Apparently, today is World Water Day. A chance to celebrate water and raise awareness of the global water crisis around the world. As part of the celebration SurfAid is requesting help in their mission to improve clean water access in Indonesia, home to the worst drinking water in South East Asia.
Only 30 per cent of city residents have access to clean water and that number drops to only 10 per cent in remote villages. SurfAid is changing these odds and we need your help. Access to water and sanitation is an integral part of all our programs. We work together with communities and local government to establish clean water facilities and sanitation practices using a mix of practical support, education and sanitation promotion.
If you’d like to help SurfAid in this mission please click the link for more info.
The word from Sporting Goods Business is that the hilariously miss-named zombie brand reanimator Authentic Brands Group (controlled by Jamie Salter) is closing in on a purchase of Quiksilver, Billabong, DC Shoes, Roxy, and Element parent company Boardriders, Inc. For those keeping track, this would make Salter the undisputed king of action sports. No one else is even close.
Authentic Brands Group has proposed a new term loan that it plans to use to support a potential acquisition of Boardriders, Inc., according to a report from Moody’s. . . Boardriders, owed by Oaktree Capital Management, has long been rumored to be on the selling block.
ABG already owns Vision Street Wear, Airwalk, and a very large piece of Volcom. And to think, he started out with the lowly Kemper Snowboards. Talk about tenacity in the business world. Someone hand Mr. Salter a medal!
Have enjoyed Lydon’s music since Never Mind the Bollocks. Our thoughts go out to Lydon and his wife. And the song? What better way to slide into the weekend. Aloha, indeed.
Ever since Doug Palladini disappeared mysteriously and suddenly as Vans global brand president on March 17, 2022, we’ve had a nagging sense of “wonder what happened to Doug?” And not being close to Doug it was not a story we pursued with anything nearing tenacity. We’d ask here and there, some would make hints, but no one seemed to have the details, or was willing to share them with us.
Well, last month, on December 28, 2022 Doug shared his story with his Instagram followers. It goes something like this:
On December 28, 2021, I went to see the cardiologist with a strange “twinge” in my left shoulder. Two hours later, I was in the cardiac ICU and two days later I was recovering from quadruple bypass open heart surgery. Today, exactly one year later, as I watch the sun come up over the Sierra’s, I am overcome with gratitude: gratitude to still be here, gratitude for the doctors and nurses who literally saved my life, and gratitude for all of the friends and family who got me through a very difficult recovery. Because of your love and support I am today the healthiest I have been in 20 years, because without health, nothing else matters.
Great news. According to his most recent Insta post, Doug is now an adjunct professor at San Diego State University (his alma mater) teaching, no surprise, brand marketing and communications. As so many have pointed out, those seniors are lucky to tap into a wealth of in-the-trenches wisdom from someone who has done it all and done it well. Seriously.
The specially-developed app on Apple Watch syncs with the scoring system in real time. This provides athletes in competition with the information they need including scores, wave priority, and time in the heat directly to their wrist. Apple Watch is uniquely suited for this task due to its large bright screen, durable design, and cellular connectivity.
Surfers will have their choice of the Apple Watch 8 or Apple Watch Ultra while surfing their heat. Not the worst move this entertainment company has made in the past.
It was a great show. Fun to watch. The waves were huge. And a 27-year-old Oahu lifeguard named Luke Shepardson fittingly won the 2023 Eddie Aikau Invitational. We were most stoked by the fact that the event, which some argued would never happen without a previous corporate sponsor’s involvement, seemed to run flawlessly. The crowd onshore was massive (estimated at 50,000), the Kam was a parking lot, and the live show rolled well all day with all the angles any fan of big wave surfing could ask for. Best surf event ever? We think so.
Top 10 results went like this:
Luke Shepardson
John John Florence
Mark Healey
Billy Kemper
Kai Lenny
Ezekiel Lau (Best Wave of the Day)
Landon McNamara
Keali’i Mamala
Lucas Chianca
Ross Clarke-Jones
Paige Alms was the highest placing female surfer in 31st place ahead of Makani Adric, and Keala Kennelly.
Congratulations to the Aikau family and everyone involved with making January 22, 2023 an epic day at The Bay for everyone. For full results and coverage check out Surfline.com. Or, just press play to watch the whole thing.
On November 9, 2022 legendary surf photographer Art Brewer died surrounded by family and close friends at UCLA Hospital after a battle with liver disease, according to his obituary in the New York Times. He was 71.
Mr. Brewer published his first photograph in Surfer magazine in the late 1960s and quickly became the surfing world’s dominant photographer for the next few years. For the next half-century, from a small boat or while treading water, wearing fins and dealing with rip currents, he showed a deft eye for lighting and framing in capturing the thrilling sights of great surfers.
Through Mr. Brewer’s lens, Bruce Irons surfed into what looked like the eye of a hurricane in Indonesia; Barry Kanaiaupuni darted through Honolulu Bay like a speedboat, leaving a wake behind him; Shane Dorian, also in Indonesia, appeared to split the ocean; and Strider Wasilewskiseemingly rode his board underwater off Oahu.
Art’s family and friends have planned a “Celebration of Art” event at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, CA on Sunday, January 22, 2023 from 10:30am- 2:00PM. It’s a gathering to share stories and photos and have a “board meeting” out in the water. Boards and wetsuits are encouraged. For more information and to RSVP, please click here.
Honestly, we haven’t been paying much attention to the action sports media space lately, because there really aren’t any action sports media in the space (yeah, props to Thrasher, always). But, someone sent us a link to Emerald’s Shopping Blog and a story about A360 selling the old TransWorld Media and Surfer Publications titles (along with Men’s Journal) to The Arena Group, the current owners of Sports Illustrated, The Street, and Parade for close to $29 million dollars. The purchase includes the brands Skateboarding, Skateboarder, Snowboarder, Surfer, Powder, and Bike.
“For years, consumers have trusted Men’s Journal for exclusive lifestyle content and guidance on travel, gear, the outdoors, style, food & drink and more,” said Ross Levinsohn, chairman and CEO of The Arena Group. “Additionally, the titles within the Adventure Network have long stood for excellence with passionate enthusiasts within the Ski, Surf, Biking and Skateboarding communities. There are natural synergies between these brands and our existing audiences we can leverage and enhance through integration, distribution and our playbook, driving incremental value, growth and profitability. This strategic investment underscores our commitment to diversifying and devoting resources to opportunities where we see the most value across The Arena Group.”
As we all know, online media sites aren’t exactly killing it these days, but apparently The Arena Group (Where The Action Is™) knows some secret to getting paid. But as one industry insider told us, “Honestly, this seems like more bad media consolidation. Just stacking lots of money-losing things together rarely results in making money. They seem like they’re just building towards an acquisition by Hatchette or Condé Nast or someone bigger.” It doesn’t look like this insider is alone. Arena’s stock dropped 11 percent on today’s news. (Or was it that half percent rate hike.) You be the judge. For the official word from The Arena Group please follow the jump.
The estate of Hawaiian Tropic tanning products founder Ron Rice (who died in May 2022 at age 81) is selling his home on the beach in Ormond Beach, according to a story on Entrepaneur.com. It features 12,414 square feet of 80s splendor on a one acre lot. They’re asking $5.9 million, or about what you’d pay for a two bedroom, one bath home on the beach near us. Here’s how it’s pitched:
Situated on a highly desirable stretch of Ormond Beachside along with other multi-million-dollar residences, the home sits high on the no-drive beach making it your private oasis. Expansive outdoor decking links 3 pools — one of which is both indoor and connected — to the extravagant main house where ocean views abound. In the great room, floor-to-ceiling windows provide unobstructed Atlantic vistas; of the 4 total bedrooms, 2 are opulent direct-oceanfront owners’ suites with their own private views; even the kitchen with its… its wrap-around breakfast bar offers its own vantage of surf and sun.
For a deeper dive into Ron’s personal life, you must click through to all the photos because it really is crazy. That’s all we’re going to say.
Kanoa Igarashi is Southern California’s favorite local surfer with a Japanese passport so we shouldn’t be surprised to find him moonlighting as the face of Delta Airlines advertising in Nippon. But they’re not using ripping hot surf action of Mr. Igarashi. Nope. They’ve got a photo of him sitting on a plane and grimacing in pain just like every other poor sap suffering through a 12 hour flight from Detroit to Chubu.
As Japan eased travel restrictions in October and leisure travel demand from the Chubu region is expected to increase, Delta kicked off the campaign at the Chubu International Airport, with the support of the airport authority, hanging large-sized banners from the ceiling of the lobby. Delta launched additional OOHs at Kanayama Station and at Meitetsu Nagoya Station.
There he is. Just sitting. Will anyone who doesn’t surf even know who he is?
The word from 
Ever since Doug Palladini disappeared mysteriously and suddenly as 
Honestly, we haven’t been paying much attention to the action sports media space lately, because there really aren’t any action sports media in the space (yeah, props to Thrasher, always). But, someone sent us a link to 
