Can you guess correctly?

And as has been discussed many times, here, 2010 – 2020 is the decade that the VAL not only exploded onto the scene but grabbed surfing’s bull by its horns. We play in their world now, their mid-lengthy, neoprene surf cappy, booties n boardshorty, surf schoolie world and we assume many things about them, assume, I suppose, that they’re drafting off us in terms of style and taste but… are they?

Of course not! They are charting their own brave, yet vulnerable, course but who are they looking up to? Who are their north stars, as it were?

Thankfully Book SurfCamps by Tripaneer is here to show us.

“The go-to resource for planning your surf camps. Find all you need to know about the top destinations and take your surfing to new heights”, just released its vaunted list of The Four Best Surfers in History and… before looking can you guess who they are? Can you guess which is number one? Close your eyes, scroll down to the comments and enter your thoughts then scroll back up here and drum roll….

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4. Miki Dora:
The Hungarian surfer is known for popularizing longboard surfing. His light stance on the board and ‘ultra-nimble’ footwork earned him the nickname of ‘Da Cat.’ As a mysterious and gifted surfer, Miki was hailed as the first superstar of the surfing world. Living a thug life, Miki spent time behind bars for fraud and grand robbery in 1973. He died in 2002 after succumbing to pancreatic cancer.

3. Kelly Slater:
Born Robert Kelly Slater in 1972 and acclaimed as ‘The Greatest Surfer of All Time,’ Kelly Slater’s career in surfing began at the tender age of six. His career skyrocketed when he began winning successive surfing championship titles at the young age of 11. Slater became a television household name after landing a role in the famous series Baywatch as Jimmy Slade.

2. Laird Hamilton:
Here are some interesting facts about this famous surfer…He is a highly revered model, producer, TV host, fitness and nutrition expert, stuntman, and author.Hamilton coined tow-in surfing, which entails the use of a personal watercraft (PWC) in towing a surfer into large waves. As a pioneer of this technique, Hamilton described it as “just going as fast as you’ve ever been. Really, it’s just the sensation of speed.” As a surfing aficionado, Hamilton believes that surfing is a creative process that is intrinsically motivated rather than a sport driven by external rewards.

1. Duke Kahanamoku:
Dubbed ‘The Father of Modern Surfing,’ The Duke was a native Hawaiian swimmer. Growing up, the ocean became Duke’s playground, and here are some of his most notable achievements… In 1911, Duke beat the existing world record by 4.6 seconds for the 100 yards (91 meters) freestyle in Honolulu Harbor. At 21 years old, he grabbed his first Olympic gold medal for the 100-meter freestyle; he remained the United States’ representative at the Olympics for the next 20 years.

So there we have it. How many did you get right? Surprised to see Da Cat there at number 4? More surprised to see Kelly Slater not at number 1? Laird Hamilton as the second greatest surfer to ever do it?

I imagine Book SurfCamps by Tripaneer will be hearing from the 11x World Champ shortly.

Donald Trump = Kelly Slater

And here we are, officially, in the future. The one promised by great film directors Robert Zemeckis and Ridley Scott. The one we grew up expecting then almost gave up on. For who would have ever guessed, even ten years ago, that artificial wave technologies, that Surf Ranches and Surf Lakes, URBNSRFs and The Waves would replace traditional ocean surfing as the du jour analogy but here we are and welcome.

Of course surfing, and surf-related terminology, have been used since ancient Peruvian fishermen, high to the heavens on cocaine, first caught waves on their “little horses” those thousands of years ago (buy here) but the correlations were always natural. Surfing as metaphor for entrepreneurship, for relationship, for mentorship, citizenship, hardship always dealt with the uncontrollable. The vast powers beyond our control best summed up with the mantra “You can’t stop the waves but you can learn to surf.”

Beautiful, no?

But let us listen to First Son-in-Law and President of the United States of America Donald J. Trump’s right hand Jared Kushner describe life inside the White House in a just released Time magazine interview.

“One thing you have to remember when you work for President Trump is that you don’t make the waves. He makes the waves…Your job is to surf the wave as best as you can every day. And you have to always smile and have a sense of humor with it, because he’s the one who’s got the instinct.”

Powerful, no?

But also amazing that artificial wave technologies have worked their way into the vernacular so thoroughly. Donald Trump there making waves exactly like Kelly Slater is in Lemoore making them.

And I’m excited to see how this new “making waves for people to surf” metaphor is used this coming year for entrepreneurship, for relationship, for mentorship, citizenship, hardship, attorneyship, brinksmanship, associateship, artisanship, etc.

The future.

Wonderful, no?

Un-woke.

But it is truly wonderful to be alive in these woke times, freshly alerted to all manner of injustice be it gender-related, race-related, economically-informed, climate-induced or having to do with age. We’re, each of us, like Louis as played by Brad Pitt in Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, having just had his neck kissed by Tom Cruise’s Lestat and seeing the world with his vampire eyes for the very first time.

“No words can describe it. Might as well ask Heaven what it sees. No human can know. The statue seemed to move, but didn’t. The world had changed, yet stayed the same. I was a newborn vampire (read: culturally aware), weeping at the beauty of the night.”

In any case, ageism is particularly troublesome even though our elders are the reason for all our problems including but not limited to gender, race, economics and climate but still, but still, we must be woke to them too and sharks, Great White, Tiger and Bull, especially Bull, are decidedly not. Rudely not. At odds with the great bend of consciousness not and let’s learn about the latest terrifying attack in Australia on an elderly foot.

NSW Ambulance said the 60-year-old was bitten to the bone on his left foot while surfing with a friend at Windang Beach, south of Wollongong around 8:00am on Friday.

Illawarra Ambulance Chief Inspector Terry Morrow said the man is in a stable condition after being treated by paramedics at the scene.

“He was waiting for a wave a felt a tug on his left leg,” Inspector Morrow said.

“He looked down, saw some blood, got onto his board and made his way to the shoreline.

“He has a significant laceration to the top arch of his left ankle area but it looks like it must have been a small shark.”

The man was taken to Wollongong Hospital to be treated for his injuries.

“He’s in a stable condition, he was given pain relief because he was a bit shocked and felt sick,” Inspector Morrow said

“He was cooperative and very thankful for the assistance of his mates, the surf life savers and paramedics.”

Australian surf journalist Nick Carroll agreed that the shark must have been very small but I don’t see what this has to do with anything unless Nick is suggesting size excuses rude, outdated, ugly behavior.

It’s time we all did some self-work.

Each of us.

Especially Nick.

Stingy billionaire.

But did you play Fantasy Surfer this year, part of the World Surf League’s suite of content and media? You would not have been faulted, here, for doing so as fantasizing about surfers is part of BeachGrit’s suite of content and media alongside titillating shark tales and the very latest g-string news.

The boys in the booth, Ron, Joe, 88,89, Woz, etc. chatted regularly about their picks, how they were performing etc. but there was only one champion, Zmonde, who used wit, intelligence, foresight and surf awareness to beat them all and beat every other player too.

An astounding victory.

And what was the prize for such commitment and skill?

A trip to next year’s Pipeline Masters?

$500 dollars in WSL PURE One Ocean Activism Eco Credits?

Three pouches of Laird Hamilton SuperFood Non-Dairy Creamer?

Let’s go straight to Zmonde and prepare our jealousies.

Sob – nothing at all for the winner – zilch. Not an invite to a WSL event. Not a board. A block of wax. Not even an email from Dick Z saying well played sir. I tweeted WSL asking what happens if you become the Fantasy League world champion out of 140,000 players. No response. Nothing. Nada. I know it’s just a stupid game but about 140,000 players went at it last year and there is a bit work involved and craft to nail it event after event.

The bastards. The Santa Monica bastards and I know that there has just been a regime change but…

… the gall. The absolute gall and I am going to officially call for co-Waterperson of the Year (19) Dirk Ziff’s co-Waterperson credentials to be re-examined. Maybe like an impeachment hearing.

Back to Zmonde, though, how did he win?

There is my use of transcendental meditation to transport myself into the future and particular beaches to ‘see’ results ha ha…ok i got quite lucky on a few dark horses and backing Jordy for most of the season paid off…

Backing Jordy paying off… who would have guessed? Who could have guessed?

But I suppose, at the end, it paid off nothing.

And what should the World Surf League gift next year’s winner? Also, how should the powers there hiding behind that Wall of Positive Noise apologize to Zmonde?

The only bad suggestion is the one that goes un-offered.