Here, Gabriel and Mick, with fans, at Gabs’ world title
party. “Rip Curl had rented a condo at the Turtle Bay. It was a
really close knit affair with all Gabriel’s Brazilian friends. Mick
was in good form. Him and Gabriel are tight. There’s a definite
bromance going down. They were talking for so long, telling each
other how much they love each other. Mick gets really sappy after
dark and he was being very social on the North Shore this year. He
was having a good time every night. Gabriel was drinking a little
bit but not the point where he was drunk. He was very in control.
That freckled kid? Not sure who it was but Mick was engaging him as
well and the kid was having the conversation of his life. | Photo:
Steve Sherman/@tsherms
From the living history dept: Steve Sherman
goes behind-the-scenes on the North Shore!
By Derek Rielly
Gabriel's victory party, cops take over the Shore,
Brazilians rule everything else!
There is very little that separates the work of most
sporting photographers. A slightly different angle here, a
different lens there. Any sorta lifestyle shot is perfunctory, at
best.
Surfing is very lucky, then, to have Steve Sherman, a skater and
surfer from southern California. His photography is a kind of
subdued magic, controlled and exquisite, the kind of things you get
from a good movie. More than any other surf photographer, Sherman
has a sense of living history.
For the month of December, Sherm flew, on his own dime, to the
North Shore because, what, he was going to miss the title
showdown?
“The WSL cut me off, Channel Islands cut me off, so it was a
full art trip,” says Sherm. “I lost everything. They’re all blaming
budgets. I didn’t have to be anywhere, I could just do my thing and
I had the best artistic year of my life so I can’t be too
bummed.”
Apart from looming poverty, it was a different experience this
year for Sherman. He’s on the wagon with only the occasional breeze
of weed entering his temple. Already, he’s dropped twenty pounds
from his linebacker frame.
“I got off the beer because I was feeling shitty, my liver
wasn’t get rid of it fast enough. It was slowing me down. I went to
a part the other night and, fuck, I was seeing more things than
when I was lit up. And, I figured, if I want to keep surfing until
I’m seventy I’m going to have to clean things up a bit.”
Let’s stroll though the best of Sherman’s North Shore
photos.
First, the wonderful Mark Occhilupo who, like Sherman, was
on the wagon. “Occy hasn’t drunk for nine months and he looks
great, physically he looks…so…good and he was ripping at
Pipeline.”Gabriel Medina
and Brazilians after he won the world title, but before Pipe
Masters final, which he’d also win. “There was no way
he wasn’t going to win the title,” says Sherman. “They’re
walking down Ke Nui Road for that three-block walk to his house.
Everyone was very happy. It was Brazilville over there. I gotta
tell you, the Hawaiians put up with a lot. I was tripping that the
Brazilians don’t give a shit. They don’t seem worried that some
Polynesian guy is going to punch them out for being loud and
obnoxious and flying the flag. Twenty years ago, this never
would’ve happened. When Americans go to Brazil, the last thing we
do is put flags on our houses and wave flags on the beach and sing
the national anthem. I mean, fuck, it’s so heavy. I don’t think
they have any idea how heavy the place was thirty years ago. There
would be dead bodies scattered if this had happened back in the
day.”Jack Robinson
and Brazilian girlfriend Julia Muniz. “Yeah, she’s a hot
little number,” says Sherman. Kelly Slater and
Joel Parkinson, Pipeline. “Those guys don’t know what they’re
doing. It’s some weird handshake,” says Sherman. “That’s right
after Joel retired and Kelly’s congratulating him. Historically,
they’re not the closest of people but they respect each other even
if, behind their backs, they tease each other.”Mick Fanning and
Joel Parkinson. “I sent that to Mick and he pulled me aside,
later, and said, ‘I love you Sherman’ and gave me the longest hug
he’d ever given me. He’s going to get it for his house. That’s when
I knew I’d done something well. They’re both walking into the
retirement sunset.” John John
Florence and brother Nathan watch Herbie Fletcher’s Wave Warrior’s
shoot unfurl. “It’s always supposed to start at twelve but
never starts on time. They were hanging out at the RVCA house.
RVCA’s the new power company here. They fucking sponsor all the
Hawaiians, they have (Dustin) Barca, it’s crazy. Even Pat Tenore’s
with Andy’s ex-wife.” Matt Wilkinson,
Backdoor, Conner Coffin, Pipe. “That’s comic-book like. That
will be in my archive for a while. Conner told me hit the bottom
real hard.”Pottz and Occ,
pre-Occ-cast. “Legends, nice guys. It’s great to see Occ
looking so good, I could see it in his face and his body weight.
He’s proud he’s not boozing it.”Kelly, creeping
out to Backdoor. “He’s creeping out, running down from his
house to the Johnson’s yard to surf Backdoor one night. It’s my
classic creepy Kelly moment. Kelly’s daughter was on the North
Shore, she was having an art show. She’s a sweetheart, a sweet
little woman. But Kelly doesn’t want to have any more kids. He told
me, I just don’t want to have kids. I’ve done that. I’m done.” North Shore Justice:
“Yeah. Fuck. Heavy. That’s the new thing now. I’ve never seen such
a police presence on the North Shore. There were cops everywhere,
signs everywhere. Everyone’s watching, police are writing tickets
and pulling people over.” Parko, Bruce
Irons, Mick Fanning, Parko’s retirement party: “That was right
after Mick did the all-time speech. Mick has two beers in his hand,
which was par for the course this trip. One night I said, ‘Why the
two beers?’ and he said, ‘Because this one is almost
done.'”
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Carnage: Dane Reynolds and Sage Erickson
unfollow BeachGrit’s Instagram after recent revelation!
By Chas Smith
Miguel Pupo and Sunny Garcia too. Michael Rodrigues
blocks.
BeachGrit‘s Instagram account has been
dealt a deadly blow, a debilitating blow from the World
Surf League thanks to the likely racist injury wildcard decision
involving the now famous Brazilian surfer Caio Ibelli.
There are some 28 odd professional surfers on the World
Championship Tour and none of them, not one of them, follow
BeachGrit on Instagram. One did last year though. His name was Caio
Ibelli but he is not on the World Championship Tour anymore because
he has been relegated to the World Qualifying Series even though
the rules clearly stated that he should have been gifted a wildcard
for the 2019 season.
Caio was properly injured, you see, but two other “injured”
surfers were allowed into the 2019 draw before him.
Why?
It can only be reasoned because he follows BeachGrit on
Instagram.
Professional surfers took note, the ones not on the World
Championship Tour (since Caio Ibelli was the only one there RIP)
unfollowed immediately.
Dane Reynolds? Gone.
Sage Erickson? Gone.
Miguel Pupo? Gone.
Sunny Garcia? Gone.
Michael Rodrigues? Gone and then took the further step of
blocking. (May I speak to Michael directly? Do you mind? “Michael.
I see you. You had better hold your damn acai bowl with two hands
from now on cuz you never know when I’ll hop around the corner and
STRIKE!)
I don’t blame them. The World Surf League is a juggernaut, an
evil empire and should be greatly feared. I just always hope in my
heart of hearts that a brave prophet will rise from amongst the
bleating sheep. A man or woman we can look to as example, as our
hero. I imagined once in my life it would be Dane but… alas. Yet
another disappointment.
Oh wait. Would you like to know who still follows?
Caio Ibelli.
My new favorite surfer Caio Ibelli.
The man who will lead us home.
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Dirk Ziff, far right (geographically speaking), with
famous pals including WSL world champ Gabriel Medina, Kelly Slater,
Stephanie Gilmore and noted film impresario Harvey
Weinstein.
Breaking: The World Surf League implicated
in ongoing Russia intrigue!
By Chas Smith
The last time surfing was so close to nefarious
international plots Richard Milhous Nixon lived at Lowers.
I don’t know if world news gets anymore
fabulous than this, to be honest. The last time surfing was so
close to nefarious international plots, subplots and counterplots
Richard Milhous Nixon lived at Lowers.
Or Cottons.
And what am I on about?
Four Coors Golden Banquet Beers before lunch but also the just
released news that the owner of professional surfing, Dirk Ziff,
has run afoul of the Kremlin in a new exclusive revelation and
let’s read some together from
BuzzFeed.
US Treasury Department officials used a Gmail back channel
with the Russian government as the Kremlin sought sensitive
financial information on its enemies in America and across the
globe, according to documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News.
The extraordinary unofficial line of communication arose in
the final year of the Obama administration — in the midst of what
multiple US intelligence agencies have said was a secret campaign
by the Kremlin to interfere in the US election. Russian agents
ostensibly trying to track ISIS instead pressed their American
counterparts for private financial documents on at least two dozen
dissidents, academics, private investigators, and American
citizens.
Most startlingly, Russia requested sensitive documents on
Dirk, Edward, and Daniel Ziff, billionaire investors who had run
afoul of the Kremlin. That request was made weeks before a Russian
lawyer showed up at Trump Tower offering top campaign aides “dirt”
on Hillary Clinton — including her supposed connection to the Ziff
brothers.
Etc.
The story goes on forever and ever and maybe we should also read
together but let’s not. Let’s speculate blindly and wildly that
if it’s true that the Russians were able to
manipulate the United States elections then might they also be able
to manipulate the World Surf League’s judging tower?
Things have been awfully strange this year, score-wise.
Awfully awfully strange.
Does anyone have a line into the Kremlin here? Like a real one
and not just a random Russian cousin. I think the long-whispered
“Rebel Tour” may finally have some legs.
I’d hold three events in Kamchatka if I was named lifetime
commissioner. I’d drug test all the surfers and a “fail” would be
if no vodka showed up in their systems. Dane Reynolds would be back
and John John Florence too whether they wanted to be or not.
Mr. Putin? Are you there?
Can we have a quick chat re. professional surfing and a possible
“under new management” sign?
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Changing of the Guard: Maxim magazine
declares the end of the Kelly Slater era!
By Chas Smith
"Step aside, Kelly Slater!"
I haven’t slept well since the Pipeline Masters
in love me tender memory of Andy Irons got underway. Oh sure the
thrill was enough to keep any sensible man awake but my own
insomnia has been born of regret and shame. The last time David Lee
and I chatted, you see, I declared that Kelly Slater would lose in
round 1 then lose again in round 2 and be finished. That his creaky
old body wouldn’t be able to adjust like it once did, cat-like
reflexes slipping all the way away.
Then he went and made it into the semis with a now famous
“Miracle 3.”
How could I have been so wrong? I felt something… felt the
end.
This morning, though, my initial instinct was proven correct.
Sure Kelly did very well at Pipe but Maxim magazine
just declared the end of his era and the birth of our new star.
Let’s read!
Step aside, Kelly Slater. There’s a new surfing superstar
who’s taking the Internet by storm with a crazy viral
video.
Big wave surfer Tom Butler (who’s English!) rode an
absolutely ginormous wave that was estimated to be 100-feet tall at
Nazare, Portugal on Friday in what many believe will set the new
world record for biggest wave ever surfed.
Good Lord.
“It’s the biggest wave surfed in the world this season and
could beat the current big wave world record,” Butler told Cornwall
Live.
The current record holder is Brazilian Rodrigo Koxa, who
rode an 80-foot wave in November 2017, also at Nazare, a famed big
wave surfing spot.
The record is unlikely to be confirmed until the World Surf
League Big Wave Awards in April 2019, filmmaker Pedro Miranda
posted in the description of the video he shot showing Butler’s
feat.
“This [record] is tricky,” Miranda said. “Tommy is a very
tall guy, measuring 6-feet, 2-inches. Any wave ridden by him will
always look way smaller than it really is. Not calling this a world
record because I don’t like to go into speculation, but whatever
measure you think it is, the wave will be way bigger after analyzed
by the WSL experts.
The 29-year-old surfer teamed with German big-wave surfer
Sebastian Steudtner, who towed him into the wave.
“I reckon it was maybe 90 or even 100 feet. When I get home
I’ll try to figure it out. It was a monster, I know that for
sure.”
Tom Butler. It’s got a ring to it, no?
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The sorta wave that gives a violent gastric
disturbance, skilfully wrangled by Ken Collins. | Photo: Frank
Quirate
From the melancholy love department: Santa
Cruz Big-Wave Legend Quits Mavericks for good!
By Derek Rielly
"I'm hanging up my Mav's guns and never paddling
out again."
Earlier today, the noted big-wave surfer from Santa
Cruz, Ken Collins, also known, variously, as Skindog and Skin
Dizzle, announced he’d quit Mavericks for good.
12/18/18 Monday was one of the best days I have ever been
out at Mavz. Grateful. @small_wave was calling
it a Collectors Edition Mavz Dayz. With all the special features n
shit. And that’s how I want to remember my last day surfing
Mavericks for the rest of my life. So that’s it, that’s a wrap, I’m
hanging up my Mavz Gunz and never going to paddle out again. I
don’t want my last day to be an injury, because I feel too old, or
I am bitter at the crowds. It’s because I am 50 years old (old af)
and the timing is perfect. The day was perfect, the vibe was
perfect, and my time to kick out…..perfect. Don’t worry y’all will
see me on a boat or ski smashing a Modelo, watching the Best Show
On Earth screaming from the side lines, cheering all the players in
this epic game. I have been Chasing Monsters for over 30 years and
now it’s time to start chasing other dreams, like epic powder days
in Tahoe with my family.
An elegant sign-off and reminiscent, I think, of Matthew
5-13.
“Ye are the salt of the earth. But if the salt hath lost its
favour, wherewith shall it be salted?”
A very brief recap of Collins’ career.
In 2007, he won the Billabong XXL Ride of the Year and Monster
Tube category on the same rowdy Puerto wave, netting fifty
gees.
The win came two years after a wipeout at Jaws two years
previous that cracked his emotional plate.
“I told myself I wasn’t going to do this anymore, but then I had
a complete change of heart,” Collins told Surfer. “I went
back and changed my equipment and focused on the safety angle a bit
more and it all came together.”
In 2013, Collins turned on Laird Hamilton who’d said unkind
things about Carlos Burle and Maya Gabeira and their pet wave
Nazaré.
And, in 2016, he nearly drowned at the Titans of Mavericks
contest.
“The water hit me. I was so disoriented, going in all
directions. This is the scariest thing I’ve ever done,” said
Collins, who was held under by three waves. “Things happened
fast. So easy, so quick, when the water hit me, it felt like the
whole ocean came down on me. I thought I had a concussion at first,
I was so dizzy. I’ve never been hit so hard. It was coming down my
throat.”
Mavericks, of course, ain’t a stranger to killing.
The Hawaiians, Mark Foo and
Sion Milosky, died
after hold-downs in 1994 and 2011 after chasing swells from their
Pacific island homes.
“When u know u know,” Flea Virotsko wrote in response to
Collins’ announcement.
In 1998 Flea almost died when he was washed into rocks on a day
Collins described, then, as “tubing death wishes.”