Keala Kennelly on Tyler Wright death sentence
Keala writes, "Let’s put poor Tyler Wright’s potential execution aside for a moment. @wsl is having a women’s professional surfing event in a country where Emirati women live under male guardianship. Honor Killings can go unpunished, as the victim’s family can pardon the murderer. Marital rape is not criminalized in the UAE and the UAE is a major destination for sex trafficking."

Best female surfer on earth lashes WSL for Tyler Wright “death sentence” surf contest in Sharia Law-ruled Abu Dhabi

Tyler Wright is “risking her life going to a place where being an LGBTQ+ person is punishable by DEATH”

The big-wave world champion Keala Kennelly, once described, controversially I think, as “the best female surfer on earth”, has thrown her social media weight behind calls for the WSL to cancel a wave pool event being held in Sharia-ruled Abu Dhabi in case two-time world champ Tyler Wright is killed for being gay. 

WSL released their 2025 tour schedule and the second event is in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
HOW IN THE HELL does WSL think it’s ok to sell an event to a location where it’s ILLEGAL to be an LGBTQ + person when they have a 2x world champion @tylerwright who is an openly gay athlete who has a pride flag on her jersey???
So now Tyler has to decide if she is going to damage her career by missing the event or compete knowing she is risking her life going to a place where being an LGBTQ+ person is punishable by DEATH.
Let’s put poor Tyler’s potential execution aside for a moment.
@wsl is having a women’s professional surfing event in a country where
Emirati women live under male guardianship. “Honor Killings” can go unpunished, as the victim’s family can pardon the murderer. Marital rape is not criminalized in the UAE and the UAE is a major destination for sex trafficking.
The WSL should be putting the health, safety and wellbeing of their athletes over $$$ and the athletes should boycott the event like they did in South Africa when sunnygarcia couldn’t compete because at the time black people were not allowed on the beach.
Hosting events in countries that have blatant human rights violations should be unacceptable. Do you agree?Blast this post all over social media if you agree. 

Keala helpfully included screenshots of the relevant laws in the UAE. Although, to be fair, no one is getting shot or stoned and the UAE did sign the Abraham Accords with Israel which means if they can stomach the Jews they can probably get their head around gays eventually although same-sex marriage may take a while.

Keala Kennelly criticises UAE contest

The furore kicked off three days ago when Tyler Wright’s older brother Mikey lit up on the WSL’s Instagram posting announcing the 2025 schedule. 

“You have no business putting on an event at a location where my sister can be sentenced by law with the death penalty. So much for equality and equal rights, only when it’s convenient to wsl. You have supported the LGBTQ flag on her shoulder but now you want to strip it and be hush hush to get her to a location that she’s at risk of this punishment. You have the responsibility to protect your athletes, interested to see how you think you can protect her against the law.” 

Sharia law, if you didn’t know, is the moral and religious code for the souls among us who practice Islam. It considers homosexual acts as sinful and punishable and recommends imprisonment, floggings or the death penalty, sometimes even adding a stoning into the mix for laughs. 

Criticism of Sharia is generally regarded as Islamophobic so, like, don’t go there.

Like, yay Queers for Palestine! River to the Sea, Hamas and Hezbollah are freedom fighters etc. 

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Will Tyler and Lilli Wright (insert) travel to beautiful Abu Dhabi?
Will Tyler and Lilli Wright (insert) travel to beautiful Abu Dhabi?

Tyler Wright’s wife adds to growing criticism of World Surf League planned Abu Dhabi “death sentence” surf event

"Tyler's queerness should not have to be a burden or an obstacle in her workplace."

The World Surf League is coming under increasing fire from the greater Wright family for its decision to host a Championship Tour event in the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi, the brave little city that could, just weeks ago unveiled its brand-new Kelly Slater-designed wave tank to much applause. The “largest surf pool in the world” features the same technology perfected in Lemoore, California and the WSL instantly inked the facility to a three-year CT slot.

While many professionals surfers might be overjoyed with the possibility of experiencing famed Arab hospitality plus all the glitz and glamor of Abu Dhabi’s neighbor Dubai, the aforementioned Wrights are not amongst them.

Days ago, Wright’s younger brother Mikey, receiver of multiple wildcards, lit into the WSL on Instagram, publicly declaring, “You have no business putting on an event at a location where my sister can be sentenced by law with the death penalty. So much for equality and equal rights, only when it’s convenient to wsl. You have supported the LGBTQ flag on her shoulder but now you want to strip it and be hush hush to get her to a location that she’s at risk of this punishment. You have the responsibility to protect your athletes, interested to see how you think you can protect her against the law.”

His wife later joined the fray, adding, “Nice to see you guys are factoring in the safety of the contestants lives when choosing locations.”

And now Tyler’s own wife has hopped on top of the pile-on. You certainly recall two-ish years ago when she and Lilli Baker tied the knot. “Not a dry eye in the house,” Derek Rielly wrote at the time.

Well, mad as hell, Lilli took the lash to the World Surf League, salvoing, “Unfortunately homosexuality is illegal at one of the locations and my wife can legally be sentenced to death or imprisonment if she tries to attend. Tyler has competed on this tour for over 14 years and has had the pride flag on her jersey since 2020. Even after winning two world titles she is still not valued enough by the WSL to be considered when they sold this event.”

Heavy but not finished as she tightened the screws with her finishing move, poking directly into the World Surf League’s DEI push, adding, “Tyler’s queerness should not have to be a burden or an obstacle in her workplace.”

Hammertown.

The Abu Dhabi Pro, scheduled Feb. 14 – 16 is right around the corner, with a squint. Do you think pressure from the greater Wright clan will force a cancelation or do you imagine all will continue as planned, Tyler maybe even winning with her patented backside attack?

More, certainly, as the story develops.

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I Hate Surfing so much!
I Hate Surfing so much! | Photo: Mark Wiesmayr/@marksurfsbig

Master surfer-ceramicist releases cult “I Hate Surfing” 70s-style ashtrays and truck-stop diner mugs

Show the world how much you hate surfing!

Several nights heretofore, the master surf-ceramicist Damion Fuller held court, surrounded by dozens of his elaborate creations, urns, plates and paintings, at the relaunch of a once down-at-heel beachside hotel now turned into the sort of lightly flamboyant joint a man would take his lover for meaningless and exhausting sexing deep under the influence of pills and liquor. 

Damion Fuller at Barrys Beach Road Hotel for Aloha Zen exhibition
Damion Fuller and part of his non I Hate Surfing range, on display at sexy Barrys Hotel in Bondi. Photo: Mark Wiesmayr/@marksurfsbig

Damion Fuller is a wildly regarded actor in the surf game.

He leveraged a degree in Industrial Design into a career that encompasses accumulating surfboards from the late seventies and early eighties (“They’re hydrodynamic, functional pieces of art”), building accessories for Mambo, back when it was the hub of the anti-surrealist art movement in the nineties, who then convinced his old boss at Mambo, Dare Jennings, to turn his next label Deus Ex Machina into a surf-moto brand in the spirit of Bruce Brown’s Endless Summer/On Any Sunday combo. 

After, he split for California, for a gig at Nixon, shifted back to Australia five years later for a job at Electric and, later, after he moved the fam to an off the grid farm on the north coast, created the label Aloha to Zen with his wife Fern. The pair make surf themed homewares, the pillows are wild, and spent three years learning the art of ceramics.

And it’s here Fuller has reached his zenith, I think, of beauty and creation. His calling. The urgent need to bring meaning to life and to resurrect a little gentility in surf culture. 

“There’s a lot that can go wrong in the pottery game,” says Fuller, his tongue darting in and out of his mouth, licking at his moustache like a pink lizard. “Which is why you love it, right, because it’s a completely uncontrollable medium. Once you apply heat to mud and chemicals anything can happen.

“And, as an industrial designer I love that. I love the fact it’s a combination of the chemicals and I love the three-dimensional form. It became the perfect vehicle for me to express my love of that golden era of surf culture. I’m just trying to really find a little voice in there that speaks to me.”

I tell Fuller that I was thrilled he was open to the idea of the I Hate Surfing capsule, which will also feature clothes from The Critical Slide Society. A follow-up to our I Don’t Need Life I’m High capsule.

An aside: TCSS owner Sam Coombes was drawn into the surf game after he heard Fuller speak at his university. Fuller told the class, please, no one ask for an internship at Mambo because the answer is NO! Coombes thought that was real cool, pestered Fuller for an internship and eventually got it.

Fuller has made an I Hate Surfing ashtray and an oversized mug.

I ask him to describe the process. 

“Well, the ashtray was easy. That’s called googling ‘Chunky Glass Seventies Ashtrays’. I knew very much as soon as you said I Hate Surfing but with a joyous edge, I knew what shape it was gonna look like. It had to belong in a sex den in a SoHo apartment in New York with carpeted walls. I immediately knew the size we wanted to do and it needed to have a big thick wall and it needed to really dominate your coffee table.

I Hate Surfing ashtray by Damion Fuller
I Hate Surfing seventies-style ashtray by Damion Fuller.

“So I played around with a few different shapes and methods of construction and in the end we’ve settled on a wheel-thrown piece. It’s about two kilos worth of clay to begin with. We throw that out and form it and fire it.” 

And the truck-stop diner mugs? 

“I knew I didn’t want a coffee cup. I knew we wanted a truck stop diner mug, something with a big handle that holds a proper 14 ounces of of percolated diner coffee or whiskey.” 

I Hate Surfing truck-stop mug.
Fourteen ounces to freedom, as they ol saying goes. Photo: Mark Wiesmayr/@marksurfsbig

We ain’t taking a cut of these beautiful creations to keep ‘em down to an affordable price and this link will take you straight to Fuller’s site.

Eighty-five apiece, Australian shekels.

He’ll pack and send ’em anywhere in the world. Free to ship in Australia, thirty-five dollars, Australian, to Europe and the US.

A little wait too ‘cause he’s gotta make ‘em at his little off-the-grid studio. 

So bespoke!

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Canada's best export Erin Brooks officially on tour.
Canada's best export Erin Brooks officially on tour.

Tears flow like poutine in Canada as beloved compatriot Erin Brooks officially qualifies for WSL Championship Tour!

The True North strong and free!

Canada, that great northern expanse, has not experienced this much tension, this much pure stress since 2001 when sitting prime minister Justin Trudeau attended an Arabian Nights themed party in… a questionable outfit. Anxiety to the max, eh. For, as of Friday, beloved first daughter, Erin Brooks, was sitting outside the World Surf League Championship Tour qualifications and staring down the barrel of a long Challenger Series year.

The maple leaf’d phenom has had the surf world on notice since first popping onto the scene some four years ago. The spotlight has only brightened, especially after her win at the Fiji Pro over the summer.

But there she was, anyhow, needing a result at the Saquarema Pro, down Brazil way, in order to move into her destiny.

Alas, all things broke Canada’s way on Sunday when Brooks won her round of 32 heat over Macy Callaghan, Minami Nonaka and Zoe Benedetto to make it all official.

Taking to the World Surf League’s social media organ, the 17-year-old penned, “Qualifying in Brazil in front of the best surf fans in the world is something I will never forget. Thank you so much to the WSL for this opportunity and also thank you to my family, friends, sponsors, coaches, trainers, and everyone who has been a part of my journey to this moment. It takes a team and I am so thankful for all of you. I still can’t believe I get to travel and compete with the world’s best surfers. Dreams do come true!!”

Do they ever. Tears flowing like poutine from Toronto to Vancouver. Now, would you please join me in song?

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all of us command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Thank you.

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Kelly Slater (left) and Jeremy Flores (right) pictured damaging the balance board's reputation. Photo: Instagram
Kelly Slater (left) and Jeremy Flores (right) pictured damaging the balance board's reputation. Photo: Instagram

Balance board surf training thrown into question after Kelly Slater and Jeremy Flores engage in high-stakes demonstration

"Proof this toys have 0 to do with actual surfing abilities."

The world’s greatest competitive surfer, Kelly Slater, is in no mood to slow down. Carrying an infinite pocket full of World Surf League wildcards and the debonair good looks of a much younger 57-year-old, the 11x world champion appears to have everything but needing more.

The Floridian icon has been jetting around Europe these past few weeks as part of his ambassadorship duties for luxury Swiss watch maker Breitling. He is, of course, part of the “Surfer Squad” which includes Stephanie Gilmore and the recently World Surf League Championship Tour re-qualified Sally Fitzgibbons. Slater was there, in Rome, to celebrate 140 years of Breitling and is now in Paris doing the same with Jeremy Flores.

The two are captured together in a store which just so happens to have a balance board. But you certainly recall when the Indo Board burst onto our surf scene. There were magazines, back then, and toward the back cover, quarter page ads featuring the oblong plywood shape and an accompanying cylinder. Balance board training promised to hone the surfer’s muscle instincts whilst he or she sat on land, waiting for the next big swell. Balance boarding could be done anywhere, you see, and most also came with a handy tote bag, if I recall correctly.

Back to Slater and Flores, though. As highly competitive people are wont to do, a challenge is laid out to see who can balance on the board longer. After light making fun of Australia’s Rachel “Raygun” Ray, the breakdancer who stole hearts during the Paris Games, Slater goes first, crouching into a cheater five before attempting a shove-it and coming undone. Flores, next, gets into pig dog stance after wobbling but comes undone even quicker.

At the end, they seem to agree to a draw, the loser appearing to be the balance board itself.

Now, neither surf champ looked entirely elegant whilst competing, leaving fans sour.

“Proof this toys have 0 to do with actual surfing abilities,” one wrote underneath the shared video.

“lol. My buddy ate shit so hard on one of these,” another added.

“Next vid: surf skating,” yet a third poked.

On the deluge went, those holding stock in Big Balance anxiously hoping the storm will pass.

Though now your turn. Do you practice the balance board at home? Has it improved your surfing? Would you recommend?

Very cool.

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