The life of the professional surfer ain’t that bad. I once heard a professional skateboarder explain it quite simply: pro skaters hang out behind grocery stores skating loading docks. Surfers, meanwhile hang at the beach in paradise. “Why do you think skate groupies got nothin’ on surf groupies?” he said. Point taken.
To add insult to injury, a handful of the world’s best are currently surfing one of the most interesting but exclusive events ever. Each year the Four Seasons Maldives hosts the Surfing Champions Trophy – an invitation-only event that tests surfers on single fins, twins, and thrusters. Heat times are also determined by age of the competitors, according to the event website, all for a prize pot of $25k. But even if you get last it ain’t all that bad, because you got a free stay at the Four Seasons and surfed some super fun waves.
This year the six invitees are Shane Dorian (last year’s winner) Rob Machado, Jamie O’Brien, Taj Burrow, Travis Logie, Bethany Hamilton, and Hussain ‘Iboo’ Areef.
So far, Taj has demonstrated his prowess on one-fins (see video below), and Shane Dorian out styled even the style master himself, Rob Machado, in the twin-fin division (see video above). Up next, the thruster category.
