Respect? Yeah, he had plenty.
Just off the wire: Wayne Deane, who’d been suffering from stomach cancer, has died.
From Facebook, “It is with great sadness that I have been informed and now have to inform you that Wayne Deane passed away peacefully this morning. My deepest condolences to his family and friends. Wayne was an iconic and popular figure and an extremely successful surfer, taking out many titles, locally and internationally, but most of all much loved and respected by his peers. Watching him rip up Kirra was an amazing treat.”
If y’ever spent any time on the Gold Coast you’ll know, or know of, the great Wayne Deane. The minimalist surfer and shaper owning the sets on any swell of note that swung around Point Danger. One of the tough, old-school men who wasn’t afraid to call a spade a spade.
Six years ago, the writer Jed Smith interviewed Wayne and Noa together in a compelling piece for Coastalwatch.
Last year, Surfer made a fine short about Wayne and Noa and their mutual love of shaping.
The family house is a sight to behold. And this What Youth short of Noa at home is also very good viewing, setting up, as it does, the background to Noa’s own remarkable career.
RIP LEGEND DEANE
Fucking cancer. Respect, and condolences to family and friends.
Lucky to have met the legend in person. Noa much later. Apple didn’t fall far. In the best of ways.
Fucking legand of a human! My deepest condolences to the Deane family.
Legend. Showed us the ropes at maxed out Haleiwa as a grom.
Rest in paradise champ
I, too, surfed with him at Haleiwa on a solid day. I loved his solid, no movement wasted, style. Damn, I, still, want to surf like that.
65 is far too young.