Tabla de contenidos para November - December 2021 en Tracks

MUCH HAS BEEN SAID OF THE GREAT MARINER CAPTAIN COOK. LOVED AND LOATHED IN EQUAL MEASURE, HE MAPPED VAST SWATHES OF THE PACIFIC BUT IS CHARGED BY MANY FOR HERALDING THE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN, SULLYING PRISTINE LANDS IN THE PROCESS. Several of the crew’s journals feature accounts of natives handling craft ranging from complex outrigger canoes to simple wooden bodyboards with great skill in the balmy waves of Tahiti and Hawaii. These excerpts are generally accepted as confirming these men to be the first Europeans to witness the act of surfing and have occupied many a paragraph in surfing literature. But what about Cook’s roots on England’s north east coast? It may seem ironic, that despite Captain Cook having grown up on a coast that holds some of…

Back when I was a pro-surf photographer, I was often caught in a painful internal conflict. As a lifetime surfer, having to sit out glorious sessions to shoot photos was sheer torture. I tried vainly to rationalise it: “Well, if I was working on a building site, I wouldn’t be surfing either.” Or: “At least I’m getting paid for this.” It never helped. The best times to shoot were when the waves were too heavy for me anyway. Pipeline was the classic example of that. Of course, depending on the approach you took, things could still be hairy. Shooting from the land was risk free. Shooting from the water with a medium telephoto rig, say a 70-200mm lens, is physically difficult, but usually pretty safe as that setup requires you…

01. Lightbox Shaun Anderson (pictured) didn’t have the smoothest start to this day.With a clean swell bending into crystalline slabs at his favourite offshore reef, he was eager to hit the water and hitched a ride out on his mate’s ski around seven a.m. At least he didn’t have to make the long paddle out over the trench manned by grey-suited, big-finned security guards. However, in his haste to hit the water, Shaun miscalculated the variables at play and got his legrope tangled in the ski. “It made all sorts of horrible noises,” he reflects with a guilty chuckle. “Then a set came through and we almost lost my mate’s twenty-five thousand dollar ski over the falls.” Fortunately, they scraped over the ledging eight-footers, but by then Shaun’s board had…

DEREK HO – FIRST HAWAIIAN SURFING WORLD CHAMPION 1993 In 1976, Fred Hemmings, along with fellow Hawaiian, Randy Rarick, co-founded the basis of the first Professional Surfing World Tour consisting of 12 events around the world. Considering Hawaii’s status in surfing, Hemmings and Rarick designed the Tour so that at least three of the events would be held in Hawaii. Looking back to that time, you would have assumed that with Hawaii’s surfing history they would have produced a World Champion in the early years of pro-surfing, but it took nearly two decades for that to happen when Derek Ho finally nailed the first one in 1993. The previous 18 years the Tour had been dominated by Australians like Mark Richards with four, Tom Carroll with two and the USA’s…

Fortunately, the fear of missing my flight pushed me along just fast enough.When I made it to the terminal an hour later, delirium had set in and my favourite button up shirt was drenched in sweat. It didn’t matter. I was going to Mexico. This was my first trip south of the border, and my first trip since the COVID pandemic pressed pause on the world at large.We’d planned a month-long excursion, starting with longboards and a contest, and ending with sand bottom pointbreaks and shortboards on the jungle fringes. At my gate I was reunited with my friends and travel buddies for the next few weeks.Trey Martinho, Sierra Garcia, Mikey Normand, Laney Star, Natalie Marquart, and Cooper White; all friends and skilled longboarders living in Santa Cruz. As we…

TED GRAMBEAU DOESN’T MIND ADMITTING THAT HIS PHOTOGRAPHIC CAREER HAS OFTEN BEEN RULED BY A CHRONIC CASE OF FOMO. The economics student turned photographer can’t say no to a trip for fear that the opportunity may never present itself again.What if it’s the one that offers an unparalleled experience, beguiling light, or the right confluence of elements for the perfect surf shot? In the face of often overwhelming financial, geographic, and medical obstacles, Ted’s default response is, “Yes, I’m coming.” The upshot of his intrepid tendencies is an expansive body of work that puts polar bears and gorillas in amongst hissing Teahupoo beasts. That’s not to suggest Ted isn’t comfortable with more delicate subject matters. His photographic tome, ‘Adventures in Light’ covers the full spectrum. Dramatic surf action, elegant fashion…

BEHIND THE COVER: TREY MARTINHO BY NOLAN SULLIVAN When a glorious shot like this appears on the cover it’s easy to take it all for granted. Someone just clicks a button and presto, the magic happens. However, to make this dreamy hook up a reality all three players – photographer, surfer and friend – had to dodge Mexican roadblocks, pay off cops, drive on Cartel back-roads and take their cues from cocaine-fuelled surf guides. So when Trey Martinho scored this nugget of curling green, his friend, Coleman Langstaff, figured it was worth celebrating. Sometimes, someone has to do the claiming for you. Turn to page 50 to read all about their travails. GIVEAWAY! SCORE ONE OF FIVE PAIRS OF PATAGONIA’S NEW HYDROLOCK BOARDSHORTS! Patagonia are always on a mission to…

There are 10 or so permanent residents in the blocks about Tony. Most of them live off-grid in half-finished houses, sheds, and caravans, and there are also a handful of holiday shacks and vacant blocks scattered about. TONY BULKE LIVES ALONE ON A HILL ABOVE A REMOTE PART OF THE SOUTHERN AUSTRALIAN COAST. HE IS 68 YEARS OLD, UNMARRIED, AND HAS NO KIDS, ONLY TWO 10-YEAR-OLD GOLDEN RETRIEVERS, BUDDY AND LUCY. On one of those vacant blocks, which belongs to my mate Jason, I have had a camp set up for one month. The only facilities are a six by three metre lean-to, a 5000-litre rainwater tank, and a long drop toilet which looks out at the ocean. Like most of the other residents, I am here for the surf.…