Boardom Chick Chat

Boardom_Wave_Logo.GIF (12528 bytes)
The thrill is in the ride

Hot Pics

What's Up

Who's Hot

Chic Chat

Men's

Bodyboarding

Surf Camps

Join Boardom

Home

Real Stories
By: Holly Beck

Chic Chat:
Surfing with the World Champ

Layne Beachley is one of my personal heroes. Aside from the fact that she is the current and three-time world champion, she is also definitely the best all around surfer on the women’s tour. I’ve watched her ripping in head high windy closeouts on the south side of the Huntington Pier. I have been amazed by her fluidity and grace in two-foot waves at T-street in San Clemente. I sat on the point at Waimea Bay with binoculars glued to my face as she braved an incredibly thick crowd to drop into some enormous waves. Finally, on the biggest day of surf that I have ever seen, I watched a handful of surfers tow into waves breaking way out on an outer reef, only later to learn that Layne had been one of the fearless. As if her surfing skill wasn’t enough, after hanging out with her in Indonesia and Hawaii, I can attest to the fact that she is also the most entertaining and greatest dance-floor diva.

During my winter break from school I spent three weeks on the North Shore of Hawaii. I was fortunate enough to stay at the Body Glove house which was strategically located right on the beach between Rocky Point and Sunset, directly in front of the way underrated Monster Mush. During my stay, I surfed until I was exhausted each and every day. I watched the biggest waves I had ever seen break at Waimea Bay. I sat on the beach at Pipeline from eight in the morning until four in the afternoon one day, mesmerized by the gaping barrels and the heroic surfers pulling in and out of them. I watched Rob Machado win the Pipeline Masters with a perfect 10-point ride in the final minutes of the heat. It was all amazing, but the highlight of my trip was one afternoon session at Monster Mush that I shared with the world champ.

I had just eaten lunch after a morning session at Rocky Point and was relaxing in the shade of a big green umbrella on the deck. One of the guys at the house was sitting next to me watching the surfers out front through binoculars. After a few moments of silence he reported that there was "some girl" out there ripping. Just then I realized that the surfer who I had also been watching wasn’t a guy as I had assumed, but was Layne Beachley herself. Five minutes later, I was running down the steps and across the sand with my board under my arm.

I was so excited to surf with my hero that I had forgotten to reapply my sunscreen. I paddled out anyway, with a big goofy smile on my face. To my delight, she recognized me right away and said "hello". I had already watched her get so many good waves that I really wanted to get one too. Of course, with the pressure of having the world champ in the water, I dug a rail, took off on a closeout, and basically embarrassed myself on the first few waves I rode. After a while I started to relax a little. I caught a couple decent waves and raised my confidence level. I was starting to get tired since I hadn’t had a chance to recuperate from my morning session, but I didn’t want to get out of the water before getting a really good wave. Finally a set came in. Layne took the first one and I turned around to watch a huge plume of spray explode up into the air where she had hit the lip. I wanted to get one too. The second wave closed out, and someone else took off on the third. I was too far out for the fourth, and then the set was over.

Disappointed, I looked towards the beach to make sure I was in the right spot. As I turned back around, I saw a good wave coming right at me. No one else was around. It was all mine! I took my time to make sure I was in the perfect spot, turned around and starting paddling. Just as I took off, it jacked up on the reef and I barely made the drop. As soon as I felt my fins catch, I did a big bottom turn and then a smaller top turn to adjust my speed. Then, I saw Layne paddling back out a few yards in front of me. "This is my chance," I thought to myself, "whatever you do, don’t blow it!" I did a big sweeping cutback and then hit it off the rebound section with more power than I ever had before. I landed perfectly about 6 feet away from her and heard her hooting for me from the shoulder. I rode the wave all the way in, did a floater on the inside section, and as I landed a surge of excitement went through my entire body. Not only had I conquered my fears on a bigger wave, and landed a solid turn but, I had done it all in front of one of my heroes. She inspired me to give it all I had, and the result was something awesome.