Table of contents for June 2017 in Surfer

It was a warm September afternoon in Hossegor, France, back in 2012, and I was sitting on the sprawling deck of a vacation rental surrounded by Craig Anderson, Nate Tyler, Dion Agius, and Dane Reynolds—basically the freesurfing equivalent of The Beatles at the time. And yet between stuffing our faces with pizza and washing it down with frosty beer, our redfaced conversation managed to turn its focus to competition. Reynolds told us about a final he’d surfed during his amateur career, when he’d earned the highest score of the heat early on and just needed to back it up with any semblance of a decent ride to solidify his place at the podium. Instead of driving the final nail into his opponent’s coffin, however, Reynolds just sat there, thinking about…

Last December, during a drizzly afternoon on the North Shore of Oahu, I was playing cards on the porch at Conner and Parker Coffin’s home fronting Off The Wall when I realized the surf had switched on with overhead sets and remarkably thin crowds. The only problem? I hadn’t brought a surfboard. I asked Parker, who was out of the water and nursing a slightly tweaked ankle, if I could borrow a board. “Of course. But if you wanna surf, you gotta try this thing,” he said, pointing to a purple 5'8" with a bizarre-looking fin setup: four canted-out, glassed-on side fins and a fifth, larger middle fin. At first glance, the board looked over-engineered—gimmicky, even. I’m not typically one for alternative craft, especially in powerful North Shore surf. But…

Five people who are forging unique paths in surfing and shaking things up in the process In mid-November, the day after Billy Kemper won the WSL’s Peahi Challenge, Kai Lenny posted a striking video clip on Instagram from a wind-torn day at the Maui big-wave break. On his 5'6" tow board, Lenny was toying with Jaws as though it were Keramas, weaving up and down the 20-foot face before launching into an enormous frontside air on the end bowl of the monster wave. It was quite the departure from the previous day’s contest, where competitors had scratched into the hulking peaks, pointing and shooting with 10-foot-plus surfboards. One approach resembled small-wave surfing on an oversized scale, while the other was more or less survival. Both looked amazing, but in vastly…

Five people who are forging unique paths in surfing and shaking things up in the process Cyrus Sutton, the only child of two college professors, spent many of his formative years exploring the American West with his dad—a “fringe critter,” according to Sutton—in a VW bus, surfing, fly-fishing, and hiking. This outdoorsy childhood had a hand in fostering the outof- the-box thinking and curiosity that’s defined Sutton’s adult life and seen him evolve from talented longboarder to one of the most important documentary filmmakers in surfing today. Sutton released his first film, Riding Waves, in 2003, taking home the Best Cinematography Award at the X-Dance Film Festival. It featured Rob Machado, Joel Tudor, Donavon Frankenreiter, Dane Reynolds, and John Peck—an eclectic mix of talent that foreshadowed Sutton’s unique approach to…

Five people who are forging unique paths in surfing and shaking things up in the process When the forecast calls for steep, barreling conditions, most people opt for high-performance boards they know will work: something in the 6'0" range, heavily rockered, with three fins, maybe four. But when Torren Martyn arrived at the departures terminal of the Brisbane Airport for a recent swell chase to the South Pacific, his board bag wasn’t stuffed with the kind of quiver you’d expect. I met the lanky, 6'2" Byron Bay native in front of the check-in counter. With his shoulder-length hair pulled back into a bun, he was crouched over his board bag, shifting gear around to redistribute some weight. The forecast for the island we were heading to promised thick, double- overhead…

For his 25th surf film, titled Proximity, Taylor Steele took four surfers who defined style, performance, and bravado for the past few decades and paired them with four surfers who carry those same torches today. Each pairing was based on a common thread, whether it was a free-flowing style, a penchant for futuristic maneuvers, or an insatiable appetite for deadly caverns, and they headed to locations that would perfectly suit their shared approach. Goofyfooted style masters Rob Machado and Craig Anderson drew gorgeous lines through frigid Chilean points. Australian freethinkers Dave Rastovich and Stephanie Gilmore shared an offbeat journey through a Central Baja dreamscape. Heavy-water heroes Shane Dorian and Albee Layer sought out the most hair-raising slabs they could find along Scotland’s craggy coast. And fellow world champions Kelly Slater…

“This was the first swell of the year, and for a week there were good waves forecasted, but every morning it just wasn’t quite right,” says Russell Bierke (pictured) about this NSW Pipe impersonator. “On the last day of the swell, we were all feeling pretty defeated, but we woke up pre-dawn to give it one more look. I got to the checkout spot in the dark and saw the silhouette of a huge wave spit and knew it was on. I spent the morning trading barrels and beatdowns with a crew of good mates. It was a great start to the season, especially since this wave hadn’t broken properly in a year. Looking back on it, I’d say it’s nearly the best session I’ve ever had out there.”…

Five people who are forging unique paths in surfing and shaking things up in the process Just before the 2016 SURFER Awards on Oahu’s North Shore, during the pre-show red carpet webcast, host Kaipo Guerrero did his best to interview Mason Ho. But before Guerrero could ask him a question, Ho hijacked the situation: “OK, I’m saying it,” Ho announced enthusiastically, looking straight into the camera. “This guy macked Madonna…[Guerrero] pulled her at Sandy Beach. Madonna, I know the Grammys is coming up, but if you’re watching this…” A red-faced Guerrero stopped Ho before he could finish his thought, and the producers quickly cut to Benji Weatherley and Makua Rothman on the red carpet. But it wouldn’t be the last time Ho flew off the handle that night. Just an…

Five people who are forging unique paths in surfing and shaking things up in the process Looking back on the early days of surfing’s Internet Age, Warren Smith—a brooding surfer, artist, writer, and photographer from the Gulf Coast of Florida—emerged as one of the sport’s most polarizing figures. Beginning with his early collaborations with Dion Agius on their blog, Proxy Noise, in 2011, Smith’s modern Beat ramblings, abstract black-and-white photography, and outsider ethos sent many an internet troll running to their keyboards. But Smith was never concerned about online backlash. In fact, he and Agius embraced it. “I’ve come to the realization that if you do something that the majority of the surf world hates, then you’re probably doing something right,” Agius says of he and Smith’s collaboration. “Surfing has…

DR: When I was 18 or so, I was struggling with sponsors and cameras and judges and whatever. I remember hearing this line: “Dance like no one’s watching.” And I thought, “Yeah, that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll surf exactly the same no matter who’s watching. If things come from that, awesome. If they don’t, whatever. That’s cool too.” SG: You must be a pretty good dancer. DR: I’m terrible. We’re all terrible when no one’s watching, because we’re just doing crazy, stupid shit. But I really don’t mind. SG: For an athlete, that kind of frame of mind is what almost every coach is trying to instill: “Don’t think. Just make it an intuitive experience.” So maybe you could be a really good coach. DR Yeah, I should give it a try. SG: Do…

FADE IN: EXT. PARKING LOT ABOVE DURANBAH ON AUSTRALIA’S GOLD COAST - DAY MIKEY WRIGHT pulls up in a rusted pickup truck, gets out, and heads around to the bed. He reaches past his standard thruster for a garage-sale single-fin he recently acquired, but is stopped abruptly by a voice coming from just over his shoulder. MULLET (Greasy and visibly agitated) Oi! The f--k ya doin’, mate? You’re not gonna grow a soul patch and start doin’ yoga on us now, are ya? How you gonna throw a sick punt on that piece o’ driftwood? Do us a favor and smash that thing into kindling, mate. The world will be better off, I reckon. WRIGHT (Pauses, sets the board down, and takes a deep breath) Mate, I’ve been meaning to talk…