Blog

Modern shortboards have come stock with five fin boxes for the past decade or so, but choosing between a thruster or quad setup remains a major dilemma for most surfers. Both fin configurations have their pros and cons, and lend themselves toward different types of waves and styles of surfing. Thrusters provide more control in the pocket and facilitate a top-to-bottom approach to maneuvers, but limit speed and down-the-line drive due to the drag created by the middle fin.    Meanwhile, quads have extra speed and drive and can hold a rail through a carve, but tend to be loose and...

BEN SKINNER OVA   Ben “Skindog” Skinner has been at the center of the UK’s longboard scene for decades. A proven competitor who put on a dominant performance at the Malibu Pro this past season, he is also a widely respected board builder who has proven the validity of his shapes by surfing them to competitive success. Skindog is an adept noserider and knows his way around a traditional log, but is also a fan of modern, high-performance longboarding, surfing with power and authority, particularly when the waves get juicy. His ability on a longboard is unquestioned, but what many...

Margaret River is never an easy wave to surf, let alone compete on—and this year was no exception. After enjoying classic, perfectly groomed conditions at Bells, the tour headed west and was met by something very different. The first few days of the waiting period were windy and wonky, and any hope of running heats at The Box were dashed pretty quickly as it became clear that lip-line floaters and chop hops were going to be the flavor of the first few rounds. Then the second half of the window went ballistic, with cleaner (but still tricky) triple-overhead+ sets hammering...

A Personal Shortboard Revolution While many people are under the impression that longboards are only for beginners, those of us who have dedicated ourselves to the log know that it can be as technically impressive to ride as a high-performance shredstick.   From traditional noseriding to barrel rides and vertical snaps on a performance longboard, shapes over 9'0" look as good as they feel when they are under the feet of an accomplished surfer, and riding them is more often a matter of choice than necessity. But a time comes for many dedicated longboarders when they find that they want...

Surf Artist Andy Davis and His Hawaiian South Shore Collaboration Surfing has long been a community of free thinkers and creatives, yet the number of surf artists whose work has stood the test of time can probably be counted on two hands. The simple reality is that it is difficult to make a living as an artist in our society, and the surf market is so small (relatively speaking) that it makes it virtually impossible to be financially successful when making surf-inspired art. One person who has been able to turn surf art into a sustainable lifestyle is Andy Davis....

Unleash Your Inner Surfer: Master the Art of Groveling with the Firewire Sweet Potato SHOP NOW While Dan Mann has proven himself to be a master shaper of all types of surf craft, it was the Sweet Potato that first made him a household name. A short, wide, volume-heavy groveler with straight rails and a deep double concave that effectively “splits” the board in half in order to allow it to turn and transition from rail to rail, the Sweet Potato was an instant hit with anyone who found themselves stuck surfing tiny longboard waves but not wanting to ride...

Hawaiian South Shore Member of the Month - Jeffrey Garvey     When and why did you initially get into surfing? I initially got into surfing when I was about 9 years old. All my friends were doing it and it was just an excuse to stay in the water.   Did you have a time period you laid off from surfing? If so, when and why did you start back up? There was a time when I didn't surf that much and focused on kiteboarding. But I started to get only excited about kiting when there were waves, so I...

Understanding the World Surf League’s Mid-Year Cutoff and What It Means for Our Favorite World Tour Competitors If you’re as big a fan of professional surfing as we are, then you may have found yourself wondering what the commentary team at the Bells Beach Pro were talking about when they kept referencing the mid-year cutoff. For those of you who still don’t fully understand the World Surf League’s new format—and we don’t blame you, because it’s painfully complicated—here’s a comprehensive explanation of how it works and how it affects your favorite competitors. First of all, as in year’s past, the...

The Surf Breaks of Waikiki Beach Hawaii Video Credit to Where's Your Board Youtube Channel Waikiki Beach is one of the most famous stretches of sand in the world and home to a number of Hawaii’s best surf spots. Although not known for the huge barrels that the North Shore produces, Waikiki Beach’s waves hold a special place in both surfing and Hawaiian history, and are arguably the birthplace of modern wave riding. The waves in Waikiki are generally soft and forgiving, breaking over reef and sand during the smaller summertime south swells. Most of the waves are best on a...

Surfer Spotlight: Dr. Erin Gilbert When and why did you initially get into surfing? I started surfing 2 years ago on my 48th birthday. Although my family grew up surfing here in Hawaii I was a bicoastal kid—California and Hawaii. My best friend took me out for the first time and I was hooked. A week later I was introduced to Fred Hemmings, and we’ve become best friends. Fred has so much history to share and I love learning everything he teaches me, ranging from his role in establishing major surfing competitions like the Pipeline Masters, the pro circuit in general,...

SOLEIL ERRICO The Newest Member of the Thunderbolt Family   If you were watching the Cuervo Classic at the Surf Ranch last September, you likely saw Soleil Errico style her way to the finals, where she came up just short of beating event champ Honolua Blomfeld (who would also go on to win the world championship at Malibu a few weeks later). While Soleil is not as much of a household name here in Hawaii as local girl Honolua is, she’s been a dominant force on the women’s longboard world tour for quite some time. Only 20 years old, the...

The Roots of IPD: How Bob and Bill Hurley Revamped an Idea from the 1980s and Turned It Into Surfing’s Newest Old Brand   Bob Hurley’s new brand IPD (International Pro Designs) has been generating a bunch of buzz in the surf industry. But as we mentioned in a blog, IPD actually isn’t new at all! The “brands” started in 1982 when Bob Hurley was looking to create a guild of surfboard shapers who would share ideas and work toward a better future for surfboard design. Unfortunately, not many shapers at the time were willing to share their ideas, so it...

Folded Napkins and Unconscious Habits For the longest time, my wife used to ask me “Why do you always take the napkin that is under your glass napkin and fold it in half?” To be honest, I didn’t know the answer. I just naturally did it, usually without thinking. But then one day, I was watching a Japanese TV show that talked about all of the many different habits of Japanese people. In one segment, they featured the people and customs of Okinawa, where I grew up. Wow, did that show reveal a lot of things to me! After watching it,...

Hawaiian South Shore Member of the Month - Brian Martinez   When and why did you initially get into surfing? The first time I ever attempted surfing I was 12 years old. Since I was a grom I had always been involved in dirt bikes and skateboarding. Being out of Las Vegas, Nevada you didn’t really have the chances to surf unless you made the 4 and half hour drive to California. My parents and I had been spending a few days in San Diego at the time on holiday and my father rented out some old beat up soft tops...

The Surfer's Secret to Happiness "They don’t seem to regret all that time they don’t spend actually riding waves." Surfer: @kalei.fukuda A while back a visitor from the mainland stopped into Hawaiian South Shore and told me about an article called “The Surfer’s Secret to Happiness.” I eventually ended up finding the article, in “The New York Times,” and thought that it was pretty cool. It talks about how, as surfers, we only spend the smallest fraction of our time standing up on our boards and actually “surfing,” but how, despite the fact that most of our time is spent...

How the Jet Stream and Ice Pack Affect Swell for the South Shore   We surfers spend most of our time riding waves and thinking about riding waves, but not too much time thinking about where those waves come from. Although it might seem obvious in hindsight, many of us are unaware that swells are the direct result of the movement of wind on the surface of the water, and that those winds are affected by huge, global factors such as the Kelvin wave along the equator, the north and south jet streams, and even the ice mass down by...

How To Address Sciatica   I’ve been struggling with sciatica for years, and for anyone who has suffered through that in the past, you know that it involves horrible radiating pain down the buttocks and into the lower leg. Sciatica is caused by impingement of the nerves in the lower back and can quite frustrating. Activity and movement are supposed to help, but when you are debilitated by the pain, how are you supposed to go out and get some activity? People who struggle with sciatica often spend much of their life to mitigate the symptoms. I know I did!...

Hawaiian South Shore Member of the Month - Michael McChrystal   When and why did you initially get into surfing? I didn’t start until college in Santa Barbara Did you have a time period you laid off from surfing? It wasn’t a full layoff but I lived in Tokyo for 4 years and only surf a handful of times. It was super difficult to get to the beach since I didn’t own a car while I was there.  What is your favorite thing about surfing?  Just being out in the water. Whether it’s 1 ft or 5, it’s always gonna...

For the first time in 2022, we saw the WSL World Tour run a complete slate of events in Hawaii as part of the season opener, with both Pipe and Sunset delivering excellent conditions, exciting competition, and a fair share of drama. Gabriel Medina started the year off with a surprise announcement that he’d be stepping away from competition for an indefinite break, which opened the door for injury wildcards such as Ivan Florence and Caio Ibelli. Meanwhile, on the women’s side we saw a new crop of rookies led by Bettylou Sakura Johnson, as well as exciting Pipeline wildcard...