Revealed: Surfing’s best brother combination!

He ain't heavy! He's my brother!

Ain’t family grand? A wonderful admixture of parts and pieces that you have absolutely no control over. There you are, born one day, to a mother and a father whose genetic code makes up your very own and if you are lucky then brothers and sisters too. Maybe you like them, maybe you don’t but in this one matter your opinion does not change anything. They are yours. All of them are yours and forever. And ever.

It feels that this moment in professional surfing is particularly rich with good brothers and, thankfully, we have science to figure out which current set is best. So let’s rank in order from worst to winner.

Eric and Evan Geiselman

These two brothers make Florida look good and this alone guarantees a spot on the list but the Geiselman’s are more than just south east ambassadors. They both surf very well and have both surfed very well for many years, popping up time and again in various social feeds and surf-centric websites making airs or carving boisterously. They are handsome, too, and seem like they enjoy each other’s company. You can watch them here.

CJ and Damien Hobgood

Are like the quintessential brothers because they are identical twins but also forever fixtures in our surf constellation. CJ has, of course, won a world title. Damo is every surfer’s wet dream. They rode the foamball of industry largesse though the 2000 and got spit out into even better careers afterward with Salty Crew etc. The Hobgoods are the brothers you wish you were instead of the brother you are.

Mike and Owen Wright

Australia’s most famous pair since Ned and Dan Kelly, the Wrights beacons of family pride. Each brother has his own accomplishments, I think, but together they are a complete package. Owen, the clean-cut athlete. Mike, the rebel without a care. Right? I don’t really know but in my mind this is what they are each making up for the other’s lack. When Owen loses his hair in the front Mike grows his in the back. Etc. Right?

Nathan and John Florence

All the five Florence brothers should be included here (Ivan, Jamie O’Brien, Grayson Fletcher) but we are focusing on pairs and this pair oooooooeee. Seriously. John is the two time world champion and Nathan just paddled into some of the bigger waves I have ever seen recently during the famed Fiji swell of ’18. He surfed it on a Pyzel Padillac and I spent much of last evening thinking that “Padillac” is a great name for a surfboard. If you had to pick only two brothers to take around the world and be impressive Nathan and John would be hard to beat. Hard to beat if it weren’t for the Cotes.

Justin and Chris Cote

These two are basically why the surf industry still exists. Without them, and their tireless zeal, surfing would have turned into professional log rolling long ago and so it is with pride that I announce Justin and Chris Cote as the best brother combination in the game. Feast on them.