I’ve Written The Breitling Book Of Surfing
Or why you should buy it...
I’ve written a book. Now I didn’t get sign-off on the title - The Breitling Book of Surfing, (catchy huh!), but I’m pretty proud of the way it came out.
It’s a look at various surf communities around the world, as seen through the prism of an eclectic mix of surfers. I had good access to heavy hitters like Kelly Slater (he talks of troubled childhoods, Mayan culture and how much candle he has left), Steph Gilmore, Mikey February, Johanne Defay, Sally Fitzgibbons and Jeremy Flores.
It was good talking to Jeremy, checking in as he cools his lava living a post-competitive life in Tahiti with his wife and two kids. We have history you see. It was Jeremy who called me out during a live, post-heat broadcast interview for writing shit about him. Luckily (for me), the video is no longer online, but the transcript is.
Me: Yeah, thanks guys. Jeremy, What um, how was that last wave? What do you think you needed to do?
Jeremy: I don’t know, maybe you should tell me, because I’ve been reading all the stuff you’ve been writing about me. So maybe you should tell me how to surf.
Me: Backpedalling, voice rising an octave or three, general grovelling etc until Jeremy lets me off the hook.
However, while the surf stars have charisma and celebrated careers, I probably enjoyed writing the less-known stories of Effie Vrakas from Greece, Freddie Meadows surfing the Baltic and Roberto D’Amico in Italy, to name a few.
Freddie learned to surf in Ahus, Sweden. Aged 12, for his first surf he wore two wetsuits, dishwashing gloves, and a beanie under a swimming hat. His board was windsurfer he had “borrowed” from under a neighbour’s house. 20 years later, he made news this week by taking Surf Bugle fans Andrew Cottie and Nic Von Rupp to discover and surf a new, big wave spot located deep in the Arctic Circle.
“Look at the surfers in this book; they range from a freesurfer like Mikey February in South Africa to an environmental warrior like Roberto in Rome, and of course the GOAT, Kelly Slater,” Steph Gilmore says in the intro to the book, proving my point.
“Each has a unique story based on where they grew up and the surf community that shaped them. I love that Breitling is telling the stories of people who are chasing their dreams, breaking down boundaries, and blazing new paths. They inspire me to go out and succeed.”
Crucially the imagery is fucking amazing, and they have thrown serious budget at the art direction and quality of paper and printing. Breitling called it “as much an in-depth travelogue as it is a beautiful photography book.” And who I am to argue? Though at around 70 bucks RRP, some may do.
And look, sure I had concerns that a Swiss luxury watchmaker might not be best placed to sell the surf community dream. Until they paid me to do so. However, my mate Matt Barr, whose action sports podcast and Substack, Looking Sideways remains the industry gold standard in terms of principle, professionalism and reach, recently asked me to write the four things I had learned when writing the book for his Substack (click on below and subscribe, its well worth it!)
One of my, ahem, key learnings was that having serious people with a clear message; proper, accountable budgets, and a genuine sense of curiosity for this thing called surfing was a breath of fresh air. (Cashes cheque).
But you can be the judge of all that. The book is for sale at all the leading online booksellers and as its author, I thoroughly recommend it. I’ll be showing a few more extracts and a giveaway for Surf Bugle subscribers real soon. In the meantime hit me on the button below, any (and I mean any) feedback is appreciated.