Robert Kelly Slater is an American professional surfer, best known for being crowned World Surf League champion a record 11 times. Slater is widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time, and holds 56 Championship Tour victories. Slater is also the oldest surfer still active on the World Surf League, winning his 8th Billabong Pipeline Masters title at age 49.
Laird John Hamilton, né Zerfas, is an American big-wave surfer, co-inventor of tow-in surfing, and an occasional fashion and action-sports model and actor. He is married to Gabrielle Reece, a former professional volleyball player, television personality, and model.
Big wave surfing is a discipline within surfing in which experienced surfers paddle into, or are towed into, waves which are at least 20 feet high, on surf boards known as "guns" or towboards. Sizes of the board needed to successfully surf these waves vary by the size of the wave as well as the technique the surfer uses to reach the wave. A larger, longer board allows a rider to paddle fast enough to catch the wave and has the advantage of being more stable, but it also limits maneuverability and surfing speed.
Outrigger boats are various watercraft featuring one or more lateral support floats known as outriggers, which are fastened to one or both sides of the main hull. They can range from small dugout canoes to large plank-built vessels. Outrigger boats can also vary in their configuration, from the ancestral double-hull configuration (catamarans), to single-outrigger vessels prevalent in the Pacific Islands and Madagascar, to the double-outrigger vessels (trimarans) prevalent in Island Southeast Asia. They are traditionally fitted with Austronesian sails, like the crab claw sails and tanja sails, but in modern times are often fitted with petrol engines.
Fred Hemmings is an American surfer, author, businessman, and politician.
Peʻahi is a place on the north shore of the island of Maui in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It has lent its name to a big wave surfing break, also known as Jaws.
Paddleboarding is a water sport in which participants are propelled by a swimming motion using their arms while lying or kneeling on a paddleboard or surfboard in the ocean or other body of water. Paddleboarding is usually performed in the open ocean, with the participant paddling and surfing unbroken swells to cross between islands or journey from one coastal area to another.
Dave Kalama is a big wave surfer/tow-in surfer, stand-up paddle (SUP) surfer and racer, surf and SUP board shaper, windsurfer, outrigger canoe racer, private adventure guide, and celebrity watersports enthusiast. Kalama, his wife, 2 sons and 1 daughter live in Kula, Maui.
Julie Leach is an American Olympic Kayak athlete who competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, then switched to triathlon. After winning numerous races she won the Oct '82 Hawaiian Ironman World Championship. Julie has two children with Bill Leach: Shane (3-23-88) and Hayden (7-1-93). She taught Earth science at Arnold O. Beckman High School in Irvine, California until 2012.
Standup paddleboarding (SUP) is a water sport born from surfing with modern roots in Hawaii. Standup paddleboarders stand on boards that are floating on the water and use a paddle to propel themselves through the water. The sport was documented in a 2013 report that identified it as the outdoor sporting activity with the most first-time participants in the United States that year. Variations include flat water paddling, racing, surfing, whitewater SUP, yoga, and fishing.
Canoe marathon is a paddling sport in which athletes paddle a kayak or canoe over a long distance to the finish line. The International Canoe Federation states the standard distances are at least 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) without an upper limit, while short distance races are between 3.4 kilometres (2.1 mi), and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi). Many events are raced down sections of river, including currents or portages around obstacles. Some events attract thousands of competitors and are staged over several days.
Lauren Spalding represented the United States as a kayaker in the 2004 Summer Olympics. She is also a world champion outrigger canoe paddler and surfski racer.
Garrett "GMAC" McNamara is an American professional big wave surfer best known for setting the world record for largest wave ever surfed, as documented in the HBO series 100 Foot Wave. McNamara is also known for successfully negotiating a monstrous barrel at Jaws and being the first person ever to ride a wave formed from calving glaciers.
Kai Lenny is an American professional big wave surfer, stand-up paddle (SUP) surfer and racer, surfer, tow-in surfer, windsurfer, kitesurfer, wing foiler and celebrity watersports enthusiast. Lenny lives on Maui.
Roray Kam is a surfer, a multiple-time winner of longboard surfing competitions and an early participant in stand up paddle boarding in South Florida. He is a surfing coach and the founder of RK Ocean Gear, and in 2013 resides in Fort Lauderdale, FL and works for the Broward County Sherriff's Office. Kam has hosted a number of Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) events and races.
Spectrum OC16 is a Hawaiian TV channel owned by Charter Communications, based in Honolulu, Hawaii and broadcasts to the state of Hawaii on Oceanic channel 12/digital 1012 for general interests, on channel 16/digital 1016 for sports programming, and on channel 255 for pay-per-view events, particularly University of Hawaii football.
Laura Enever is an Australian professional surfer. Enever was the ASP Women's World Junior Champion in 2009. She made her professional debut in 2011.
The Moloka'i Hoe is an annual outrigger canoe race between the islands of Molokai and Oahu, Hawaii. The race is one of Hawaii's largest annual sporting events, drawing participants from Hawaii and the U.S. mainland as well as internationally. Participating countries include Australia, New Zealand, England, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, and Tahiti.
Daniel Dawson Hepala Hakuole Ching, is a professional standup paddleboarder and outrigger canoe paddler from Redondo Beach, California, United States.
Moanalani Jones Wong is an American surfer who has been called the "Queen of Pipeline".
