Laird

[crtraveler]

So, with all the influence that he has on SUP and the surf world in general, who here has actually surfed with him, trained with him, ran into him or knows him?  He seems to like to keep a low profile, but yet he is such a high profile figure in our sport....pretty interesting balance he maintains...Who is the man behind all the mystery?

[surfcowboy]

I was out surfing hanalei a couple of years ago as a rank beginner and he paddled out of the river mouth and was a total hoot. He was friendly and funny and called everyone onto waves and just seemed to be having the time of his life.

Now he took every wave he wanted, like any pro will do but he was gracious and everything you'd hope he'd be. Hope to see him in the water again some day.

A buddy surfed with him in Malibu and reported the same, total blast. That's all I got.

[PonoBill]

I know him to say hi to, that's about it. Seems nice enough. I used to see him and/or Gabby in Paia a lot, especially at Anthony's, and I did a couple of kid benefit events that he participated in. He was generous and gracious at both. His daughter Reese is lovely and fearless in the water. Gabby is more stunning dressed in baggy shorts and a dirty T shirt pumping gas in Paia for herself with a kid on her hip than most models I've seen in full battle gear. 

Other than that, and the fact that he no longer lives in Maui, I don't know much.

[LaPerouseBay]

Here's a cool story written by John Wildman.  His dad may be Don Wildman, one of Laird's pals from Malibu.  Don is 80 now and probably still exceptionally fit.  He paddled standup across the alenuihaha channel with Laird and Dave when he was in his 70's.  He's an inspiration for those of us on the wrong side of 50.     

Anyhow, Laird never writes on his website, but Gabby has some cool stories about the family. 

http://www.lairdhamilton.com/blog/my-extreme-adventure-laird-hamilton

[808]

Don't know him but I blame him for just about everything.   

[supthecreek]

When Laird was just a little kid, he "adopted" surfer Billy Hamilton to be his father.
Laird's mother and Billy Hamilton apparently agreed and got married.
Billy Hamilton was a Socal surfer that was world famous for his smooth style.
Billy was super laid back and not a big contest guy, even though he did well in prestigious events like "The Duke".
He played the surfer double for Matt Johnson in "Big Wednesday"
He is still a respected shaper and surfer.

If you know Billy's life, you can see where Laird gets his inspiration from.

[surfcowboy]

Don was out that day too. He out paddled me for waves all day at 77. I'm training for my retirement.

[Easy Rider]

Very similar story to surfcowboy. It was very early one morning out at Hanalei and I was the only sup'er out. He paddles up - said hi - took one - paddle back - told me to go. A few waves later he asked where I was from and what I did. Told him Canada and that I owned a snowboard shop. He instantly sat down and started asking all sorts of snowboard questions. We sat in the chanel for at least half an hour talking snowboarding. He realized how long we had been talking - said he had to go.  Got up caught a wave and was gone.
Guess he doesn't meet too many people that have been snowboarding as long as he has been surfing.

[Tom]

I met him windsurfing at the ponds, near Palm Springs, CA. All i knew was he was some surfer from Hawaii that was in LA working as a model. He as dominate a windsurfer as he is today as a surfer. This was sometime around 1983, 1984. Doubt if he remembers me.

[Strand Leper]

Ran into him at Coogies in 'bu. kept to himself. Trying to blend in so he could eat the four pounds of fish on his plate. Seemed chill.

I was with the family and we were headed to an RV park on a hill just north of the colony. The RV had four standups on the top... A rare sight in 2009.

SL