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 THE NEW MILLENIALS
 Surfing’s Post-Modern Era Has Arrived

By the time they first stood on a surfboard aerials were already commonplace, the Mentawais were an Orange County playground waiting at the end of a Duralumin tunnel, and jet skis and tow ropes had floored and trussed gigantic surf like Gulliver at the hands of the Lilliputians. Though scarcely a blip on the radar in the year 2000, their ranks are growing in size and strength. They are the first surfers to come of age in the 21st Century. They are the New Millennials.

The New Millennial spearhead, tipped by surfers like Jordy Smith and Dane Reynolds, is already jabbing at the softening underbelly of the Establishment. Having clinched berths on the 2008 ASP World Tour, it is apparent that the siege will now commence and a changing of the guard is not far off. It is time to heed the advance of this new generation.

EATING SH!T
A Photographic Essay on the High Art of Wiping Out

Every month our magazine revels in the glory of surf photography: the brief moment where every variable comes into alignment and an iconic image is born. That brief instant where rider, wave, light, and location all fall into perfect stride. But what we often fail to show is the price that’s paid for an instant in the spotlight. This month, we’ve decided to give you a healthy—or unhealthy—dose of the seldom-seen side of surf stardom. Our condolences to the thrashed.

THE SURFER INTERVIEW: STEPHANIE GILMORE
by
Kim Stravers

At only 19, Stephanie Gilmore already fits neatly into a number of journalistic boxes: Youngest girl to win a women's pro event (2005 Roxy Pro, Snapper). First surfer ever to sweep two WCT events as a wildcard (Snapper, then the 2006 Havaianas Beachley Classic, Manly). First female to ink a potentially seven-figure contract (Rip Curl, 2005). Third girl in ASP history to spend only one year slugging it out on the WQS before qualifying for the elite ranks (2006). (Hayley Tasker and fellow Gold Coaster Chelsea Hedges, née Georgeson, with whom Steph’s tied for first place on the ’CT at the time of this writing, are the others.)

Oh, and if she’s to win the tour this year, she’ll be the youngest woman world champ on record, sneaking in just past Frieda Zamba.

It’s her rookie year, by the way.

HIGH LINES AND NEW MOONS
Generations Converge For an Epic J-Bay Swell
by
Shaun Thomson

The new African moon is up over the water, turning the indigo swells into shimmering gold as they march forward relentlessly, ending their long journey and crashing forward on to the rocky shore. It is late in the evening and I’m sitting at 20 Pepper Street, the most popular restaurant and surf hangout in the booming little town of Jeffery’s Bay. We are on the sixth day of what will turn out to be an epic 10-day swell here on the windswept eastern coast of South Africa. The 2007 Billabong Pro, stop number five on the 10 event ASP World Tour, has recently ended and the raging southwest gale has blown the remnants of one of the world’s most important surf contests out to sea and over the horizon; and J-Bay is almost getting back to normal. Of course the waves started pumping the day after the event concluded but the competitors got their share of some great surf during the 12-day waiting period. All the professional surfers, with one exception, are long gone now, home with their wives, girlfriends and business managers—back to Brazil, the United States, Australia and Hawaii.

The little basement eatery is packed with people and Steve Walsh, owner, surfer and blues man has his Strat plugged in to his amp, alongside that one exception, the last pro remaining in town, Kelly Slater. This time Kelly is not up front and center, but kicking it in the background, laying down the guitar rhythm. Up front is South African surf legend Gavin Rudolph, one of the first guys ever to surf Supertubes, perfectly hitting the high notes of Neil Young’s “Southern Man”, transfixing the crowd with his beautiful delivery. It is a surreal moment - Gavin, who kick-started a surfing revolution here in the ’70s during the apartheid era, singing about social change in the American south in the ’60s, before Kelly was born, and here the same change came 30 years later. South Africa is the rainbow nation and the bullwhips are definitely no longer cracking.  I fold back in my chair, relishing the special moment presented so artfully by the past and present masters of J-Bay.

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