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Meet the people who weave life into the fabric of surfing. We profile interesting characters with an amazing story and an obsession with the ocean. Read about up and coming surfers and crusty old locals who smell like billy goats and ride single fins. If they have a story to tell, you’ll find them in here. Come and be inspired by artists, business gurus and thought leaders in our well of inspiration.

From Waste Plastic To Surfboards: Three Kiwis Lead The Way

Derek MorrisonNovember 28, 2019November 28, 2019

by Derek MorrisonNovember 28, 2019November 28, 20190

Momentum for the environment may be building painstakingly slowly within the surf industry, but not for the three New Zealanders driving Spooked Kooks recycled surfboards out of Bondi. It was during a morning session at Sandy Bay, that I had my first encounter with a Dead Hippy. It was under......

Featured Fins Gear The Shaper's Bay

How To Choose Surfboard Fins: Part 1

Derek MorrisonNovember 27, 2019December 2, 2019

by Derek MorrisonDecember 2, 2019December 2, 20190

Trying to find your way through the quagmire of fins available these days can do your head in. New Zealand Surf Journal sits down with Hughes Surfboards shaper and Raglan Surf Co owner Luke Hughes to tap into his wealth of knowledge. In this film, Part 1 of 4, Luke......

Boards Featured Gear Inspiration The Shaper's Bay

Crystal Ball Gazing: The Future Of Surfboard Technology With Primal

Derek MorrisonNovember 18, 2019

by Derek MorrisonNovember 18, 20190

New Zealand Surf Journal asks Primal’s lead surfboard shapers, Glen Carkeek and Steve Hamlyn, to share their insights on what’s coming next in surfboard design, technology and manufacture. With a combined 60 years of experience in the shaping bay and a bunch of shaping innovations already under their belt, we’re......

Australia Featured Ideas Inspiration Surf Athletes Travel

Watch: Laurie Towner Finds The Simple Life Of WA

Derek MorrisonNovember 14, 2019November 13, 2019

by Derek MorrisonNovember 13, 2019November 13, 20190

Life on the edge of a desert is simple living. Especially on Western Australia’s remote coastline when a swell begins pushing across the reefs and points. Laurie Towner reminds us all of the importance of the simple life. A renowned big wave surfer, the very laidback Towner, steals a chance......

Artists Featured Inspiration Pacific Travel

Fiji, As Seen From A Kiwi Photographer’s Perspective

Hayden CampbellNovember 13, 2019

by Hayden CampbellNovember 13, 20190

Southern surf photographer, Hayden Campbell, ditches his hood, steamer and booties in favour of some Pacific Island charm in the form of the crystal blue waters of Cloudbreak. Camera in tow, here’s his first story for New Zealand Surf Journal, directly from the coral heads of one of our most......

Featured Inspiration New Zealand Sessions Surf Better

Watch: Jamie Civil’s Masterclass In Backhand Barrel Riding

Derek MorrisonNovember 13, 2019November 14, 2019

by Derek MorrisonNovember 14, 2019November 14, 20190

He may prefer to hide away from the limelight, but Jamie Civil keeps drawing attention to himself in pumping hollow waves. Civil would have to be one of New Zealand’s best barrel riders and this edit by Tim Shaw and Oscar Johns attests to that. Filmed over a winter in......

Surf Athletes

Chris Malone, Zhana Hutchieson Claim Aotearoa Maori Titles  

Derek MorrisonNovember 10, 2019

by Derek MorrisonNovember 10, 20190

Chris Malone and Zhana Hutchieson surfed to victory at the Aotearoa Maori Titles at the end of October and in doing so claim two of the coveted trials slots for the Piha Pro scheduled for March 2020. Malone and Hutchieson fought off some tough opponents with excellent surfing on the......

Surf Athletes

Waikato Surfers Use Home Wave Advantage To Dominate At Scholastics

Derek MorrisonOctober 12, 2019November 27, 2019

by Derek MorrisonNovember 27, 2019November 27, 20190

Waikato surfers dominate at the 2019 National Scholastic Surfing Championships claiming the team title, winning two of the seven titles on offer and boasting six surfers in the finals. The five-day event wrapped up yesterday in a 1.5m swell at Manu Bay, Raglan. Finals day saw the biggest surf of......

Business Environment Featured Gear Ideas Inspiration Surf Shops Wetsuit Tech

Sustainability And Innovation Key Drivers At Seventhwave Wetsuits

Derek MorrisonOctober 10, 2019October 11, 2019

by Derek MorrisonOctober 11, 2019October 11, 20190

Lying on a table in Seventhwave’s Ferrymead factory in Christchurch is a fluffy orange wetsuit that doesn’t look anything like the wetsuit manufacturer’s flagship Yamamoto suits. Sarah smiles, she lifts the wetsuit up and explains the prototype to me. “I haven’t surfed in this one yet,” she admits with a......

Business Gear Surf Shops

Kathmandu Buys Rip Curl For $368 Million

Derek MorrisonOctober 2, 2019November 27, 2019

by Derek MorrisonNovember 27, 2019November 27, 20190

New Zealand company Kathmandu yesterday entered into a binding agreement to acquire 100 percent of the Rip Curl Group Pty Limited for NZ$368 million. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of 2019. The sale should come as no surprise, Rip Curl’s founders, Brian Singer and Douglas......