2013 was a big year for surfing. Records were broken and then broken again. A new champion was crowned, and an all-time great proved his mettle and renewed his commitment to surfing. There are probably many lists of top surfers of 2014 and I’m not aiming to make mine definitive by any means. I just want to include a bit of variety and salute a few of those that achieved greatness this past year.
Just so you know I’m not putting the twerking surfer in.
Rapturecamp’s Top surfers of 2013 list:
Kelly Slater – Becoming the 2013 winner at Pipeline in Hawaii didn’t cinch Slater his 12th world title, but he’s still the greatest surfer who has ever lived. And let’s face it – he’s also probably drawn many women to the sport with his good looks.
Garrett McNamara – King of the extreme big wave surfers, he broke a record and then helped Carlos Burle break it. Hats off and lets hope he survives another year (and many more to come).
Mick Fanning – He’s the newly crowned ASP World Champion, so of course he’s going to be on our top 5 surfers of 2013 list.
Maya Gabeira – Like Mcnamara and Burle, Gabeira may be a foolhardy daredevil, but she’s certainly got the guts to hang with the more experienced big wave kings. She’s also women’s surfing’s answer to Kelly Slater in the looks department.
John John Florence – Winner of the 2013 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing and just half a point from gold at Pipeline.
Carlos Burle – He rescued Maya Gabeira from her death at Nazaré, Portugal and then went back in the water break the world big wave record. I guess that’s what you’d call a man’s man.
Carissa Moore – Though you may not have heard, she’s the 2013 ASP women’s world champ for God’s sake!
And that’s our lucky 7 top surfers of 2013 list.
See also:
Huffington Post – The Hottest Surfers Of 2013
Red Bull – The 10 Surfers Who Owned 2013
Kelly Slater. Pic: Kanaka Menehune (Flickr CC)
