Amid the bustle of a weekend heat wave, sometimes the best thing to do for your sanity is to go against the grain of the crowd. Ryan Harris and a few friends did just that by bringing a rather large soft craft to El Porto in Los Angeles’ South Bay on July 7.
Unlike his annual Fourth of July supsquatch invitational at Manhattan Beach, this day wasn’t entirely fun and games. The team had a goal in mind, and they accomplished it rather quickly. The video above shows what Ryan said may be the first successful (and recorded) supsquatch to surfboard transfer.
“After that, my local crew, everyone wants to get on a supsquatch,” said Ryan, who builds eco-conscious surfboards under his label Ry Harris Shapes. “The idea has always been we’re having fun. We’re not taking ourselves too seriously. And I like to do it when it’s crowded because people freak out and think it’s cool. But we’re not going to Lowers and doing this. We’re doing it in LA County’s most crowded spot.”
With Ryan steering half submerged in the water, the vessel holds four more paddlers (plus Wagner, the jumper). After about 10 minutes and some position shuffling, on their third attempt Los Angeles-based surf coach Wagner Deabreu lept from the craft and stomped a backside floater on the crumbling lefthander. At 18 feet, 7 feet wide, 8 inches thick and some 400 liters, the SUP is enormous, even by supsquatch standards. After Waner jumped, the board caught a rail and tossed everyone off, nearly hitting an outgoing surfer on the inside. You can catch the full Surfline rewind below.
Ryan and his friends have been experimenting with these enlarged paddle craft for years and have done some novelty step-offs, like onto pool toys. But this was their first foray into transferring onto a surfboard, and you can see the joy on their faces.
The only pro surfer I can think of who could rebuff this NBD transfer claim is Jamie O’Brien, who’s been known to take his supsquatch out to Oahu’s massive outer reefs and Sunset Beach. If Jamie has one up his sleeve, we’d gladly have a look.
Related: SUPsquatch Crew Surfs Rare Wave, Gets Obliterated (Clip)
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