Vitor Oliveira

Italy is not the first country you will think of when planning a surf trip around Europe. However, with its 4,720 miles (7,600 kilometers) of coastline and over 320 rideable surf breaks, there are plenty of fun opportunities popping up when favorable winds and swells align. The Italian Peninsula is in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea. This enclosed region depends on the low-pressure fronts from the north, west, or south and enough wind to generate surfable waves around "The Boot." So, even though consistency is not the best word to characterize Italy's surfing potential, there are certainly plenty of different surf spots capable of producing a few fun gems. Can you get barreled in an Italian wave? For sure? Are there overhead ramps on offer? Definitely. The Italian Northwest Liguria is probably the most reliable surfing region in Italy. The crescent-shaped area that goes from San Remo in the west to Viareggio in the East hosts a series of above-average waves a...

Bruce Irons embarked on a transformative health trial at Beond Ibogaine, a specialized clinic in Cancún, Mexico, where he is exploring the potential of ibogaine-assisted therapy. Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychedelic substance derived from the iboga shrub, traditionally used in West African healing rituals. In recent years, it has gained attention for its potential to treat addiction and mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Irons' decision to undergo this follows a long battle with mental health issues, fueled by the tragic loss of his brother and three-time world champion, Andy Irons , who also battled inner demons. The Beyond Ibogaine program combines ibogaine treatment with various "adjunct therapies," including cold therapy, meditation, sound healing, art therapy, movement, and massage. This holistic approach aims to support patients as they work through the powerful and introspective experience induced by ibogaine. In a video messag...

Life changes when you start working. And so does your surfing. Most of the freedom and flexible time schedules you had before you became a grown-up adult with responsibilities and bills to pay ends or gets seriously axed when you get your first job. The days when you could put on a wetsuit and just paddle out when the surf's great slowly vanish as you progress through your 20s and 30s. Although this is not an inevitable scenario for every surfer out there, it's the most common one. So, 99 percent of all hard-working recreational surfers end up with two days to shred and get their golden share of waves. We end up in the so-called weekend warrior basket, the silent majority that surf media professionals, influencers, and wanna-be pro surfers often mock. And then, if you commit the ultimate sin of starting a family, things get even worse for a while - weekends turn into months and years. Some longtime surfers even lose the will to get in the water and enjoy the pleasures ...

Geoff McCoy, one of the world's most innovative and creative surfboard shapers, passed away at home in Byron Bay, Australia, at the age of 79 after complications following a heart attack. The pioneer of the shortboard revolution was born in 1944 in Gosford, New South Wales. As a youngster, the son of a farmer and the Killcare Surf Club captain was a talented horseman. Geoff started surfing at age 14 during his school holidays at Avoca Beach. He shaped his first boards at 17 for Bennett Surfboards and Keyo Surfboards after concluding a five-year apprenticeship in wood and metal pattern making. He was also the co-founder of M&M Surfboards. In the 1970s, the Australian set up his own business, McCoy Surfboards, in Brookvale, a Sydney suburb. Ray Richards, the father of world surfing champion Mark Richards , encouraged him to do so and ordered the shaper's first ten creations. In just half a year, the McCoy factory produced 65 boards weekly. It marked a vibrant era a...

Jack Robinson and Gabriela Bryan have taken out the 2024 Margaret River Pro. In a full day of competition that ran 18 heats, Bryan and Robinson took down a stacked field in six-to-eight-foot waves at Margaret River's Main Break.  As the final event before the mid-season cut, the surfers left in the draw had one last opportunity to continue through to the back half of the 2024 CT season. Today's high-pressured heats confirmed the final list of competitors who made and missed the mid-season cut.  Gabriela Bryan Claims Maiden CT Victory Coming into Margaret River Pro, Gabriela Bryan was sitting in 10th place on the rankings and in desperate need of her best result of the year. A standout at Margaret River, Bryan has made the final at this location before to save her place on Tour with a career-best runner-up finish in her rookie season. The 22-year-old's path to the Final was a rocky one, with plenty of close results seeing her edge out her opponents, Costa Rica's ...

Big wave surfing is an industry with an industry. The relentless chase for world records translates into prize money and sponsorship deals. Athletes have been pushing their limits and putting their lives on the line to ride bigger and heavier waves . Top athletes now work with multidisciplinary teams involving personal trainers, psychologists, nutritionists, photo and videographers, and public relations professionals. This 360-degree approach brings world-renowned big riders closer to their goal of holding the record for the largest wave ever surfed. Sebastian Steudtner is one of them. The German holds the coveted Guinness World Record trophy validated by the World Surf League. But the 2023/2024 winter season was particularly rich in XXL swells and potentially world record-breaking feats. Drones to Measure Wave Height So, because the best defense is the attack, Steudtner leveraged "state-of-the-art drone technology" developed by Porsche Engineering to measure one ...

Is it possible to shape a surfboard out of ice? And if you make it a reality, can you surf it? They're probably the world's most sustainable surfboards, made from the same core of waves - water. The physics of surfboards and surfing tell us that gravity and buoyancy play fundamental roles in moving the rideable surface across the wave. These two forces only need a stable, relatively wide, and long stiff material to propel a human over the water. One of the first to come up with the idea of a surfboard made of frozen water was Conn Bertish, a surfer, artist, and ocean protection activist, who crafted a life-sized surfboard completely out of ice in 2009. Bertish spent two days sculpting the ice board in a specialized fridge in Cape Town, South Africa. Afterward, the board was transported in two pieces to Depasco Café, where it was showcased to the public as part of the Wavescapes Surf Art Exhibition. The goal was to highlight the impact of global warming on our oceans and...

The most successful competitive surfer of all time, Kelly Slater, rode what may have been the last heat of his 24-year professional career. The 11-time world surfing champion survived the elimination round at Margaret River but lost his Round 32 against Griffin Colapinto. Consequently, Slater does not make the mid-season cut and is expected to hang his leash when it comes to professional surfing. There was never a formal announcement, but it's clear from his emotional post-comp words that surfing's greatest of all time (GOAT) is moving on to a new stage of his life. It's been 44 years of putting on a jersey and lifting trophies since the Cocoa Beach-born started competing at eight. The youngest (20) and the oldest (39) surfer to conquer a world surfing title won 56 Championship Tour (CT) events . The first contest win arrived in 1992 at Rip Curl Pro Landes, and the last was the 2022 Billabong Pro Pipeline. Kelly Slater won eight Pipe Masters, three Triple Crown of...

The exponential growth in the number of surfing participants is undeniable, but the industry failed to accompany and capitalize on this opportunity. Here's why the sport lacks undergraduate and postgraduate courses and programs and how to draft a simple surf industry MBA program. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the surf industry enjoyed some of its best years ever. The surfing community was engaged with the companies and vice-versa. People proudly wore surfwear, and brands were an active part of the show, whether by sponsoring athletes and events or creating innovative initiatives that kept the sport united and tight. Apparel and clothing sales soared, and when the internet was about to take the sport to a whole new stratospherical dimension, everything changed. The 2007 American subprime mortgage crisis hit the world, and the world's largest surf companies entered their decadence decades. Surf culture changed fast, too. There were more indie surf manufacturers biting the...

Classified as "Critically Endangered" by UNESCO, the native Hawaiian language has approximately 2,000 speakers. Here's what makes it so special. Hawaii is a unique archipelago with an ancient Polynesian culture . It's also home to an exclusive endemic ecosystem, where 90 percent of its fauna exist nowhere else in the world. While the Hawaiian Islands have existed for over 3.4 million years, the earliest documented record of the oral language ( 'Ōlelo Hawai'i ) dates back to 1778, when Captain James Cook set foot on the island of Kauai. It is estimated that, at the time, between 400,000-800,000 natives spoke the indigenous language. Hawaiian belongs to the Polynesian language family, sharing similarities with Tongan and Samoan. Although speakers of Hawaiian may find some basic mutual understanding with speakers of other Polynesian languages, it's important to note that these languages are not interchangeable. The World's Shortest Writing Syste...

The news that Zigzag's print edition would end in December 2023 was short-lived as this iconic South African surfing magazine will be back on shelves in July 2024. Rebel Media Group, a European media and marketing conglomerate and dedicated youth culture specialist, recently acquired the magazine, which has been in print since 1976. Christian Herles from Rebel Media Group says Zigzag has been the flagship voice of South African surf culture for 48 years, and now is the time to embrace more of the African continental surf movement. "The plan is to produce content across our various touchpoints that will bring this knowledge to the European surf tribes and vice versa." "Through Zigzag, the European and African surf cultures will get to know each other better, allowing for a deeper understanding and enjoyment of the amazing people, locations, and experiences we can all have in each other's turfs." Herles said, in addition, the support of Rebel Media's...

Ryan Crosby is the new chief executive officer (CEO) of the World Surf League (WSL). The professional surfing circuit chose the successor of Erik Logan, the man who led WSL from January 2020 to June 2023. Since his sudden departure, Emily Hofer, WSL's chief people and purpose officer, and Bob Kane, chief operating officer and chief legal officer, served as interim CEOs. Ryan Crosby has two decades of experience working as a marketing professional in technological and entertainment companies like Microsoft (2006-2010), En Masse Entertainment (2010-2012), Activision (2012-2015), Netflix (2015-2018), Hulu (2018-2021), and Riot Games (2021-2024). "What I love about surfing is that it's an incredibly competitive sport, but it's also a way of life, a passion, and a deeply committed global community," said Crosby. "I am excited to leverage my experience to elevate the WSL brand, deepen our connection with fans, and continue building something surfers can be p...

Disney+ announced the release of "The Beach Boys," a documentary celebrating the career of the legendary surf music band. If there are two global bands that changed the course of music history in the 20th century, they are England's The Beatles and California's The Beach Boys. They shaped the course of pop in the 1960s and 1970s and went on to influence most of the musical bands that followed. They are a guiding compass that still echoes in today's musical creations, from mainstream pop to electronic music. Nevertheless, the sound of The Beach Boys was different. It was fresh, cool, dreamy, and innovative in all fields. The sonic collages Brian Wilson and friends experimented with vocals, instruments, and music production techniques were groundbreaking and rather different from what was being done in the British Isles. At the peak of their success, and still today, it's easy to find people who prefer The Beach Boys to The Beatles even though they were ...

We can't choose our height, and 80 percent of it is genetic. But if you're into surfing, taller and shorter surfers feel noticeable differences in getting acquainted with boards, paddling for, and riding a wave. In sports, height matters. For the good and the bad. While shorter athletes tend to perform better in gymnastics and horse riding, taller athletes have the upper hand in basketball and tennis. At the same time, a surfer's height and weight play a relevant role in learning and evolving their surfing skills. You don't necessarily need to meet a specific body measurement to be good at surfing, but being fit and staying in shape will always help. That's the rule number one. There is also the body type analysis. We all fit in an interval between the three major body types: ectomorph, endomorph, and mesomorph. In theory, the mesomorph body type would be the ideal pick, but that doesn't exclude everyone else from excelling in surfing. The Center of G...