A year without Andy

A year without the legend, no myth, without the three-time world champion , not the only one to get nervous to Kelly Slater. Without such a rivalry that has made ​​us both enjoy. The sun, water, waves ... something has changed this year.

A July 24, 1978 was born in Hawaii one of the best surfers in history. Phillip Andrew "Andy" Irons , Sea Rider, myth or legend, one of the few that have marked a before and after in the world of the great surfing. Few have left their mark throughout history, Marck Richards, Tom Curren and Kelly Slater can boast about it.

Minimum enjoyed what life had to offer, your friends, your family, your bike, sushi, chicken Marsala, and so on.

Walking around their home island, Kauai made ​​him feel different. His parents, family, his brother Bruce, were his inspiration. That led him to stardom. Something that did not matter to Andy was making money in the world of racing, what really liked was the connection he had with the sea, riding the waves, enjoying every moment that life offered.

Nothing is the same with the absence of the great Andy Irons, something is missing. He met in his life with two major obstacles, personally, the fateful day in Dallas left us one of the best. And Kelly Slater professionally, ten-time world champion was shocked after hearing the tragic news, as was made ​​clear in a letter. "Andy was an absolutely brilliant individual. I have luck to have known and lived moments together [...] We enjoyed many moments of fun with our girls. In the last year I met a happy, innocent boy who enjoyed every second with the people he loved [...] He was my opponent more intense and sensitive people I met, had a lot of life ahead of you and it hurts to think about it . Look in our memories the memories we have of it [...] I really miss Andy, had a good heart. Love, Kelly. "

His race for global leadership forged a friendly competition. The war that kept the sponsors of both (Kelly Slater, Andy Irons Quicksilver and Billabong) was used to speculate on the rivalry between them, but nothing beyond reality.

Andy's life took a different way, his motto was "all or nothing" . Their competitiveness, aggressiveness and perseverance allowed him to be more dominant in the water, maybe it was that the key or the essence of competitive surfing Andy showed us.