Watch In Plain Sight Episode 1: Race and Surfing: A Brief History

I’ve been the Editor in Chief of Surfing Magazine. I’ve founded surf mags and media companies and been in the surf industry for a good chunk of the last 20+ years if you count the surfboard glass shop I cleaned up at when I was 15 — all on top of decades spent surfing, competing and obsessing over the lifestyle. I’m not a Warshaw-level surf historian by any means, but I thought I had a handle on the basics. I’ve recently realized I still have a lot to learn. 

While putting together this new series we’re producing for Red Bull Surfing called In Plain Sight, we uncovered some significant holes in our storytelling, or found what we knew to be pretty diluted or forgotten completely. So we took this opportunity to shine a light on the under-covered. We took the superstars of today off their mark and made them tell it like it is, and we got the opportunity to hang with some surprising surf communities and characters who’ve changed how we define “surf culture” entirely. 

We’ll be releasing these episodes over the next few months and we kicked it off this week with episode one: Race and Surfing: A Brief History directed by Claire Pinegar and Jeremy Asher Lynch and narrated by Selema Masekela. In this episode we aim to amend surfing’s history, giving credit where credit is due. While I can promise you it’s still not perfect, we do feel this updated version illuminates some key figures you may not have been aware of. Pay special attention to that description Captain Cook gives of the observed ancient Hawaiian’s surf sessions. They must have been ripping!

If you’d like to learn more or get involved with 1 Planet One People, Textured Waves or any of the rad projects and non-profits that we’ve highlighted, click here or more info on those and the In Plain Sight series. And be sure to get in on the raffle off of custom Earth Tech Surfboards by Ryan Harris, Hunter Jones, Danielle Black Lyons and Selema with proceeds benefiting the organization of their choosing. Get your raffle tickets for the custom boards here and then go enjoy episode one, now playing below. —Travis Ferré