Water Sports
ArchiveFrench captain Franck Cammas and his nine-person crew aboard the multi-hulled Groupama 3 have set a new record for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe by sail,crossing the finish line this past Saturday 48 days, 7 hours, 44minutes and 52…
Finally. After four years spent designing, re-designing and building a ship like no other, Eco-adventurer David de Rothschild, his crew, and 12,000 plastic bottles set sail on March 20, bound for Sydney, by way of the Eastern Garbage Patch and its vortex of plastic crap. The swirling mass…
Masochistic surf kook bent on taming very large stand-up paddleboard seeks Graveyard of the Atlantic for island-linking expedition entirely at whim of wind and waves.
Cruise ships and wildlife buses? The tourist staples miss the point of Alaska: It's the last real place to find an epic, crowd-free adventure on American soil. We've scoured the state for the best wilderness lodges, river trips, lonely highways, and DIY escapes. Bear mace not included.
The First Descents' EddyFlower Vertical Challenge kicks off today. Founded by kayaker Brad Ludden, First Descents is a nonprofit that raises funds to send young adults with cancer to adventure camps. For the…
Outside online contributor Josie Boulding recently started an online web series on travel. Here latest trip took her to the North Shore of Hawaii where she interviews Jamie O’Brien and gets surf tips from a pro at Hans Hedemann surf…
Photos of the big-wave skier from Jimmy Chin and Angel Rodri.
Don't like our list? Tell us your picks for the 10 greatest adventurers.
David de Rothschild and crew revealed their plastic-bottle-boat in the San Francisco Bay last week. The Plastiki, made out of 12,000 plastic bottles, is set to…
The Epicocity Project crew is in Laos researching how the proposed Don Sahong Dam may effect the Mekong river for a documentary to air on the National Geographic Channel this fall, according to Epicocity.Wordpress.com. The crew has…
In the summer of 2010, Marcos Díaz will swim across all five continents to inspire the world, according to SwimAcrosstheContinents.com. Díaz, the Ultra Distance Open Water Swimming…
The Australian Maritime College is offering a PhD scholarship in Wave Pool Design to one lucky surfer/graduate student. The scholarship is part of three year grant the college received from the Australian Research Council to pursue the technology that would…
In case you missed our summary post yesterday, a rogue wave swept the beach at Saturday's Mavericks Surf Contest, injuring at least 16 spectators and scaring countless…
This ode to cutting loose could make you quit your job.
Chris Bertish of South Africa won the 2009/2010 Mavericks Surf Contest by aggressively paddling into monster surf that many were calling 40-foot and higher, with some reports of 60-foot waves that no one was able to catch. “I…
Colorado rafting outfitters, who contribute $142 million to the state'seconomy every year, won their first battle in securing rightsto float in-state rivers, reports paddlinglife.net. Developers want to prohibit rafters from providing trips on some…
The 2010 Billabong ISA World Surfing Games are headed to Latin America. Peru will host 200 of the world's best surfers this October. Sound like you've heard this before? Maybe you're thinking of the great 1965 World Surfing Championships…
Pro Kayak Angler Drew Gregory knows a thing or two about catching fish from a kayak, but he's certainly no match for the birds. In a surprise attack featured on backcountry.com, Gregory has to worry about a new obstacle while kayak…
“Pipeline likes certain people.” That’s how surfing legend and two-time Pipe Master Gerry Lopez explains the epic performance of Brett Barley at this year’s…
Actiona and lifestyle photos of the three-time champ.
The PacSun USA surf team has taken the overall lead at the 2010 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Championships in…
In an effort to raise awareness about the lack of clean drinking water in the world, Katie Spotz has begun a solo voyage across the Atlantic. Spotz is ten days into her journey from Senegal to French Guiana. She is working with…
Rush Sturges broke his back while running Bonito Falls in Chile, reports Paddling Life. Sturges and several other kayakers were on location filming for their Dream…
Ever wonder what Olympic athlete Julia Mancuso is up to during the offseason? She goes to Maui. And surfs. And Visa has the video to prove it: — Jonah Ogles…
Norway is home to some big, beautiful waves, but there's a catch: They're above the Arctic Circle. To test the chilly waters, Outside sent a crack expedition team whose members came back with ice-cream headaches, cod on their breath, and incredible tales of adventure on surfing's coolest frontier.
Kustom Airstrike, the $50,000 winner-take-all, singe-trick surfing contest, officially launched it's 2010 season on January 1st, reports TransWorldSurf. The competition lasts eight months, and welcomes videos of the sickest and most innovative aerial surf moves you can manage (note to non-surfing…
Yassine Ouhilal brought his cameras on a 44-day expedition to Norway.
Twenty-two year-old Katie Spotz of Cleveland, Ohio plans to cross the Atlantic Ocean this winter in a row boat, reports the New York Times. That's more than 2,500 miles — no sail or motor allowed. The trip…
A New York appeals court has upheld an order that Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates is unqualified to be the port for yachting's America's Cup, which will be between Switzerland's Alinghi team, the defending champ, and…
The Billabong Pipe Masters will wrap up the winter surf season on the North Shore today, with the winner to receive $90,000. Eight surfers will compete on this final day, including Kelly Slater,…
Stephanie Gilmore has achieved the distinction of being the first ever surfer, male or female, to win the ASP World Title consecutively during the first three years of competing in the Tour. And…
Sure, it's not the world record solo kayak drop (186 ft.) set by Tyler Bradt last April, but this world record tandem drop is still pretty impressive. Anton Immler and Steve Fisher (one of Outside's Top 10 Athletes to follow on Twitter) took this…
First-time participant Greg Long (featured by Outside in 2008) scored a perfect ride to win Quiksilver's Eddie Aikau event. Long rallied in the final heat of the day, knocking Kelly Slater from the lead. Riders at Waimea Bay, Hawaii were treated to the “largest sustained episode”…
Quiksilver's Eddie Aikau contest, the only big-wave event of the ASP Tour, is gearing up for what looks to be a day of major swells. Tom Carroll, a two-time world champion, has already fallen victim to a…
Kelly Slater has just scored 98 out of 100 points for riding a big wave in Round 1 of Quiksilver's Eddie Aikau event at Waimea Bay. Slater won in 2002, and he's after a repeat win, which would be…
Not everyone can help David de Rothschild build a ship out of plastic bottles and sail it across an ocean. For those of us stuck at home, Adventure Ecology is offering another option: Build a toy version. The toy Plastiki is a scale model…
This year's O'Neill World Cup of Surfing was hit with the largest surf ever contested in the 27-year history of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. The waves crashing on Sunset Beach, HI, were 20 to 25 feet and even bigger swells are in the forecast for the next few…
A new travel outfitter is offering up dream adventures guided by elite athletes. Is it too much of a good thing?
Want to take an exotic trip and engage in some do-gooding, too? Check out Roadmonkey Adventure Philanthropy’s next adventure tour, which combines climbing Kilimanjaro with building a fishpond at a local Tanzanian school (June 12 26, $4,395; roadmonkey.net). And if you can’t make that journey, don’t despair.
On his bizarro bottle boat, David de Rothschild is leading us to a new era of reusable plastics while resurrecting purpose in big-time adventure.
ext_script = "//player.ooyala.com/player.js?width=448&browserPlacement=right300px&embedCode=9kNDF4OqxCzUfvaZMmSQecQmWnZrMchS&height=272" Haleiwa native Joel Centeio has won the Reef Hawaiian Pro, which moves him up the ASP rankings to 51st place from 131st. Coming in second was CJ Hobgood, and Jay Thompson came in third. The next…
Filmed on Bellport Bay, Long Island, NY, these homemade iceboats look like an excellent break from a harsh New York winter. Found on World Hum. –Alison Kelman…
Three-time British Kite Surfing Champion, Lewis Crathern, and Jake Scrace, jumped–while kite surfing– the Worthing pier on the south coast of England. Check out the video. It's big. Winds gusting up to 40mph made the jump possible. The pair had been planning the attempt for three years. Courtesy…
Below is a video recap of leg two of day three of the WWT Reunion 2009. The first leg was canceled due to lightning, but the turbulent weather made for some great surf for leg two. –Alison Kelman…
Quiksilver has announced the 28 big wave surfers invited to the 25th Anniversary celebration of The Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau. The event will be held on one day between December 1, 2009 and February 28, 2010, when…
freestyle 2009 from pion stephane on Vimeo. Here is a cool video documenting some playboaters absolutely ripping it, courtesy of Kayak Session. These guys can throw down. You can see the film by Pion Stephane above. –Dave…
One of the best sources for the coolest, and quirkiest, scientific news is Henry Fountain's Observatory column for The New York Times. It comes out weekly in Science Times, one of the last big concentrated science sections in a major paper.
Michael Phelps showed up at as a member of USA Swimming’s National Youth World Cup team at a Stockholm meet, but the Olympic champ struggled to make it to the finals, The New…
Check out this point-of-view video of kayaking the Congo shot by Andrew Maser of Rivers in Demand, courtesy of The Adventure Blog. Outside's Kyle Dickman is in some of the shots! If it weren't for the distant shoreline, you'd think…
Surfer and Cetacean activist Dave Rastovich, along with surfer/artist Chris Del Moro, musician Will Conner, activist Howie Cooke, and photographer Hilton Dawe, completed their epic kayak trip from Byron Bay to Bondi Beach, reports Surfersvillage.com. The trip, which is part of the “Transparentsea” campaign…
On January 9, 2010, the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, Hawaii will be hosting “STAND UP for Women's Health and Fitness.” The event will be a free a free lesson in Stand Up Paddling, and will also include information about making healthy lifestyle choices and breast cancer awareness. Plus,…
Scott Henrich was attacked by a shark in Maui when he went surfing 300 yards out at Kalama Bowls early in the morning, the Honolulu Advertiser reports. A shark bit into his leg, and Henrich punched it twice before it let go. He…
A documentary on Mike Perham, considered the youngest person to sail solo around the world, will air November 5 on Channel 4 in the U.K. Perham was 16 when he embarked on his record-breaking feat. You can read…
Paul and Rachel Chandler, a couple from Britain who have been sailing around the world, went missing last Friday after they sailed from the island nation of Seychelles. The Chandlers' online tracking system stopped sending updates of their location in when they were off the coast of Somalia, an area…
It's October, and it's getting cold, but that hasn't stopped the surfers in O'Neill's Cold Water Classic, which took place in Canada. Here are some highlights from the third day. — Lisa Lombardi…
What's more entertaining than a big-wave contest at Maverick's? The two men fighting over it.
We showed you some of our favorite examples of action from 350.org's International Day of Climate Action, and while some were as simple as holding up a sign, others took the challenge to a greater level. Check out this video of kayaking activists in Portland as they take on the…
Check out FUEL TV's series “Firsthand” starring pro-surfer Keala Kennelly Sunday, October 25, at 8 p.m. EST. This 30-minute doc follows KK as she visits her family in Kauai, surfs with her…
It's been a while since we had an update on those crazy sailing kids, but this past Sunday, October 18th, Jessica Watson began her try at becoming the youngest to solo sail, nonstop, around the world. If she…
Nearly 9,000 rowers descended on Boston this past weekend for the largest crewrace in the world, the annual Head of the Charles Regatta. The three-mileupstream race is considered to be one of the highlights of the fall rowingseason, with almost 300,000…
The Rip Curl Pro Search will take place in Peniche, Portugal. It was supposed to start today, but the waves weren't big enough, so a lay day was declared. This is the ninth event out of 10 in the…
Sam Wench, an unsponsored Australian junior pro surfer, has won Oakely's Pro Jr Global Challenge at Bali's Keramas. After his sponsorship was dropped last year, Wench qualified for the Challenge as an alternate on his own, winning the first place of $20,000. “It's the first and obviously the biggest win…
For all of you coastal naysayers who scoff at the idea of lake surfing, Transworld Surf has a first-person account of one man's experience surfing at Stony Point, Minnesota, on Lake Superior. More than the story, it's the photo slideshow of huge waves and the…
That urban legend about Tokyo vending machines selling used schoolgirl underwear? True. Quiksilver’s new poolside boardshort dispensers, at Standard Hotels in Miami Beach, New York, and L.A., may sound like the same idea, but the trunks haven’t been worn. Promise. $75; shopthestandard.com…
How a carpentry-challenged nonsurfer built a classic wooden longboard with his own kook hands.
Our boy Kevin Fedarko has a video segment on Playboy.com that examines his job as a latrine boat operator for river tour groups in the Grand Canyon. Fedarko spent the spring of 2009 manning the Jackass, a river raft that he used to haul “poo boxes” and “pee buckets,” and…
Two students who were visiting Samoa when the tsunami hit claim that they survived by surfing it. The Daily Mail writes that Tom Gogola, a student on holiday from Britain, was surfing when the tsunami hit, and survived by…
Yesterday, crowds at the 2009 Earthwave beach festival in Cape Town attempted to break the world record for the most people surfing on a single wave. The current record is 100 people, and was set in Brazil last year. Representatives of the festival say that…
The kayaking community is gearing up to participate in the international day of climate action on Oct. 24. Kayakers will form the number 350 in the water in Portland to show their support for the UN Climate Change Conference in December. Watch…
Congratulations to Laurin Weisenthal of Huntington Beach, CA, who just swam the English Channel in one of the fastest times in history. Weisenthal, 25, made the swim from England to France in just 8 hours and 33 minutes; many of the 1,000 people who have completed the swim take well…
In our October issue, we mention 350.org and their mission to make October 24, 2009 a day of activism to promote the signing of a new climate-change treaty at the UN Summit in Copenhagen this December. All over the world, people plan to make the message…
First Descents, founded by kayaker Brad Ludden, sponsors whitewater kayaking camps for young adults with cancer. Since it's start about 10 years ago, it has sent more than 600 cancer patients to these adventure camps, with this year proving to be the most…
When you're crossing to Florida the hard way–across 800 miles of water, with six people and no motor, in a 21-foot handmade open boat–it's a long, long way from Haiti to Miami.