"You hear Reno described as arrogant, aloof and intense. He’s all of that, but he’s also a genuine human with a streak of dementia deep within."
Some sad, but not altogether surprising news, coming out of the North Shore tonight. The Hawaiian surf great Reno Abellira, a troubled but deeply gifted man, has died of unspecified causes aged seventy-six.
Reno Abellira had what you might call a wild, wild life.
Last year, grave fears were held for his safety when he went missing from his homeless encampment at Alii Beach, near the boat harbour at Haleiwa there as you swing into the North Shore. He was eventually found.
Four years ago, Reno was put in ICU after a near-fatal attack at the Aloa Moana carpark in town. Reno was found unresponsive and taken to Queen’s Hospital for emergency brain surgery.
And a wild life it always was.
His daddy was a middleweight boxer who was shot dead in a Chinatown pool hall where he worked as a “strong arm”; he beat Jeff Hakman at thirty-foot Waimea Bay to win the 1974 Smirnoff (he’d win it again three years later) and his twin-fin design convinced Mark Richards to make a version of it and subsequently dominate the world tour for half a decade.
In 1992, he was indicted, according to a letter to BeachGrit from Abellira “for three counts for the Federal crimes of racketeering (the RICO Act) specifically Possession with Intent to distribute of four kilos of Cocaine and over 27 pounds of marijuana that had been control delivered by the U.S Postal Service and D.E.A agents to an address in suburban Honolulu.”
At the time, and as a junior reporter for ASL, when Reno was on the run from the cops I wrote a piece advising readers to give him shelter and food in his travels, advice which contrasted sharply with Surfer magazine telling their readers to immediately dial 911 and have him arrested.
It was this story, interestingly enough, that gold-booked me with Fast Eddie Rothman that season in Hawaii.
In a 1979 interview with Surfer, Phil Jarratt wrote,
He also went after Matt Warshaw and your ol pal DR in a couple of blood feuds.
Your comments are still here. Every one of them.
Twelve years of BeachGrit comments came across from Disqus. Connect and we will show you how many are yours. We get your username, nothing else.
Connect Disqus to reveal.
Easiest way is to just call them locals.
People like yourself can self-identify with any of their various ethnicities –
This chameleon identity can come in handy in many contexts – you can be one ethnicity or the other, or another unrelated ethnicity, depending on the circumstances.
The actor Anthony Quinn was half-Mexican and half-Irish, he had his greatest role playing Zorba, a Greek!
One. More. Time.
For the slow kids in the back.
JJF and his brothers are from Hawaii and 100% haole.
Not “Hawaiian”.
Harold Rice was born in Hawaii, from a family that has been in Hawaii since the 1800’s.
He tried to vote in an OHA election on the Big Island, an election for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and they told him no; he can’t vote because he is Caucasian, not “Hawaiian”
Rice sued and won his case – you cannnot have elections in the US where ethnicity is the criteria for participation.
Two hundred years in Hawaii and still – just another Haole.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_v._Cayetano
Ethnicity and nationality are (usually) two different things.
People self-identify what they want, but that don’t make it fact.
Plenty of any-kine people running around in Hawaii calling themselves “Hawaiian” who, if subjected to a DNA test, have no Hawaiian ethnicity whatsoever.
JJF and his brothers are 100% haole from Hawaii and as Hawaii is not an independent nation, there is no Hawaiian “nationality” –
He and all the surfers from Hawaii should surf under the US flag, using the Hawaii state flag is just silly.
Do they travel with a USA passport or a Nation of Hawaii passport?
Nationality and ethnicity are (usually) not the same thing –
‘Australian” is a nationality – not an ethnicity.
Chinese, Japanese and Korean are nationalities but they are also ethnicities, as those countries are far more homogeneous than most western countries like the US, France, the UK, Canada, etc.
Take Brasil, for example – the Brasil passport is considered the most valuable on the black market as literally ANYONE of any ethnicity can be a Brazilian citizen – White, Black, Asian, semetic Middle East, native American, Hispanic and all shades in between.
“Brasileiro or Brasileira” is a nationality – not an ethnicity.
My first board that I learned on is this Reno team board, 6’4” round pin, got it used and had it for my early surf years. I always enjoyed the occasional piece that Reno would pen in the mags back in the day, and the pics of him surfing were pure style. Rest In Peace ❤️
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
bit speechless at the moment….I heard a couple of days ago there was a rumor…and so here it is at last…peace for Reno.
Reno was the greatest surfer /desiner/shaper to come out of Hawaii. He came out of the brewer school of shaping but soon surpassed Dick , as he became one of the Worlds great surfers in anything for 2′ Narrabeen to Waimea……and everything in between….and he would ride his own boards , which were always boards having near perfection in their shaping and glassing…he was a perfectionist……and has left his signature on surfing of being one of greatest innovators /creators…..the Modern Twin and Fish….MR will pay homage I am sure on the Guns he got off Reno that were in Freeride etc……also when all the shit went down with the bustin down the door crew , he was one of the only Hawaiians to stick his neck out….organize meeting s etc…he was a true Hawaiian, Aloha dripping from his finely tuned body…..he was a genius and as always there were flaws in the genius !
I first met Reno at Caves/Cactus 1973….he was shooting a movie with Witzig…Rolling Home..Witzigs cameras happened to break that week so I was surfing Caves with him alone…and was I was going for my first trip to Hawaii 73/74……he looked after me…ordered boards/went surfing at secret place, became a best friend , to where he would stay in Australia at my place …he became a mentor …..he is a huge part of my designing DNA….always will…and the Reno of later life ….he toasted his brain on Meth…wouldn’t listen to anyone….developed a chip on his shoulder which turned him bitter with the shit!
Reno was incredibly endowed with ability, he was eloquent , he helped people the Great Reno…RIP mate..
Thank you, MC. I had set a message asking for stories from the older heads, but deleted it.
So, a very nice surprise to read this. Sorry for the loss of your friend. We mourn and we move on. Carlos Casten ….. no, it was Martin Prechtel wrote a book on grief, The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise (2015), and recommended taking a good cry in the ocean. Returning our tears to the ocean. Hope that you can have a surf in memory of your friend.
I have a lot of stories with Reno….surf/shaping etc…..probably going to shape a board today with Fluted Flyers as a testimony to a great man and friend…
What you probably don’t know is that BG were part of him becoming homeless….when he wrote a piece on an altercation Reno and I had at Timmy Pattersons shop a few years ago……
Oh really? What happened?
just tried to find the article that Reno wrote….I was coming back from the airport when you called…..I did ask you not to print the article as Reno was not in a great place mentally/addiction problem…..but BG printed it and repercussions for Reno was he was thrown out of his home by his girlfriend, became homeless , went to Puerto Rico homeless…….he never recovered and was homeless till he died…
BeachGrit made Irino (Reno) homeless?
I rather think it was constant substance abuse (anything and everything he could get his hands on) combined with untreated mental health issues – not an internet website!
BG was a catalyst/sliding doors moment…….he was already spiraling down and we were trying to help ( Timmy and I)…….I have no problem with DR/BG reprinting the story…..he was thrown out of home and a restraining order taken out…in the following 5 days after the article!
I wish these things weren’t coming out for what should be a tribute to his life.
I know I wouldn’t want that to be my final memories, and I know that you probably wouldn’t want that to define yours.
I only met him once, at Ehukai on my first year on the north shore, checking the waves.
I didn’t know who he was at the time.
He was next to me, started up a conversation on my board, talked story a little bit, totally normal and cool.
At one point we watched a guy drop in on another guy, who kicked his board out at the other guy, then got out and as he was walking by Reno said something to him, and the guy put his head down in shame and apologized about it.
I figured out right then he was somebody.
We all have crazy struggles in life,, but we all hope the memories of us when we are gone will be the good ones.
My prayers and respect goes out to him and his family.
yeah some terrible things like all of us…..I struggle with with what was, what could/should have been and actual reality…..what lessons were learnt……stoked ya had a positive story with Reno….I had a lot more than not!!!
Respect!
I promise you if you go before me and there is still a forum to talk about it on BG I will make sure the good memories of your time here will be on full display.
For you to show your humanity to us is a gift to us all.
Reno certainly roasted you with savage personal insults and a vicious critique of your shaping ability (or lack thereof) – was good of you to brush it off as the bad drugs talking and to extend sympathies to Reno for his obvious substance use issues and mental health problems, rather than respond with your own insults and condemnations.
Methamphetamine certainly is a terrible drug –
yeah Reno was certainly angry and emotionally corrupted by meth….7 years in a room in Ensenada….what I cherish is the good times , the life lessons and also his friendship /shaping mentor…surf stories etc……the other negative stuff is at the end of his life which is so fucken sad…Like Dane/Sunny!
Yes, Reno’s very public decline was sad and difficult for all his friends, including yourself but as everyone working in the drug rehabilitation and mental health fields will tell you – you cannot help someone unless they make the commitment to help themselves and Reno never got there – not even close, apparently.
I want to try meth but not end up like reno
Never met Reno, just the mags.
Good first impressions, small guy—riding some big waves—‘classic’ style….
Liked him and his style…
Pictures that kind of defined an era:
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
my son and I literally prayed for him ‘this’ past week in our kitchen that he would make peace with God before he passed away.
Hope to see him in Heaven someday.
My daughter worked as a hostess at Dukes Malibu when she attended Pepperdine. Said Reno would come in with his dogs and loiter around and hassle the young girls at the front desk. Very rude. They had to ask him to leave multiple times.
Pepperdine? Damn, you must have more $$ than Hippy did growing up.
I had a cousin who went there. Full scholarship.
So yea, it would have costed my aunt a fair chunk of change, but tuition and many other costs were zilch.
She got a 95% full ride. Rock star daughter
I first met Reno around 20 years ago. We were working the load in and load out of The Lion King stage show at the Blaisdell. Super cool guy. He has been through a lot. Rest in peace brother Reno
DanesS&SS just sent me this photo of him (paddling out) and Reno (up n riding) in 1972.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Plus this description of his experience…
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Maaleaa?
It literally says Maalaea at the bottom of the photo.
This whole posting stuff for Tim when he isn’t banned is just weird at this point.
Nah, I’m just acting for him as an agent, a personal moderator, if you will.
There’ll be beers n bongs in it when I next make it to the OooEssAyy.
P.S.
Heck I could always do some editing on your comments if ya want, probably wouldn’t hurt…
Maybe 10 years ago he was living in his car which he’d parked behind SHACC, bird bathing in the men’s room and generally making a nuisance of himself. Constantly drenched in cologne.
After about a week of it Metz told him to hit the bricks.
Hope he finally got some peace.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Cool single fin with the kicked-up nose.
RIP, Reno. Not an easy life.
Here’s new footage of the aftermath of a Brazzo getting underscored at the last contest https://youtu.be/6Uw2mQzdTzQ?si=fIdQTHWBwmMbZZwM
reno was an absolute mess last time I saw him which was about six months ago at sunset beach. eating and drinking out of trash cans, garbage bags of litter thrown everywhere, drooling all over himself, fights with other homeless people, cops called, etc..
and people were still cleaning up after him, trying to help him…
north shore is a strange place
Why do you upvote your own comments cunt.
are you retarded or what
North shore IS a fucked up place
yes, completely retarded
I’m liking the cut of your jib there
Reno. And surfing today. The shitshow….
RIP
Obituary from 1965 for Irino Abellira, Reno’s father – shot dead in Chinatown.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/honolulu-star-bulletin-obit-for-ireno-r/14021444/
“Abellira” is a Filipino surname, from old España, not Hawaiian.
Why is it that you post the exact same thing every time Reno is brought up on here? You claim Hawaii constantly, should that always be followed by the statement that your parents are haole? You don’t seem to have the same issue every time JJF, Makua, Nate, Koa, Ivan, and the other haoles are labelled as Hawaiian.
JSC is a lame-brain..
just ignore him…
Because “Hawaiian” is an ethnicity – not a placemarker or geographic designation.
No one who is NOT an ethnic Hawaiian should EVER be referred to as “Hawaiian” – from Hawaii, yes. “Hawaiian”, no.
The surname, “Abellira” is from The Philippines via Spain – he’s Filipino.
All this is common knowledge in Hawaii, but people from outside Hawaii use “Hawaiian” to label anyone – Haole, Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, any-kine people as “Hawaiian”, which is incorrect.
so my name is R. Mc Donald….I am Scottish?
Hawaiian people are only Hawaiian if they have a Hawaiian name?
Yes, if your surname is “McDonald” then you would be Scottish!
Not necessarily FROM bonny Scotland, as Scottish people are widely dispersed worldwide thanks to the British Empire, but definitely have ancestors from Scotland at some point in time –
The fact is – non-ethnic Hawaiians should not be casually referred to as “Hawaiian” as “Hawaiian” is a specific ethnicity.
Are all Australians “Aboriginals?”
No, they are not. From Australia, yes – Aboriginal, no; as Aboriginal is an ethnicity.
“Aboriginality is considered an ethnicity, as it relates to distinct cultural, ancestral, and linguistic origins, particularly in Australia where it encompasses over 60,000 years of history and diverse, specific, regional groups”
From Hawaii? Yes –
“Hawaiian”? Usually no, as the vast majority of the population in the State of Hawaii is not “Hawaiian” at all, but migrants from other places, like The Philippines where the Abellira surname was brought from Spain in the Spanish colonial period.
Are you getting it?
what about the black Mc Donalds?
I don’t really care about all the nationalistic rubbish , especially Hawaii as it’s melting pot , like Australia……so do you know any hawaiians?
Yes, of course – anyone with a family surname like Kanaiapuni, Kapono, Keaulana, Kaluhiokalani, Kahanamoku would be ethnic Hawaiian and properly referred to as “Hawaiian” – because they are!
I am sure there are black McDonalds, Fergusons and Campbell’s as if you go back enough generations in the family, there will be a Scot getting his in there to impregnate an enslaved black woman
“Nationalistic rubbish” is also incorrect – “Nationalism” is an allegiance to a nation or state.
Hawaii is part of the US, and there are no recognised independent aboriginal nations within Australia, so “nationalism” in this context is irrelevant –
You’re being an ass.
now does that mean…..he is part donkey……and of the horse family ethnic group?
Take Fiji for example – people from Fiji are always referred to as “from Fiji” and NOT “Fijian” as everyone knows “Fijian” is a distinctive ethnicity and many people from Fiji; like ethnic Indians, some Haole, some Asians, are not ethnic Fijians at all.
Hawaii should be treated the same way – from Hawaii, but not necessarily nor exclusively “Hawaiian”.
Donkey works for me, that’s worse than being called an ass where I come from.
Not at all – this is common knowledge in Hawaii, not to refer to non-ethnic Hawaii people as “Hawaiian”.
If you are from Hawaii, you learn this early in life – mainland people don’t seem to learn it, ever.
“He/She is from Hawaii! They are Hawaiian, brah!”
No. It doesn’t work like that.
Perfectly correct to use “Hawaii” as a placemarker – it is a physical location, but not everyone (hardly anyone, in fact) who is from Hawaii should be referred to as “Hawaiian” and people who’s parents and grandparents came to Hawaii from the Philippines to do plantation work certainly are not “Hawaiian”.
As harsh as this may come across, you are correct.
There is and needs to be a distinction from those with true Hawaiian lineage from those that emigrated later and assimilated into Island culture, even though the percentage is less than five percent of pure blood. But even then we all know who the true Hawaiians really are, even with mixed blood, and being real about that pays respect to the culture.
But that doesn’t mean those that are children of Hawaii are not part of the culture, and the great Queen Lili’uokalani made sure to recognize that, as she understood the reality of the future.
As abrasive as you might be I have to acknowledge the that you are right there.
Mahalo and Thank You Very Much as Lex Brodie, that old haole tire salesman used to say!
“From Hawaii” is perfectly correct – labelling everyone from Hawaii as “Hawaiian” is definitely not correct.
People who are from Hawaii already know this, but mainland people and others don’t seem to get it – at all.
No shit Sherlock. I understand how it works but, you completely ignored my point which is that you only do this when it’s Reno. He’s not the only non-Hawaiian person that gets that moniker attached to them but, he is the only one that you constantly point out being a Filipino whose dad went to jail. Yet, he’s not the only non-Hawaiian who gets referred to as Hawaiian with a dad that went to jail.
I have a sneaky feeling Reno hurt your feeling once or twice in the past.
I can say one thing for sure, and that’s the surfing World especially the older surfers like myself , see reno as Hawaiian as does history…….and I think it’s our surf culture that over rides semantics.
Kind of like let’s just accept that Buffy St Marie is a native American, although it has been proven her entire career was FAKE and she is not in fact, of native American ancestry at all; not even Canadian, but born from Italian immigrant parents in the USA?
Bullshit.
If you are Filipino, show some Pinoy pride and stand up and say I AM FILIPINO rather than this pretending to be “Hawaiian” bullshit – it is tiresome.
https://www.lakotatimes.com/articles/fake-indian-celebrity-exposed/#:~:text=Sainte%2DMarie's%20biological%20son%2C%20Sheldon%20Wolfchild%2C,is%20not%20Indigenous%20by%20birth
There are not that many “Filipinos whose dad went to jail” surfers from Hawaii being discussed on BeachGrit, or I would point out the “Filipino, not Hawaiian” facts more often with different individuals.
As Reno is only in jail and not dead, I will likely have the opportunity to point out (again) after his next documented transgression how his father was a well-known gangster, shot dead in Chinatown in 1965 in a crime for which no one has ever been arrested or prosecuted and that “Abellira” is a Filipino surname, not “Hawaiian” from Spain via The Philippines.
not an MD but would have to say, Reno had some bi-polar type of disorder.
sometimes nicest guy and sometimes not so nice. that said, an absolute charger who lived life on his own terms and shaped me one of my first ever shortboards (6,9) that took me through my teen years on the NS. A thing of beauty it was.
Farewell to another Legend. Hope the other side provides Reno peace and grace.