Spotlight Series: Gavin Iwai

The Spotlight Series is back! In this Series we like to share some of our Spotlight with wave slide culture enthusiasts from around the world. This week we are spotlighting a wave rider from Hawaii. So in this Spotlight Series we would like to introduce, Gavin Iwai. Read up on him below.

Photo: Zack Dougan

Name?

Gavin Iwai


Where are you from? 

Kaneohe, HI



How long have you been wave riding?

Since I was about 10 years old

Photo: Ryan Beppu

What got you into wave riding?

Just love the ocean as a whole. If itʻs an activity with water, Iʻm game.  Getting barreled and pitted has got to be the best view/feeling in the world.



How long have you been riding?

Since I was about 10 years old


Amateur or Professional?

Amateur


What's your go-to board (surf,bodyboard, paipo, handplane) size and shape in any condition?

Bodyboard, 40", Crescent Tail, Double-Stringer with Mesh. Science Bodyboard Pro styles are my favorite. 


Favorite board color combo?

Anything mixed with black (my favorite color)



Favorite Breaks or Surf Spots (Can choose not to disclose/reveal these breaks, but just be general, ex. Mexico, Portugal...)?

Sandy Beach, Makapuʻu and Renex

Are there any wave riders you used to look up to growing up? Anyone you considered a rival to you? 

Mike Stewart. No rivals here.

Photo: Sash Fitzsimmons

Any word of advice for up and coming wave riders?

Just enjoy life and be happy, especially in the lineup. Patience is key, especially when trying to perfect a trick. Try and try again. 

Any projects that you have coming up that we should keep up an eye out for?

No upcoming projects. I mostly just ride for the thrill of it. Feeling the stoke each and every time.

Photo: Shane Gracey

Any shoutouts to friends, family, sponsors?

Sandy Beach Surf Crew (they know who they are), Mynakyne Clothing Co., True Honor, and HIdentity





We just wanted to give a special thanks to Gavin! If you wanted to follow more on Gavin check out his Instagram at @oceannmotion  . Also if you would like to get featured on our Spotlight Series, just send us an email to info@okshoots.com

Spotlight Series: Thomas Gaulke

We are back again with another great addition to our long list of Spotlight Series riders. This week we are honored to have Thomas Gaulke participating in our Spotlight Series Q & A. Please take the time to get to know his story and maybe he may offer insight to parts of the wave riding game that you've always wondered about. 

Photo: Eric Schnitzler

Name? 

Thomas Gaulke Instagram: @thomasgaulke

Dave Winchester: Bodyboarder

Check out one of Dave Winchester's latest video highlights below.


Dave Winchester Beachie Hammers from Brad Schmidt on Vimeo.

Spotlight Series: Joel Benavente

How's it guys! This week's Spotlight Series Feature is a wave rider hailing all the way from Guam, Joel Benavente. We've been honored to have a variety of people from all different places in the world participate in our Spotlight Series and Joel is one wave rider that continues to help push the stoke in the Wave Slide Culture. We are also honored to help spotlight the Guam surf community. So please enjoy the Spotlight Series on wave rider Joel Benavente.

Name? Joel Benavente aka "Swell" @joelswell

 

PLC: Pierre Louis Costes

Pierre Louis Costes aka PLC, is one of the best wave riders in the world to do it on a bodyboard. This man has been in the spotlight of the bodyboarding world since he was a young grom. Since bursting on the bodyboard scene as a young grom, he has been one of the fortunate ones to win a World Title in the sport of bodyboarding. PLC is one of the most stylish and progressive riders in the game right now. He is fearless when throwing his signature move, the backflip, on any type of wave conditions. Enjoy these clips of him in small surf and then ripping when there are actually waves.

Pierre Louis Costes without waves from Hugo Matos on Vimeo.

Pierre's expeditions : The "Tertia" Island from Wonderland Prod on Vimeo.

Happy Father's Day

How's it! We here at Ok Shoots just wanted to give a shout out to all the fathers in the world! Thanks for the hard work you do in providing for your families.

With that we leave you with a clip of the "Godfather" of bodyboarding, a true waterman, respected wave rider, Mr. Mike Stewart. This is a clip of Mike passing along a message of be passionate about your passions and be mindful of the power that you have in this world.

Da' Hammah Time

Whenever we think about wave riders that do it DK style on a bodyboard, we imagine someone who charges big, personifies power, and someone that is just about pure stoke. Check out this clip below of wave rider  Micah "Da Hammah" McMullin. We promise it'll get you stoked! Cheeeeee!


Hinano presents Micah McMullin from MichaelKini on Vimeo.

Keahi Parker

Keahi Parker is one of the many Hawaiian wave riders pushing their skills to the limits not just bodyboarding, but bodyboarding Pipe. Check out his clip of a few awesome sessions he had at Pipe.

Keahi Parker at Pipe doing his thing from Mike Stewart on Vimeo.

DK Wars

With DK Wars Salt Creek coming up on the schdule, we figured we'd share some footage from past DK Wars events to help you get your stoke on. The first clip being the La Jolla DK Wars and the second video clip was from last year's event at Salt Creek. Enjoy!

Stand Up Bodyboard or Super Shortboard

It's interesting to see how the surfing world can come a full circle and still get inspiration from a bodyboard shape to create a surfboard. Well one surf company shop has done that and it's pretty rad to see this happen. Bing Surf is the shop that has done just this. Below is a brief description of the board.

"Speed Square

Inspired by his fond childhood memories on a Mach-77 boogie board, Bing team rider, Chris Del Moro convinced shaper, Matt Calvani to help him recapture the magic in this modern-day twin-finned version called the Speed Square. Because of its short length, Matt added belly in the nose with a quick transition into a hard, tapered rail in the tail so that the board would be quick and responsive.  He added a deep straight concave that runs from where your front foot sits through the tail of the board to gain efficiency in glide and maintained thickness in the tail to improve glide and wave-catching ability.  The small twin keels maintain a “fin-less” riding quality but still allowing for some control.  Ride it short, ride it fast and get ready for a whole lot of fun! "

Surge Magazine Issue 8.0

Trying to get information or the lastest photos on what is going on in the bodyboarding world is tough. We know as fans of this sport we would love to see all the latest photos and clips of your favorite riders. Luckily we still have some companies still willing to put out a magazine and document this great sport, one of them is Surge. The great thing about Surge is that they are an online magazine so their content is available for many to check out. Below is their latest issue.

Brad Domke Skimboarder

When you hear the word skimboarding, you usually think of the kids skimming across a thin layer of water on the beach. Well if you've been around the beach or know about Wave Slide Culture, Skimboarding is a lot more than that. It usually appears like the skimboarding is just sliding into a wall of a wave, but what they do with that is quite amazing. Here's an extreme view of what skimboarding can be.

Desert Surf

We came across this video while scouring youtube looking for new clips and then the title was Desert Adventure but the photo for the video showed bodyboarders so we were intrigued and said screw it lets check it out.  Basically these three Portuguese  shredders tear up this wave pool in this landlocked area in the United Arab Emirates. Enjoy the clip!

Beeg Todd

Woot it's Beeeg Todd on a Sandys scooper. Photo: Harry Anitpala