Aside from using an alias when hitting up Starbucks, big wave surfer Shane Dorian leaves the Maui airport just like anyone else. He hauls his own luggage—albeit 100 pounds of customized surfboards—and waits curbside for a pickup. Once he reaches the water, though, differences become apparent.
The first big swell of the season hit Jaws this week, and surfers lined up to catch giants breaking off the north coast of Maui, Hawaii. Shane Dorian had perhaps the best showing Tuesday, when he paddled into two big barrels. While Jaws gained fame as a wave that riders towed into using a jet ski, a group of surfers now paddles into the wave. Both of Dorian's rides became early entries for the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards.
After surfer Greg Long caught the biggest wave of his life, an undocumented 70-to 80-foot monster that formed at Cortes Bank in 2008, he shook, vomited, and cried. "There wasn't even a sense of stoke, or that excitement afterwards," says Long. "That, I was outright terrified."
Sine Qua Non, a 24-minute documentary profile of Long by The Inertia, offers an intimate look into the Californian's quest to ride the world’s biggest waves. It works as much for what it contains—honest, plain discussions with Long's family and friends about the biggest and scariest moments of his life—as for what it lacks—moody music, surfing clichés, hyper-cut clips of big waves, and platitudes from colleagues. Long is no ordinary surfer, and this is no ordinary surf flick.
Slater on the way to his tour victory number 51. Photo: ©ASP/Cestari
Surfer Kelly Slater nabbed his second straight ASP World Cup Tour victory of the year when he defeated wildcard Dane Reynolds in three-to-five foot waves during the final of the Quiksilver Pro France. “It has literally been 20 years,” Slater said. “I had my first win here 20 years ago and that’s pretty crazy."
The 40-year-old is on a quest to win his 12th world title. He climbed from third to second place in the overall standings with his victory, and is in the middle of a tight race with three events left to go.
Surf filmmaker Nathan Oldfield's quiver of videos features everything from a short about a family of surf shapers to a personal chronicle about grieving for his stillborn daughter. His feature films have a reputation for being different, slow-paced and thoughtful with a focus on simple pleasures. "Surf films, by definition, appeal to only a limited demographic, and the kind of surf films I make are left-of-centre even within surfing circles," he said in a dispatch for Patagonia.
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