Best Sections of All-Time: Matt Archbold in Addiction

When I was 19 years old I got invited on my first Surfing Magazine trip with the RVCA team. The brand was new(ish) and the team was small: Cj Kanuha, Jarrah Tutton, Casey Brown, Matt Johnson and Matt Archbold with his son Ford were all on the trip to Puerto Escondido with me. 

I couldn’t believe that I was going on a trip with the legend, Archy! The style and attitude he brought to surfing was something I had looked up to for years. Just a few years before our trip was when his iconic film, Addiction was released.

The swell was meant to be big a few days of our trip and I was already kinda nervous hearing the forecast. In the evening before the biggest day, Archy came by my room to see if I had a bigger board he could borrow. After looking at a couple of my boards he picked a few of them out and warned me not to ride them. The rockers were so flat he thought I’d be picking sand out of my teeth the whole time. Now I was really tripped out. This guy’s MO was airdropping into giant closeouts on the North Shore on tiny boards. If his 6’6” wasn’t going to be big enough for tomorrow then what the hell was I doing there?!

His advice was to use my 7’0” which was my biggest board I had brought. In the morning I waxed up, and as I ran out the door he saw me and gave me one final bit of advice, “take off your leash, it will just break your board and hold you down and drag you on the bottom for longer.” …umm okaaay…

I finally got out there and didn’t get much other than a front row seat at how Archy navigates a crowded and sketchy lineup. He was riding a much smaller board than anyone out there, especially after breaking his 6’6” and hopping on a 6’4”. The way he would psych himself up as he saw sets approaching and then again when he would flip it under the lip as late as can be. The crowd parted for Archy when he looked with any intention. It was no surprise when he came back with all the best photos, including a cover and a full article. 

Those three days I learned more from watching him operate out there than I did in most my years of traveling and surf excursions. 

This section reminds me of those days at the Mexican Pipeline and all the iconic shots in the magazines and video parts over the years of Archy.