Photo from ‘STERN FEVER’
Shipstern Bluff looks like no other wave on the planet. That’s the simplest way to describe its relevance in the big-wave world, but at the same time, that barely scratches the surface.
Imagine yourself looking at images of surfers on big waves in the ’90s or early 2000s. Laird’s Millennium Wave is one image that instantly comes to mind — a ride so outrageous and unique for the time that the entire surf world had to rethink what was possible. That issue of SURFER, where Laird’s photo appeared on the cover, stopped every surfer who saw it. They had to examine the image for themselves. We’d never seen anything like it.
Shipstern Bluff has had a similar impact on the sport, except unlike Teahupo’o during the same period in time, it enjoyed less exposure. The wave was (still is) remote. It was hidden on Tasmania’s southern coast and only a small group of people surfed the slab in the earliest days. It was the pinnacle of a secret wave. And then suddenly, it wasn’t. The secret eventually got out. Cameras showed up. So did outside surfers.
STERN FEVER is a new documentary that digs through that history of the infamous wave and the people who pioneered it. It highlights how relationships changed once the secret of Shipstern Bluff was no longer a secret, and of course, how the wave itself forced the entire sport to reimagine what was possible. Even today, after decades of documented sessions at the monstrous slab, the wave still looks like something that shouldn’t be “surfable.”
“At its heart, STERN FEVER is a story about pioneering the impossible — and what happens when the media becomes fever pitch and a wave becomes bigger than the people who surf it,” reads the promo for the film. It is truly one of the most unique spots on the planet.
STERN FEVER screens at the Newport Beach Film Festival Sunday, October 18 at 7:00 p.m. Follow @onepalmmedia for more information.
