Lucas Godfrey, a standout at Pipeline who doesn’t much care whether you know he’s a standout or not. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
If you’re the type who indulges in YouTube videos about surfing, then you’re likely the type who has seen at least a few episodes of Jamie O’Brien’s vlog. And in that vlog, one particular guy shows up quite often: Lucas Godfrey.
He’s an interesting guy with what appears to be about 3 percent body fat. He surfs like an absolute demon, especially when the waves are at their best. He surfs as well or better than some of the people on the tour, in my opinion, but he comes off as just a guy who loves to surf and happens to rip quite a bit harder than most. He’s got a day job. He
Although he did compete a bit when he was younger, it didn’t feel right. “I never really saw myself as a natural great competitor,” he said. “I always did better free surfing, looking for hollow, barreling waves. Just kind of doing my thing, surfing with my friends and having fun.”
In his early teens, he found his stride at Pipeline and Backdoor. It’s possibly one of the hardest places to find your stride at, considering the fact that it’s generally filled with some of the best surfers on Earth. He’s got a handful of sponsors, but one gets the feeling that Luke would be doing exactly what he’s doing without them. He’s a bit like a real life Turtle, the iconic character in North Shore played by John Philbin.
“I never thought of surfing as a career,” he told Freesurf Magazine. “It’s my passion, how I have fun, what I like to do with my life. I love the ocean, the beach, and Hawaii and as long as I can stay in this place and keep surfing, I’ll be happy. I don’t have much of a focus or determination to do something in particular other than having a good time. It’s about the adrenaline rush. Any wave out there is a good wave, it doesn’t matter what happens as long as you’re ok and come up laughing.”
Luke has a YouTube channel and is on Instagram, but he’s not incredibly active on either. Mostly because he’s too busy doing the things that make him so interesting. All that is why Oahu Surf Films thought they’d spend a few hours with the North Shore underground charger to get a closer look at what makes him tick.
