. In the day and age of surf clip saturation his somehow push through the din and rise to the very top. Maybe it is the different angles he pursues. Maybe its his eclectic taste in music (filmer/editor Joe Alani says that all music choices are Mason’s). Maybe it is his unique heritage. Maybe it is all his wonderful friends. Maybe he is simply the right person for the right time.

Completely anti-depressive!

But back to the rocks. I am terrified of surfing near them. A product of too much Oregonian time, being bashed off the odd moules covered slab, being torn by barnacles. Mason treats them like fun and forgiving obstacles.

Watch and enjoy.

eel boy from rory @ digital good times on Vimeo.


Pierre, far right obvs, with Corts and Dane.

Breaking: Quiksilver CEO Pierre Agnes lost at sea…

"I love this man," says Kelly Slater.

Yesterday morning, the eleven-metre boat of Boardriders Inc president Pierre Agnes was found empty and washed ashore at La Graviere, the site of the Quiksilver Pro  in Hossegor, France.

Agnes, who is fifty-four years old, had gone fishing alone at first light, in a six-to-eight foot swell and with heavy fog.

As various French outlets reported:

“He was out alone at sea at 7:30 on Tuesday aboard his boat Mascaret III  after leaving the port of Capbreton. He sent a message to the port master  to explain that he was going to postpone his return because of the fog. An air search  is under way, in close coordination with the Maritime Prefect of the Atlantic, who is in charge of rescue operations at sea.”

One local surfer and business owner speculated that, “On the way back he likely tried to get to Capbreton using GPS but found himself at low-tide La Graviere. So the boat got rolled and he was lost. Now there’s all sorts of boats going backwards and forwards trying to find a body.”

Pierre-Agnes-dead
Pierre’s boat, Mascaret III, washed ashore at La Graviere.

Pierre was famously thrown into the job of Quiksilver CEO (or Boardriders Inc as the name was changed to earlier this year) in 2015 after the disastrous two-year reign of former Disney boss Andrew Mooney, whose most significant achievement was the loss of Kelly Slater as a team rider.

Earlier today, Kelly Slater posted a photo of Pierre on Instagram with the note, “I love this man.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/Belkkw2gwiY/?hl=en&taken-by=kellyslater


Julian Wilson shoulder
Should Apple centre the camera in their telephones so photos and videos don't have that weird looking to the side thing?

Julian Wilson: “I have some not very good news!”

World number three injured in mountain-bike accident.

Half an hour ago, the world number three Julian Wilson announced he’d separated his shoulder in a mountain-bike stack.

Julian, who turns thirty this year and who won the Billabong Pro in Tahiti last year in a dramatic last-minute switcharoo, told his IG pals, 

“I have some not-very-good news to share. I’ve come undone on my mountain bike doing some cross-training at Glenrock national park in Newcastle on Friday evening. I went over the handlebars, landed square on my shoulder and ruptured the AC joint. It’s not going to require surgery (but) it’s extremely uncomfortable hence the bag of peas on my shoulder. There’s no timeframe on the recovery. I’ll take it one step at a time. I’ll be doing everything…injuries suck and forced rest is never fun but I’ll be back stronger and better!”

Watch as a beautiful little child recreates the accident!

https://www.instagram.com/p/hCnd68g_by/?hl=en&taken-by=funnyfailvideos

An AC dislocation means an “Injury to the acromioclavicular (AC) joint on the top of the shoulder, where the collarbone (clavicle) meets the highest point of the shoulder blade (acromion).”

Literature on an AC sep suggests an athlete can be significantly weakened for a year after the injury.

The first event of the year is six weeks away, which may require a little fiddling with your fantasy surfer team.