Has it already been a week since one of the greats of our sport has retired? Such is our world now with the news and current affairs having a far swifter expiry date that we can dismiss one of our own so flippantly and not pay a little homage to 11 years of servitude.
Okay so maybe it was not servitude, maybe it was a little bit of fun surfing for a living in the best spots of the world. Freddy Patachia has been inspiring people all over the world for over a decade, his tube riding and power surfing goofy foot hack attacks are still razor sharp and Freddy himself looks in peak fitness. So why give it up? One word would be family and some others would be time at home.
Check out this little clip of Freddys earlier days, he just charges...
In my head, Freddy will go down with the other surfing greats like Taylor Knox and Tom Curren, those guys that knew when to bow out and not be pushed. Not only is Freddy an amazing surfer but he is also a nice guy. Have a little look at his bye bye speech.
Okay if you are still there my point has been re-enforced, Freddy is a nice guy. How cool is it that he personally thanked most surfers on the planet. The line “ I just want to thank everyone who gets up and surfs at 6 am to go for a surf just for the love...” is amazing, I actually felt like he was thanking me. And there it is, there was very little point to this article apart from just paying my respects to someone who has inspired me in and out of the water.
Freddy may you be forever blessed with glassy conditions. Aloha.
freddy