How would you describe the element of water to an alien?LAIRD: Water is the most important element on earth. We are made up of almost 80 per cent water, we clean ourselves with it, we heal ourselves with it, we drink it.
Do you drink a lot of water during the day? Yes, I drink a lot, but sometimes not enough and never bottled water. I drink distilled water, it's the best for the body. Water covers almost our entire planet. When frozen, it turns into another element: ice. Ice can preserve food and other things. If you turn off the tap in a city, chaos ensues after just a few days. It is the essence of our life and the essence of pleasure. Water in both forms - snow and water - is above all the substance that brings a lot of fun (laughs). Especially your pleasure as a waterman and surfer. Do you still surf today without a paddle? Of course, I'm a wave rider first and foremost.
With all the water sports, do you have a favourite discipline? If there were no equipment, bodysurfing would be enough for me. Each of my surfing disciplines has a different movement and dynamic: surfing in big waves, foil surfing, stand-up paddling, windsurfing, kite surfing. At the moment I'm focussing on stand-up paddling and foil surfing in big waves. Big waves don't happen every day, so I spend most of my time on a stand-up board. It's the most versatile piece of equipment in the water. But there's nothing better for me than a big old tanker. The freedom of walking around on it, surfing with the shorts on. Doing what they used to do in Waikiki in the old days. The original Malibu surfing. But it's like your favourite food: You can't eat it all the time, you need the variety.
Do you get bored quickly and are you looking for a kick in monster waves? I love riding monster waves, I never get bored because they are so rare. That's the problem - no: it's the eternal attraction mechanism that arises from this abstinence. If I could surf giant waves every day, I would have found something else to do long ago.
Which device is your favourite in giant waves? The bigger it gets, the more likely I am to reach for the tow-in surfer, and more recently also for the foil surfer.
You never became the great champion in the competition. Why is that? If I achieve a mastery level in many disciplines and am therefore one of the few, that is a higher achievement for me than being a master in just one discipline. The important thing is to enjoy the learning curve. The steepest learning curve is at the beginning. That's when you learn the most and experience the largest units of an evolution: from 'not being able to do it at all' to 'being able to do it to some extent' to 'being able to do it masterfully'. Later come the little sprinklers, but the big incentive has gone. I've often wondered whether I should commit to one sport in order to become the absolute champion in that discipline.
And why didn't you do it? Absolutely boring. It would be like prison for me! Like being trapped! The many disciplines have helped me individually. My snowboarding has improved my surfing. And of course it was only through surfing that I learnt to snowboard so well.
Is it just the wave that binds you to water sports? No, I also love canoeing, but especially SUP. And I also love the endurance aspect of these sports.
You could also cycle there. Yes - I love that too. I drive five hours from sea level up Haleakala (editor's note: the highest mountain in Maui at 3,055 metres). I love the mental game, the challenge. I love things that demand a lot from me.
Or the mental and physical challenge of a big wave? Yes, but also the energy of the actual challenge, the energy of the goal. It can put me in a positive tension. And the fulfilment of getting to the top of the mountain, surviving the monster wave, having mastered the new sport. Like: Hey, I've started something and finished it.
Wouldn't it have been a worthwhile challenge for you to be the best at windsurfing, like Robby Naish once was? When I focussed on windsurfing, there was no one better than me in big waves (laughs cynically). I'm not saying I'm the best; but even today, when I'm surfing, windsurfing or stand-up paddling in big waves, I can do things that others can't - because of my vast experience in waves.
Sponsors are still clamouring for you today. Do world-class water sports enthusiasts envy you for this quality? I grew up in Hawaii and Hawaii is an aggressive territory in the waves. I used to be hated because of the colour of my skin. Whether someone envies me is completely beyond me. My friends like Dave Kalama are important to me. I don't care what other people think or don't think. If someone hates you for no reason because of the colour of your skin, that's stupid. I think I'm on a different level to a lot of competitive athletes, there's no envy. I stand alone, over here in the fog or whatever you want to call it (laughs), I'm not a direct threat to them.
Except in huge waves like Jaws, which have become the big commerce of all surf pros. Yes, but it was the tow-in gang and I who made this wave tangible for everyone else. We have secured our right to this wave. They have to respect that - and if they don't, we have a problem (laughs, gurgling).
What do you mean by respect? Are only those you invite allowed to go to Jaws? No, it's about our safety and theirs. We make sure that nobody gets hurt. That applies to every wave, including Teahoopo in Tahiti.
Is that localism? No, localism exists on land or in small waves where there is hardly any space. We are talking about a huge wave here. It can be life-threatening. Our aggressiveness is for the safety of the inexperienced. If they threaten themselves, they are a threat to us. They go out, hurt themselves and we have to save them. If anything worse happens in this wave, we will be held accountable. Of course, there is attitude and aggression in the wave; ego plays a role.
Your ego never wanted a world championship title in the wave? No, I don't need any judges to decide on me and my performance. I need freedom. I don't need a starting line or a finish line. I respect this type of sport - but I'm different.
You travel a lot by plane. What do you say to your neighbour when someone asks you what you do? The first thing I'll say is that I'm an athlete.
Why don't you just say you're a surfer? This does not always have a positive connotation for us: it is associated with laziness, drug use, etc. The stereotypical surfer is labelled as stupid. If I say I'm a surfer, they ask how I can earn money with it. But if you can push a small ball into a small hole or hit it over a net, you are respected. For me, surfers are the best athletes in the world. Surfing is limitless, you can do it anywhere and at any time of year. I mean, they surf giant waves in Alaska and mini waves in Munich.
When you drive past a lake and see a stand-up paddler, do you think something like: If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't be there? No, I always say to myself: I knew back then that I wasn't crazy, as everyone in Hawaii claimed. I'm also happy when so many people enjoy SUP as much as I do.
The surfing community in Malibu, your second home, has not always reacted favourably to you. SUP is a thorn in the side of many surfers, and you are the godfather of SUP. Blame Laird, it's Laird's fault, was even written on the wall of your house. Do you still feel that today? Nobody dares to criticise me personally. But I will probably always be associated with SUP. Today, SUP is accepted as a new discipline in the surfing community. And I have to say: 80 per cent of stand-up paddlers avoid the waves and have fun in flat water and rivers. That makes the problem superfluous.
You have a beautiful wife and two children. Do you go stand-up paddleboarding with them? Not yet. More like boogie boarding.
In Hawaii, it is the highest honour to be called Waterman. Would you describe yourself as a Waterman? Yes, because I love and respect every aspect of the ocean.
How would you define a Waterman yourself? As someone who understands all aspects of the ocean. He must be able to survive in all situations in the sea. But he must also show the diversity of his skills in the ocean. Watermen swim well, can steer canoes in waves, cliff dive, surf, boogie board, body board, sail, fish. The Polynesians were real watermen. A waterman understands the water. Modern watermen are multi-layered, but maybe it's just a construct, a way of seeing life.
How do you see life as a Waterman? Is it pure commerce today, a life without soul? No, life as a Waterman has lost none of its importance. I see the way we earn money as sharing. When we publish pictures of riding big waves, we show how unique the ocean is. Duke Kahanamoku didn't say: I don't swim in the Olympics because I'm a purist and only swim for myself. No, he came and showed the world how to swim properly. It's a phenomenon that we have to share because we can.
Are you a Duke of modern times? No, but I think we're showing the world today how to ride monster waves. What scares me much more is when someone comes along and says: I'll give you 1,000 dollars and you'll ride the biggest wave for it. A photo like that really steals the soul aspect of riding big waves. Everyone is invited to surf a big wave just to make a lot of money. That's dangerous. It would be better to invite the best in the world to do it. What they do with their XXL awards is a bright light with a big shadow.
Do you think it's bad if you earn money with image publications? No. I live from such publications myself. I have children, a wife and a house. Today you can't live without money. I wish I could live in a world without money.
How would you build a house then? I would go into the forest, which doesn't belong to anyone, and cut the wood for my house. If I was hungry, I would go hunting.
Like our ancestors, the ancient hunter-gatherers ... That would be an interesting time for me to live in. But I don't live in that time. I fly by plane, I pay taxes to the state, I even have to pay for parking, it never ends. Then people come and ask me: Tow surfing, is that really pure soul surfing? Are the boards made from environmentally friendly materials? No, of course not. But I find it incredible that I'm travelling on a jet ski that can be washed several times in huge waves and starts up again immediately if you need to save lives. Helicopters also save lives.
Helicopters can also kill lives in wars. The abuse of things can be terrible. I don't think we abuse the ocean in our waves. I believe that competitions abuse the soul of sport.
That's a harsh statement. But the truth. Most surfers are like me, money or not. They love what they do and they love to do it at all times. I grew up on the Pipeline on Oahu. My father (ed.Editor's note: he means his stepfather. His real father lives in California, he saw him once when he was 22) was a champion surfer and I witnessed how he was misjudged by the judges. That branded me.
Pipeline is one of the most dangerous waves in the world. Did you learn to surf there? Yes, and that's why I love everything that's big - everything: big waves, big cliffs, strong winds, high speeds.
Who has had the biggest influence on you so far? (Thinks for a moment) God! (laughs to himself). My mum and my dad. My mum died about ten years ago on my birthday. She was very clever and always supported me. She believed in my dreams. She said: If you can't be honest with yourself, you can't be honest with others.
Why did you become such a warhorse in the wave? It's always been like that. My father used to say: You're born to be a big wave rider. I had it in me. There was the situation of growing up as a white man in Hawaii ...
Did you want to prove it to the others? Absolutely, I cultivated my aggressiveness. If someone bigger wanted to beat me up, I'd say: You want to beat me up? Then jump off a higher cliff than me. I always jumped off the higher cliff. They thought I was crazy. They saw someone who went beyond their limits. I commanded respect and scared them in the process. Maybe they thought: leave him alone, there's something wrong with him.
They thought you were a psycho. Yes, a kind of defence mechanism in an environment that was aggressive towards white people. My brother was beaten up by a local, who I then beat up. My father had to fight with the other man's father. That's how I grew up. Violence and racism.
When you ride waves, is it a liberation from all that - and a way of expressing yourself without violence? No (pours water into his glass and laughs)! I don't need to express myself. I'm not introverted like my friend Dave, for example. I love people, I'm a social person, I like to interact, but I also like to be alone sometimes. But because I'm so aware and realise exactly what's going on around me, I like to escape to a place where I'm not in my own way, to a place where I feel really alive. I literally long for it. I crave the intensity, the adrenaline rush, the focus on one thing. I long for an unbridled energy. This place is big waves. Every one of my cells, all my senses, all my skills are challenged in big waves. This is exactly what I have worked my whole life to achieve.
Is there someone you look up to? José Angel, one of the old-school big wave riders. He was the headmaster of a school and had a family and kids. He would ride a wave in Waimea and intentionally do a backflip off the lip. He swam from Wamea to Sunset Beach in high surf. He died while diving. They said he was fearless. I think he faced the fear. I admire all big wave pioneers.
Is there someone you admire today? Yes, Jerry Lopez. I grew up in Pipeline when Jerry was just Jerry. He was Mr Pipeline! He was our neighbour. I loved his style as a boy.
Today you are a role model. I don't want to be a role model. I don't want anything of myself in anyone (laughs maliciously). Nobody would really want to live in my world of thought.
That's scary. Don't you have any positive thoughts for your fans? But: dream and live your dreams. Believe in yourself and you will be respected. But wanting to be like someone else, even if their name is Laird, is not something I recommend to anyone.
But the good man in you is worth emulating, isn't he? I see men from a different perspective - partly because my real father left and the men who followed were arseholes - until my stepfather came along. My best friend Dave is also an idol for me. We understood each other without words for a long time.
You've worked as a double and stuntman in a few films - such as Waterwold with Kevin Costner or The Descendents with George Clooney. Would you like to be a movie star? Believe me, there's nothing less glamorous than being on the set of a film. But I have to admit, I would enjoy this challenge. As a movie star, you have a lot of influence and therefore a lot of responsibility. Dealing with this responsibility properly and wisely is what makes a real star.
You're a star too. When I look back on my life, it was enough: I did what I had to do.
You had to ride big waves. Is there something philosophical behind it? If Mount Everest is in your garden, you will climb it one day. It's the timing that counts. My father once said: "Surfing is the ability to know when the time is right. When the wave gives, you take, when the wave takes, you give. It's a constant give and take. That is the true art of life and of man on this earth.
PROFILE
Laird Hamilton was born on 2 March 1964 in San Francisco, California and grew up on the north coast of Oahu. His foster father was a professional surfer in the 70s and had a great influence on Laird. Growing up in the giant waves of Hawaii, Hamilton learnt every water sport to perfection: surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, tow-in surfing and foilboarding. Together with his friend Dave Kalama, he developed stand-up paddling in 1995. He is therefore the father of SUP.
Laird continues to push the limits. UAV captures foil boarding in his backyard.
