All language subtitles for Momentum.Generation.2018-en

IN THE 1990S, A LITTLE
GROUP OF AMERICAN SURFERS

RISE TO THE TOP
UNTIL DOMINATE THE SPORT.

THEY BROUGHT SURFING IN
IN POPULAR CULTURE,

THEY ARE THE “MOMENTUM GENERATION”.

At the time, we did not imagine
that we would have this impact.

We were just a bunch of kids
who was having fun

and who traveled around the world.

It's because we were a family

that we were able to achieve such success.

We stimulated each other.
We pushed ourselves to go further.

Besides going out and having fun.

Competition is a merciless world.

It exists at all levels.

The surf industry
forces you to compete.

Everything was allowed, even low blows.

You don't win by being nice.

It was heavy.

Too bad for him.
If I perform better than others,

I win... win... win...

Friendship,

love,

happiness.

Is it worth it
to sacrifice that for victory?

COCOA BEACH, FLORIDA
1970s

I was born in Cocoa Beach,
in Florida in 1972.

My father ran a fishing store.
We grew up fishing and surfing.

I loved going camping on the islands.
And fish for clams and shrimp.

I was a little tough guy.

Once,
we were cycling in the street,

I steered hard, I fell

and I got back together.

When people asked if it was okay,

my brother told them: "It's the head
the toughest one in the neighborhood."

And me: “It’s okay, I have nothing.”

I'm going to kick your ass, man.

When I was eight years old,
my life turned upside down.

I'm killing you, man.

My mother kicked my father out.

She couldn't take it anymore
of his alcoholism and the rest.

They were arguing like crazy.

I have completely changed
At that time.

Until there,
I was brawling and aggressive,

I expressed my emotions like that,

but then I became
super sensitive to everything.

I lost all confidence in myself.

OXNARD SHORES, CALIFORNIA
1970s

I grew up in Oxnard Shores.

A pretty warm Hispanic town.

My father was a good musician.

He was even very good
compared to the people around him,

but he fell into drugs.

With my mother-in-law,

they we're fighting,

it ended in rascals,

and I said to myself:
“What the hell are you doing, Dad?”

I didn't want to be like him,

a gifted guy,
unable to leave his small town.

And I didn't want to be
as strict as my mother.

I had to free myself
parental control.

KAILUA-KONA, HAWAII
1970s

I was born and raised in Hawaii.

I'm from Kona.

When I was a kid,
my parents had a restaurant.

My father was an alcoholic,
he was drunk every day.

One day they had an accident
and he lost an arm.

My parents separated
when I was 12 years old.

My father disappeared from my life,
it was super hard.

I was a little lost,

but I knew I didn't want to
look like my father.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1970s

I was born in Los Angeles,
in California.

My father was
professional footballer.

A real macho.
Bearded, burly, intimidating.

It was atmosphere
“he who loves well chastises well” with him.

He grabbed us, made us fly.

He expressed all his emotions
with his fists.

Once he even sent my brother
to the hospital.

It was... very complicated.
It's still difficult.

WAIKIKI, HAWAII
1970s

I was born in Kailua,
on the northeast coast of the island of Oahu.

Today my mother
would be arrested for abuse

given the way she treated me.

I was dropped off at 5 a.m. in Waikiki

with two dollars in my pocket
the good days

and I was picked up at 6 or 7 p.m.

what are you eating
with two dollars a day?

Not much.

There was a pizzeria

with pizzas at your fingertips.
“Hey, come over here!”

We were pissed.

I was a tough kid,
a real little boss.

I was forced.

I was fighting, I was stealing food
and I was surfing.

Surfing was my escape.

When there is chaos around you,
you go into the water,

and yet,
the sea is chaotic.

But it calmed me down.

It was my refuge.

I remember my first wave.

I was caressing her.

I was sliding on the ocean.

As if the water wasn't moving,

I was propelled
by the energy of the wave.

I had a lot of problems in life

and the only thing that comforted me,
it was surfing.

It gave meaning to my life.

I was a surfer
and not just an abused kid.

I was a surfer,
not a painkiller.

Surfing saved my life.

Problems at home,
the separation of my parents,

I channeled it all into my surfing.

I did what I wanted,
I had no one on my back

and I was completely in control.

Every day we learned
to do new things on the water

and it gave me a headache.

Surfing comes first,
it's like that,

and they must accept it.

This young surfer is causing sparks.

He has incredible mastery
of his board.

Hard to beat.

Great art.
His technique is perfect.

Kelly Slater.

Kelly Slater is a budding superstar,

it is obvious.

I met Kelly at the US Open.

He was 13, and I was 12.

Square tail, no wing. The bomb.

Kelly was already a superhero,

of the caliber of Michael Jordan.

Everyone respected him.

And my father said to me:
“Let’s take a photo with him.”

I did not want to. But he shouted:
“Hey, Kelly!” I was green.

Shameful parents, that's it.

After that, Rob and I became
friends and we saw each other in competitions.

The winner is Kelly Slater.

But at the time,

we didn't have a career in surfing,
it was just a hobby.

When I was little, my local spot
was a den of tough guys

beer and weed lovers.

Shane Dorian. Shane Dorian.

I started doing
small local competitions.

There were like three kids
in my category.

They all said:
“We’re going to become pros.”

And I: “What is your delusion?”

And they: “Yes, it’s true.”

I did not even know
that it was possible.

I remember telling my family,
while leafing through Surfeur magazine,

that I was going to do this,
that would be my job.

And they: “But of course.”
And me: “Yes.

“I’ll be a pro surfer one day.”
My role model was Tom Curren.

I started surfing in 1985,

the year Tom Curren dropped out
the title of world champion.

The first American
to win the title

since the beginnings of professional surfing.

The Australians reigned supreme.

For our entire generation,
Tom Curren was a role model.

He showed us what we could do.

Hello, big guy. Ready to surf?

- Yes.
- GOOD.

CARDIFF-BY-THE-SEA, CALIFORNIA
1970s

I grew up in Cardiff, California.

Rob Machado wins the series
and he continues.

Rob Machado dominates the competition.

When I was young...

- Did you take a tube?
- Yes.

...I had some good competitions

and at 18,
I had my first sponsor.

Another young surfer
who is quickly climbing the charts

is Californian Taylor Knox.

- $4,000 richer.
- $4,000 richer.

It feels really good.

After finishing 4th
at the amateur world championship,

I got a great contract.

I made $1,200 a month,
and for me, it was huge.

He's the winner!

After a superb amateur career,

Slater turned
towards the world of pro surfing.

This is the biggest sponsorship contract
never signed.

It was huge for me.
Crowds intimidate me.

By the time I was 18, I was making $75,000 a year.

After growing up in poverty,

I was now getting paid to surf

and I could also
buy me lunch.

Rob, that's encouraging, a victory.

Yes really.
It gives me confidence in myself

to move up the rankings.

I was intimidated
by the concept of pro surfing.

I was just a kid
who surfed every day.

I did this for fun,
without any stress.

But once you shake a piece
of paper under someone's nose

with money at stake, but also
constraints and obligations,

it changes everything.

I immediately felt the pressure,

but I also told myself that it was
my duty to earn this money.

Everything revolved around the world title.
They wanted us to win it.

I wanted to win at all costs
because I hadn't studied,

I had no plan B.

Either I did the World Tour,

or I messed up and it was over.

The objective was to make
the World Tour and win the title.

The title of world champion
was the Grail.

But we also had to do Hawaii
and ensure.

At the time, Hawaii terrified me.

DANGEROUS COASTLINE

You had to prove yourself in Hawaii,

it was a must-see spot.

To make a name for yourself,
Pipeline must be assured.

You can build your career
on a wave.

She is so beautiful and powerful.

With the palm trees
and white sand beaches,

it's magical, like an arena.

But when she's in a bad mood,
she pulverizes you.

She lifts you up before she crushes you
and the reef is super hard.

As much as a sidewalk edge.

Pipeline is far away
the most dangerous spot on the planet.

I saw a lot of guys die there.

That's why it's the ultimate spot.

It's prestigious to ensure at the trials,
but the real challenge,

is to face
the best at Pipeline.

If you were at the North Shore
with a nice wave

and you didn't go there even though
you were supposed to be good, you knew that.

And everyone said
that you were avoiding Pipeline.

Coming from Florida,
I was surfing small waves,

so they were waiting for me around the corner
in Hawaii.

You can be the king of your spot,
wherever he is,

but if you don't know how to surf in Hawaii,
it does not count.

I grew up in Chicago.

I hated Hawaii at first.

I was a star on my little spot
and there, I was nothing.

With my 1.67 m and 59 kg,

I didn't get anything.

It's bigger,
more powerful, faster.

It's super dangerous, we have the impression
that everyone is going to end up in the hospital.

There was no way I was going to row
up to the Pipe. Out of the question.

And then there was
super strong premises.

When you weigh 60 kg,
that you are small and white,

it's very intimidating.

I was scared to death
in front of Derek Ho, Dane Kealoha,

Johnny Boy Gomes and Sunny Garcia.

These guys could blow your nose
in a second.

Surfing is in Hawaii
what football is in Brazil.

It's very territorial. You can not
showing up like that in Hawaii.

This is the spot
the most closed on the planet.

In Hawaii, if we respect you,
the door is wide open to you.

Otherwise, we close the door in your face
by kicking your ass.

Oh dear ! Stop them!

There are tourists who come
without their brains.

When I see someone
playing like a spoiled little bastard,

if I think he deserves a beating,
I'll take care of it.

You can go home
as long as you can walk,

or we'll punch you in the face
and you go home anyway.

Land and culture were stolen
Hawaiians quite recently.

Queen Lili'uokalani was threatened
in his own palace

and she was forced to give up her country.

I'm from the North Shore,
that's where I grew up.

When you're white in Hawaii,
you are part of the minority

and you feel it, it's palpable,

This is the opposite of what is happening.
almost everywhere else.

We were all there alone.

I don't remember a single parent.

There were lots of fights,
it was a bit like the wild west.

You were all alone, really.

I came from the Big Island,
where the waves are small,

and there I found myself
on the North Shore of Oahu.

Between the locals and the waves,
I was terrified.

And one winter,

Benji and his mother rented
a house in Pipeline.

In the heart of the North Shore.

Everyone met at Benji's house.

After the divorce, my mother went
on vacation in Hawaii and returning,

she said: "Boys, in the car,
We’re going to live in Hawaii.”

We landed on the North Shore of Oahu.

When we found the house,
we didn't even know that Pipeline

or Waimea Bay and Sunset Beach
were very close.

That’s how naive we were.

I was 12 years old
and I lived near Pipeline.

Ross and Shane Dorian
started hanging around our house.

I thought it was great.

And the others did the same.

When Benji moved in
near Pipeline, he told me:

“Do you need a place to sleep?
Come to my house.”

I went from a junkie squat
infested with rats at Benji's house.

We were watching Pipeline,

we were doing trampoline, there was
people sleeping everywhere.

It was like a long sleepover.

We all knew each other
via amateur competitions,

but that's when we started
hanging out at Benji's house

that we became a gang.

What do you think of Rob?

He really has a lousy attitude.

At the beginning, we were
a small group of friends in Hawaii.

And suddenly, the group
grew, grew, grew.

It snowballed.

There was constantly
80 boards at home.

It was coming everywhere,
there were always around fifteen

to sleep on the floor.

Benji's mother welcomed
everyone with open arms.

Without ever asking for a cent.

We emptied his fridge,
we were messy,

we were noisy, we stayed up late.

It was a party all the time.

There was this sand in the living room

and after a while,
my mother threw in the towel

and just said, “I love it!”

I like being surrounded by people
because I grew up in solitude.

My father is dead
and our house was empty.

So I liked it.

We were a big family,
They were my boys.

Some came from the East Coast

and spent Christmas with my family.

I wonder
what their parents thought.

"Our children did not have a Christmas
with us in ten years."

At Christmas,
everyone goes to see their parents

and that leaves me with more waves.

We came from complicated families.

But Benji's was family.

We found there
what we lacked in our families.

We all suffered a lot
when we were young,

then this house where the atmosphere
was positive, loving and open

has become our refuge.

One day I met Rob

while he was surfing
on our little spot.

And he took me to Benji's house.

Without this group,
I would have ended up in jail, that’s clear.

This meeting
changed the course of my life.

When Benji had his house in Pipeline,

there were always ten of us

watching the waves,
our boards tidy.

We knew we had to go.

We needed a little help.

We were there, on the terrace,

to gauge the waves,
to gauge ourselves,

and that's when Todd arrived.

Todd Chesser appeared in the garden

without even asking if he could enter.
He was like that.

- Did you go there?
- Yeah.

But not with me. So it doesn't count.
He passed the bar, he’s good.

Todd Chesser and Brock Little

were already
established pros at the time.

We admired them enormously.

We wanted to be like them.

Brock was the first to surf
the Himalayas and Waimea.

He wasn't afraid of anything.
Todd Chesser followed suit

and he too put himself
to surf big waves.

Brock's career
started to take off

and when he traveled through
the world, Todd was staying with us.

Todd Chesser had
a few more years.

It was he who encouraged us all,
but without taking gloves.

After a session, you said to yourself:

"I caught a great wave,
I wonder if Todd saw me.”

Todd didn't mention the wave,

he just said:
“Why did you row?”

"I don't know.
Because it’s easier.”

“No, don’t give up,
goes under the wave."

Chesser let the waves crash
on him and he was dying of laughter,

as if to say:
“See, it’s nothing, Rob.”

And you were freaking out
and you tried to get away.

“Yeah, but my ankle hurts.”

“Shut up, grab your board, let’s go.”

Todd was our sensei.

He always had
one step ahead of us.

He knew before you
what you were capable of.

He said little things
to provoke you,

of the kind :
“You won’t make it, anyway.”

And you said to yourself:
"Oh yeah? That's what we're going to see."

In hindsight,
I know he did it on purpose.

He knew how far we could go,
coming close to death.

Todd Chesser
surfed all the big waves

and he influenced us all enormously.

We inspired each other,

we teased each other to encourage each other
to surpass each other.

Like: “Not even cap.”

We set ourselves challenges:
“Take a turn”

or “Go on a late drop”.

When we told you "I can't even do it",
you were definitely going there.

And if you didn't go,
you were put up for a month.

Rather open your head
than to be roomed.

I screwed him.

Aren't you afraid?
Don't eat your nails, okay?

He's a little offended there...

It wasn't like:
“Don’t worry, you’ll get another one.”

You were getting broken
and you felt very small.

So you said to yourself:

“When can I go?”
Just to shut them up.

I remember picking up
on a 3 m wave at Pipe,

and Chesser had noticed it,
Fortunately.

He told me :
"Mortal. You're pretty sure."

But I hit the wall

and I picked it up.
“Yeah, she was deadly.”

It changed
our perception of security.

At 15, we were surfing waves
7.5 m. It's very dangerous.

I remember one day we were
into the water and a huge series came in.

Whore !

I was short of breath,
I was hyperventilating,

I thought I was going to die.

And I remember looking at Benji
and he was dying of laughter.

As if he were at a fair.

Todd Chesser told me
that faced with a wave,

if you laugh, it slows down your pace
heart rate and you breathe better.

You can't surf
big waves if you're afraid.

Because your adrenaline is pumping
and your heart beats fast.

So you can't
hold your breath for a long time.

It's physiological.

Some were very hurt.
Benji got really hot once.

He took a second wave of reef
and he ate on the reef.

I was stuck under the two waves,

I couldn't breathe anymore
and I was on the verge of giving up.

When we let go, it means
that we think we're screwed. We are...

And when I came back up,
I caught my lip,

it took my breath away,

I was...

I was underwater for an eternity

and when the wave finally lifted me up,
I started swimming.

I knew I had to
that I return to the surface.

But the second wave
fell on me.

And then, black hole.

I opened my eyes a little later.
I was crying like crazy.

I was in the foam, on my board

and I spat out water
and a whole bunch of shit.

And there I saw Dorian running.

I was like “Oh!”
and he caught me.

“Holy cow, we made it!”
We kissed, we laughed,

I had pain in my ears, pain everywhere,
and I said, “I almost died.”

And Dorian said, “I’m going back!”

And I made him...

Gender...

The line is very thin between
catch the best wave in the world

and get very hurt.

Jack Johnson blew himself up
after a “Not even cap” from Kelly.

I went to Jack's house,
it looked like Elephant Man.

He was missing teeth.

All I could do was laugh.

I was embarrassed, I didn't know what to say.

The wave that you ate yourself,

you told everyone
that I challenged you.

Do you want to make me feel guilty or something?

I did not say that.

It changed his life,
he almost passed.

It's morbid,
but it is the mortal risk

that makes it exciting
to surf big waves.

Like a kind of addiction
which constantly brings you back to the water.

We've all been stitched up,
we were all mixed up at the bottom.

You catch a 3 meter wave
and you say to yourself:

"Oh, I ate a little,
I was shaken but it's okay."

So you try a 3.5m wave.

And you end up taking
a 6 m wave.

I couldn't get out of the tube

and I was like, “Cool!”
I thought I could get out,

But no. I was like, “Huh?”

I remember that one big day,
I was at Pipeline

and I was watching Shane Dorian
take a 6 m wave on the left.

I was like, “Wow!”

He's my friend
and he takes a 6 m wave...

If he does it, I can do it.

After that, we all surfed Pipeline.

We took all the series,

we had finally found our feet.

One day, Surfeur magazine called me:

"We would like to photograph
your house." "Great, why?"

The photo entered the legend
and when I see her, I say to myself:

“I understand the thing
from 'Benji's House'".

It's that day
that our band has been immortalized.

We were a brotherhood. We have a long time
spoken in our own language.

We were saying crazy things

and we spoke to each other in codes,
with like four reference levels.

Get up. Let's go for the competition.
Get up and eat some cereal.

Your sock is ruined.

My sock is PK.

Kalani was the youngest.

He didn't always know
how to position yourself

and as a result, he really pissed us off.

One day we were on the trampoline

and for no reason,

when I was in the air, he ejected me.

I was ready to kill him
but he was small.

"Why did you do that ?"

"I don't know,
I wanted to, that’s all.”

We sponsored it
when he was 10 years old.

It was mounted on springs.
Fast. Lively. And mounted on springs.

He never stopped!

He was that big,
figurine size,

and no 12 year old
had never done what he did.

He has Superman's genes.

He builds muscle
even when he eats cakes.

We each have our own diet.

Shane eats protein and raw venison
and stuff he kills... Like that.

Machado, quesadillas.

He swallows quesadillas
all day long.

Kelly is dry almonds
and air.

Ross follows a paleo diet
anorexic junkie.

I eat starchy foods...

in beer bottles.

Benji is the class clown.

Benji doesn't have an ounce
competitive spirit in him.

He is at one of the extremes.
Kelly is there, Benji is there.

- I thought we were boxing.
- Cleared.

Kelly is in hell,
we are all convinced

that he sold his soul to the devil.

He has always been excruciatingly flexible.
He has scoliosis.

It's horrible !

A real contortionist,
legs completely disjointed.

No human is supposed to do that.
His body is weird.

Kelly is Syrian.
It's made for the sun.

Shane, it's Shano.

Shano!

Shano!

He pampered his hair.

It's stupid,
since he's bald now.

Fortunately,
I never thought too much about my hair.

As soon as a camera appeared,
Shane put his mouth in a pothole.

We were making fun of him:
“What are you doing with your mouth?”

Shane gave the killer look
Zoolander-style long before the film.

Ross, super sarcastic,
dirty humor, just the way I like it.

Ross is super dirty,
he says some really inappropriate things,

but he looks adorable.

Pat is like a garden gnome.

He's the happiest guy in the world.

Pat, in a bad mood:
“I’m super pissed right now.”

This is Pat getting angry.

Pat and his balls. He dedicated to them
a fascination when we were young.

You were watching him during lunch,
in a queue

or who is waiting for a plane,
and he took them out.

He was proud of it.
A little guy with big balls.

He must have said to himself: "Given their size,

they will believe that I have
a big cock." Which I doubt.

They were materializing.
“Why do I see your balls here?”

“Are they itching?”

Yes, I don't know, I...

They tended to stick out.

Pat O'Connell was dirty

but Chesser was infamous.
He blew his nose

on himself
and pissed on top of cars.

In position and...

As if he turned on a tap.

He peed on top of cars
which passed at 90 km/h.

A continuous jet, you have to know that.

Hey, is anyone there?
Where am I?

Taylor Knox
was the sportsman of the group,

the high school quarterback

who lifts a guy up by his underwear.

Rob Machado, I called him La Fro.
Fromo.

It grows quickly.
You have a fertile head.

- Yes.
- He said fertile.

The white Jimi Hendrix.

When they saw him passing through Japan,

it was like Elvis was there.

We could see his afro moving.
“Rob!”

And Taylor Steele.

In the morning, on my way to school,
I was passing by

next to an old truck.
The pure rapist truck, frankly.

One day, just before Christmas,

my mother said to me: "What if you invited
the two young people from the dinner truck?”

I said, “What? It’s not okay!”

She insisted:
“They don’t have any family here.”

So I went to see them.
“Hey, guys.”

The door opens and I go “Oh!”

They lived there. Not great.

“You want to wake up with us?”

And they: “Yeah!”

Except that this story is false.

He let me stay
so that I can do the cleaning for him.

Do you have fun doing the dishes?

We surfed every day at Pipe
and that's what I was filming.

It was super rare
to see himself on a screen at the time.

No one had a camera on the beach.

This was long before the era of videos.

The only ones who were filming,
they were the big boxes.

Taylor wouldn't let us see
each session only once,

there was no need to rewind or do
stop at the risk of damaging the tape.

There were 25 of us shouting in front of the screen:

“Exploded, the Shano!”

Or "Nice. He won the session."

For five hours.

One day, Taylor told us:

"I'm going to make a film with you,
guys."

And that's where we started
to work on our roles.

We didn't know
what was going to happen.

They surfed faster,
with more energy

and I wanted to translate that.

Punk rock had never been
associated with surfing.

I wasn't too sure,

but seeing the montage,

I knew it fit perfectly.

But my parents,

they didn't understand.

TAYLOR'S MOTHER

The image wasn't great.
It was grainy.

I'm old school.
For me, a surf film,

TAYLOR'S FATHER

it must have had beautiful landscapes,
beautiful exteriors.

At the time, surfing was filmed
in exotic places

reserved for the handful of people
who could afford it.

When the kids wanted to see surfing,

it was perfect waves
and annoying music.

But Taylor filmed
normal conditions.

The kids could relate

and say to yourself:
"I can see the best

surf the same waves as me."

We didn't really understand,
but we said: “There you go,

we will pay for the first 1000 copies,
but you have to sell them.”

This is Taylor, attack dog.

- What are you doing ?
- A movie !

- For school ?
- For fun.

This guy is from Boulder.

- Come Monday.
- OK.

When Taylor told us
that he had sold everything,

we couldn't believe it.

We ended up loving it. My husband did
sports with music in the background.

Look at the world there is.
The cow !

Given the success, Taylor said:
“We’re going to do another one.

We're going to film for a year,
so let go.”

Taylor's films,
it was what bonded us.

It brought us closer together,

it united us, we traveled,
we lived and toured together.

You took off your belt again.

- Pardon.
- I didn't know I was being photographed.

The sun dazzled me
so I did...

-And someone took my picture.
- I want to sleep.

We promoted the film

with groups
who starred in the films.

TICKETS ON SALE

One of the five people in the bar
who doesn't.

We had the heart

which beat so fast
that it might explode

if we didn't do anything with our lives.

What motivated us,
it was to break away from our childhood.

We were lost kids
who were trying to find their way.

Unwritten Law would not exist
without Momentum and Focus.

When we saw we had fans

around the world, we celebrated
every night... and we continue.

Taylor's film was
the catalyst for our group.

It changed our lives.
Afterwards, we were able to release our records

and run without interruption.

I want to thank Taylor Steele
because it’s all thanks to him.

We applaud Taylor Steele.

With the films, the Momentum team
became important and popular.

But the old guard
was not convinced

that these young people were going to succeed
in competition.

At the time,
two things mattered to us.

Make great sequences for Taylor
and succeed at the world championship.

The Tour brings together
the 44 best surfers in the world

who compete in 10 or 12 competitions
organized around the world.

And a surfer wins the title

at the end of the season.
The Australians dominated.

They surf at home,
like the Hawaiians in Hawaii.

More than 50% of surfers
competing were Australians.

FORMER WORLD CHAMPION

Australia and the United States
were very rivals.

When they arrived in the playoffs,
we had to raise the bar.

Whatever happens,
I will try to beat him

and I can't wait.

The Australians won everything
in the world championship.

They were the old guard of the Tour
and we all admired them.

I saw them in magazines.

They intimidated me.

We did series with them

and they were ready for anything
to fight us. Asset.

Intrude, growl
and glare.

Catch all the good waves.

FORMER WORLD CHAMPION

Nothing to care about others,
It’s a selfish sport.

“Get out, it’s my glory day.”

It was like a clash of generations

and they feared us.
The stakes were so enormous.

This is my career, my life,
my whole future depends on it.

Out of the question
that a wanker steals all this from me.

I was facing Martin Potter.
I won at the last moment

and he ran down the beach,
threw his board against a barrier,

messed up an electrical circuit,
he was pissed.

I couldn't believe it
to see him react like that.

During my first Tour,
I beat Martin Potter.

I see him screaming again
on the sand.

And I was in the water
and I laughed.

I won my first victory
against Gary Elkerton,

in France, where he lived.

It completely degenerated.
His wife challenged the judges.

He threw his board
and started shouting at them.

I thought it was great. It was great.
I enjoyed every second of it.

The first time
that I faced Slater,

he was standing and he held out his hand to me
to wish me good luck

but I dismissed it by saying:
“Get out of there, man.”

But the world of surfing
knew he was the messiah.

We didn't wonder
if he was going to win the title

but how much he was going to gain.

In 1991, Kelly finished 44th.

The next year,

he won the world title.

We were hysterical.

It was a victory for all of us.
We worked as a team.

We were all getting better.

And the years after this victory,
in 1993, 1994, 1995,

all my friends started
to win competitions.

Luckily, I was able to catch the wave.

This victory seems
have galvanized you.

It's surreal.

Taylor Knox...

Its very important,
what's happening in American surfing.

We have improved enormously
compared to Australians.

Rob Machado celebrates his victory.

And the prize goes to Rob Machado,
cheered by the crowd.

Thanks to the fans
who came to support us.

That's great.

Do you have a message for your parents?

Yes. I love them.

- Thank you so much.
- THANKS.

It was surreal.

It was nothing more than a dream.

All of a sudden,
being a pro surfer was a reality.

We dominated the Tour.

We were drawing new curves,

our boards were different.

There were more aerials,
more tailslides, more speed.

The judges had to adapt.

Everyone had to adapt.

We don't surf at all like we used to,

where everything happened on the wave.

We mastered that
and we started to come out of the lip.

With Kelly, we drew boards
narrower and less thick,

to get out of the wave more easily.

One day Kelly was riding a wave

and he flew over me
by making a helicopter.

When he landed, I said to myself:
“Wow, how things change.”

Hey buddy, let's party!

In the 70s and 80s, surfing,

it was a loser thing,
hippies or camos.

Surfers were not respected.

At the time, drugs were
very present in surf culture,

but no one among us took any.

We had a healthy life.

I was asked
to talk about the dangers of drugs.

For us, it was a real sport,
and people could see

that we were athletes,
that we were changing the situation.

Just before release
Taylor's films,

surf culture was in decline.

But the Momentum generation
injected new life.

It marked the beginning of a prosperous period.

After being a subculture
then a counterculture,

surfing has become an extreme sport.

You jump. You slip. You surf.

There was the X Games,
against a backdrop of punk rock,

and it was on ESPN and ABC.

SURF FILMMAKER

It was the golden age of MTV and teenagers.

The industry has changed,
the magazines have changed,

fashion has changed,
sponsors have multiplied.

The Momentum team
defied all expectations,

pushed all the limits.
The surfing world has done a 180 degree.

They were the new stars.

During these magical years,
we have all gone very far.

Kelly led the way
passing through the mainstream media.

Even though Kelly is ashamed of having done
Baywatch,

millions of people saw it.

It popularized surfing,
because families across the country

noticed it in:
“Who is this Kelly Slater?

Does he surf? It's what ?"

Damn TV series.

He heard about it.

It was rotten.
The stupidest thing ever.

I had big doubts.
“But why did I do that?”

It was nonsense,
nonsensical.

You surf without a leash,

right in front of a cliff, of course.

You lose your board
and she goes into a cave,

obviously.

And there, bam, there is an octopus,
which is very realistic.

I looked at the guy who wrote this:
"It is serious ?

You do not have...
Did you write that?"

But the fact is that he was in
the most popular series of the moment,

in the arms
of the most beautiful girl in the world.

All the men in the world
envy Kelly Slater

to have seduced
the beautiful Pamela Anderson.

Pamela Anderson came to support
her boyfriend, Kelly Slater.

But is it serious? We'll see.

They are both very beautiful.

According to Slater's agent,
Anderson and Slater are just friends.

We got a prize from the whore
to the one who did too much.

FORMER PUBLISHER, SURFER

Chesser made fun of those
who made too many magazines.

No photos, please.

Todd was our compass,
he determined what was cool.

Hey, Spielberg, turn off that camera.

With Chesser,
we remained authentic,

we kept our feet on the ground.

When you got a big head,
it brought you back to reality.

I have a moral question:

Do you mind treating women?
like sexual objects?

- No.
- No ?

- No way.
- You have no remorse?

No. But that's intimate.

We are among friends.

Todd calmed us all down.

When we did anything,
it was breaking.

He pushed us to remain authentic,
to sort things out.

He was the soul surfer of the group,

he didn't care about the accolades.

What matters is the pleasure,
not the titles.

It was great for all of us

when Kelly won the Tour.

But we stuck it in a trash can
with helmet and blanket.

He was pushed off a slope.

He ate all the way down.

Normally, the Michael Jordans

don't roll in a trash can
after a victory.

Todd was a very sensible guy.
He didn't care about the camera.

“Don’t only surf when you’re being filmed.
It’s stupid to do that.”

If you did that
or that you were showing off,

he put you straight back in your place.

- Say hello to the family.
- I will add music.

With the guys, Todd was all macho,

but when we were both,
he was very tender.

One night, Todd kept saying:
“Go to that bar.”

I went there with my friends
and at one point the singer said:

“We have a special guest tonight.

Mr. Todd Chesser, come on stage."

He had a suit
and a frilled shirt from the 70s,

he got down on one knee and said:

“Will you marry me, my loving heart?”

And the singer said, “An answer!”
And I accepted.

Happy ?

Filled.

TODD'S MOTHER

Everything was coming together well.
He had the woman of his dreams,

he had a good sponsor,
everything was going wonderfully.

Little lucky guy, go!

Todd was finally growing up.

He was going to get married, all that,
we were super happy for him.

Good morning.
Where are the elephants?

It was like my childhood dreams
came true in a strange reality,

where I traveled around the world
with my friends,

by living from my passion.

I felt like I belonged to a group
and that was the best.

For most of my life,

I had the impression
that a carrot was waved under my nose,

that she was right there in front of me,

and I finally caught it.

It's for you.

The guys are here!

It was great.

We are leaving.

In the 90s, we were at the top.

We were no longer the new kids

facing guys who were there
since the 80s.

The competition was no longer with them,
but between us.

If Shane is good,
It's because he hangs out with me.

That's the only reason.

I like beating Ross.

He hasn't beaten me in a while
and I'm proud of it.

There was a great rivalry
between Ross and Shane.

They were the same age
and the same sponsor.

They competed at every level.

It fits, shall we go?

I see Shane again in series with Ross
on Reunion Island.

They were yelling at each other.
"Kiss my ass !"

And we made ourselves very small.

The stories have always
two versions? Fake.

There is only one version
of this story: the truth.

We were together at the Reunion

and we were in the same series.
Shane vs. Ross the next day.

And I had a great board,
really great.

I was a hit with it,

and I told Ross that.

The next day I woke up
and Ross was gone.

And I saw an impact
of punches on my board.

We were in the same room,
there was no one else there.

I would have gotten up in the night
to screw up your board?

I had to repress this memory.

I do not remember.
That's crazy. I'm a real jackal.

No control,
It’s my Polynesian blood.

I do not remember.
Is he sure?

I said to myself :
"I'm hallucinating that you did that."

This was a cut above.
But I beat him.

I savored the victory.

I surfed with a board with holes in it.

Shane told you that

because it's the only time
that he beat me.

But compared to the rivalry
between Rob and Kelly, it was nothing for us.

If you are not first,
are you going to give up?

Yes. It's my style to give up.
It's so much easier.

It shows.
You give up easily.

It took another turn in 1995.

There were tensions.
There it was very clear

that Kelly was more than motivated.
He was as if possessed.

And it showed with Rob.

It's great to be here.

Kelly won the world title in 1992.
And in 1994.

Some of us
had won competitions,

but we were far from the world title.

In 1995, I had a great season.

I won in Japan.
Kelly won in Indonesia.

I won a competition in France.

And it was him and me, like that,
throughout the season.

And then we did the US Open.

We reached the final
and everyone was behind me.

Kelly beat everyone
almost all the time.

We weren't even going anymore
congratulate him on the beach

since he was constantly winning.
We were jaded.

What is the question
What do I get asked the most?

Where is Kelly Slater?

He's super famous, he was going out
with Pam, he played in a series,

he was known all over the world.

People wanted other winners.

And Rob was the only one
able to beat him.

You travel and jam with Kelly.

What does it feel like to face it?

I'll do what needs to be done.
We're here to win, right?

In the water, it's a guy in lycra
like another.

The crowds are huge in Huntington.

The two biggest
Little surfers are there.

Slater is in the lead.

He throws the water on Rob.

Buoy tower. He throws his board at her.

The wave gives him back
a little impulse.

Oh, pretty. Rob Machado takes the wave.

How fast ! It darkens.

Re-entry at the end of the wave.

Superb finale for Rob Machado.

This is his last wave. Big snap there.

Great victory for Rob Machado.

It was an important victory
In my opinion.

They were all wild.

The crowd throws themselves on Rob
which comes out of the water.

Here they are.

Kelly was very alpha, very intense.

That year he did some stuff

which did not please Rob. Like taking
one of his boards in France.

Morris made me two boards.
They were rubbish.

I went to see him:
“They are pathetic.

I do not want it. Do you have anything else?”

He told me :
“I have three for Rob, downstairs.

We only use one at a time.

So grab one and try it.”

It's sacred, a new surf.

I would never take the new surf

from another guy. Even if he has ten.

It's gone into a tailspin. I had put
my pad and my stickers on it.

And Rob showed up and said to me:

“Get that off my board.

Give it back to me." It was heavy.

Was I heavy?
He was the one who was super heavy.

This is my surfing. And you take it,
you use it, you stick stickers

and your pad? Send me all that.

You should return it to me in perfect condition.
As he was.

I was green.
“Screw the pad, if it’s your board.”

I didn't want to be heavy.

I was cool, ready to take it all off,

and then I said to myself
that he was acting like an idiot.

It made me hate it.

Afterwards, Rob and Kelly didn't speak to each other
during a moment. It was weird.

We felt the tension rising
until the last competition.

The beach is divided
between Kelly Slater and Rob Machado.

Superb season for Machado.

It was the Pipeline Masters in Hawaii,

and Sunny Garcia, a Hawaiian, led.

They want me to shit,
which will not happen,

and they must excel,
which is going to be hard,

so I'm confident.

Sunny was going to bring
the first Hawaiian world title.

Lots of people supported Sunny

and Occy felt the tension.

That was his title.
He had to win the series.

I received threats
from Hawaiians

who told me that if I won,

I wouldn't go home.
That kind of creepy stuff.

The masters champion
facing the Hawaiian favorite...

But Sunny struggled.

He broke his board
and went back up to get another one

and meanwhile,
while I was all alone,

a perfect wave came in.
Obviously, I went there.

Much obliged. I took a big barrel
and I got kicked out.

I was green. Normally,
I would have come out super happy,

but there, I was green.

There were 5 minutes left.
I needed another one.

Poor Mark was like, “Take
this one! Take any one.”

I didn't manage to take it
another and that's when I knew

that I had lost the title.

And Occy won the series.

Sunny Garcia leaves the competition.
I can not believe it.

I was like, “What?”

“Wow, that’s crazy!”

As if a door had just opened.

Standing. It's the day
quarter-finals.

- Are you ready to smash everything?
- Oh yes.

Kelly and I found each other
together in the semi-final.

Numbers 1 and 2,
Rob Machado and Kelly Slater.

Rob Machado is wild.

They both do
incredible figures...

The audience sees Rob
like a relaxed, cool, stylish guy.

“Oh, Rob is a real Zen master.”

No, not when we were young.

He was... He was also ruthless
than all of us.

Rob and I are super competitive.
We both want to win.

By beating Sunny in the semi-final,
Rob was in the lead

and I had to beat him
and that I win the final.

Kelly wanted to win the final,

but if I beat him,
I won the world title.

The clouds have disappeared
to give way to a completely blue sky.

The waves were great.

At the time, they were the three best
waves in 30 minutes.

I took one on the left.

Machado back with a 10.

I got a 10.

Slater will have to answer.

And Kelly had a super deep tube.

Kelly got a 10.

It's Rob's turn.

At this moment,
we both did

highest series score
of the entire history of pro surfing.

This is unheard of !

In these conditions,
we couldn't have better

as Rob Machado and Kelly Slater.

It all came down to the end of the series.

Perfect left wave for Kelly,
nice tube output. Stunning.

The crowd was wild
and another wave came,

a 3m wave, perfect.

I went
and I was like hypnotized.

I was like...

a blue cave.

When I came out,
Kelly was there with her arms raised

And...

I almost fell
by making a cutback

and I gave him a high five.

I see Rob coming out of the tube

and instead of keeping priority,
which guaranteed him victory,

he's going to give Kelly a high five.

Maybe Kelly did it on purpose
because he was there:

“Go ahead, top it off and take priority over me.”

Given his state of mind,
it's possible.

It was no coincidence.
Kelly leaves nothing to chance.

You don't become one of the greatest

handing out high fives.

And I've never seen him do that
to someone else.

People have overanalyzed this thing.

I think it was sincere.

His friend had just come out of a hit
and he congratulated him.

If we analyze the high five,

Kelly said to herself:
“I remain at the top of the series.”

I guarantee you it was calculated.

Rob made the mistake
to waste a little time

with the high five

and the wave exit,
and Kelly took priority.

I would have fallen on Kelly,

I would have had him penalized
for interference,

even if it means touching it.

I'm here to win the title.

Give me a high five on the sand,
once I beat you.

I have a competitive spirit

and I know Kelly has it too.

No surfer is so calculating,
smart and determined as him.

Everything he does is thought out.

I would have rushed at him,
I would have cleared it,

but Rob fell for it
and Kelly won the title. Again.

Would I risk
a collision? Never.

It's not in my DNA.

It may have been a disservice to me,

because... I don't have
this competitive spirit in me.

Was that high five
a tactic on Kelly's part?

Kelly is super calculating,
he never loses his direction.

I don't know, I'd like to hear
his version of the story.

It pisses me off
to hear that from the mouth

of those who were my friends.

It's shocking.
I didn't calculate anything at all.

When I think about this series,

I know that all that mattered,
it was pure kif

and the desire to express it,

and what's more, it didn't change anything.

I was going to take a right
and Rob a left.

Priority didn't even matter.

Later, I took 30 friends
eat to celebrate.

But it was hard
because Rob was there, with his family,

and they all looked dejected.

It was a weird situation.

It marked the beginning
of a dark period.

It was on the morning of February 13.

Todd was getting ready to go surfing outside
but I thought he was gone.

I heard something

and I looked out, towards the alley,
and I saw him standing there,

he was motionless.

He just said: "I love you"
and I said, "Me too" and...

It's as if I felt
that he knew something.

I don't know, it's the look
that he had that day...

I don't know what I ate yesterday.

but I will never forget
the look he had.

ALLIGATOR, NORTH SHORE, HAWAII
FEBRUARY 13, 1997

We had a call: three surfers
in difficulty at Alligator.

They came out of the water
Todd Chesser, aged 27,

just south of Waimea Bay.

Rescuers searched
Todd's body for 40 minutes.

White man in critical condition.
An 18 m wave.

We wanted to resuscitate him
but there was too much water.

I received a call at work from a girl

who told me that my son
had a problem. I jumped in the car

and I started to pray:
“Make it not true.”

And I went to the hospital
and all his friends were there,

they were all there and...

the doctor told me:
"We believe your son has died

before the ambulance arrives."

And I told the doctor:
“It must be really hard for you

having to announce the death of loved ones.

Really hard."

I had compassion
for this person

to avoid thinking about me.

The most terrible day
in all my life.

I see myself pouring again
all the tears in my body.

I looked at them,
I started crying and so did they.

Todd is fucking dead.

I was sick of it.

I withdrew into myself.

A part of me died with him.

A piece of my soul died with him.

We lost someone from our family.

He was an indestructible, impassive guy,

indomitable. Indestructible.

There are people who are steadfast.

It is as if...
a giant had disappeared.

At first I didn't understand,
I didn't realize.

And then when I realized,

it was like someone gave me
baseball bat hits

in the stomach,
with all his might and without stopping.

For the ceremony,
there were 70 of us in the water, in tears.

Todd was a mentor to us all,
us, the little ones.

He was an incredible guy.

I'm going to fucking miss you.

I was near his fiancée
and other people.

And I said to myself:
"Fuck no! No!"

You all had to come to our wedding.

It was really hard.

I was worried about Janet.
For Jeannie.

I almost blamed myself
to be so sad because...

she had already lost

her husband in an accident,
Todd was everything to her.

It was too much for her to bear.

When I saw what she was going through,

I knew I had to
that I be present with her.

I told my mother: "I'm going to the islands
Fiji in six days. I'll take him."

We slept in a small hut.
She cried all night

and she shouted:
"Why? Why did this happen?"

I did not know what to say.

She had brought
Todd's last board.

One day we rowed to a spot
which is called Restaurants.

It was flat, and all of a sudden,

a 1.20 m wave rose.

She took it, she entered
the tube, she accelerated, all the way to the end.

I took the next one,
we were flying, she was screaming,

me too, and we surfed alone
for an hour and a half.

We went back to the beach
and everyone was looking at us.

I told some guys who came
from Cloudbreak: “Was it big?”

And they: “No, flat.”

It gives me goosebumps
because we know it's super rare.

She was on her board

and I'm sure
that he was saying goodbye to her.

She was no longer sleeping,

but that evening she slept.

Jeannie's son
came to say goodbye to him.

One of the moments
the most shocking of my life.

I will be forever grateful
to Benji for this trip,

It was what I needed to heal.

But it was very hard
for Benji, afterwards.

After Chesser's death,

I hated surfing.

It was hard.

I didn't want to surf anymore.
It was weird.

I started drinking
and to anesthetize myself by partying.

We were running on coke,
to alcohol and ecstasy,

but when I woke up,
he was still dead.

I was depressed and suicidal,

so I went to treatment.

There were people
with heroin problems, all that.

I just...I wanted to talk,
I wanted someone to help me understand.

Men have trouble
to manage feelings and emotions.

For stories of machismo and ego,

we never say, “Let’s talk about it.”

In our band,

we never found each other

to say to yourself:
“Hey, how are you handling all this?”

Cleared.

I wanted to forget everything
and I couldn't be the only one.

It's like Todd was stolen from us.

Stolen from each of us.

I had the impression
that it had been taken from me.

After that, I preferred to be alone.

I didn't want to talk about it anymore,

I didn't want to think about it anymore.

If we had taken the time to talk about it,

that would have helped us manage it better.

But we didn't want
show our weaknesses.

We don't show our weaknesses
to adversaries.

DANGEROUS CURRENT

There were tensions,
because on the World Tour,

the guys were fighting each other,
and some put up boxes

which did not involve everyone.

We were all angry
and we were looking for a culprit.

It was the beginning of...

Suddenly it wasn't light anymore
and fun, it had become serious.

There were stories of money,
of management.

I argued a lot
with Kelly's manager

when he asked for money
for his participation in my films.

Shortly after, he became
Rob and Kalani's manager,

and that's when I decided
to stop filming them.

Todd Chesser died in February 1997,
and a little later in the year,

we stopped touring together.

When Taylor told us

that he stopped,
it made us sad,

it marked the end of a project
very special and from a whole era.

The element that brought us all together,

it was touring with Taylor,
but it was over.

We all tried
to get by as best we could,

everyone protected their interests.

Money can make
pretty ruthless people,

I don't want to focus on that.

Chesser called you sold out if
you were becoming too focused on business.

He wanted us to surf
for the right reasons

and we are in this band
for the right reasons.

What he wanted,
it was a blast

rather than making money
or aim for fame.

Todd never left the money
influence our decisions.

And when he died,
we didn't have that anymore.

We very quickly took
different directions.

You end up growing up.

And finished,
squatting with friends in San Diego

and punk rock concerts...

At some point you understand
that you love them all,

your life is that, and everyone
is not in the same perspective.

For me, competition

became more important
than the camaraderie at that time.

It was my way of channeling
my...sadness after Todd's death.

Victories solved nothing
but it gave me a purpose.

It nourished a feeling of pride,

people noticed me
and it made me feel good,

as superficial or deep
whatever it could be.

So I went into competition mode.

I saw no reason
not to win them all.

It was what I wanted.
Grab everything.

Every time Kelly was in trouble
of heart or family worries,

he managed to channel that
to crush his opponents.

We all had the mania,
but to be world champion,

you must be mad.

Kelly wanted to break the record
by Mark Richards

and win five titles in a row.

And we were the only ones
likely to prevent it.

Face your friends
and stop them from catching waves

or to keep priority,
for me, it's against the spirit of surfing.

I wasn't ruthless enough
to compete for the world title

because it didn't mean anything to me
to use unfair tactics.

There are collisions,
we try to free the others,

we nudge each other
in the head. It's the war.

The many surfers who are gifted
but too nice

to adopt these techniques
have very short careers.

We don't win
without acting like an idiot

and I didn't have that instinct
killer in me.

The last two seasons,
I said to myself: “What are you doing here?”

I quickly understood
that it no longer suited me.

During the series, I said to myself
that I should have done better.

I systematically blamed the judges
for my poor results.

And when I broke my foot,
I said to myself...

It's okay, I'll stop.

Competition is a merciless world.

All that matters is your ranking.

I had to learn to play
with priority and to be tactical.

But I didn't feel like I belonged.

During the Tour,

I heard things like:
“You are the next Kelly Slater”

and I said to myself:
“No, that’s not me.”

I wasn't ready for everything
to win the world title.

No one is as driven as Kelly.
He's a real brute.

Slater's dubious maneuver

resulted in an interference penalty
which cost him first place.

Kelly goes back to Shane,
there is interference.

It's frowned upon but allowed.

This amounts to circumventing the rules.

I have no respect
for those who do this.

After the series against Kelly
at the 1995 Pipe Masters,

the competitive aspect started to weigh on me.

I lost all my motivation.

I was getting angry
and people felt it.

When I broke my hand,
there was a vote.

I asked for a wild card
and Rob too.

It's super weird.
You have to defend your point of view

in front of all your peers,
all competitors,

and it goes to the vote.

We had to choose
between Rob and Shane Dorian, two friends,

since only one was needed.

Rumor had it that Rob
was tired of the competition,

that it no longer interested him.

So they voted for Shane.

Yes.

It was over for me,
I was no longer in the circuit.

The transition from pro surfing

and the next chapter

is not explained in any manual.

When it happened to me,
I went from an extremely full life

to a totally empty life,
where I stayed at home

to listen to the silence.

It became very distressing
and I sank into depression.

After leaving the competition,
I was hired

to the marketing department
of a biotechnology company.

Suit and tie every day.

I had an office.

I was like, “It’s heavy.
What am I doing here?"

I was excluded from the Tour
and my sponsor went bankrupt.

For me, it was the end of the world.
I was no longer in the circuit,

I didn’t have a sponsor.
What was I going to become?

When Rob left the Tour,

he was really bad.

Few years later,
he came to live with me in Bali

and he was very negative.

So we decided
to make a film together

to help him be positive.

These children are playing a game
with stones:

while they throw them into the air,
they pick up those who are on the ground.

I don't really know how we win,

but maybe we don't win.

And that only the game counts.

At first,

he was very bad,
but he ended up becoming himself again.

The guy I knew at the beginning.

Except that in the meantime,
he had become a free surfer.

With The Drifter, he had sponsors

and it allowed him to travel
and making surf films.

It's Taylor Steele I owe
this professional and personal renewal.

I will always thank him for that.

He brought me back to life.

At the time, those who left the Tour
disappeared from circulation,

it was over for them.

Rob was the first to leave
and experience immediate success.

So I told my sponsors:
“Rob quit the Tour and look at him.”

And I left the Tour
with the intention of surfing big.

And then, a part of me
also wanted

do it for Todd.

Unconsciously, I told myself
that I had to surf hard

so Todd can be proud of me,
even if he was gone.

Shane Dorian
is the best big surfer,

it is indisputable.

Shane opted
for a traditional approach,

to know that you are leaving by oar

in an 18 m wave
and you tube it.

For some, it's Everest.
My thing is big.

The sea throws everything it can at you

and for a very brief moment,
it's like everything you've done

on a surfboard crystallized

and you were riding the wave
Perfectly.

This happened to me three times
in my whole life.

That's why I'm going back.

Rob's departure and success

pushed me to do
what I really wanted to do.

At the time I was traveling
all over the world I surfed,

and I remember that once,

in Australia,
I entered a restaurant

and Kelly was there,
sitting alone in a corner.

He was completely pale,
he had lost 5 kg,

he looked in bad shape.

The competition started the next day
and he said to me:

“I don’t want to surf.”

I answered him :
"Then stop. Go home

and settle what you need to settle.”

He withdrew from the competition
and he left.

During my years
the most competitive and intense,

I was at the top of the top,

but we can't know that

without diving into chasms
such as no one can imagine.

I had a bad depression

and I think my friends
did not notice it.

After winning my 6th world title
and broke Mark Richards' record,

I broke down and started crying.

I had an epiphany.

All this rivalry was weighing me down,

it spoiled my pleasure of surfing

and it distanced me from my friends.

And my mother called me to tell me
that my father had cancer.

And that's where everything changed.

I spent many nights in tears

because I was completely lost
with my dad.

Why did he drink so much?
and why was he cheating on my mother?

My father never came to see me
on a Tour.

But when he was dying he came
in Hawaii for the Pipe Masters.

I was in the final.

He was crying.
I asked him why.

He told me :
"I am very proud of you."

And me: “Sorry, I lost.
I wanted to win for you.”

And he said, “No, you win.
Do not worry about that.

I am very proud of you."

It was hard. My father was
to die of cancer and...

he almost couldn't anymore
take care of him and...

I asked Ross to come to my house.
I don't know but...

I do not believe
thanked him enough for that.

After his father's death,

it was touching
that Kelly contacts us all

to have honest conversations.

I had never seen him
emotionally so vulnerable.

We found each other, Kelly and I.

We made ourselves
a real therapy session.

We talked about the past,
we talked about good memories.

It was so cool
to just be able to be friends.

My father was very abusive.

This is the reason why
I ended up in rehab.

Kelly's schedule was packed

but he stayed with me
for 30 days.

Lots of people moved away

but Slater stayed
at my bedside from start to finish.

And he's the only one who gave me
sincere answers.

Kelly had already done
work on himself,

and when it was my turn,
he took care of me.

We talked all night

of our fathers, of what we felt...

And Kelly taught me that by hanging on
to hatred, it was my life that I wasted,

not his.

So I put the pieces back together
with my father and I quit drugs.

In life, we always have pride
and ego on one side and love on the other

and if you choose that, it will never work,

but if you choose that, it will always work.

It's that smartass Slater,
my friend, who taught me this

and I can never thank him enough.

We're all fighting the same thing,

we suffer from not

be in love with others.

I had to come back to reality

and admit that everything wasn't so rosy
that I claimed.

Kelly has lost her control a little

but he came out even more grown.

It's cool that he came back to us
because there was a big void.

We tend to take each other out
of the chasm in our group.

When I worked in business,

I was unhappy.

I realized I was more lycra
than a suit and tie.

And I'm really lucky
as Benji, Kelly, Rob and Ross

helped me get my sponsors back.

They made phone calls,

but I only learned about it afterwards.

“Say, he called me
and it's serious.

You have some well-placed friends.”

I like Kalani so yes,

I may have passed
a few phone calls.

I gave him a helping hand, yes.
It's Kalani Robb, after all!

He's better than me.
I thought :

"It's you who deserves this money,
not me. It’s lame.”

I made a call
to find him a sponsor.

He was too talented
to end up behind a desk.

All my childhood dreams,
I have far surpassed them,

and if I am still
in surfing today,

it's thanks to my friends,
no doubt about it.

I wouldn't be here without them.

We are Kalani's family,

his family is his friends,
more than those who raised him.

We take that very seriously.

Considering the childhood that some people had,
they could have slipped,

but we supported each other,

we said to ourselves:
“Hey, stop your bullshit,”

and that prevented some
to take the wrong turn.

And I also speak for myself.

DANGEROUS CURRENT

I did the World Tour for 20 years.

And I couldn't digest the fact
that I had never won the title.

Taylor took himself too seriously.

Everytime
that the title escaped him,

he was defeated,

and it bothered me
because I'm the complete opposite.

But one day, Taylor Knox,
the guy I liked least

in the band has become my favorite.

Simply
because he had given up on the matter.

"I will never win
the world title. Basta.”

And he was finally able to live.

My friends helped me understand
that surfing doesn't define me.

There is what you do
and there is who you are

and at the time,
I didn't make the distinction.

I was injected with a little Benji
in the blood.

I relaxed, I let go,
I started having fun

and I started
to feel good about myself.

This career is made
ups and downs.

You lose more often than you win.

But it all depends on your state of mind.

I saw some guys
that victory left cold

and guys drunk with joy at being 3rd.
Who wins in these cases?

The one who has fun.

And that's what I loved about Todd.

He surfed for the love of surfing
and nothing else.

They say that Taylor and I,

we opened the way
for professional free surfing,

but for me,
Todd remains the first free surfer.

When I step back,

I see that we all have it in us
a bit of Todd and what he left behind.

Shane became
the best big surfer in the world.

And when Kelly got back in touch,

the whole gang reunited.

In 2014, at Christmas, I thought:
“I want to do something for my friends.”

So I sent them this message:

"Even if we don't see each other,
I love you, you wankers.”

Surprisingly, while Kelly had
tendency to withdraw into oneself,

it was he who created
a discussion by text,

it grew and today,
we communicate every day.

This proves to what extent
We missed this contact.

So one day I texted, “What if
We're getting the Momentum gang together?"

We hadn't all seen each other together
for a long time.

It was as if
we had left each other the day before.

Go ahead, send!

Now that the competition
no longer comes into consideration,

it's as if we were
kids again.

Like 25 years ago.

Never mind
that we don't have the same blood,

friendship goes beyond blood ties.

There is an intimacy that binds you to the other.

When I look at my life,
I know I was spoiled,

and I had the chance
to be able to surround myself with people

who were better than me,

and they rubbed off on me
and it still continues today.

We have known each other since
that we are 12 years old, for some,

so I can confide my thoughts to them
the most intimate and darkest

without them flinching.

They're my friends, really.

It was great to see each other again.

We had a good laugh,
we have roomed properly

and we surfed, as a bonus.

Rob Machado continues his career
sponsored free surfer

and created a foundation
for environmental education.

Taylor Knox practices kelee meditation
daily

and has more sponsors
that he has never had before.

After working in
biotechnology and cinema,

Kalani Robb is now
a sponsored free surfer.

Benji Weatherley and his mother
own and manage "Breakers",

a restaurant at the North Shore.

Surfing -
At Benji's forever! THANKS.

Ross Williams is
World Tour commentator

and coaches the best
of the competition.

Taylor Steele remains
one of surfing's greatest filmmakers.

After having had an experience
of imminent death in 2010,

Shane Dorian developed
the first inflatable vest.

Since this invention,
no fat surfers died.

Kelly Slater, still competing,
continues to innovate in sport.

In 2017 he installed a swimming pool
with waves to promote access to surfing.

After Todd's death,
Kelly said to me, "You know that

the only guy with whom
you could come out, it’s Pat.”

I said to myself: "That would be weird,
Pat is like a brother to me."

Janet and I were very close,

like in a romantic comedy,

where we say:
“But why doesn’t he kiss her?”

We were roommates,

and one evening, I came home
and he told me how he felt.

“Janet, you know,
we've been friends for a long time.

Yeah, well, what do you say?”

I didn't see that one coming.

At first it was a little weird
but it seemed natural.

Pat is the only one
that Todd would have wanted for me.

Sometimes I tell myself
that it was he who planned everything,

he must have told the guys
to scare others.

Hearing their speeches at the wedding,
I understood.

I understood that they all knew
very good what they were doing.

It was great to see them get married.
Sometimes I even find it hard to believe it.

It is as if
Todd's spirit was there.

Translation: Raphaëlle Masseaut