Editor’s note: This post is still being updated. There’s an idea in art called the Pathetic Fallacy where we assign human feelings to things like rocks or the weather. Blues songs tell us The Sky is Crying. George Costanza’s immortal line “the sea was angry that day, my friends” is another prime example. It sometimes feels like clouds should roll in when bad things happen, reflecting the mood of the moment. This is, of course, bullshit. It was a gloriously sunny day at Margaret River this morning while we cried rivers of tears as one brother ushered another off tour. The sea went calm while a ..read more

What someone drives says a lot about them — their interests, aesthetics and priorities in life. In an effort to learn more about our favorite surfers and how they traverse the globe (or at least their home continent), we’ve gone ahead and resurrected Ferrari Boyz, one of our beloved series of old.  Ferrari Boyz started nine years ago when Taj Burrow gave us a tour of his old Land Cruiser (coincidentally the same car as Haz). “Everyone in West Oz has a Landy,” said Taj back then.  After Taj, we sussed the autos of Noa Deane, Mitch Crews, Soli Bailey, Creed McTaggart, Alex Knost, Chipp ..read more

Editor’s note: this post is still being updated. Expectation is the thief of joy. If you think you’re getting a Cybertruck and a Hyundai Getz rolls into the driveway, you’re spewing. That style of bright blue fart box drove right to our door today when the WSL called the Western Australia Margaret River Pro ON. The event wasn’t in electric 6ft+ nuggets like we normally see each year but at dribbly 2ft Southside (the opposite direction to The Box both geographically and metaphorically). I had actually convinced myself the event would be off, having seen the swell in the morning. When they final ..read more

Iconic is a word we shy away from. Few adjectives are as overused, as watered down into trite meaninglessness with false embellishment, as iconic. In surfing, there are a minute number of personalities which have eclipsed excellence, surpassed success, and cemented themselves as true cultural litmus tests — their likenesses singed into the collective understanding of waveriding. Icons, if you will. Two of those characters play endearing roles in this six minute collaboration.  Bob McTavish — still sharp witted at 80 years old — is generally accepted as having catalyzed the shortboard rev ..read more

Ed note: While the Margaret River event is on hold, we thought we’d provide a reverie from a time of abundant swell and offshores in WA, courtesy of Ben Mondy (the author), Scotty Bauer (the photographer) and a lucky few others. “It’s the best roll of film I’ve shot — one late surf session before dark, 36 photos, and four of the images are career favourites.”   West Australian photographer Scott Bauer recalls of a session from Red Bluff in the winter of 2000. Bauer’s images, many of which graced covers of surfing magazines and now hang framed on walls, remain a touchstone for an Aust ..read more

They say one of the hardest things about war is the waiting, but I beg to differ. Personally, I think it would be being shot at, or watching your friend’s legs blown off by landmines. But, waiting does have something psychologically difficult about it. There’s something torturous about standing by, knowing an event of consequence is just over the horizon, but not knowing how bad (or okay) or how far away it’ll be. While the stakes of pro surfing are vastly different to war, we got some insight into that awful psychology today. Three women were dealt serious blows to their careers, all while wa ..read more

On the Men’s side, there are three spots remaining above the Mid-Year Cut line and five surfers who want them. If scarcity is the fuel of war, the men’s R/16 webcast should be plenty violent. Let’s start with the men since the women’s side is a little more cut-and-dry numbers-wise currently. Yesterday, there were seven men who lost their spot on Tour: Deivid Silva, Callum Robson, Frederico Morais, Jacob Willcox, Ian Gentil, Kade Matson, and Kelly Slater (you can read our novella-length tribute to Kelly’s career here). There were also 10 male surfers — who were in mathematical MYC danger — that ..read more

Blood spilled today. Nine men had their hopes slashed of a full CT tenure in 2024, and many more ladies and gents will be dealt tough hands tomorrow as the tour takes on a more streamlined form heading into the back-half of the season. Among those cast away today was 52-year-old Kelly Slater, who for the second year failed to scrape past the WA cutline, and will likely never return to the top-level of competitive surfing again in any long-term, committed capacity. Something he confirmed in the post-show debrief.     Watching Slater take the stairs up, there was a collective ..read more

Ed note: After losing in the round of 32 at the 2024 Margaret River Pro, Kelly Slater missed the mid-year cut and was relegated from the WSL Championship Tour. At 52 years old, Kelly has surfed on tour for three decades and won 56 events and 11 world titles in that time. By all conceivable metrics, he is the greatest competitive surfer of all time. All photos, barring the header image, originally featured in our 50 years of Kelly Slater profile. A perfect youth: Nice. Clean. Responsible. Outgoing. Sincere. Handsome. Centered. Powerful. Courageous. Independent. Wealthy. Famous. Idolized.  ..read more

Read our full tribute to the greatest competitive surfer of all time here. After losing in the round of 32 at the 2024 Margaret River Pro, Kelly Slater has officially missed the mid-year cut and been technically relegated from the WSL Championship Tour.  “Retirement” is a strange word, because it implies the end of one’s working life. For Kelly, competitive surfing has always been his primary (or at least preferred) form of employment, but he’s also managed to build a small business empire as a “side hustle”. We’re talking at least ten businesses, ranging from clothing ..read more