Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew's Tribute to Peter Whittaker

I won't bore you with the details of all our travails, but it's now safe to say it was a tumultuous time for pro surfing and ASP. There was unhappiness, surfers were fed up with shitty tour locations, an antiquated judging criteria, an unsynchronized tour schedule, there was talk of a rebel tour, event sponsors were coming and going, there was no security on any side of the table, other extreme sports were leaving pro surfing in the shade, and ASP was at the very bottom of its credibility in Southern California, the hub of industry.

It was in this landscape of revolution and unrest that Pete rolled up his sleeves and went to work. He wanted to operate in the background, was more then happy for me to be the front man. It was in this new capacity, away from the glitz and glamour of swanning around the world, that Pete's irrepressible energy was focused. It may sound easy now, but establishing the institution of Event Licenses was akin to moving mountains. People are open to the concept of change, until it affects them. Pete fearlessly waded into the trenches, Greville Mitchell used to say that Pete and I needed steel battle helmets, but it was the deep strokes that Pete took in the backrooms of ASP that established this institution, which in turn laid the foundations for the "Dream Tour".

For me the greatest memories of Pete emanate from the brainstorming sessions in his office. By 2002 a gentleman by the name of Richard Grellman had brought further order to ASP, in the process re-aligning Pete as CEO and me as President, our true positions. Pete and I would lock ourselves in his office overlooking the Superbank and get into the nitty gritty of making the tour better. Two such editions that came out of those sessions were jet ski assist and 'Best 2' rides. We would debate the pros and cons but I tell ya, it was Pete that truly believed in these measures.

People are skeptical by nature, the purists, of which their is elements within me, would say jet ski assist is not on, that the guys have always paddled and so they always should. Pete got on the blower to Luke Egan, who was at first skeptical but agreed to be part of a trial. We conducted this at Bilinga Beach, on a ready-made sandbar that had all the necessary elements to fully test this. Big Luke would get instructions from us then improvise where needed. As the morning wore on Luke was clearly getting into it and by the end of it Pete and I were hugging on the beach. We knew it was going to be an integral part of the WCT future. Likewise with 'Best 2', I was going on and on about how the stats were showing that at these prime venues like Teahupoo, Cloudbreak and J/Bay there were too many 4's and 5's being counted and that the guys were scrambling for the third score and that it was adversely affecting the quality of surfing. Pete looked at me deadpan and spat out "well flamin’ just count the best two then", and we did!

The sport of surfing has been the beneficiary of Peter Whittaker's time at Surfing Qld, Surfing Australia and ASP International. At a time when very few qualified individuals would choose the path of surfing admin over a surf industry position, Pete took it on. You see, Pete loved ASP, he loved serving the surfers and was a true believer in the destiny of the sport. He was a tough administrator, an absolute stickler for rules and regulations, but after work and on weekends he was the most sociable bloke and Pete endeared himself to legions of friends throughout the world.

Pete's other great love was his family. His wife Laurinda and son Van were his inspiration to fight the good fight for as long as humanly possible. He was a devoted family man and thankfully was able to spend precious years and months with his 4 year old son. Laurinda has been a rock, riding out this battle alongside Pete and being just so solid in the final days. One beautiful story that Greville sent me that so typifies Pete was a phone call that went like this, quote Pete; "I have arranged the reception at Ricky Ricardo's, I have arranged the flowers and the gondola, everything is in place......now all that's left is to ask Laurinda if she'll marry me". Classic Weeta.

Running ASP was much more than a job for Peter Whittaker, it was life mission, and the sport has benefited greatly by his contribution.

Aloha mate, we'll miss ya.
Rabbit Bartholomew President ASP International

Funeral service for Peter Whitaker taking place 26th July. Friends of the late, great Peter Whitaker are invited to attend his Funeral Service. It is taking place at 3pm, Wednesday July 26 at Tweed Heads Crematorium & Memorial Gardens, Sunshine Ave, Tweed Heads South NSW. The service will be followed by a wake commencing 4.30 to 5pm. Rainbow Bay S.L.S.C Snapper Rocks Gold Coast.

Peter Whitaker passed away at 11.58am, Saturday 22nd of July, 2006.
Renato Hickel WCT Tour Manager