Last month, my friends and I were fortunate enough to be invited and attend the World Premier of “The Longest Wave”. This was a documentary about Robby Naish.
To my friends and I, Robby was, is, and will always be “The King”. Though he is a few years younger than we are. For us he defined the sport of Windsurfing.
We watched him win his first World Championship when he was 13!
We remember the time he won another Championship and missed the awards ceremony. The waves were so good he went back out to go wave sailing instead of accept his award. We watched as Robby mentored new talent, and reinvented what is was to be a waterman, over and over again. One of my friends named his son after him. This is how intertwined our lives are with his.
We are first generation Windsurfers. Most of us started in the 70’ or 80’s. The water is our life.
I miss the concept of movies like this. As a kid there would always be a surf movie or ski movie event. Everyone getting together. It’s just different… a social event. So much more of an experience that watching it on my TV.
But this was not the usual surf porn we have become accustomed to. This was a real documentary. If I had to guess, at least 75% of the audience were not windsurfers. They literally had no idea that they were in the presence of a legend. The movie explained that Robby Naish is the worlds greatest Waterman. Has been for the last 30 plus years. He has excelled at everything he has ever done. Surfing, Windsurfing, Kiting, SUP’ing, and now Foiling. He created and purchased leading edge companies supporting all of the above. But I kind of think that was lost on two thirds of the audience.
The movie focused on the fact that he was having to learn how to go from a god, to someone like the rest of us. His first real injuries, divorce, business problems. It was heart wrenching for me to watch. In the post movies Q & A, it was painful to listen to people asking him questions like ”when you’re on a wave, whats your mantra?”. What’s your Mantra? This guy has so clearly never surfed.
Nobody can ever take away the influence and inspiration that Robby Naish has gifted to me. I built my life around trying to be the best waterman I could be.
We were part of the so called “alternative sports” movement. No rules, no keeping score.
It’s ironic that the sports we turned to, specifically to avoid keeping score, are now competitive sports. Skateboarding, surfing, free skiing, snowboarding, oh yea and windsurfing.
We play organized sports. But for me…competition can take the fun out of sport. I like to play. I don’t care if I win. Remember when playing sports was just for fun? I do. I still do. I’m a terrible surfer. But I come out of the water with a big smile after every session.
