Surfing
Our latest series, Following, lets you ride shotgun with top pros as they return to competition in surfing's most hallowed waters. We'll be dropping fresh edits on this page weekly, so stay tuned.
"It's been a long time since we've seen some of our favourite surfers, seen how they're handling this year and seen how they're preparing to get back on the road," says Inherent Bummer's Travis Ferré, producer of our latest series, Following. "So, we're going to tag along as they re-enter competition, travel and chase swell.
"These are loose, candid and fun moments," says Ferré, who was the editor of Surfing Magazine, as well as co-host of Volcom Pipe Pro pirate television show The Other Guys, before founding Inherent Bummer. "The inbetween bits that often get left on the cutting room floor... we want to gather that stuff up and show these surfers and personalities at their most real and fun."
Who are Inherent Bummer? Their crew sees Michael Cukr on the editing tools, Brandon Guilmette in the field wrangling surfers and filmmakers, while Travis Ferré sits in the press box. We'll be adding their latest missives from the islands to this page every week, so save it to your bookmarks to stay current with all of the latest from the Following series. Enjoy.
Following – Eli Hanneman
In the fifth instalment of Following for this Hawaiian season – which you can watch in the player above – we catch up with local star Eli Hanneman, who has all the hype and tools to be one of the faces of the future in surfing.
"The Maui boy is primed to be elite," says Inherent Bummer's Travis Ferré. "He has the tricks and the style and every day adds power to his already impressive game. He has the intensity and drive. And after his recent run in the Pipe Masters trials we learned a lot more about the intense grom. He freaking loves croissants. And he’s funny."
We check in as he calls a quick time out from his endless pursuit of North Shore success to relax at home on Maui, with his friends, family and favourite waves for company.
Honolua Bay might be on every surfer's bucket list, but as Eli knows and Ian Walsh shows, it can also be one of the planet's most maddening line-ups to try and navigate, on average days as much as when it's bombing.
In this episode, filmed by long-time Red Bull collaborator Marc Chambers and produced by Inherent Bummer, we catch up with Eli as the new year rolls around, and he laments missing an Oahu swell to stay home chasing waves that barely show. We ride shotgun with Eli Hanneman as he navigates life as a teenager in Maui, and get a look into his world, including a hang with his girlfriend Paloma, small wave surfing and a lot of croissant tasting.
Despite the marginal conditions, Eli puts on a clinic in the Pacific and his opening Honolua Bay wave and later Lahaina Bay flip are worth the price of admission alone.
Eli has come a long way since we first met him as an awkward school kid and, though still only 18, the confident young man driving around town in his jacked black truck has the air of someone with the world at his feet. With the middle name Kealoha, in honour of one of Hawaii's all-time great surfers, why wouldn't he be? Hit play above and enjoy the Eli show now.
Following – Kanoa Igarashi
In the fourth instalment of Following, we go behind the scenes with 2016 Pipeline Masters finalist and 2019's most improved surfer, Kanoa Igarashi, filmed by his great friend Tanner Carney and broken down by Inherent Bummer's editor-in-chief, Travis Ferré.
"Kanoa is a media darling," says Ferré. "His Japanese heritage, mixed with his Orange County upbringing, make him a perfect storyteller and a unique character in the sea of surfers on the tour."
"Jump in as Kanoa kicks off what's sure to be the most important campaign of his career, beginning in Hawaii and circling the globe on the WSL Championship Tour, before heading to Tokyo, where he'll represent Japan in surfing's first showing.
"The Games will no doubt see Kanoa front and centre on the international stage. In this episode of Following we tag along and Kanoa begins his 2021 season on the fabled shores of Oahu's North Shore. Enjoy."
Following – Julian Wilson
The third Following episode takes us inside camp with 2014 Pipeline Masters champion Julian Wilson as he kicks off his 2020–21 world title chase.
In the words of Ferré, "Julian Wilson took a business trip to the North Shore. Joined by coach and surfing legend Luke Egan, Julian brings you inside his early North Shore campaign. Watch as he throws himself over the ledge at Pipe and learns from his successes and failures."
"From the post-surf ice baths and coffee, to FaceTime with the family and footage analysis and viewings of the classic surf film The Bruce Movie, join one of the world's best as he tackles another season on the North Shore in our latest episode of Following."
Filmed by Julian's best friend Jimmy Lees, with appearances by surfers Makua Rothman and Michel Bourez, as well as skate legend-turned-North-Shore-resident Arto Saari, this is one of our favourite episodes yet – hit the player above to watch it.
Following – Carissa Moore
Our second instalment of Following features our favourite four-time world champion, Hawaiian queen Carissa Moore, as she readies herself to surf the WSL Championship Tour season opener, the Maui Pro.
In the days leading up to the Maui Pro, the first event after the long competition hiatus, we tag along as Moore juggles family time with the business of getting her boards and mind right after the extended break. Dogs at the park, family time and rainbow hunting filled the days leading up to the event. Her arrival on Maui coincides with pumping Honolua Bay, where she put on a beautiful display of surfing before the event.
Moore would surf her way into the quarter-finals before everything was moved to Pipeline after a shark attack on a recreational surfer at Honolua Bay put the event on hold. As you can see in Trevor Moran's photos above, the Maui Pro finals were subsequently moved to Oahu, where Riss enlisted Jamie O'Brien to give her a tip or two at Pipeline.
Following – Kolohe Andino
In the first instalment of Following, the team from Inherent Bummer kicked things off at home in California, with the Golden State's favourite son, Kolohe Andino, aka Brother.
"We pack with Kolohe as he assembles his board bags for Hawaii," says Travis Ferré. "We watch a lot of football and get the competitive juices flowing again by grinding and running heats in cold tiny Californian winter waves with US Surf Team coach Brett Simpson and local San Clemente surfers Crosby Colapinto, Kade Matson and Cole Houshmand."
Want to see how much wax Kolohe brings to Hawaii? How many leashes? Tune in above to watch Kolohe pack for Hawaii in the weeks leading up to the return of the WSL Championship Tour and its first stop at Pipeline.
And final words from our pal Travis? "We’ll follow along with Kolohe, Carissa, Julian, Kanoa, Leo, JOB, Mateus Herdy, Eli Hanneman, Ian Walsh and Caroline Marks over the next month, so stay tuned."
Following edits – and epic Hawaiian photography thanks to the magnificent Trevor Moran – will be added to this page weekly, so save it in your bookmarks and keep coming back the length of the Hawaiian season. Can't wait.
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