There was a time when we had a VIP, full access membership to Surfline.com. Players, right? The glory days. But you know what? We hardly ever used it. That’s because we’re rarely interested in exactly how good the waves are. When we want to surf, we go surfing. We check the waves on the free site, or go down to the beach and look. Then we grab a board that is inversely proportional to the size of the waves and paddle out. Pretty simple, really. All this is to say we’re the wrong people to be making any kind of business judgements on the news that Surfling/Wavetrak has just closed a $30 million investment from the entertainment focused The Chernin Group (TCG) and put a new CEO named Kyle Laughlin (previously of Amazon, The Walt Disney Company, Yahoo, etc. . .) into the driver’s seat.
“Surfline has established itself as one of the largest and most respected surf brands in the world through a decades-long commitment to serving its global community,” said Mike Kerns, Co-Founder and Partner, TCG. “At TCG, we achieve growth by partnering with passionate teams, engaged entrepreneurs who build out of love, and world class management. With Surfline, we have that combination in Jeff, Kyle and the entire team.”
Okay. Some smart guys with a boatload of entertainment industry experience and a few great investment wins (Twitter, Pandora, Tumblr) plus a mixed bag of webish odds and ends wants to dump $30 million on Surfline.com? What is their angle? It can’t be full-access subscription dollars. Do they see a big exit coming soon? If so, what is it? And why, would Mr. Laughlin be interested in a company with a slew of cameras pointed at beaches? If you know, please let us know.
For the rest of the official word, please follow the jump. Oh, and Jeff Berg is still playing an “active roll” as Executive Chairman. If you were worried.
EPOKHE, the eyewear brand founded by Kai Neville, Dion Agius, and Mitch Coleborn is getting a little business jump in the form of former Oakley players Paul Higgins and Campbell North and Nathan McGregor CFO of Aizer Group.
Alongside Dion and Kai, other Epokhe shareholders joining the new entity are Mitch Coleborn, Jack Freestone, Taj Burrow, Chippa Wilson and Creed McTaggart. Founder and Design Director, Dion Agius, stated that “we are all so happy to have found partners with such extensive commercial wisdom and eyewear industry experience. The excitement that they have for the brand is contagious and feels like a whole new chapter for us. With this comes the back-end support for Kai and I to continue to explore the never ending creative possibilities with the brand, our surf team and our eyewear designs.”
A few good business heads, never hurts, right? For the official word from EPOKHE, please follow the jump.
Michael Schwab (son of investment firm founder Charles Schwab) and managing director (and only partner) of Big Sky Partners says he began investing in what he loves at the age of 36, according to an essay posted on CSQ.com. He calls it “adventure capitalism.”
So far his adventure capital investments have included a couple surf resorts, Kelly Slater Wave Co., Travis Rice’sNatural Selection Tour, and Meriwether Companies, the company that is planning a “wellness resort community” around Kelly’s La Quinta, California wave pool called Coral Mountain. This is his explanation:
The shift to investing in sports-related startups is unique because not a lot of large funds have touched it to date. It’s been kind of a fringe idea that has been looked at as dangerous or unapproachable, and I want to make it more mainstream. If you asked most people if they are into action/adventure sports, they would say no. I want to change that. I call what I am doing adventure capitalism. But, like any business, the risk is failure and loss of capital. I am investing alongside friends and family, and we are all passionate about the work and believe in the future of surfing, wellness, and adventure sports.
People who invest using other people’s money always seem to figure out a way to come out ahead on the deal, but seriously, we can’t imagine any of these “investments” returning much more than a few good, fake waves and some heli time. Then again, if Charles Schwab is your dad what kind of return on “adventure” investing do you really need?
On Saturday, November 14, 2020 a solid crew of surf world dignitaries, friends, and family gathered at Agate Street in Laguna Beach, California to celebrate the life of Gotcha co-founder and creative genius Michael Tomson. Tomson, who died from throat cancer on October 8, 2020, will be remembered for his hard charging, no apologies, grip on life in general and surfing style in particular. For more images of the paddle out from photographer Jack English, please click the link.
It’s been much too long, and so is this list of news headlines that may or may not resonate with you on a pre-election Monday at the start of the month of November.
Who knows what the future holds, in the meantime, look busy while scrolling this big old list of stories that jumped out at us. Click the jump for more.
Contest surfer Jack Freestone has just re-signed with surf hardware company Creatures of Leisure until 2022. And as we all know, having good sponsors during these times is a great thing.
“Having full faith in your equipment is crucial,” says Freestone. “At the end of the day as a surfer that’s something you can’t put a price on. Creatures put more thought and effort than anyone when making sure their leashes, tailpads, and boardcovers do what you need them to. I’m really excited to be continuing on with them into the foreseeable future.”
Or at least for a year and a half. For the official word from Creatures of Leisure, please follow the jump.
[Editors’ Note: Okay, just for historicity sake here goes the media story that we hinted we weren’t all that interested in covering because you don’t hold funerals for zombies.]
Today (October 3, 2020) it was announced that the Bible of the Sport of surfing, Surfer Magazine has been shuttered by what remains of American Media Inc. (now called A360 Media). The 60 year old chronicle of the surfing life will live no longer. Longtime Photo Editor Pete Taras said it this way on Instagram:
It’s with great sadness that I write that today was my last day at SURFER. Between Transworld SURF, SURFER, and SURFING, that was half my life. 21 years between the three. It’s really hard for me to put into words right now the feelings. I’m a weepy mess. I taught. I was taught. I cared so much for all the creatives I worked with over the years. We were family. Thank you @fijichili for providing that 16-year old film when I needed it. @chriscote , Marc Hostetter, @the_check_republic and Joel Patterson, you took a chance hiring me as a 23 year old Photo Editor. @eslate you gave me confidence to go full bore with my visual vision. @chatoaganza , you were always the creative guiding light. @jimmicane you always brought the heat! @todprod you taught me patience and professionalism. Lastly, I want to thank my wife @grettygt123 for having to deal with it all through thick and thin. With much love – Peter
Taras (and the rest of the Surfer Magazine staff) were only the first wave of “furloughs.” The employees in the Carlsbad, California offices who survived the first round will reportedly stay on the payroll until November 20, 2020. Then they too will be out of a job. Happy Thanksgiving to them and to you all.
Bike, Snowboarder, and Powder magazines are also being put to rest: RIP. Oh, and David Pecker remains true to his name, one more time.
Yesterday (September 13, 2020) marked the six month anniversary of the current now. Hard to believe we have been mired in this situation for half of 2020. On the one hand we’re blown away by all the calamity that we’ve been faced with, on the other, we’re thankful for all those oblivious deniers who keep on keeping on like there’s nothing wrong. Kudos to them for showing us that it is entirely possible to live a normal (albeit angry) life with your head firmly mired in the sand and/or up your own butt.
With that out of the way, here’s the news that caught our clicker in the past month (thought we were doing this weekly, but my how time flies). Follow the jump for the whole list.
Dana Brown, son of the late legendary surf filmmaker Bruce Brown, has a new film that follows one last trip that he took with his dad– a trip to catch up with all his old friends. It’s called A Life of Endless Summers: The Bruce Brown Story. It premiered in Newport Beach at a Drive-in theatre. And it is well worth a watch for fans of The Endless Summer or On Any Sunday. For the rest of the story, click the link.
The International Surfing Association (ISA) has opened their annual scholarship program that supports underserved surfers who are 18 and under. Here’s what ISA President Fernando Aguerre says:
“We have always known that our commitment to the global development of surfing goes way beyond competition. The ISA Scholarship Program is a shining example of that commitment, and for me personally, a great source of pride and gratification.. . While relatively small in resources, this program has had a huge impact on the lives of these young people. This program puts into practice our mission of a better world through surfing by fostering education and the joy of surfing.
Know someone who you think could benefit from one of these scholarships? Click here to apply. For the official word from the ISA, please follow the jump.
There was a time when we had a VIP, full access membership to Surfline.com. Players, right? The glory days. But you know what? We hardly ever used it. That’s because we’re rarely interested in exactly how good the waves are. When we want to surf, we go surfing. We check the waves on the free site, or go down to the beach and look. Then we grab a board that is inversely proportional to the size of the waves and paddle out. Pretty simple, really. All this is to say we’re the wrong people to be making any kind of business judgements on the news that Surfling/Wavetrak has just closed a $30 million investment from the entertainment focused The Chernin Group (TCG) and put a new CEO named Kyle Laughlin (previously of Amazon, The Walt Disney Company, Yahoo, etc. . .) into the driver’s seat.
EPOKHE, the eyewear brand founded by Kai Neville, Dion Agius, and Mitch Coleborn is getting a little business jump in the form of former Oakley players Paul Higgins and Campbell North and Nathan McGregor CFO of 
