The Surfer's Journal

Kelly Slater, one of surfing's most important figures, dominated the '90s competively. He defined a new era, as he transcended the surf scene to become a pop culture icon on magazine covers and the world's most-watched TV series, "Baywatch" at this time in surf history.

Nat Young was key in bringing about the shortboard revolution in the '60s and he remains one of longboard surfing's purest exponents. In this edition, this brilliant, outspoken Australian national hero could likely descibe himself as the greatest surfer ever and be not far wrong.

Tom Curren, one of surfing's most important figures, dominated the '80s competively. Although shy and elusive, Curren lifted American professional surfing to peak as a hugely influential figure who let his brilliant wave riding do his talking.

Of the 1970s Free Ride generation, South Africa's Shaun Tomson ushers in a new level of performance and international flair. As a handsome world champ tube rider, he attracted the first hoards of autograph-seeking teenyboppers in the sport's history.

Joel Tudor resides at the top of longboarding's late 20th century revival, and he became a talented shortboarder at such indicator breaks as Pipeline and Cloudbreak. In this edition, there's the Tudor paradox in a prodigy's passion for surfing's past as applied to the now.

Of the 1970s Free Ride generation, Australia's Mark Richards ushers in a new level of performance and international flair. Not quite the sex symbol type, he was a mild-mannered, deeply respected and popular figure whose surfing choreography contrasted rakish carves and glides.

Hawaiian surfer Gerry Lopez, the elegant tube rider famous for his slouched, ultra-cool statements at Pipeline, has become a timeless icon for the soul of surfing.

Sydney's Terry Fitzgerald, nicknamed the Sultan of Speed in the '70s, earned a reputation based on pure lines and maximum velocity. His performances at Jeffrey's Bay and on the North Shore of Hawaii have since earned legendary status.

Hawaiian surfer Barry Kanaiaupuni, famed for his Sunset Beach speed runs on skinny, javelin-like boards, artfully transitioned from longboard stylist to prototypical North Shore power merchant.

Sydney's Cheyne Horan, exploded from the junior competitive scene in the early-'80s. He went on to establish himself not only as a contest machine, but as a vocal proponent of civil rights, alternative living, and tow-in surfing.

Jeff Hakman reigned as the standard of excellence from his astonishing 1965 victory (age 17) at the first Duke Kahanamoku Invitational until he drifted out of the limelight in the mid '70s. He defined the shorthboard revolution in Hawaii.

Larry Bertlemann, a Duke winner in '74, seeded a "new school" of surfing and brought low-rotation skateboard maneuvers to the waves. He defined the shorthboard revolution in Hawaii.

Having learned the lifestyle from surf legend father, Blackie, Robert August went on to become one of the most recognizable figures in the surf world via his starring role in The Endless Summer.

Tom Carroll, or "The Fish," sprouted from the ultra-competitive Sydney scene of the late '70s, this world champ was one of the most powerful and influencial surfers to ever lay a rail into Pipeline.

Learning to surf on a heavy longboard in the late-'80s, Robert "wingnut" Weaver became one of the finest exemplars of classic noseriding, and was picked for a role in Endless Summer II.

Wayne Lynch, or "Gobbo," is an Australian goofyfoot and articulate spokesman for the sport. He broke the regularfoot stranglehold on progressive surfing in the late '60s, inventing lines that few could follow.

Female surfers played a vital role in the sport's Polynesian pre-history. At times, women actually outnumbered their male counterparts at Hawaiian breaks. The movement is most palpable in the freesurfing realm.

Rabbit began surfing in the 1920s at Public Baths before moving down the beach to Waikiki proper, absorbing the teachings of the period's finest watermen along the way. The vibe at home was different. His family was impoverished and his father brutal. The waves of Queen's must have seemed a paradise.