One of the most stylish ever? Mr. Nuuhiwa, in his element. Photo: Ron Stoner
Watching highlights from the recent Abu Dhabi Longboard Classic, the first competitive event to be held at the Surf Abu Dhabi wave pool in the United Arab Emirates, I couldn’t help but be struck by how much fun everyone seemed to be having. Didn’t look like much of a contest at all, but more of a “How great is this, surfing a perfect wave in the middle of a Middle Eastern desert, and wasn’t that last ride of yours fantastic?” sort of thing.
And there were some fantastic rides — nose rides, turns and even a few barrels — which eventually produced a pair of winners: France’s Alice Lemoigne and Floridian Steven Sawyer. Yet at the same time, watching a highlight reel of what I have to imagine were the event’s standout performances, I couldn’t help recall a conversation with a longtime friend and longboard aficionado who, when discussing the disparity between what he termed the “classic” and “modern” approach, challenged me to define “proper” longboarding style. Naturally, this got me to thinking about the role that a particular style, something every surfer displays each time they ride a wave, plays in our perception of what constitutes “stylish” surfing on any sort of board. Here’s what I came up with.
I’ll start with longboarding. Consider that the classic “longboard era” that many surfers point to so nostalgically actually lasted only about five years: from 1963, before which surfboards had very little rocker and those horrible “D” fins and were just plain difficult to ride, up until early 1968, when the Bing Pipeliner-type boards, with actual rocker, decreased nose area and fast-turning “speed skegs” saw surfers stepping off the nose and beginning to carve turns off the tail. Five short years, from which we have constructed the entire template of “classic” longboarding, when, in fact, it was just a brief stop on surfing’s timeline. But okay, let’s take a look at what was going on during that glorious period from a “style” perspective.
I’ll turn to the results of the Top 10 in 1967’s SURFER Magazine Readers Poll for examples:
1O. Dewey Weber.
Ran up and down on his board like he was in a hamster cage wheel. Exaggerated every move.
9. Skip Frye
Methodical, well-rounded, but hardly elegant.
8. John Peck
Tightest hamstrings in any ocean.
7. Fred Hemmings
He was a middle linebacker in high school. Enough said.
6. Mike Doyle
Best all-around surfer of the bunch; weird narrow stance and stiff arms and hands.
5. Jock Sutherland
Looked way better in still photos. Footage sometimes made him look awkward: straight back, stiff crouch.
4. Steve Bigler
Great drop knee cutback, but overdid the heels-together toreador stance.
3. Nat Young
Okay, let’s give Nat some credit, even though his aggro often overpowered the moments of grace.
2. Corky Carroll
Corky was probably the winningest surfer of the aforementioned longboard era…without ever winning a single style point.
1. David Nuuhiwa
Cat-footed on deck, elegant on the nose, poised throughout.
I’ll ask you, of all these surfers — the most popular, and arguably some of the best performers in the heart of the “classic longboard” era — how many would be described as “stylish?” I’d bet most interested parties would say only David Nuuhiwa — even though each of these master waveriders had their own particular style. Why only Nuuhiwa? The same reason period surfers like Matt Kivlin, Kemp Aaberg, Mickey Dora, Joyce Hoffman and Billy Hamilton were all considered stylists: Nuuhiwa led with his hips through trims and turns. At least he did before the transition onto shortboards.
So, when it comes to longboarding, what is stylish surfing? What separates style from mere technique, however advanced? That’s easy. It’s leading with your hips.
But what about shortboard surfing? Is a similar style assessment even possible? For this, I’ll turn to a list of the multiple world title winners in the modern era, graded not on points, but on the “style-master”scale.
Steph’s surfing is always difficult to look away from. Photo: SURFING, the film.
Mark Richards
His unique body positioning earned him the nickname “The Wounded Gull.”
Tom Carroll
He rode every wave, of every size, like a gladiator with a sword in his hand.
Tom Curren
Super-smooth moves belied the power he applied from take-off to kick out.
Frieda Zamba
Low center of gravity and awesome quads made her a terror in the turns.
Wendy Botha
All-around performer, with an ahead-of-its-time (in the female ranks) top turn.
Layne Beachley
Took the term “power surfer” and flipped it around, gender-wise.
Lisa Anderson
Had the best compress-and-extend body mechanics of the day.
Kelly Slater
Impact and excellence undeniable — actual surfing style undefinable.
Andy Irons
See above (Kelly). Add absolutely fearless.
Mick Fanning
Lightning speed and perhaps the best upper-body rotation in the business.
Stephanie Gilmore
Adds arched bottom turns and a tight tube stance to an otherwise explosive repertoire.
Has anyone ever looked more at ease doing this? Tom Curren. Photo: Tom Servais
Carissa Moore
Surfs like an Olympic speed skater, powering down the straights and through the turns.
Gabriel Medina
Full-tilt, explosive performance — never a quiet moment.
Filipe Toledo
Top proponent of “trampoline surfing,” literally springing from maneuver to maneuver.
John John Florence
So absolutely good at everything we can forgive him occasionally leading with his front elbow.
An all-star roster of some of history’s best surfers, each with their own particularly exceptional skill set, each with their own style, and yet how many do you think would, by general decree, be considered “stylish?” I’m saying only Tom Curren and Steph Gilmore. And why? Because they’re only two on the list who consistently turn the back foot out and drop the back knee forward and slightly toward center. Stylish shortboarding — apparently that’s all it takes. And if you have any questions, I’ll just refer you to the surfing of Dave Rastovich, Craig Anderson, Torren Martyn and Michael February, four of the most…well, you know what I was going to say.
There it is, my answer to the question of what constitutes stylish surfing on boards both long and short. But seeing as one could just as easily attest that style exists solely in the eye of the beholder, I’ll just add that’s what the comment section is for. So don’t hold back.
