Vitor Oliveira

If you're a seasoned surfer or have been somehow connected to the intricate web of surf culture for a while, you'll probably agree that there is nothing more embarrassing than witnessing non-surf brands using surfing as a marketing tool. The word "impact" is a meaningful expression and concept in any marketer or advertising professional's semiotic universe. To put things simply, in the marketing world, it's all about multiplying the customer's investment in a campaign, i.e., maximizing sales of a product or service. The world's greatest creative geniuses have shown that sometimes, a word or a simple image can revolutionize the consumers' perception of a brand. However, sometimes, using signs and symbols that have forever touched people's imagination and dreams is easier and more effective. Surfing has recurrently been one of advertising's best imaginary friends, with surfers and the practice of gliding across the face of an excitingly...

My name is Dennis Gregory, and I have been surfing for as long as I can remember. I was born in Austin, Texas, in 1948. When I was four, my parents moved to Orange County, where I grew up surrounded by orange groves. My early days riding waves were spent in Southern California before moving to Hawaii's Big Island in the late 1960s. I studied English, journalism, and speech at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, where I founded its first literary magazine. Words have always been as important as waves for me. In 1978, I was named "Poet Laureate of Hawaii" by the University of Hawaii President. Around that time, I also formed my first band, Denny and the Lava Brothers. Then, I lived in Northern California's wine country for a while before returning to Hawaii. More than a decade later, in the 1990s, I returned to the Big Island's Puna district and enjoyed musical success, with my music and album "Sex, Drugs and Sushi Roll" getting generous airplay. I...

Science has dissected and simulated natural events and phenomena for centuries. Waves are one of them. In physics, there are two main types of waves. Electromagnetic waves refer to all sorts of radio waves, visible light, infrared radiation, X-rays, ultraviolet radiation, and gamma rays. Mechanical waves include seismic waves , gravity waves, surface waves, string vibrations, and sound. Dutch mathematician and physicist Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) unveiled his first mathematical model for the wave theory of light in 1678. Huygens would publish his findings in his "Traité de la Lumière" ("Treatise on Light") in 1690. Since the 17th century, much water has flowed under the bridge. Decades of cumulative research, experimentation, trial and error led us to an evolutionary stage where we can mimic the behavior of Planet Earth's largest surface: the ocean. Moreover, we can actually create waves in controlled environments for sports purposes, which is the c...

The number of surfers using saunas to recover from intense physical exercise in low-temperature waters is growing. Here's why the two match. Most world surfers live in countries with cold-to-cool ocean water temperatures. While during the warm season, it is possible to paddle out on boardshorts and bikini, when winter comes, a 3/2 or 4/3 is mandatory. Surfers in the United States, Europe, Australia, and many Asian regions own and use wetsuits regularly to prevent hypothermia from kicking in. Scientific data confirms these assumptions: Planet Earth's average ocean surface temperature is 62.6 °F ( 17 °C). Therefore, every day, many surfers are exposed to and battle water temperatures over half the average normal body temperature. The combined impact of physical exercise and low temperatures takes its toll on the human body. Consequently, many surfers are incorporating sauna sessions into their health and wellness practices, either by taking an immediate post-surf sauna b...

The Benak is one of the most underrated tidal bores on the planet for surfing. Nevertheless, despite its low-key status, it's one of the finest of its kind for surf exploration. Usually, Malaysia is not the destination of choice for wave hunters planning a surf trip to Asia. The country is split and separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia. Unfortunately, geography and weather patterns don't often play in the nation's favor regarding surfing. Confusing wind swells, lots of rainfall and murky monsoon waters during the swell season (November-March), irregular semi-diurnal tide cycles, and the absence of reef breaks make it difficult to find quality waves. The Benak: A Roaring Wave However, there's a very good reason to pick up a surfboard in Malaysia. It's called The Benak. The Benak is a famous roaring tidal bore that runs up the Batang Lupar River in Sarawak, East Malaysia. It occurs due to a combination of ...

It's one of the coolest six-strings ever shaped. Here's the story of Masayoshi Takanaka's famous surfboard guitar. Surfing is a key part of popular culture, influencing cinema, visual arts, literature, and music since its first significant boom in the 1960s. The idea of a lifestyle anchored on the beach, the surf, and the exotism of tropical destinations found a revenue stream in the entertainment industry. Soon, many artists picked up the topic of surfing and embedded it into their performances. Interestingly, surfing rarely negatively impacted those who embraced it to create and express themselves or simply to make money. To get things started, Marvel came up with the " Silver Surfer ," Hollywood had " Gidget ," and the music industry had The Beach Boys . The iconography surrounding surfing is vast and includes a broad range of images: objects, people, behaviors, fashion, habits, looks, and natural environments. The surfboard is one of surfing...

Chilean wingsuit flyer Sebastián Álvarez leaped from a Bell 212 helicopter at 12,000 feet (3,657 meters) before dropping into a wave in the most spectacular style. The stunt took place over over Hudayriyat Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Álvarez, a former Air Force pilot, skysurfed down from the helicopter using a modified surfboard attached to his feet. He swooped in by parachute before cutting his chute to land on a six-foot (1.8-meter) wave in the world's newest and largest wave pool facility, Surf Abu Dhabi.  A world-renowned BASE jumper and outdoor skydiver, Álvarez has successfully completed thousands of similar jumps. But on this occasion, he made it look rather different and bold. The project took two years to plan and execute and blends three unique disciplines: sky surfing , swooping, and surfing. According to Sebastián, the preparation and the training required were not just focused on one sport but all three. "This idea has been in my mind forev...

French surfboard building company Notox developed a modular shortboard to make surf trips on the bus and train easier. Collapsible surfboards are not new. In 1964, Karl Pope and Thomas Price pioneered this innovative concept by registering the patent for a surfboard that could be collapsed and disassembled for "compact storage and ease in handling without losing any desirable feature of the non-collapsible type of board." The first commercially available model was released in 1965. The Morey-Pope Trisect was a joint venture between Pope and Tom Morey , who would later invent the bodyboard . Since then, there have been many attempts to market foldable or split surfboards that can dodge bus, train, bike, and even airplane limitations. Most of them met a lack of interest or a very small number of potential interested customers. Why? Mostly because the idea of splitting a surfboard into parts like Lego basically "breaks" the convention of what a high-performanc...

If you've been surfing for over a couple of years, your brain has probably already collected and stored most of the smells and scents that populate a surf break. Researchers are not unanimous when it comes to which gender better identifies odors, but they all agree that this ability decreases with age. Also, although humans are not the animals with the best and most advanced olfactory system, they are not too bad either. Actually, we can process around one trillion different aromas. Variables like odor habituation, concentration, and intensity also play an important role in the identification and categorization of our library of smells. The beach and the shoreline are particularly interesting and rich in scents and fragrances. Those who grew up near the sea or spent their summer holiday by the seaside will surely relate to many smells they recall from those days. And then, if you're a surfer, those memories are even more intense and nostalgic, resurfacing times of joy, ...

Jardim do Mar was once hailed as the world's best big-wave point break. However, the legendary right-hand wave breaking on the southwest of the island of Madeira in Portugal eventually succumbed to the construction of a highly controversial seawall promenade. Vision is a virtue that not all politicians master. Consequently, high hierarchy decisions have either fruitful long-term outcomes or mediocre short-term consequences. Sadly, Jardim do Mar did not have the best luck, and the perfect and beautiful big blue wave that in the past broke smoothly for dozens of yards ceased to exist. Madeira is known as "The Garden of the Atlantic." It comprises two main islands and several uninhabited islets blessed by good weather and pleasing year-round air and water temperatures. The archipelago, located 600 miles west of the Portuguese mainland, is surrounded by swells in the Atlantic Ocean. Although there are no sand beaches around Madeira, there is always plenty of swell re...

The Qiantang River in China is home to the world's largest tidal bore. It is also the spiritual crib of the country's first wave riders. Surfers may know Brazil's Pororoca better, but it's in Asia that you can find the queen of all tidal bores. The 285-mile (450-kilometer) river runs through the Zhejiang province until it reaches the East China Sea in Hangzhou Bay. Hangzhou Bay is a 60-mile (100-kilometer) wide shallow and muddy inlet sided by two megalopolis, Shanghai and Ningbo. The "Silver Dragon," as it is known locally, refers to the infamous phenomenon that has been simultaneously feared and attracted local populations and foreign visitors. The planet's biggest tidal bore is one of Nature's most impressive spectacles. As 30-foot (9-meter) tides get compressed at the trumpet-shaped Qiantang River mouth, waves of up to 20 feet (six meters) "feel" the undulating bottom and travel up the river at speeds exceeding 25 miles per hour ...

The sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays and seawater's minerals can be both beneficial and harmful to your hair and scalp. So, where do we draw the line? Long is the time when surfers used a weird chemical combination of wax, the sun, and saltwater to get that well-known sun-bleached surfer's hair . Today, information spreads faster, and urban myths like all year-round tanned skin are no longer seen as healthy practices and lifestyles. Surfers are pretty much overexposed to natural elements like UV rays, saltwater, sand, and wind compared to non-wave riders. Therefore, they must know at which point their well-being could be compromised. When it comes to hair-and-scalp health, UV rays and saltwater are surfers' best allies but also their most harmful enemies. With aging and the accumulation of hours of exposure to these powerful elements, the risks and disadvantages surpass the benefits. Sun's UV Rays: Pros and Cons Let's start with a quick round-up of the pros...

Surfboard pressure dents are slightly concave depressions that often appear on the deck of polyurethane (PU) boards. They can materialize on the first or tenth session. These dings can also show up on a surfboard's bottom, even though they're relatively rare. They result from the pressure exerted by the surfer's feet, heels, knees, and elbows while taking off, riding a wave, duck diving, maneuvering, or falling over the deck. Heavier riders could cause more and larger depressions/wells. Pressure dents can also emerge due to poor handling, traveling, sitting, waxing, breaking waves and closeouts, or any quick blow to the board's fragile structure. In most cases, they do not compromise the surfboard's integrity, i.e., they don't feature cracks and fissures that could let water inside the PU foam core . In other words, only the external polyester resin is pressed inside, resulting in no breaking of the board's outer shell. Normally, these small-to-medi...