totally aware of the environment and become a member of The Church of The Open Sky. One of our greatest surfing legends, the late Miki Dora gave surfing that title, when he was pressed to describe the activity he dedicated his life to. Suffice to say that whenever I have to fill in a form asking my religion I use that simple phrase. I recall Gerry Lopez also used The Church of the Open Sky to describe his surfing when exiting the majestic cathedrals of Pipeline in the early 70s. Every surfer around the world has his own unique story of his or her adventure and how he or she has got to their love of surf. Making that statement brings up an observations that I would like to share with you. As I said before, our Hawaiian ancestors did not separate women from men in competition. In retrospect perhaps that is because Hawaii had so many Queens, they saw women as superior. They called the contests “meets”, for the most part bringing people together for pleasure not as a gladiator sport. I have long considered separate events for each sex to be sexist and one day this wall will come down as that is old sports’ values from the last century. We should stand proud, integrate men and women, have equal prize money for each and explain to the world that having separate competitions for men and women is not in our DNA; we should not be sexist. Just imagine if the rules could be modified to accommodate men and women competing against each other, not just points for the biggest air but more emphasis on style. Linking manoeuvres that flow together in the most critical part of the wave is the essence of good surfing. I would not give any points for any air if it were not successfully pulled off and ran cleanly into the next manoeuvre. This is a bit tough but I think professional surfing competition should show what you can do, not what you are trying to get better at, put your best foot forward but if you screw up, no cigar. To my mind, getting a move down is called training, practice all you want but only bring the finished act to the professional arena. For that matter I would not allow leashes in pro contests either, they are training wheels for surfers who make mistakes, pros should not need them. If he or she wipes out and has to swim to retrieve their board then so be it. The surfing public would be interested to see them bodysurf and do their best to not make the same mistake again. This is another scenario that would set us apart from traditional sport. Having men and women in the same competition is already happening. A couple of years ago I competed in the Maldives against Layne Beachley; she kicked my arse and almost beat Occy. At Rip Curl’s 50th, I stood on the cliffs at Bells and watched Steph Gilmore ripping. She was surfing as well as anyone in the water, better in fact than most of the men; beautiful style and radical manoeuvres. I think that these days having so many girls in the line-up has really had a good effect on the male dominated surfing population especially in Australia where the balance has been over the top. Women bring a certain feel with them; create an ambiance that is really what surfing is about. For the most part they aren’t so aggressive; let’s face it, in the past testosterone levels are out of control. I believe the real division in professional surfing should be between the different equipment being ridden not the gender of the rider. Back in the late 80s when I was on the Board of the ASP a few of us fought hard for longboarding to be recognised as a legitimate separate discipline. We were successful in that every WCT shortboard event had to have a pro longboard, all be it with much less prize money. When I left the Board this situation was changed, women were given that position, I think that was unjust. Millions of surfers both men and women ride longboards around the world every day. It is the roots of our sport. In a lot of countries there are many more longboarders than short. The main reason is because longboards go so well in small waves and the reality is that there are many more small, on-shore days than good surf with perfect barrels. The surfing life of each surfer is a very personal thing but there is a common thread between us all, that can’t be found in football or tennis, or any of those other fantastic sports that give great guidance in many other ways to personal development. But that’s not surfing consciousness, that’s not our history. Long-term use of surfing makes you aware of the importance of saving nature, of being minimal on your footprint. Motor sports burn all the fossil fuels we now know are so precious and should be used sparingly. They are sports from a bygone era, they are destined to disappear. By spending your life chasing the perfect wave you are on a quest that all surfers have been on since the beginning. The Endless Summer is still a reality; every surfer is looking for Tube Time. Whenever they enter the water, the search for the perfect wave is still happening. No other sport has our qualities or intrinsic values. Skateboarding is a trainer for surfing; great when there are no waves, you can feel the flow of what’s possible in the water. Snowboarding is what we do when riding the medium of snow in the mountains. So I believe we should stand proud that we are being so different from other sports for surfing is the sport of the future. Dora always said that the closing line of “The Church of the Open Sky” was “Hollow be Thy Wave” – in Australian ancient surfing lingo everyone has heard the cry “send em up Hughie”.
Winter 2013 |
? ?23