Featured Archives: the best of the best - Page 9 of 14

The Edge: Chasing Energy With Doug Young

Derek MorrisonOct 5, 20200

Doug Young, Dan Smith and Dave Lyons target an unruly wave on the edge of a reef during the last storm of the season. The ingredients were this: two 180-degree south swells, both 4m at 14 seconds, a west southwest wind that may drop to 20 knots, if we’re lucky,...

Watch: Ben Young. Sculptor. Surfer

Derek MorrisonSep 25, 20200

Carving a niche at the intersection between glass and concrete, artist and sculptor Ben Young has become world renowned for his incredible artworks. Originally from Waihi Beach and now based in Mount Maunganui, Ben is an extraordinary talent and one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet....

Special Feature: The Ratso Story

Derek MorrisonJul 27, 2020July 25, 20240

I’m standing in the garage with him as he sniffles back the taps and shuffles through a rack full of surfboards, his long hair hanging flat. He pulls one after another out and they’ve all got stories: he’s made a bunch of them, rode others to world titles and has...

Watch: The Allan Byrne Story

Derek MorrisonJun 30, 2020July 25, 20240

Allan Byrne contributed more to surfing than most modern surfers will ever realise. He is considered to be one of New Zealand’s most successful surfers ever, still to this day. In this short film by Clive Neeson, Allan describes in his own words what that era was like. How did he turn...

Science: The Big Wave Link Between Climate Change And The Southern Ocean

Derek MorrisonJun 11, 2020July 25, 20240

Monster waves in the Southern Ocean could grow even bigger and more frequent under climate change, scientists warn. Science journalist Jamie Morton explains what’s going on in the southern latitudes storm engine. Extreme waves in the wild and windswept ocean below New Zealand, stretching across notorious latitudes dubbed the “roaring...

Buy Local: Help Pump New Zealand’s Surf Industry

Derek MorrisonMay 28, 20200

The Covid-19 health crisis has taught New Zealanders a lot of things, but nothing has become clearer: we need to support local surf businesses. By supporting them we pump the vascular system of our very own New Zealand surf industry. And that reaches deep into the heart of our surf...

The Travis McCoy Story: Nothing Puts Life Into Focus Like Death

Derek MorrisonMay 3, 20200

In 2017 Mount Maunganui’s Travis McCoy went for a surf that ended in an horrific fin gash to his face. But it was what the subsequent scan showed that changed his life forever. Surf photographer Peter Chamberlain sits down with Travis a few years into his recovery to see how...

Shaper Profile: Pete Anderson

Derek MorrisonApr 24, 2020July 25, 20240

With more than 36 years experience shaping surfboards out of Whangamata, Pete Anderson is one of the most humble and well-respected surfboard manufacturers in New Zealand. In this film he shares his journey from growing up in the heyday of Whangamata’s board-building industry to his insights, his hopes and most...

Watch: Paige Hareb’s Unexpected Journey

Derek MorrisonApr 15, 2020July 25, 20240

What happens when the world’s hungriest World Qualifying Surfers are suddenly cut-free from their commitments when the 2020 Piha Pro is postponed due to COVID-19? Well, if Paige Hareb is involved then there is only one solution: grab a handful of good people and indoctrinate them into the ways to...

How Duke Kahanamoku Helped A Kiwi Surfer Pioneer Murdering Beach

Kim WesterskovApr 1, 2020April 23, 20200

Most of the kaumatua of New Zealand surfing will tell you that they’ve forgotten more than we’ll ever know. Assembled around a campfire in the post-surf glow of twilight the stories tumble out like moths attracted to the flames. These are stories that should be treasured, told and re-told. Like...