“For a relatively ugly dude, it’s one good way of pulling yourself out of a rut.”
Unless there’s a four in front of your age, Nathan Webster is a name that rings no bells.
But what a transformative surfer he was in the late nineties and early two thousands, consorting with, and sometimes beating the world’s best, while introducing an unheard of sartorialism and biting humour, Dez often the victim, to the notoriously low IQ world tour.
Nathan Webster’s greatest claim to fame, apart from being a rookie of the year I think, was driving Ross Williams’ fat head into the dirt during the Hawaiian’s last-ever heat at Pipeline, an ignominy Williams is yet to live down.
It was the influence of the panther-like Webster, a stately fifty two now, daddy of two and an ambassador for Burberry Hero, that opened the door, it’s fair to say, for the Pete Doherty-esque cigarette smoking, leather jacket wearing quasi-homosexual reign of Alex Knost, Ford Archbold and their various acolytes.
As Webster said about his pivot to fashion, “For a relatively ugly dude, it’s one good way of pulling yourself out of a rut.”
Earlier today, Webster appeared on my Instagram feed as Nathan Webster_McGrath for he is now working as a sales agent for the Mona Vale branch of the very well known real estate brand, joining other surf industry vets Mitch Ross and Justin Cote in the realtor game.
Dressed as an Italian gigolo who seduces elderly women before returning, conscience clear, to a sirloin steak with his family, Webster “brings a rare blend of creative vision and commercial discipline to every client relationship.”