a. All-Time Sessions: Kalani Lattanzi
b. 2015 WBC: Teams and Clubs
c. Weird
d. Bodysurfing: Falling with Style
e. Ode to Autumn
All-Time Sessions: Kalani Lattanzi
Kalani Lattanzi has made a habit of being in the right place at the right time this year. The 21-year old Brazilian bodysurfer/bodyboarder hybrid has been a part of the most exciting sessions in recent memory. He shared his most recent experience with us in our first of an on-going series called All-Time Sessions.
14.01.15 Jaws
The Crew Swims Out @ShannonReporting
Kalani and Henrique Sharing @ShannonReporting
Henrique’s Unique Takeoff @ShannonReporting
SLM: Tell us about the Jaws session.
K: Henrique Pistilli invited me to bodysurf Jaws, so I said, ” sure why not.” I was excited because the conditions were finally perfect. We want to go bigger, but it was epic, 12-15 feet we had great times out there. The crew was Henrique, Kai Santos, Michael Donohoe, Kaliya Mayell and myself. When we first got in, we stayed at the west bowl, but after some waves we tried to stay with the surfers. The surfers were kind of surprised, but they seemed happy to see us having fun.
SLM: How was swimming with Kai and Henrique?
K: Kai and Henrique are expert watermen. Kai is a fearless mad dog. Henrique is calm on the outside, but burning inside and catching so many waves he even ended up on some of mine. Jaws is different because there is so much water, you have to paddle super hard.
Drawing a High Line @ShannonReporting
Trying to Catch Up with All that Water @ShannonReporting
Kalani Landing Gear Out @ShannonReporting
SLM: Did you need to train for Jaws specifically?
K: I didn’t need to train, I live at Itacoatiara beach, the heaviest wave in the world, in my opinion. So its already a big training surfing there. The most important thing is mentally, I use to say ” it’s only water.” Makes me feel more comfortable. When the session was over we were all so happy that everyone made it out safe. This is my second favorite bodysurfing session of all-time, just behind El Buey in 2011.
SLM: What fins did you wear?
K: I use the same I use for bodyboard, Invert Style fins, a Churchill modeled fin.
SLM: What’s your advice for the next crew of bodysurfers taking on Jaws?
K: If you wanna stay safe, stay at west bowl if you wanna go bigger try bodysurf at outside. More dangerous but maybe you catch a sick wave.
SLM: That’ll be where you are next time?
K: Yes.
Kai Peepin the Bowl @ShannonReporting
Kai on the Crest @ShannonReporting
Kai Deep in the Whitewash @ShannonReporting
Kalani Makin a Run @ShannonReporting
David Cafecito on the Moto Keepin’ the Crew Safe @ShannonReporting
Empty Perfection Awaits @ShannonReporting
Special thanks to @ShannonReporting for the photographic documentation. She is a photographer, surfer and television journalist.
This session was featured on the Brazilian T.V. show Homem Peixe. Check out the episode and more of Henrique Pistilli’s travels HERE.
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2015 WBC: Teams and Clubs
Team spirit is a big part of the WBC. Everyone enjoys representing their beach and swimming hard for the honor of their friends, family and community. The most hotly contested divisions at the World Bodysurfing Championships aren’t the 25-34s or the 55-64s. For the past 6 years, it is the Team Trophy. Since its inception in 2010 the Team Trophy has only been won by the Pine Street Bodysurfing Team from Carlsbad. In 2015, the Del Mar Bodysurfing Association made a serious run at the crown by recruiting internationally and signing up all the free agents that Vince could bribe with hats and t-shirts. But in the end, Pine Street had the two Grand Champions (James Fenney and Makena Magro) and their 6th Team Trophy.
Here is the story of some teams and clubs as told by their members:
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Weird
Bodysurfers don’t always need ruler-edged perfection. We like it weird. We often seek the refracting, reflecting, diffracting, bending, warping, sucking-out, wedging, draining, backwash rodeo, double-triple up.
Recently, the homebreak spent a consistent week getting weird. It wasn’t huge, about chest high on average. It certainly wasn’t perfect. But it was immense fun! Every wave was breaking in knee deep water and chucking open barrels. The crowd was light. Very few surfers gave it a go and most of those that did damaged a board. Each wave warped and sucked sand as it swallowed bodysurfers and unsuspecting inlanders whole. We were out before work and after work everyday for a couple weeks straight. Full of sand and hooting joy.
Wedge is one of the world’s ultimate weird waves. The first wave reflects off the jetty and Wedges the next wave into a monster. With any amount of swell in the water, there is an incredible mass of dynamic water moving around that jetty. Sidewaves, peaks, backwash and corner bowls all warping through the hectic impact zone.
-KS
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Bodysurfing: Falling with Style
The falling feeling is an unmistakable sensation. Many people experience it even while sleeping as a hypnic jerk. As with all “feelings,” falling is the result of our brain interpreting signals from our body. These signals are sent from the vestibular apparatus found in the inner ear. As our bodies move through space, fluids in our inner ear roll to stimulate sensory receptors. Those receptors fire off pulses to the different systems of the cerebellum and brain stem. Our “ape brain” screams for help while our natural reward systems beg for more.
The best waves offer a succession of sustained falls, plummeting and rising again. Some rides are good for the one short blast of biofeedback, but each and every ride is accompanied by that endorphin-releasing sensation of the fall. Our brains are tuned into the frequency of gravity. As we launch our bodies over the crest we are hurled violently back at the Earth’s core. Space itself is pressing us downward as the Ocean does its best to keep our bags of bones afloat. We return again and again for more. We volunteer to be the middle knot in the tug-o-war of physics and hydrodynamics. With every sacred fall, the neural obsession bites a little stronger and the addiction to falling grows.
EJ
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Ode to Autumn
Autumnal Equinox.
The season of the harvest.
Reap the benefits of multiple swell sources.
Harvest the tubes from the North and the South and the Tropics.
The South Pacific slows down, the North Pacific speeds up.
The Tropics still vibrate with energy.
Combo swells are some of the best swells.
Record breaking water temps.
Forgot what neoprene feels like.
Boardshorts worn ragged.
Light winds for most of the day.
High pressure, glassy conditions.
Moon sessions hooting with the boys.
Fire-free Santa Ana events.
Kids back to school.
Parking and traffic loosen up.
Hot days, muggy nights.
But eventually the nights cool.
Because of the gray and gloom…
SoCal’s summer doesn’t start until fall.
The only real detriment to Autumn:
Darkness creeps earlier.
Sense it every night.
The light changes.
Winter is coming.
El Nino hype. El Nino anticipation.
Stomach full of butterflies.
Will it be 200ft+ all winter long?
Nah, but hopefully solid.
Don’t fret that yet…
Enjoy the autumn. SoCal Summer.
-KS
Swell Lines 