On the drive back to the, His friends say Pat Curren could easily go a full day without speaking. It wasnt always glitter and gold, though. , stop, and look at the wave breaking off the point. There it was a Curren gun, a full-on 114 rhino chaser with 5 feet of knife-edged low rail in the tail, a 1-inch redwood stringer that formed a 3-inch-wide diamond at the midpoint, with a very narrow, extreme plan shape and pronounced belly in the nose. Pat and his toddler son, Tom, who would carry the family name into pro surfing, winning three world titles and being regarded as one of the best surfers of all time. In the 90s, Curren settled down in a beat-up old trailer down in southern Baja Mexico. Pat Curren is useless at 90 years outdated. By then the other guys had come in too. A common theme among comments on IG was,why arent his kids Tom and Joe helping the old man out, which launched an online battleground drawing in various family members of the Curren family, including Joe and Pats grandson Nathan. I asked if I could see it, and he begrudgingly pulls it out, just a piece of hamburger, covered with old tobacco and pocket lint, unbelievably bad., (Mike) Diffenderferand those guys tried to get him to a doctor, but Pat just sat and rocked in a chair for a couple of days, Brown continued. Jeanine Curren Bloom. He didnt care about the act itself, called it overrated, no big deal, but, being a history teacher, it bothered him to hear the inaccurate versions go into the books. He also shaped the finest big-wave guns of his time, recalled journalist Bruce Jenkins. Full Spectrum Services LLP 2022 | All Rights Reserved. Pat Curren RIP. Do yourself a favor and head on over to the Encyclopedia of Surfing to learn more about the imprint Current left on the surf culture at large. "Beaches closed due to dolphin and shark fight.". Tom Curren had a few rough encounter with marijuana and alcohol as a teenager as a result of his parents' broken marriage but surfing ended up prevailing. I actually began to walk back to the van as I reheard what she had said in my head. Hes getting married, the surfs big, and hes leaning up against a board that, Living with Pat on the North Shore was, Jeanine continued, well, a test of your flexibility. His father, Pat Curren, pioneered big-wave surfing in Hawaii. Im thinking, Oh, God, I said a real stupid thing. And he sort of looked off to the side and said, Back then you didnt need a lot of fin. Soon, it was all he needed. , Nelson Surfboards. The guys that put no money down on their boards got theirs first. All rights reserved. Away from the glam and glitzy world, he led a humbled life with his wife and daughter. Top-10 most influential, surely. CALIFORNIA GOLD SURF AUCTION - FALL 2022: A rare bird indeed. That era of men were built different. He invariably got the one that everybody remembered, said Warshaw. Later we were introduced to the real Waimea. Fred Van Dyke quoted. A post shared by NobodySurf (@nobody_surf). Most of us, even those with a serious nose for surf history know just the Cliff's Notes version. Yeah, well, what happened? continued Brown. Jenkins, 1995, pp. Reader and Viewer Involvement in the LEGENDARY SURFERS collection takes place at our Facebook Goup. Needless to say, Meade Hall, , the whole thing. In 1955, Pat moved to Hawaii in search of bigger waves. By signing up you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. He was also one of the best shapers of the period, crafting surfboards made specifically for riding big waves. From the fall of 1957 through the spring of 1962the first five seasons of Waimea Bays (post-World War II) historynobody rode the Bay bigger, better or with more calculated precision than Pat Curren. I'm not sure there was a more mystique-drenched surfer in the world. A few years back, historian Matt Warshaw wrote, The camera loves Pat in a way that it loves few others in the sport, and he was good enough to occasionally play along with the filmmakers. The consensus, since nobody had surfed The Bay, was that it wasnt big enough, and who would want to surf such a narrow peak? Pats wife, Mary, and I exchanged numbers and have stayed in touch over the past 7 months. There, in the front seat of a Tahoe, was an old man, with a white beard and a matted, thick head of hair. All that and a great sense of humor too! SURFER Magazine. People talk about the crude equipment, At the end of the 50s/beginning of the 60s, Pat Curren met the one woman who could steer his energy away from the North Shore, I was 16 when I met Pat at a surfing movie, , recalled the woman that would become his wife and mother to their three sons. And for everything he did for surfing and surfers, we thank him. Curren peaked in his career around the 60s, embarking on his discovery-filled journey. Curren was one of the first members of the Windansea Surf Club,which would go on to become one of the most infamous surf clubs in existence. To this day, Ive never seen anybody get bigger, cleaner waves or ride them so well. -- Peter Cole. Dont get the DP Times delivered to your home? Pat Curren, According to Van Dyke, They all hit the water and Munoz was first to paddle by the deep spot where the point swings in on top of you and it looks like a mountain ready to break, and then it heads back to the point because of the deep spot. He was in a class of his own back then, the first guy to ride Waimea, . Jenkins, 1995, p. 79. Curren developed that template through years of big-wave riding, countless wipeouts, who knows how many scars and bruises, endless hours at a drafting table, plus an enormous amount of natural talent., A lot of people dont realize that Pat and Diffenderfer, He didnt want to be, though, Peter Cole, Pat Curren became legendary on the North Shore, From the way people talked about Pat Curren, wrote Mike Doyle, , I imagined him to be the greatest surfer in the world, a magnificent physical specimen, with an electrifying personality. I taught school for 34 years, and over that time I probably surfed less than Pat in the five or six years he spent in Hawaii. Jeanine Curren Bloom quoted. Very purposeful. , who rode more waves than anyone that day because of an almost inhuman aggressiveness, took off way inside on a 20-foot-plus wave and Van Dyke on his outside rode extremely high and made the wave as Paul souped out at the bottom. We hungry! The wave in pictures measures 25-28 feet and has become a much-talked-about wave. RIP Pat. Of course I was well aware of Pat Currens name, his beautiful gun shapes and legendary first-day-out at Waimea story, but otherwise, I knew nothing of what he had been up to in his later years. I was the first to catch a wave. It was a three-bedroom, fully furnished place for $65 a month across from Ke Iki Road, . So were all down there one day and Pats sort of standing around, smoking a cigarette, , a bunch of us would hike up to Waimea Falls, , Noll recalled the first time Waimea Bay, It was the beginning of Pat Currens enduring reputation as King of The Bay., Downing and Trent had helped establish Makaha, This was not entirely correct. Because the sport was not developed at the time, the surfer had a keen interest in making the sport a proper sport. Then again, Pat Curren's life as a surfer is almost unbelievable. Filmmaker Bruce Brown later recalled their conversation. Pat and Tom surfed together in Costa Rica in 1985, while Joe joined his father and older brother for a surf trip to Ireland and France in 2000, but Curren family members have for the most part gone their own ways, wrote surf writer Matt Warshaw in 2003, adding that Pat Curren has had almost nothing to do with the nostalgia-tinged surf legends revival of the 90s and 00s, except to shape full-size replica balsa guns that, because of their price, are basically wall-hangers to those that can afford them. Van Dyke, 1989, pp. Surfing from an Historical and Cultural View, part of the SHACC Collection, by Malcolm Gault-Williams. That second one broke the speed record!, BIPOC Queen of Crazy Mason Ho, beautiful and fat Noa Deane and surfings greatest virtuoso Clay Marzo deliver a masterpiece in contemporary surfing, A penetrating glimpse into sports most exciting talents!. At 16, he 'dropped out' of high school. I got the biggest waves of my life after having kids, said the 2023 Eddie. Pat lived in 1860, at address, Pennsylvania. But when we are in moments of dire need, when weve exhausted all viable options on our own, it is through simple acts of honest vulnerability that we can open ourselves to the inherent kindness in each human beings heart. They gave you a chance at survival., Pat was putting rocker in his boards, which really set him apart, Fred Van Dyke, , was in that one strip of Masonite that recorded the rail curve of his rhino guns. Curren was born (1964) in Newport Beach, California, the son of pioneering big-wave surfer and boardmaker Pat Curren, and raised in Santa Barbara. Much like his son Tom would grow up to do, he avoided the limelight, preferring simply to tread quietly and surf loudly. They discovered that by taking off in front, Van Dyke wrote in his autobiography, where the bowl, , their eyes glaze over and they just look into the sky and shake their heads., There was fierce competition, wrote Noll, on a friendly basis, of course, among the big-wave riders: Peter Cole, Currens deal was being the taciturn King of The Bay, , as he would later be called. Pat was considered the top big wave rider of the first crop of big wave riders. Muere Pat Curren El shaper, pionero del surf de olas grandes en el North Shore de Hawi y padre del tricampen del mundo de surf, Tom Curren, ha muerto a los 90 aos. As a La Jolla youngster, Curren didn't start surfing until the age of 18, in 1950. Two years later, in 1961, Pat had an amazing way of connecting with people, Jeanine continued. Pat Currenlegendary shaper, big-wave trailblazer, and father to 3x World Champ Tom Currenpassed away on Sunday at the age of 90. He had a military haircut, was real quiet and moody. If you get the biggest wave out there, youve won the day. Warshaw, Encyclopedia of Surfing, 2003, p. 144. Brazillian surfer, Marcio Freire died doing what he loved. In 1964, Tom Curren was born. I realized at some point that I was dehydrated and a bit dizzy, standing there baking in the sun, still wearing my wetsuit. Greg Noll is most often given credit for being the first one to ride Waimea after Dickie Cross died there and Woody Brown nearly ate it there. Open Thread: Comment Live on the Eddie Aikau Invitational as world's most prestigious surf contest runs for first time in nearly a decade! I think this will do; Im going surfing. With that, he strolled into the backyard, picked up a machete, , and hacked a couple of branches from a Hale Koa tree, . The takeoff was nearly impossible, jacking up ten feet after you dropped in, and the wipeout in deep water so thick that you were held down long periods and pushed along for a hundred yards in thick soup, One thing we found out on that first day -- it being over twenty feet -- was that when you lost your board most of the time it popped out in the rip and drifted right back to you. He claimed Waimea Bay. , the waves have to break fifteen to eighteen feet before they start triggering on the reefs. (1963). Pat Curren was one of surfing's most revered and mysterious figures. Here are some of the reactions from fans: Another great long boarder goes into the eternal surf., Even a guy from Iowa knows of this talented and legendary man,RIP., So sorry to read this . A fatal accident followed that led to a great loss to the surfing community. Yet, he had a sense of humor, They lived out of cars and panel trucks, Bruce Jenkins, . He lined up everybody for a meeting and the plan unfolded. My husband, Pat Curren, is in it and he would love to take a look. Ricky Grigg quoted. A few years ago a crowdfunding campaign was launched after it became apparent that Pat had fallen on hard times and was struggling with health issues. Sam George with Jeanine Curren Bloom quoted. Theyve become a phenomena, he told Australias ABC News. But when Curren finally arrived and we met him at the airport, I was disappointed. Ricky Grigg quoted. He said, Its tragic we lost such an amazing human. Tomorrow, SEPTEMBER 10, 2005, is the WINDANSEA LUAU. Along with him was Greg Noll, Mickey Munoz, Bing Copeland, Del Cannon, Mike Stange, and Bob Bermell. We simplified and in the BeachGrit way, made a fantasy surfer game that was simple and anti-depressive! Once up and riding, Curren kept his feet and legs fairly close together and used a medium crouch, with a ramrod- straight back, his arms swept out like wings., A post shared by Bruce Brown Films (@brucebrownfilms). 0 coins. Jan 23, 2023 And his boards went like rockets. He shall forever be looked upon as an iconic athlete. I'm undecided there was a extra mystique-drenched surfer on this planet. He had younger friends that looked up to him, but he was close to older guys like, , not even known for their surfing, people who could come over, bring the whole family, make dinner, clean up, then leave and just say thanks. The look on his face is so classic. 70 years and hardly a penny to show for it. We thought it was maybe 12 feet. Pat Curren , one of surfings most enigmatic characters has passed away. She said she could tell just by the way I was holding it. A basketball player all through her When we first surfed Waimea, Noll continued, we werent conscious of making history, other than on the level of that particular time. Aps trs anos, comeou a fabricar pranchas para Dale Velzy. At 18, two years after dropping out of high school, he moved to La Jolla and began surfing; he later became an original member of the La Jolla-based Windansea Surf Club, the loudest and rowdiest group of its kind in the nation. Theres less than one week to sign-up for The Surfival League. Among the first to stake a claim on Oahus now-famed North Shore, it was in the big surf of Hawaii that Curren really seemed to have found himself. There must have been a hundred people -- a big crowd for that time., Id love to say something heroic, Noll admitted in, , Id love to say we made history. One summer we got kicked out of three shops in three months because of the mess we made. Brazillian surfer, Marcio Freire died doing what he loved. A post shared by Birds Surf Shed (@birdssurfshed). The views . Pat Curren 1805 Pat Curren, born Circa 1805. 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pat curran surfer
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pat curran surfer