Radnessness

Yes

yes yes... we want it. 

Though no complaints here.. with a fine easterly swell and the tides and stars aligned, the local points have been lit up.. I believe I saw one old codger at the Bower on the weekend, sliding locked in the curl for a good 50-100 metre ride, dry hair, and a hand made mega handplane providing a superlative, frictionless slide ...I felt weak and meek as I looked down at the log I'd dragged out with me thinking, "how could I compete with the hordes and their boards in such a competitive lineup?"

.... man up man

....next time nothing but the hand sled.  

2 waves - 4 bodysurfers

No surf means wasting time at home.

Let me help.

4 epic rides.

Watch them.

That is all.

Come Hell or High Water by Keith Malloy

Coming not soon enough.

New movie by Keith Malloy,

all about bodysurfing....

Come Hell or High Water Trailer from Woodshed Films on Vimeo.

Malloy filming the master, Mark Cunningham, for the film

Wedge = Sandy Hook

Newport's Wedge is still a sandy hook

The art of bodysurfing -- less glamorous than surfing and tough to master -- lives on at the legendary, and dangerous, break. A new generation of daredevils is joining old-timers in the water.

By Susannah Rosenblatt

November 3, 2008

With the lifeguard tower boarded up, the sand mostly empty and the waves fizzling into foam, another bodysurfing season at the Wedge has drawn to a close. The daredevils who brave the wild waves at the legendary Newport Beach break are shelving their fins until next spring.

The die-hards -- guys whose concussions, fractured vertebrae and broken bones are testament to their devotion to the Wedge -- have mellowed with age. The waves -- which ricochet off the rocky jetty at the tip of Balboa Peninsula, smashing together in white-frosted peaks that can tower 20 feet -- have not. The Wedge chews up novices, flinging them onto the hard berm of sand or sucking them back into the churning surf.

The bodysurfing fraternity that held tanning tournaments and packed party houses during the Wedge's rowdy 1980s heyday has morphed into middle-aged dads. Fights used to break out among dudes angling for waves. Now, mentoring is more likely as newcomers learn to navigate that wall of water from the old hands who still can't get enough.

With a younger generation surfacing once again at the Wedge, the art of bodysurfing -- less glamorous than surfing and tough to master -- lives on.

"It is a dwindling thing -- there aren't the number of active bodysurfers that there were," said Tom "Cashbox" Kennedy, 44, who's been riding the Wedge for more than two decades. "With this new influx of fresh air, with these younger kids coming, it's like 'Wow, good, we're not going to die on the vine.' "

The Wedge crew, who call themselves the Wedge Preservation Society, successfully petitioned the city of Newport Beach to ban boards -- particularly the growing legions of bodyboarders -- at their prized spot from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from May through October. Thus a landmark, and bodysurfing preserve, was born.

"Most people grow up, mature and leave the place," said Fred Simpson, 70, one of the Wedge patriarchs, who has spent nearly 40 years in the surf here. He also helped create Viper fins, standard equipment on the feet of many Wedge regulars. Of the Wedge crew, Simpson says, "Like me, they never matured."

Juggling kids and mortgages, the most devoted have bought houses close to the Wedge or created work schedules flexible enough that they can slip into a pair of fins on a long lunch break.

And there's no denying that it's the older guys -- the ones with the battle scars and the war stories -- who are still the best.

"The old guys rip," said Sean Starky, a bearded, long-haired 22-year-old. "They still kill it."

"The best guys are like dolphins on the waves," said Ron Romanosky, a longtime bodysurfer, kneeboarder, photographer and board maker.

Bodysurfing, which requires fins, nerve and perfect timing, never hit the commercial mainstream like surfing. The sport, which some bodysurfers consider an art form, has remained pure while skirting the pop-culture radar. That, and the practice required to become skilled, have thinned out the ranks frequenting the Wedge.

But some have noticed a resurgence.

"It seems like there's a whole new group there getting stoked on it," said Kevin "Mel" Thoman, 51, a Wedge veteran and the scene's de facto social coordinator (he has the tattoos to prove it).

"It's infectious; you don't really want to stop," said Ben Frazier, 18, who's been bodysurfing since the beginning of high school.

As long as the young guys know their place in the pecking order and show skill, the crew at the kinder, gentler Wedge is happy to show them the ropes.

"I love to see these guys charging these big waves," Kennedy said. "It's almost like the way I used to feel when I was their age. There's some sort of fire in the belly you need."

Simpson has seen generation after generation come and go at the Wedge. But though the old crew is happy to see newcomers keeping their passion alive, there are no plans to hang up their fins.

"We'll have a new crop," Thoman said, "and I'll be down there in a wheelchair."


Rosenblatt is a Times staff writer.
Straight out of the LA Times. All rights are theirs.

Outside Magazine August 2004 -Bodysurfing

Article by Outside Magazine August 2004 on Matt Larson, Fred Simpson, The Wedge, and co, and an interesting first hand account of getting pulverised..


The Lip Comes Down
Wipe out trying to bodysurf the Newport Wedge and you'll burst an eardrum, yank out a shoulder, or snap a few ribs. Daniel Duane tackles the mean blue beast and meets the elite riders who court her lash.

By Daniel Duane

1971 Sports Illustrated--Bodysurfing

"Bitchin" article with an interesting bit on the way new styles and techniques developed and moved from Hawaii to the Wedge and beyond. Head hopping, busted spines, goons, jerks and other assorted Wedge characters. Sounds all a bit bizarre from over here..


The Closest Thing To Being Born

February 22, 1971

Body surfers are prone to hyperbole, but anyone who rides the waves at the Wedge in Newport Beach, Calif knows whereof he speaks. With breakers up to 22 feet, it's the hairiest trip going.....
Curry Kirkpatrick

Bodysurfer - Greg Deets

There is a great article on allaboutsurf.com as well as a short video of Greg Deets pulling a couple of spinners, and riding into the barrel.

The article covers early Wedge experiences, some characters along the way, Greg and his version of the UDT swim fins, ex navy design and now a staple of big wave bodysurfers...



Greg Deets - A Natural Water Brother
by Greg Deets
posted 2005-03-15