Laird Hamilton

Laird Hamilton (2007)

Laird Hamilton (* 3. February 1964 in San Francisco as a Laird John Zerfas ) is one of the most influential "Big Wave" - surfers of the 21st century. He has surfed waves up to 22 meters high at speeds of 80 km / h.

biography

LG Zerfas, Hamilton's father of Greek descent, left the family before his son's first birthday. Shortly afterwards, his mother Joann moved to Hawaii with her child . He grew up on the north coast of Oahu , Hawaii.

Hamilton met his later adoptive father Bill Hamilton (born August 27, 1948), a legendary big wave pro surfer in 1967, at the age of 3 on the beach at Ehukai in Hawaii. Bill saw the boy playing in the waves and invited him to surf on his shoulders. Hamilton then offered his future adoptive father to accompany him home to meet his mother. Joann and Bill got married six months later. In 1969 Hamilton's half-brother Lyon Hamilton was born. Even in his childhood, Laird Hamilton did not shy away from extreme sporting activities: at the age of 8, Hamilton asked his father to take him to an 18-meter-high cliff at the Waimea waterfalls, where the surfers demonstrated their courage by jumping into the lagoon. He didn’t stop at watching, but jumped down himself.

After Hamilton dropped out of school at the age of 16, he first worked as a construction worker to earn the money he needed to surf the waves. At the age of 17 he was discovered on a beach on Kaua'i by a photographer from the Italian “Men's Vogue” . In 1983 there was a joint photo shoot with Brooke Shields .

In November 1997 he married the professional volleyball player Gabrielle Reece , who also works as a photo model and presenter. He has two children with her. From his first marriage (with the Brazilian fashion designer Maria Souza) comes another daughter, who was born in 1996 and lives with her mother. Gabrielle Reece made a significant impact on her husband's economic success by introducing him to her own manager, Jane Kachmer, a talent manager from the film industry. Kachmer took care of the professional marketing of Laird Hamilton in the media.

Tow-in surfing , which was co-developed by Hamilton, has completely changed surfing very large waves. In order to find a better grip on the board at the high speeds that arise, he has for the first time mounted foot straps, which are known from windsurfing , on a surf rider.

Hamilton is a co-founder of Stand Up Paddle Surfing and is considered the inventor of the foilboard , in which an underwater wing provides lift and lifts the board above the surface of the water.

In 2008 he published a book called "Force of Nature: Mind, Body, Soul, And, of Course, Surfing". On September 26, 2013, Hamilton was presented with the SUP Lifetime Achievement Award .

In October 2013, in an interview with CNN , Hamilton criticized the big wave surfer Carlos Burle and his attempt to ride waves around thirty meters high with Maya Gabeira near Nazaré . Gabeira was saved from drowning by Burle, but “simply doesn't have the skills to drive in such severe conditions”. He commented on Burle's own attempt to ride these waves with the words: “To set a world record, you have to manage the ride on the wave [Burle fell in the wave] [...] therefore he only had one wipeout on the biggest wave, that anyone has ever ridden ”. Gabeira commented on the accusation that she was overwhelmed in an interview: “Yes, I've been listening to these sayings for years. [...] When surfing big wave, I see myself as an athlete - regardless of gender. "

TV / movie

Laird Hamilton worked among other things in the film Waterworld (1995) as a stunt - double for Kevin Costner and documentary Riding Giants with (2004). He can also be seen in the opening sequence of the James Bond movie Die Another Day (2002) as a stunt double for Pierce Brosnan in Jaws and in the 2015 film Point Break .

2007 Hamilton was with his wife and Serena Williams and former NFL - quarterback John Elway part of ABC - reality TV series Fast Cars and Superstars . In 2011 he played a small role in The Descendants as "Tony Cock".

Teahupoo

The ride on the wave at Teahupoo , a surfing spot off the coast of Tahiti, made Hamilton a legend on August 17, 2000.

The Teahupoo wave is considered extremely dangerous if it exceeds the 3 meter limit due to its volume. Teahupoo breaks over a sharp-edged coral reef in 50 cm of shallow water. If you fall off the board, there is a risk to life and limb.

This ride, known by surfers as The Wave , earned him a cover photo in Surfer Magazine with the title "oh my god ..." and can be seen in the movie Riding Giants .

literature

• Matt Warshaw: Maverick's: the story of big-wave surfing , Chronicle Books, ISBN 0-8118-2652-X
• The Surfer's Journal, Vol. 6, No. 3: 20th Century Man: Laird Hamilton by Bruce Jenkins

Web links

• Official website , English
• Laird Hamilton in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Laird Hamilton surfing big wave off Hawaii , video series “Freaks of Nature”, January 4, 2015, English
• Report on Laird Hamilton in 80 foot waves off Sprecklesville , 4th paragraph ff, Daily Dose, 2008
• Surf's Up! , Lesley Stahl Talks To Big-Wave Surfer Laird Hamilton, 60 Minutes , February 26, 2004, English

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Billy Hamilton , Sur therefore
2. ↑ The Hydroponic Dreams of Laird Hamilton ( Memento of the original from January 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Video of Laird Hamilton while tow-in surfing and on a foil board ( memento from October 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), YouTube
4. ^ The history of Stand Up Paddle Surfing , SUPGlobal.com
5. ^ Laird Hamilton: Force of Nature: Mind, Body, Soul, And, of Course, Surfing . Rodale Pr, 2008, ISBN 978-1-60961-102-6 .
6. ↑ SUP Awards 2013 , supthemag.com, English
7. ↑ Criticism of the monster wave rider: “Falling, not riding” , Spiegel Online , October 31, 2013
8. ↑ Interview on CNN , YouTube , October 30, 2013
9. ↑ Gabeira, a giant wave surfer: “The wall seemed to have no end” , Interview, Spiegel Online, November 5, 2013
10. ↑ Laird Hamilton in the wave of Teahupoo , YouTube
11. ↑ "Teahupoo - Tahiti's Perfect Wave" , RP-Online, October 23, 2007
12. ↑ Surfer magazine Laird Hamilton riding The Wave at Teahupoo, August 17, 2000 ( Memento of May 4, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
13. ↑ Photos by Tim McKenna: Laird Hamilton riding The Wave ( Memento of the original from March 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
14. ↑ Riding Giants. Internet Movie Database , accessed June 10, 2015 .