#4: GERRY LOPEZ
SURFER Celebrates the 50 Greatest Surfers of All Time
There’s always been that comparison between the way Gerry and I surfed, but we had never spent any amount of time together. The first time I hung out with him was in 2004. We had crossed paths many times before and had known of each other for a long time. We were in Indo filming for Waterman and both Gerry and I showed up late, and the boat was already gone. The rest of the crew had gone down to Thunders, and Gerry and I had to jump on a speedboat to catch them. We basically sat on a boat from sunrise to the late afternoon. It was just a small little speedboat and it had one little bench seat. We sat on that seat for eight hours straight. At the time, I thought to myself, “This is how you get to know someone.” We talked about everything and anything. I asked him about G-Land, Uluwatu, Padang—spots he had pioneered. Of course, there would be these awkward silences and I would suddenly think, “Gosh, I’m sitting here with Gerry Lopez, I could ask him about anything.”
We just went from one thing to the next, speaking about life and love and surfing. When we arrived at Thunders, the boat wasn’t there. They were surfing somewhere else. There were a couple of guys out so we unpacked our boards and paddled out. Within minutes everyone went in. We surfed these perfect little 3- to 4-foot barreling lefts with no one out, just us. There were no cameras. No one was watching. We were out there hooting each other into waves. When Gerry’s surfing, you can really just tell just how much he enjoys the actual act of riding waves. When you watch him surf you realize there’s something else going on there beyond what normal humans encounter—like he’s tapped into something that the rest of us are not.
Fifty years from now, Gerry will probably be remembered for his tube-riding, and the way he surfed Pipeline, but I think his contribution to surfing has been more than that. He’s inspirational, not just in the way he makes difficult situations look easy, but in his whole act from head to toe, from sunrise to sunset. There is a relationship he has with riding waves and with being in the ocean, there’s that synergy between the two, and you can just see it.
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READER COMMENTS
Wed Jul15, 2009, 6:24 PM
i've been lucky enough to share a few lineups with Gerry over the last year or two and he still has an obvious connection with the ocean that's immediately recognizable. i think the guy could surf a fast food tray and put himself in the right place at the right time on the best waves. it's awesome to watch.
Thu Jul16, 2009, 10:21 AM
I was born in 1951 in Santa Monica. I was one of the pioneers of POP Pier, surfed Point Dume every time a swell hit due to my high school friend Dusty, and body surfed the Wedge alot in the mid sixties. I've probably read every surfing magazine published. The magazines and the movies were good in my youth, and they portrayed the essence of surfing, which indicated its quality as well. There were some damn good surfers back then; Mike Doyle, Miki "The Cat" Dora, too many to mention. When I was living in Hawaii, I saw Corky Carroll take off on a monster Pipeline wave as I sat on the beach, a little terrified just watching. Pipeline was much more mysterious back in '69, and it stayed that way for a few years. Then along came Gerry to solve the mystery. By 1976, Pipeline had been redefined from a life threatening funnel to Lopez' playground. Since I never got to sit and watch Lopez surf Pipeline like I got to watch Corky, a champion of his time, I feel I missed the purest stylist of
Fri Jul17, 2009, 8:04 AM
Mr.Gerry Lopez is always Grace under pressure , even in Life , at least that's the way I see it . I don't know Him But I would love to .
Fri Jul17, 2009, 4:45 PM
Lopez...two words...Soooo Stylish!
Tue Jul21, 2009, 2:27 AM
I read your article on the fifty greatest surfers which was pretty cool but found this one stood out from the others in not such a good way. Quite the contrary, It seemed Rob talked a lot about himself while trying to pen something timeless about the Pipeline Master and struggled in being able to separate himself from the story and the greatness that is Gerry which he was expected to tell. Now don't get me wrong, I like Machado's style in and out of the water but to clamber up next to the giant that is Gerry and try to share the view from the mountaintop while still being a work in progress was a little rich. I was left feeling that surfers today see things a little differently from those of days gone by and that this article put the older surfers totally into perspective (Humble, sincere, generous etc..) And I guess for this this I should say thank you Rob Machado.
Tue Jul21, 2009, 3:52 AM
On the 30th of the current month i will celebrate my 30th surfing year, being a Portuguese that's almost a statement on its own because back in the day the status of the industry we had was equivalent to the 60's. There were only 500 surfers in the country. The guys that traveled were the leading tribe and one day one of those guys gave me a poster of Mr. Gerry Lopez tucked in a tube and it changed my surfing. I went from regular to goofy foot just because of Gerry's grace under pressure easy style. He has been, and still is, an inspiration throughout my life, in and out of the water. The title Mr. Pipeline has never been so neatly used.
Tue Jul21, 2009, 4:17 PM
the only other surfer i believe whose style can compete with Rob or Gerry is Donavan Frankenriter, i love the way rob, gerry, and don have that old school style, when i go to make those clean cuts and throw those fat buckets i visualize these three, because STYLE IS EVERYTHING
Tue Jul21, 2009, 8:41 PM
Rob's recollection "When Gerry’s surfing, you can really just tell just how much he enjoys the actual act of riding waves. When you watch him surf you realize there’s something else going on there beyond what normal humans encounter—like he’s tapped into something that the rest of us are not," is so true. Check out the mission statement Gerry wrote for SRF at www.srfhawaii.com.
Tue Sep 1, 2009, 7:43 PM
Is Dewey Weber on the list??? Havnt got a chance to read the list, can i get an answer please?
Mon Sep 7, 2009, 1:24 PM
Does anybody know where i can get the vans triple crown of surfing poster of Gerry Lopez surfing Haleiwa sunset pipeline?
Fri Oct 9, 2009, 10:43 AM
Hi! Our pagan friends from Vietnam, we enjoyed surfing. surfing is a sport very useful for us.
Thu Oct29, 2009, 8:38 PM
Check Gerry's style in that picture. He's standing fully erect, with his hands down. There is no more difficult stance in surfing. None of that butt sticking out, hands waving shit for Gerry. But at the same time we shouldn't forget that it was Stanley Parks, aka Savage, who introduced the turn-into-the-tube bottom turn at the Pipe. Before Savage, Butch and John Peck angled their turns and ran for it. Finally, when you get the chance, ask Gerry what Lightning Bold Surfboards was named for.
Mon Nov16, 2009, 4:55 PM
A legend. I think his low key and humble approach makes a pretty sharp contrast to the circus show surfing is today. Not a criticism, things move on, things progress. However it is nice to still know that outside the contrived "travelling" surfer movies, beautifully filmed with pros and their 20 board quivers talking about themselves, the world of real surfing continues, surfers all over the world still skimping and saving to hop into economy with their mates to the lineups of their dreams, sans cameras, sponsors and media attention. That is and always will be the lifeblood of surfing, and what people like Gerry Lopez signify.