Inspiration
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.
Nineteen-year-old Gisborne surf star, Saffi Vette, has ended her run to the Tokyo Olympics this morning, falling in solid, challenging conditions in El Salvador. Surfing in the 4th heat of Repechage 5, Saffi and fellow WQS campaigner Ellie Turner, from Great Britain, were bettered by Carolina Mendes, of Portugal, and......
With New Zealand’s competitive season coming to a close we put some tough questions to Surfing New Zealand’s Ben Kennings. Is Surfing New Zealand headed in the right direction? Are we looking after our athletes? Are we providing a pathway? Ben Kennings gives us an insight into what the off-season......
Traveling while the world is flaring with Covid 19 is never an easy decision to make, but if Olympic qualification is top of your goals, then you have very little choice. New Zealand Surf Journal catches up with Paige Hareb and Saffi Vette as they begin their journey at the......
Taylor Hutchison, of Raglan, and Ava Henderson, of Christchurch, had sewn up the the overall New Zealand Surf Series prior to the final event after dominant season-long performances. The final Super 16 event at Piha saw a maiden victory for local surfer Dune Kennings, in front of a vociferous local......
It took eleven events to separate the top junior surfers in New Zealand with the final New Zealand Super 16, presented by Skinnies and Volkswagen, determining the overall winners of the NZ Grom Series held at Piha over the weekend. Gisborne’s Finn Vette was locked in a season-long battle with......
Ricardo Christie and Ava Henderson have claimed big victories in Taranaki yesterday, winning the Backdoor Taranaki Pro, presented by Billabong, in excellent conditions at Stent Road. It was the first Open Women’s win for Henderson since her breakthrough performance at the 2020 National Championships 16 months ago, while Christie has......
The Southern Ocean is choked with swell energy right now, but it was an early season long-period pulse that turned the Southern reefs inside out. Dave Lyons managed to document one of the best sessions to take place in the south east corner of our country … so far. Dave......
From a stellar run at the 2021 Nationals to a string of top results in the Billabong Grom Series, 16-year-old Anna Brock, is on a performance surge right now. We sit down with the Mount Maunganui-based surfer right before her Under 16 final at the Billabong Grom Comp at Whangamata.......
In the late 1980s, New Zealand skateboarder Lee Ralph had the world at his feet. But right when he seemed poised to join the sport’s elite, he was kicked out of the US … and out of the limelight for good. Our friends at The Spinoff have given us permission......
There are very few surfing events that really buck the trend and blow their participants and spectators away. Even fewer deserve the “festival” monicker, but The Duke Festival takes the challenge by the short and curlies and knocks it right out of the park. Many years ago local Christchurch surf......