Unbelievably huge great white shark washes
up on Cape Cod beach
By Chas Smith
"Unfortunately, this giant was located washed up on
the beach, and just as with a 4x4 stuck on the outer, we called
Dennis to tow it away."
We surfers, we players in the ocean, are all
very aware that monstrous creatures lurk beneath our dangling
toesies. Sharp-fanged brutes with beady little eyes and remorseless
souls. Bloodbottlers and fleshlumpeaters, bonecrunchers and
manhuggers. Yes, we are all very aware but do our best to shove
that very awareness into the dusty corner’d pieces of our brains
where old math equations lurk.
But then one of the beasties washes to shore and that very
awareness lurches to the front and haunts and haunts and
haunts.
And let us travel to Cape Cod where a great white so large, so
viciously scary, washed to shore. The Orleans police department
shared:
Not one of our typical calls for service. Nor is it one for
our local duty tow, Nauset Recovery. But, as always, we answered
the call. Unfortunately, this giant was located washed up on the
beach, and just as with a 4×4 stuck on the outer, we called Dennis
to tow it away. You really never know what kind of call you’ll
respond to on any given shift. At least Sgt Elliott only needed to
follow the tow truck and didn’t have to wrestle an unruly Great
White.
That Dennis a real champ. Back to the GREAT white, though, the
Atlantic White Shark Conservancy declared it would be performing a
necropsy to see what killed the freak. “At this point, we do not
know if it was a tagged or previously identified individual,” it
revealed.
Now, the next time you paddle, will you have visions of the
colossus swimming beneath or are you of strong mind and spirit like
Dennis?
Be honest, please.
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Markets rocked as Brooke Farris, the Rip
Curl CEO who led controversial pivot to trans-market, suddenly
quits
By Derek Rielly
“Elevating people like Brooke Farris into powerful
positions is a sign that surfing is moving away from its
gender-bullying past.”
Less than one year after leading Rip Curl’s heavy pivot
to the trans market which ended in a world-wide boycott of the
brand, its CEO Brooke Farris has suddenly quit with the
company now scrambling to fill the role.
“After 14 years at Rip Curl, and over three of those in the CEO
role, the time feels right for a break and new opportunities,”
Brooke Farris said in a statement. “It has been an honour to lead
this iconic brand, and I’m confident Rip Curl will continue to be
the ultimate surfing company.”
In January, the Kathmandu-owned Rip Curl joined a conga line of
Australian swimwear companies in pivoting to the growing
trans-woman market.
Lowerson was one of Australia’s leading male longboarders, even
winning the men’s longboard div as Ryan Egan, before transitioning
four years ago and joining the women’s side of the draw.
Meet Sasha – a West Australian waterwoman who loves the
freedom found in surfing, disconnecting from the mainstream, and
the feeling of dancing on constantly changing waves. When we were
adventuring through Western Australia recently, we were keen to
know what The Search means to the surfers who crossed our paths.
These surfers live on a wild stretch of coast where there’s always
a new wave or campsite just a little further down the road or off
the beaten track. It’s a state of mind, always being ready to try
something new, curious to seek out knowledge and learn the rules –
and break them.
Sometimes it isn’t even the actual surf, it’s the journey
itself, the chats that we have in the car on the long straight
roads here in WA and the campfire afterwards,” Lowerson says.
“Friendships grow on the search and I love that.”
Rip Curl subsequently turned off all comments on the post when
the trans-pivot blew into a firestorm.
Initially, Rip Curl refused to react even as the furore spread
worldwide and customers were filmed burning
boardshorts and throwing their booties in the trash and the
hashtag @boycottripcurl trended on X.
They got so much heat, including from high profile
anti-trans-gals-in-sports activists Riley Gaines ad Taylor
Silverman as well as from their own former team rider Bethany
Hamilton, who reportedly split from Rip Curl ‘cause of her anti-T
gal stance, they removed the post and apologised.
“Our recent post has landed us in the divisive space around
transgender participation in competitive sport. We want to promote
surfing for everyone in a respectful way, but recognize we upset a
lot of people with our post and for that, we are sorry. To clarify,
the surfer featured has not replaced anyone on the Rip Curl team
and is not a sponsored athlete.”
Which in turn got ‘em into the fire with the queer
crowd.
Surf Equity described the “so-called” apology as “divisive,
anti-trans, and discriminatory. The LGBTQIA+ community is appalled.
Aligning with bigots harms your brand identity and fails to support
your LGBTQIA+ employees.”
Brooke Farris’ appointment as Rip Curl CEO was heralded as
important step in smashing the boy’s club that had ruled the surf
industry since the, uh, boys had created it in 1969.
“The willingness of the sport to elevate people like Brooke into
powerful positions is this incredibly pleasing thing – a sign that
surfing is moving away from its gender-bullying past and
understanding that there’s strength in diversity,” said Nick
Carroll, a one-time commentator below the line on BeachGrit before
taking a role with Surfline Australia.
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Best female surfer on earth lashes WSL for
Tyler Wright “death sentence” surf contest in Sharia Law-ruled Abu
Dhabi
By Derek Rielly
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.
“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.
Tyler Wright’s wife adds to growing
criticism of World Surf League planned Abu Dhabi “death sentence”
surf event
By Chas Smith
"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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Master surfer-ceramicist releases cult “I
Hate Surfing” 70s-style ashtrays and truck-stop diner mugs
By Derek Rielly
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 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.
“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.
“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.”
“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.”
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.