"I want to become a better surfer; I want to become the best father I can be and combine it all with nonstop adventure and curiosity."
The World Surf League’s Championship Tour kick-off is still far, far away though surf fans, near and far, had already begun growing excited. John John Florence and Gabriel Medina, two supernovas, were set to return for the 2026 season after missing 2025. Medina had a hurt breast muscle, of course. Florence taking a year off to sail, chill, have curly hair and enjoy life.
Surf fans desperately hoping his batteries fully charged and a return to the glory years wherein Blonde Ambition slashed and smashed his way to three world titles, the last coming in 2024.
Well, moments ago, those dreams became dashed against the cold rocks as Florence announced he would be taking a second sabbatical for 2026.
The 33-year-old told the World Surf League, “Exploring with my family we learned new ways of living, saw new places, found waves for all three of us, and woke up most days just excited to see more, and do it all together. It really confirmed for us that this is our dream right now. We’ve decided to continue in 2026 with the goal of hopefully making a full lap of the world. I want to become a better surfer; I want to become the best father I can be and combine it all with nonstop adventure and curiosity. This means I will not be competing full time on the tour this year. I am very thankful to the WSL for their support and the opportunity for the wildcard this year. This isn’t retirement, it’s just the path I’m on for now.”
Morocco’s Ramzi Boukhiam will be rewarded John John Florence’s spot.
Thoughts?
So hes just going to surf in the good events if theyre pumping?
Speaking of dumb names for kids- Darwin. Evolution theory is utter BS.
eh?
Bring back Bobby Martinez !
for the interviews !
wild wild card.
Im suprised midget at large hasnt popped by to educate us at gritville on why JBay was dropped and why JJF has pulled the plug.
The tour isn’t really an opportunity for John. It’s an opportunity for lesser surfers to have the heat of their life, throwing Hail Mary’s against John. Nobody really “loses” against John, it’s too forgivable. But if someone “beats” John in a heat they can claim that shit like a World Title the rest of their lives. On a barstool 30 years from now, “yeah, I’m that guy, I beat John John that one time”.
The tour’s a big commitment for John without a ton of payoff if he doesn’t at minimum win a World Title. Seriously though, do we really remember that much about the guys John beats in heats, or do we remember John’s specific waves, heated turns, barrels, airs? Getting to see John run his magic in live, in real time is great entertainment, great for the sport. Who know’s maybe he could go live for a few remote sessions. Let us join in. Gonna miss seeing him in contests this year, but definitely can’t blame him.
Such a selfish prick.
Better to retire when you are still wanted than to try and compete long after you SHOULD have retired – if John-John knows he is going to lose against the new surfers on tour, then best not to compete at all and risk tarnishing his legacy.
In real waves of real size he smokes them every time.
Given the current schedule and their knack for having it in subprime conditions you are absolutely right.
If he keeps this up, in 15 years he beats Kelly’s retirement announcement record.
Now that TB,s ex mrs has fired the ” Nanny “and TBs arses , the JJFs can take her as the kids live aboard nanny.
Far more marketable to be cruising about on a yacht with many instagramable moments than surfing a man made wave in Dubai
Yep i am sure all the costs associated with the last trip to NZ have been on some one elses tab.
If any footage iss used for marketing under Florence Marine, then the whole trip is a work expense!
My old man always said only thing better than a good accountant is a brilliant lawyer.
They sink way better with an engine block tied to their feet
The question isn’t how you save a sinking ship full of lawyers but who wants to…
assholes , let ’em sink!
I’m sure there’s some good ones out there.
I mean I’ve never met any but they have to exist.
Com seems like a decent fella
You know I work with a lady who’s parents sailed her round the South Pacific till school age. She has no recollection of it. Also, she’s one of the most miserable people I know. Once described by another colleague as “even more miserable than you!”
it can go either way for sure.
But able to tie a bowline and trim sails! Under appreciated skills.
adult learnt bowlines just as pretty
On the upside, more Ramzhi 👍
GGood News. Fuck the wsl
Who is the favorite to win the title with John on hiatus?
With the shit schedule probably Yago again with his jumps and twirly birds
Aw yagos alright…not a gabby or Ethan…or John John…or taj…or ramzi…or a hundred indos…but he’s alright !
Kanoa or a Colapinto.
Ramzi shreds. Nice he’s getting another shot. JJF must have way more bank than any of us realize.
Florence is huge here- going gangbusters.
Assume same in USA and Europe.
Yeah, it’s like Hurley all over again.
If it worked once then might as well roll it back around again.
Won’t hurt them to try. John and Bob are likely already evens, after the outside investors bought in.
Not sure about USA.
When I saw his shop at Newport it reminded me more of a cartel lavenderia than it did any kind of surf shop.
Fuck all for product, marked up to the moon, and a back office meeting space that was three times the size of the actual retail storefront.
I splashed out and bought a pair of
Boardies at full cost – $130. I really don’t see the difference to an $80 pair and if anything they are super slow to dry. Which i have rebranded as purposeful drying. Quick dry obviously symptomatic of the fast pace lifestyle Florence X is looking to eschew
have a pair of Patagonias , had em for 9 years….still going!
Its so cold down there in Vicco you poor cunts only wear boardies when you’re mowing the lawn haha
haha…surfed 2 days ago water was 22 degrees air temp 43 ……it’s so much hotter down here than you would imagine……at the tennis the other day it was 59 degrees in the sun….
Had some Quiks and Rustys from the 90s that did 10+ years. Not every pair, but some of them were tough.
Patagonia is an amazing company. Not perfect, but they try their best to support their customers
Got a pair used online from them, totally fine. A bit large even. Got thrown on a wave at Gerupuk and they got ripped down to my ankles whilst underwater. Fun session. Fun place, outside of the wild dogs on the beach and all the plastic in the water and all the VALS on the inside and all the drones overhead.
Crazy because I have never paid over 20 bucks a pair from the Rip Curl Outlet. Right now they were 10 but I had too much shit going on at the time to stock up.
For 130 it better butter my nuts…
you paid retail?
dude.
I was caught in a pinch and they were the only 33s I could get hands on. I usually shop at big w or the oppy so I’m figured it was ok to splash out once. But never again.
Haha, 33…
mad size
Im 34 and 3/4
fatty
I know
I’m trying to think if I ever paid full price for a single surf item in 30 years of surfing. But I’m a cheap motherfucker who’s never really had the cash to throw around. I guess I paid the asking price from my local shaper in the 90s and that’s the only time I can think. Everything goes on discount at some point.
Upvote for ‘purposeful drying’.
Slight diss towards Kelly regarding fatherhood?
well spotted.
Yeah but if he really meant what he said he would not be going anywhere for awhile, at least for most of the year, as anyone who has ever had to raise kids for real knows….
momma flo bout to raise another world title surfer
The male model from Morocco can Ramzi my Boukhiam any day of the week
Ramzi fucks sake
Ramzis sack rash…eastern blues band
I was stunned when he announced he was coming back. Do another year on this travelling circus to shit waves with clogged event windows and another 8 Sheilas added or travel the world the world and get mental waves with your fam? Its a fucking no brainer and fuck these cunts in charge
Next big announcement from the Weird Seppo League “Hey everyone great news, Fiji is too expensive so we are moving the event to Surf City USA Huntingdon Beach. See you all there!!!
Might as well.
After all how shitty was the finals day?
Not even a legit barrel on the day that is supposed to the cream of the crop.
At least in Huntington we might get the added bonus of an ICE sweep and the riot that is sure to follow.
I hope one day the WSL realizes that the waves are the real star of the show, not the surfers.
New tour, Bells, Margs, Snapper, plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, as they say.
Wanna know something pretty telling bout the current tour Dez? When the original Fantasy Surfer started up we had a group of 30 of us from round here who would all chip in $150 at the start of the season and the winner took all, but with a caveat in place that he had to take whoever could make it out for a night of drinks and debauchery.
About 10 years later the number in the group had dropped to about 15 and now I’m the only cunt left who has any interest left in the tour haha. These are all really good surfers who get out there still heaps but they honestly just can’t stand what the tour has become. Even the groms in the board riders barely give a fcuck anymore. Pretty fucking sad really ay
Yeah my fantasy league will be lucky to have one more year left in it. It really was one of their best products and they treated it like shit
Same here. League hanging on by a thread. I basically have to pump it up pre season but by the end you wonder if this is the last. We suspect some AI being used to pick teams as well for certain people. That aint helping moral.
In 2004, we moved from surf industry central to a small AG town.
None of the guys that I met gave a shit about the tour except one,our local shapers son. 20 years later, he remains the only person that I talk tour with
Pumping J-Bay, Cloudy, Chopes or Pipe might get chatted about in the line-up- nothing else registers.
Yeah, same around here. Even the kids, everyday surfers, have little interest in the machinations of a two-week long, all gender, surf contest in fair to sometimes good waves.
Sad ay, and the crazy thing is if a surfer with a decent head on his shoulders and some backing took over from the WSL they could put together that would definitely draw back in all the interest from proper surfers. Bugs has done amazing things with The Usher Cup and me and me mates all love it. Proper commentary, teams from all over the world, its a fucking sick watch and shits on most tour events
Translation:
The missus said no fucking way.
you reckon?
I reckon more likely they scrubbed J-Bay and he said ‘fuck that”.
If the missus said no fucking way, she wouldn’t have let him announce his comeback in Nov.
He knows it’s a shit show and doesn’t need it
Nah I reckon Nate convinced him that he would be much better served going wherever the fuck he wants and getting way more exposure and cred for his brand.
For sure, he needs nothing the WSL has to offer as far as brand exposure goes.
Thats a problem for the WSL.
For Australian readers, the WSL is the Macy’s/JCPenny of the sports world, everyone knows it’s sinking, and will disappear, but how long it wants to tread water is the known unknown.
As much as I would like to dream that, it ain’t going anywhere.
Dirk can eat shit on it all day long and just write it off as pocket change.
Plus the unspoken entities that once ran places like Hollywood have seen the value of peddling mostly naked and barely legal clickbait.
It is only going to get worse.
Ziff net worth from 5B in 2022 to 7.2B as of today (Source: Forbes).
But if he don’t want to invest his own cash into it – for J-Bay say or Indo- how much longer is it viable if surf stars no longer GAF?
As long as there is young nubile little bodies willing to sell their morals, and maybe more, for a shot at the WOZ and insta fame, whatever surf stars bail won’t matter.
There are literally thousands of them who can do a twinkie twirl willing to replace the current ones,who will just go fuck off to Instagram and YouTube for some residuals.
probably right.
It’s a dream that will never die, thats for sure.
I think less the hit he takes each year, but the headache of signing various agreements etc.
Doncha have people on the payroll who do that when billionaire?
If I hadda guess, it was a very light and non-committal, yeah, I’ll do the 26 tour when the WSL came calling, begging.
100%. Pretty unusual you would change your mind to wander the earth. More often it’s something g horrible that drives a last minute decision. In this case, just missing the open water.
yeah probs- wonder if they had any deal sweeteners to offer when they made the call?
I know Brodie Carr was able to rejig a contract with Kelly in 2009 when he threatened a Rebel Tour- remember those heady days?
yes , amazed you know about this…but the son of the commissioner for Baseball….gave his son a $100 m to go and blaze a new sports frontier , I was actually invited to the presentation at the Hilton Turtle bay ,as Machado and a couple of others sort outside help….the deal was that surfers had to sign on for 2 years without any concrete guarantees….fell over real quik, then Greville M arrived on the scene….ah the history of it all
I didn’t know the details, knew something was cooking
yeah scared the shit out of Kanga/ASP…I was an advisory board member to the surfers for 22 years……had a big argument with Kanga in the AGM …where he ” said you guys would be nothing with out us !” meaning the industry/contest directors….yours truly responded with….” easy if you guys want take number 50 seed to 100….and we will see how our tour goes with the top 48!”
and then there was compromise etc and the dream tour was born!
What happened to ol Greville Mitchell?
he got older….and to be honest , he was pretty disappointed with the WSL…he put sooo much money and gave us soo much expertise he is the God Father of surfings, surfers….or is that sufferers
Oh I do, I flew to Bali for 24 hours after his removal! I do like that man, very much, shoulda seen the cougars mobbing him at the bar.
Very nice man, fine company etc etc.
Kelly never liked him apparently.
Probably because of daft quotes like this, “Pro surfing has killed freesurfing. The best surfing is happening on tour. All the media attention is on pro surfing.”
But more likely because he had actual power and wasn’t afraid to use it.
No, it was because he fucked up Kelly’s 11th World Title in San Fran.
I never took on the behind the scenes stuff in those days. So I was going to ask who he was and what he was up to. Went to Google and found this. I do think I’ve read it once before.
https://stabmag.com/news/brodie-carrs-only-interview/
Edit: oh dear! He’s the genius that wanted the mid-year cut. And came up with this amazing quote, “Pro surfing has killed freesurfing. The best surfing is happening on tour. All the media attention is on pro surfing.”
Did he announce, or did the WSL announce based on offering him the wildcard?
his words had quote marks- but what DR said below probs true