Dane Reynolds surfs with what might be described as a feline sophistication and even now with a daddy body softened by bacon and beer, he will take your breath away.
Slacker surf god Dane Reynolds unlocks secret stash of unseen footage
By Derek Rielly
The corrupt gypsy becomes the gentle romantic.
If you want to feel the passage of time, or at least have it hit you in the guts, consider that Dane Reynolds, cultural engineer, hits forty in a few months.
The former world number four, father of three, and millionaire a few times over, became the most famous surfer of his generation, usurping the authority of pro surfing as the arbiter of best surfing, with his own performances and, later, his body of work for Marine Layer and its sequel Chapter 11 TV.
Dane Reynolds surfs with what might be described as a feline sophistication and even now with a daddy body softened by bacon and beer, he will take your breath away.
The latest instalment on Chapter 11 TV features four minutes of outs from his classic Lost Interest, “that didn’t make the Final Cut so here they are, slapped together with no structure. Just some nice surfin from a memorable Reef trip to Mexico back in 2011.”
Essential.
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Three-time world champ John John Florence aboard the 48-foot gunboat Vela, a boat he's been trying to offload for two years. One point three mill if you're interested.
Tour truant John John Florence and less famous brother Nathan navigate perilous ocean voyage
By Derek Rielly
"What was fun and exciting now has us tired and worried. We're 600 miles from our destination."
After a brief cameo at the tour’s opener at Pipeline, John John Florence set off to explore some of New Zealand’s most dramatic coastal scenery, a decision made easy by the fact his forty-eight foot gunboat Vela née Falcor (back when Travis Rice owned it) which had been sitting dockside there after listing it for sale almost two years ago for $1.3 million American dollars.
(The selling literature describes Vela thus,
“Vela” is currently lying in the North of New Zealand and has been a recent recipient of an extensive refit ensuring that she is 100% ready to go on her next adventure. Lightweight, robust and featuring North 3di technology flying from a Marstrom Carbon mast supported by ECsix carbon rigging, The Gunboat 48 strikes the balance between performance and comfort in a manner rarely seen on performance catamarans under 50ft.
The saloon space flows beautifully into the hulls and forward in to the forward cockpit, sail handling area which of course leaves the aft cockpit space open and free for socialising and watching the world go by.
Recently returning to her original metallic blue hull colour with black accenting provided by the forebeam, mast and trampolines, “Vela” is champing at the bit to get back to exploring!)
In 2015, John John Florence had declared, “My ultimate goal with sailing is to be able to travel fast, cover long distances, and go surfing. I want to combine the two.”
John John Florence, it has to be said, says a vigorous “yes” to life! He is a man who loves enthusiasm and joyousness for their own sake.
And Nathan Florence, hair redder than his older brother, skin as paper thing, literally and figuratively, ain’t far behind.
As John John Florence gives credibility to the WSL version of pro surfing, Nathan Florence delivers to the vlogging freesurfer.
In this harrowing episode, both brothers face a wild ocean and terrific winds, skies black with rain, as they plunge into darkness and cruelty on the open ocean.
Watch if you dare.
Needless to say.
Essential.
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The edits are jagged, the angles unconventional, yet every frame pulses with intent. It captures the messy vitality of Rage’s origin story—a brand built by four mates over eight years, scraping by as the “cockroaches of the surf industry”.
Rage 5 Review: Kai McKenzie’s One-Legged Comeback Steals Show in Toby Cregan’s Raw Surf Epic
By Tex Reed
A masterpiece woven from chaos.
Rage 5, the latest surf flick from Toby Cregan and co’s Rage brand, is an unpolished middle finger to the glossy surf cinema that’s been clogging our screens.
Directed by Cregan, part-owner of the anarchic surf accessories outfit born from a hungover epiphany in a Japanese bar, this film is less a movie and more a primal scream—a raw, skillful chaos that knows the rules of filmmaking but delights in torching them. It’s a love letter to the renegades of the surf world, and I’m here for it.
The film’s beating heart is the duo of Noa Deane and Creed McTaggart, two surfers whose brilliance feels like a cosmic accident. Deane, with his feral grace, attacks waves like a poet with a switchblade, carving lines that are equal parts precision and madness.
McTaggart, meanwhile, is a wiry alchemist, transforming mundane swells into kinetic art with a devil-may-care smirk. Their synergy is electric, a reminder that surfing, at its core, is about rebellion and joy.
Then there’s Wade Goodall, the ageless wizard who defies time with a quiver of tricks that feel plucked from a future dimension. His airs are audacious, his turns ferocious, yet there’s a zen-like ease to his style that makes you forget he’s been at this for decades. Goodall’s presence grounds Rage 5, a living testament to the idea that true skill never fades—it just gets weirder.
The women steal their share of the spotlight, and thank God for it. Holly Wawn, with her power carves, is a force of nature, slicing through waves with a ferocity that’s both elegant and savage. Her turns are like thunderclaps, each one a statement of intent.
Jaleesa Vincent, meanwhile, is the film’s wild card, a big-wave warrior whose near-blinding injury—an eye nearly carved out in a brutal wipeout—only amplifies her fearless aura. Vincent surfs like she’s staring down death itself, and it’s impossible to look away.
Kai McKenzie, Rage’s gutsiest team rider, is the film’s emotional spine. In July 2024, a Great White took his leg off Port Macquarie, a brutal twist that could’ve ended his story. Rage 5 captures McKenzie before and after—first as a shredder whose fearless, fluid style rivaled Deane’s, tearing through waves with a grin.
Then, impossibly, as a one-legged survivor, back in the water, surfing with a different but undimmed fire. His leg washed ashore, was iced, and ferried for reattachment hopes that didn’t pan out. Yet McKenzie’s humor—posting “Spot something missing?” on social media—shows a spirit unbroken.
Cregan’s filmmaking is the glue that holds this anarchic symphony together. The edits are jagged, the angles unconventional, yet every frame pulses with intent. It captures the messy vitality of Rage’s origin story—a brand built by four mates over eight years, scraping by as the “cockroaches of the surf industry”. The result is a film that feels alive, unfiltered, and unconcerned with pleasing the mainstream.
If you’re chasing drone porn or cookie-cutter surf narratives, scuttle back to your Red Bull reels. But if you hunger for surfing with grit and soul, this is your gospel.
Toby Cregan and his gang have woven a masterpiece from chaos and craft. The film’s genius lies in its alchemy: raw, unfiltered energy spliced with moments of high-definition brilliance, where polished visuals punctuate the grime.
It’s this dance between rough and refined, elevated by Cregan’s thoughtful framing and daring angles, that makes every shot sing.
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Dylan Graves gives and gets hell in the Sea of Japan.
World record-breaking surfer Dylan Graves conquers rare Sea of Japan swell
By Derek Rielly
A wild three-day surf and snow bender, Pacific Coast, Sea of Japan and mountains!
The adventures of Puerto Rican Dylan Graves in his pursuit of the strangest waves on earth have been assiduously documented on BeachGrit, a website that may be counted as Graves’ biggest fan, first in his ongoing series Weird Waves and, now, as he traverses the world solo.
One year ago, the almost-forty-year-0ld with his trademark balayaged Manson Family hairstyle smashed the Guinness World Record for most turns on a wave with a difficult to believe forty manoeuvres, including one air, and which he achieved on a tidal bore in Indonesia.
“We thought we’d opened another dimension in time!” he said.
In this episode, we find Dylan Graves in the once imperial nation of Japan. It was the west’s mortal enemy a few generations ago. History buffs will note that it was a foolhardy attack on a Hawaiian naval base in 1941 that sewed the seeds for its downfall and, ultimately, for two cities getting flattened by Oppenheimer’s whip.
The US, deftly led by General Dougie MacArthur, transformed the wretched joint from a defeated enemy to a key ally by dismantling its military regime, giving em a democratic constitution that limited the emperor’s power and brought in the vote for gals and helped ‘em out with a bag of cash.
It’s quite a country, houses are dirt cheap, waves pump, some of the best snow in the world and if you’ve ever wanted to eat the fatty meats of a whale or dolphin, Japan is the place for you.
Graves joins Keito Matsuoka and Tosh Tudor “for a whirlwind 72-hour strike mission across Japan—scoring pumping surf on both coasts (the Pacific Ocean and the Japan Sea) and fresh powder in the snowy mountains. Japan is always special, but experiencing it like this was WILD! From perfect waves to deep powder, this trip captures the magic of chasing swell and snow in one of the most diverse and dynamic places on Earth.”
Essential.
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Trans-surfer Sasha Jane Lowerson en route to Melbourne wave tank!
Watch: Trans-surfer Sasha Jane Lowerson rides Melbourne wave pool before joining John John Florence in NZ
By Derek Rielly
"As I walk my journey through the turmoil of people that want to spread misinformation, I’ve found myself wondering why do people hate me for existing!"
It’s been several months since BeachGrit last reported on the inspirational trans surfer Sasha Jane Lowerson neé former men’s longboard champion Andrew Egan.
You’ll remember, last year, when Sasha Jane Lowerson, who turns forty-seven in August, was banned from surfing in the women’s div of a longboard contest after the founder of American Longboarder Todd Messick got wind she’d entered the HB Longboarding Pro.
Messick, a former pro surfer hisself, didn’t fuck around.
“Right now, we’re going to support biological males and biological females in their divisions respectively,” he said in a video posted online, which quickly earned four thousand likes.
“If you were born a female, you enter in the women’s. If you’re born a male, you enter in the men’s.”
He added, nothing personal to T-Girls but,
“I want to offer an equal playing field for all athletes and that’s the stand we’re taking so I hope that everybody respects that and allows us to just do our thing. This whole thing is about traditional longboard surfing and supporting that so that’s what we’re here to do.”
Messick’s dream of bio-gals only in the women’s div was overturned by the California Coastal Commission, with the LA Times’ Hanna Fry writing:
As I walk my journey through the turmoil and the implications of people that want to spread misinformation, I’ve found myself wondering why? Just why do people hate me for existing!
Anyway, water under the ol bridge, as the saying goes, and today, we can celebrate Sasha Jane Lowerson giving hell to the Melbourne wave tank on a shortboard before bolting across the Tasman to join John John Florence and Kelly Slater in New Zealand.
