Tim Baker - High Surf: The Worlds Most Inspiring Surfers

Surfers are the throw-aheads of mankind, not the dregs; they arent the black sheep of humanity, but the futurists and they are leading the way to where man ultimately wants to be. The act of the ride is the epitome of be here now, and the tube ride is the most acute form of that. Which is: your future is right ahead of you, the past is exploding behind you, your wake is disappearing, your footprints are washed from the sand. Its a non-productive, non-depletive act thats done purely for the value of the dance itself. And that is the destiny of manIts perfectly logical to me that surfing is the spiritual aesthetic style of the liberated self and thats the model for the future.

TIMOTHY LEARY, SURFER MAGAZINE,
JANUARY 1978

In a boardroom in Bangkok, several hundred miles from the nearest surf beach, big wave rider Ross Clarke-Jones lectures a group of advertising industry directors. Their conference is titled The Year of Living Dangerously, and Ross is their impeccably qualified guest speaker. His topic: risk taking, trusting instincts, jumping through windows of opportunitythe tenets of surfing huge waves neatly mirroring the latest business school doctrine.

In New York, eminent scientist and biotechnician Vezen Wu, after discovering a new form of antibiotic in carnivorous plants and developing cutting-edge medical software, has his world of computers, petri dishes and microscopes abruptly turned upside down when he discovers surfing. He finds himself thinking about waves all day long, doodling them in his notepads between dedicated surf sessions in New Yorks grey and chilly waters. So smitten is Wu by the sense of euphoria surfing gives him, he devises a new research projectrunning clinical trials using surfing to treat depression. Wu becomes convinced that the negative ions generated by breaking waves could provide a natural alternative to anti-depressant drugs.

In California, professional longboarder Israel Paskowitz, of the legendary Paskowitz surfing family, discovers that taking his young autistic son surfing dramatically helps his condition. Israel and his wife Danielle soon launch Surfers Healing, a charitable foundation dedicated to introducing autistic children to the calming powers of the waves.

In Indonesia, New Zealand born doctor Dave Jenkins takes time out for a surfing holiday in the remote Mentawai Islands. The oppressive health problems of the local people provokes an epiphany that sees Dr Dave throw in his well-paid medical career in Singapore, mortgage his house, and launch a humanitarian aid agency. Surf Aid International soon attracts the support of the world-wide surfing community, drastically reduces rampant malaria in the Mentawais, and comes to the aid of remote island communities devastated by the 2004 tsunami. In so doing, this tiny group of surfers earns the praise of the World Health Organization, the US Navy, the UN, and established aid agencies like AusAID and NZAID.

In south-west France, wealthy English industrialist Greville Mitchell takes his wife Lisa and surfing son for a seaside holiday, to coincide with the French leg of the pro-surfing tour. He wanders down the beach one afternoon in Lacanau and becomes entranced by the spectacle of pro surfers Luke Egan and Jeff Booth surfing a heat. So mesmerised is Greville by the surfers unearthly grace on the waves, he wades waist deep into the ocean to get a closer look. He returns to his familys holiday apartment wearing soaking trousers and a glazed expression. His wife Lisa claims he has never been the same. Greville soon diverts large chunks of his personal fortune into funding a full-time medical team on tour for the surfers, and propping up the sports cash-strapped world governing body. A chronic workaholic, Greville takes up longboarding and credits surfing with literally saving his life.