The system for packaging and shipping surfboards is archaic and wasteful. From the surfboard manufacturers to the surf shops, everyone ships boards the same way: Wrap a board (or boards) in sheets of foam and plastic, and tape everything together.
In an announcement from the WSL, today, Kelly Slater will be resurrected from his Championship Tour grave, receiving a wildcard entry into the 2024 SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro and Corona Fiji Pro – both events the 11x world champ has dominated in the past.
The problem – or, rather, concern – with childhood stardom is that kids often burn too bright, too young. Musicians, actors, athletes, and yes, even surfing's seen its child proteges flare out.
“I’m in my 50s now. So, I can’t be trying to shred all the time.” Finally, it seems, Kelly Slater’s age is catching up with him. He’s 52, he just fell off the Championship Tour likely for good, and he’s soon-to-be a dad for the second time.
Kelly Slater, surfing’s proverbial GOAT, has had a long, storied career – spanning decades, different eras of the sport, the good, bad, and everything in between.
Despite the modern explosion of soft top surfboards, just look at any lineup worldwide and you’re bound to see more than a few foam crafts floating around – the squishy, beginner-friendly boards have been around for half a century.
Immediately following his elimination from the Margaret River Pro, Slater's post heat interview was understandably raw. You could see him processing his
Kelly Slater has fallen off Tour. Surfing’s 11x world champion, the greatest of all time, the most winning competitor in history…failed to make the World Surf League’s Mid-Season Cut.
It wasn't supposed to end like this. The 11-time world champion. A guy with 56 event wins over four decades. The oldest and youngest world champion. No way the GOAT's long and illustrious CT career would come to an end at 3- to- 4 foot Margaret River, right?
In the twilight of his competitive career, Kelly Slater's become increasingly candid. This interview, from the crew at Surfline, features a long form and casual conversation between Slater and his longtime friend, Tom Carroll.
Kelly Slater, 11x time world champion and surfing’s greatest-of-all-time, is selling his North Shore of Oahu, beachfront home. The listing price? A cool $20 million.
It’s been 30 years since Kelly Slater’s first win at Bells Beach. And now, three decades later, it looks like the 52-year-old greatest-of-all-time, most winning competitive surfer in history is finally planning his dénouement.
The first and only surf contest I covered while staying at my grandmother's house (she had the best view of Ocean Beach), in 2011, Kelly Slater roared into San Francisco with an eleventh title on the line.
There’s a reason they call it a “circus” when the CT comes to town. Sure, there’s the tents, but even more so it’s the crowds. We’re talking 64 surfers (46 men, 18 women) in the heat draw for the currently-running Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach.
Wrapping things up in this third installment of our interview with Kelly Slater and Robert Kennedy, if you’ve chewed through the first two chapters, the finish line is in sight.
From the plastic pollution crisis to the acidification of the ocean, in the second installment of SURFER’s conversation with 11-time world champ Kelly Slater and Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., the two go deep on how issues of clean air and water and unite people rather than divide them.
In the water or in the shaping bay, Kelly Slater’s a relentless innovator. And now, coming on the heals of his Great White Twin release (inspired by a great white shark), Slater has just released his newest creation, the S Boss.