Tracks No. 572

At age 36 Mick Fanning surfs his way to a final at Bells and then says au revoir to sirens, coloured singlets, tour schedules and life in the shadows of contest scaffolding. With his surfing powers still at their zenith Mick secures a mandate from his sponsors to roam the globe on a whim. He lives five minutes from an airport and a small leap of faith from any wave in the world. While his three world titles ensure his name is etched into surfing history, perhaps Mick feels even happier about the fact that he has now cultivated a life with no boundaries. Kai Lenny grows up in Maui, a Hawaiian island blessed with an abundance of swell and lineups like Jaws and Honolua Bay, which can sculpt waves…

Jack Robinson - Gnaraloo When Jack Robinson shoots you a mysto text and tells you to meet him at Gnaraloo for a strike mission, you get straight in your car and you drive, lest you miss out on something very special indeed. That’s exactly what happened to West Oz photographer Tom Pearsall, aka Driftwood Photography, during his Easter holidays. Tom had been sizing up an Easter weekend swell heading for the famed north west WA left when his phone lit up with a single message from Jack which read, “I think Wednesday’s the day,” before the enigmatic natural footer just as quickly disappeared from mobile reception. “Everyone had their eyes on an early swell arriving at the desert for Easter Weekend. However, Jack had spied a bump landing earlier during…

From The Vault. A Japan Road Gang – Photo: Kirk Aeder What or who is Kelly filming? Was everyone wearing tank tops in the 90s? Is Rommel’ more ripped than Tommy and what does that sign say in English? So many questions to be answered. We do know that Damien Hardman won the title that year. Follow. @nathanoldfield - For the love of pure surfing. Read –The Rip Curl Story By Tim Baker Rip Curl is a uniquely Australian success story. This inspiring history is filled with engaging tales about the company’s rise from humble beginnings into an international powerhouse. Behind The Cover. Photo: Fred Pompermayer There was a certain irony to it. Whilst working on this issue we ran into Kai Lenny on the Gold Coast and asked him…

On the fourth of April 2019, the surfing community in Angourie bade farewell to one of its own; the huge, raucous, intense, hilarious, caring, lovable and passionate red headed rogue David ‘Baddy’ Treloar. Born in Manly in 1951 into a family that had saltwater pumping through their veins, Baddy commenced what would be the making of a surfing legend at the age of seven at Manly Beach. Baddy’s brother, Graham, competed in the 1965 world surfing titles held in Manly, but unfortunately passed away when he was quite young. Baddy immediately took the baton and ran with it and was soon surfing with, and competing against the likes of Wayne Lynch. Not only was Baddy one of the smoothest and most stylish surfers of his era, but he was also…

At a glance it may seem that surfboard evolution is, broadly speaking, split into two divergent paths. On one hand board makers are looking in the rear vision mirror, reviving and refining past designs to seduce surfers with a major crush on nostalgic shapes. The other tangent involves boldly exploring new materials and technologies in pursuit of a high-performance shortboard that feels and performs better than anything that has come before it. The reality is perhaps not so binary. There is plenty of overlap between past, present and future designs, and market forces mean that many shapers are simultaneously mining the past whilst embracing the future. A more unified worldview of surfboards suggests that any innovation or reincarnation is really just about the pursuit of a new sensation – something…

When I catch Mick Fanning on the phone he is in the midst of preparations for a trip. Pressed for info about where he’s flying to that night a chuckling Mick refuses to divulge any details. “Can’t tell everyone everything,” he quips, revelling in the opportunity to cultivate a little mystery around a life, which, for various reasons, has always been very much in the public eye. Since retiring from competition, after nearly two decades on tour, the former world champion is embracing the geographic possibilities of a life that is no longer dictated by a slavish WCT schedule. One of his first retirement initiatives was to grace the nose of his board with the iconic Rip Curl Search logo – sure it appeased his major sponsor, but it was…