W.O.W! Surfing With Cynthia Rowley

 

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANNE MENKE

Fashion designer Cynthia Rowley loves to surf. She is admittedly obsessed, as most hard core surfers are. It’s a shared family passion with husband Bill, and their two daughters Kit, 20, and Gigi, 14 — spending summer and fall weekends surfing in Montauk, and vacations in such far-flung surf locales as Costa Rica, Mexico, Hong Kong, and Senegal.

Cynthia’s style on the waves is cool and graceful, with an easy flow befitting the fashion design for which she is known. She started surfing about 20 years ago, trading a big house in East Hampton for a little shack on the beach in Montauk. A friend and local surfer told her she couldn’t live in that house if she didn’t surf. He paddled her out the next day and she popped right up on the first wave. She was hooked.

I joined Cynthia and daughter Kit for a surf session last weekend in Montauk for our latest installment of W.O.W! Working Out With, having as much fun on the mushy waves of a rainy Saturday, as the perfect ones of a sunny Sunday. Kit is following in her mother’s – and father’s – footsteps with her own fashion line. The three of us chatted about their shared love of surfing and fashion — and what’s coming down the pipeline for both… Read More

 

Eddie Would Go

 

Photograph By Dan Merkel

The holding period has begun for the 30th annual “Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau”, a one-day big wave invitational surfing event requiring waves of at least 20 feet — wave face height over 30 feet– in order to be contested. The event, which has only been held 8 times in its history, was founded in recognition of the great Hawaiian surfer Eddie Aikau.

During the 1970’s, Eddie Aikau was considered one of the best big wave riders in the world. He was the first official lifeguard at Waimea Bay on Oahu’s North Shore, and became recognized for pulling people out of waves that no one else would dare to. His life took on mythic proportions after his untimely death during the “Hokule’a” in 1978. During the 2500 mile traditional Hawaiian canoe voyage, retracing the ancient route of the Polynesian migration between the Hawaiian and Tahitian islands, the canoe developed a leak and capsized in stormy weather. Aikau set out on his surfboard, paddling towards Lanai in an attempt to get help. The crew was later rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard, but despite great search efforts, Eddie was never seen again.

The “Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau” event was established in 1984 and was won by his brother Clyde Aikau in its first year. The popular phrase “Eddie Would Go” originated during that first contest. The waves were huge and conditions extremely dangerous. While the contest organizers were discussing whether to put it on, competitor Mark Foo looked out and said “Eddie would go.” The phrase stuck and spread around the Hawaiian Islands and rest of the world.

I have always loved the image above by Dan Merkel, which has become one of the most iconic images of Eddie Aikau. The minimal blue and yellow tonalities highlight the purity and beauty of the sport and let the soul of this lengendary waterman shine.

 

Hydro-Planing

 
TYLER WARREN’S “SOAP BAR TRIO”MINI-SIMMONS INSPIRED SURFBOARDS

 

In the early 1950s, a surfer named Bob Simmons began shaping multi-finned “planing hulls” that were an evolutionary link to surfing’s Polynesian roots, but utilized the principles of modern hydrodynamic theory. Employed by Douglas Aircraft in 1952, as were Ray and Charles Eames, Simmons’ distinctive planing hulls embodied the same aesthetics of aerodynamic form that were a central element in mid-century modern design. Read More

 
 

BACK TO TOP