Laird Hamilton is the Chuck Norris of SUP....

[Admin]

Why in the world are all these people looking up Lady GaGa?

Same as it ever was.  The pointers told them they should.  Long live the Bieber.  What's an order of magnitude, or three?

[PonoBill]

The sad reality. People are sheep.  Sheeple. Then again I DO like Lady Gaga, though I've never had any big urge to Google her any significant way.

But Beiber. Yikes. What's with that. Are there really 45 million mindless little wenches running around with internet access. Or is it just a few with way too much time on their hands.

[maui wave warrior]

This thread is now taking on a whole new dimension. Pono, my guess is it is the same group voting for the American Idol competitors. Early Teen and pre-teen groupies, all 45 million of them except a few old farts wishing they were young again and for Justin, well maybe even a few boys and Priests. Woops sorry didn't mean to offend anyone.

[surferkarl]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments....lots of good ones. 

I'm one of the older guys hanging on to youth and at 51 I'm surfing and SUP'ing every week if not more often.   I started surfing at 14 but it seems like my skill level is mediocre at best.....but I sure have fun!   I read Laird's book a couple of years ago and recommend it to others for motivation.  It's a great way to get re-fired up!

Reading some of the posts above I have to agree that this is one of the best, if not the best, short SUP surfing videos I've seen.  Laird looks incredibly smooth where most would be flailing about.  Someone mentioned the wider "horse" stance.  I had noticed that too and will give it a try.  I can't wait to get back into the water!

Laird is a complete waterman....and I think one of the big aspects of his SUP surfing skills has to obviously be attributed to his surfing background.  Certainly he was spinning big boards around like that before he ever picked up a paddle.  Something I'm just now trying to figure out how to do and wondering if it might actually be eaiser on an SUP than a surfboard.

Finally, I don't think the man crush on Laird is all that creepy....lol.     I think it is really cool that guys like Laird, Kelly Slater, Lance Armstrong, etc show us the current limits of possibilities and something for a lot of people to emmulate.... and some to one day surpass. 

Laird Hamilton is the Chuck Norris of SUP.....

[corran]

Technically, Lance hasn't been caught.  Yet.

ALL may have cheated -- but only one used a facade of cancer advocacy to hide from scrutiny and bludgeon his critics.

In 2009, during his "Comeback 2.0", Lance was paid to open his season at the "Tour down Under" in Australia -- the race organizers secured his participation by promising a $1M donation to his foundation. 

By almost all accounts, Lance pocketed the $1M.  It never made it to his foundation.
Myths are great.  As long as you realize they are myths.

Aloha!

And the relation between cancer survival, his eagerness to raise funds for cancer, and his PERSONAL doping to win races which has nothing to do with raising funds for cancer is....?

[WaterDog]

Mary had a little lamb, but Laird Hamilton ate it.

Laird Hamilton doesn't need twitter.  He snatches humming birds from the sky and gives them 24 hrs to relay his message or die.


...lets get back to the topic folks.      Bromance right?

[surferkarl]

Mary had a little lamb, but Laird Hamilton ate it.

Laird Hamilton doesn't need twitter.  He snatches humming birds from the sky and gives them 24 hrs to relay his message or die.


...lets get back to the topic folks.      Bromance right?

Each one of Laird's testicles is bigger than the other.


On a whim Laird paddled his SUP across the Pacific.  When he got to the other side he ate lunch and paddled back.

[captain twang]

i guys, i read the book "force of nature" by laird hamilton.  to me seems more like a very mellow dude, that thinks a lot about karma and family values and stuff like that. and he likes good food too!

[surferkarl]

Yup. good book to get motivated!!  Plus its got lots of pictures and big print which is perfect for a guy like me...lol

[lakesurfer]

Laird seems like such a hero, at least to me, because his life is at times the closest to what we are living.  Not in the sense that we live like he does all the time, but we all have work and families, stuff that occupies our time away from surfing/SUP.  It's hard for me to relate to the guys doing the contests and traveling, and it's nice to see that Laird spends a good mount of time with his family and surfing  at breaks that are close to home.  I do suppose though, that in Hawaii, world class breaks aren't that hard to come by.

[JT]

Does anyone know (or is willing to hazard a guess) the dimensions of the boards that Laird is riding in the linked video?

I'm trying to better wrap my head around SUP design and potential. Laird's boards in the video seem shorter and significantly thinner than the yellow board that Dino is riding, but possibly on par with the blue one. I'm assuming that Laird is bigger than Dino, which may impact the comparisons.  I realize the disparity in the waves also complicates any comparisons from the videos alone.

[WaterDog]

I would asume he is riding one of these, not sure about the length, but it is a bit thinner.

http://www.arrowsurfshop.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=23&Itemid=201

[tautologies]

You know Chuck Norris is a nutbag right? To say it this way, Chuck Norris isn't the Chuck Norris of anything. Except being a nutbag. Maybe.

[bean]

Laird is really the Bruce Lee of SUP; both great pioneers of their craft.  'Nuff said

[Easy Rider]

As mentioned before Laird is a very nice guy.
Saw him again at the OR show last week - and I had my 13 year old son with me - I asked him if I could get a photo of he and my son.  He said sure thing - then looked at me again and said "Snowboard shop guy . . .  from Hanalei Bay - right?"   I was blown away that he would remember us meeting.