They came from every corner of the globe. Boardriders united by the mountain and the wave. Traveling from Australia, America, Indonesia, New Zealand, Mexico, Hawaii, France, Morocco, Tahiti and Spain. 16 frothed-out international grommets here to share the line up with their heros. The future of Championship Tour surfing; Mikey Wright, Zeke Lau and Leo Fioravanti. Current World Title runners; Jeremy Flores, Matt Banting, Wiggolly Dantas and Kanoa Igarashi. The legends of the sport; Matt Hoy and Mark Richards, here to make sure surfing still has rock & roll. Power surfers, big wave surfers, and skaters who are now committed surfers… all on Gold Coast shores.
They came to get stoked and feel the high. The same high we all get from the ocean. The one we get from the cheer of the crowd or the hoot of a friend down the line, just as we drop in. And although the salt has washed off, the scaffolding has been pulled down, and the crowds are returning to normal, the buzz is still here…they were some Radical Times.
You’ll know the Maldives are a dreamy place … in the ocean at least.
Sure the politics on land have a history of not being too hot and we’ve lost track of what’s happening with Sultans/Honkys island being developed or not and currently local surfers are fighting a loosing battle against a plan for a bridge from the airport islet to the main island of Male that will trash a spot.
Away from idiotic human behaviour the waves in the Maldives keep rolling and this what Micah Lester, who spends the summer season guiding out there, lucked in to last year. Perfect surf, flawless tubes and back flipping manta rays!
Dean Vandewalle, 14, is a Belgian Born, Costa Rican bred kid who needs glasses to see while surfing. He has homemade prescription glasses that he has to wear which makes it even more nuts how good he is… No need for 20:20 to see how good that little right is though … Hello!
