Robbed of victory?

How does losing your tricks affect your trade?

A quick rehash into the surfing realm. (Had a fun session Saturday, so it’s been full throttle in my head lately.)

A few weeks ago, just before the WCT contest in France, following the Trestles event the week prior, pro CJ Hobgood had his quiver of competition boards stolen from the pad where he was crashing. Unlike major sports where equipment costs are covered by teams, a lot of pro surfers still pay for boards with their own money. Sure, maybe they get deals, but they’re also burning through boards, keeping shapers like Bill Johnson and Tokoro busy. CJ asks one of his shapers in the video below, who’s on hand for whatever reason, how much he charges for boards as he shares with us surf bums what exactly went down. The guy says $300. Not exactly a pair of cleats.

I mention this because I was just traveling this here intraweb and visited the Hobgood’s blog, “The Goods Life.” The clips are funny and the surfing usually pro caliber; they have fun showing fans what life on dry land looks like for pro competitive surfing twin brothers. Entertaining every few weeks during a flat spell. (Very much flat, except for last Saturday, for weeks in New York.) Apparently, Ryan, this cat from San Diego, surfed with some dudes in Bali that were riding boards from CJ’s stash. He emailed the Hobgoods asking if they wanted him to say something. Ryan seemed to trust the story the dudes told him: that they bought them from a guy. "I found one of CJ’s boards, same airbrush and dimensions, and the guy admits that it’s CJ’s board that he bought off of someone shortly after the contest in France. I am staying in Bali and some French guy is staying here too with one of CJ’s boards," Ryan discovers. Always from a guy. Anyway, they posted the note online, for no obvious reason other than, perhaps, just thanking the dude publicly for being cool about helping CJ try to recover his boards. And from start to finish, on their site and in other quoted sources, CJ has been tremendously reasonable about the ordeal—some impressive perspective considering the inconvenience.

So, all that aside, when it gets down to it, how does that type of thing fuck up a guy’s surfing? Competitively, in this case. You have to do certain things on waves during heats you know will generate solid scores. You take the time to R&D an array of boards made by an array of hands. You find the right ones from the right guys, and you dial them to the point that the deck of the board becomes like a glove for your foot. And then, you step out of the chateau or some local home you’re renting, while competing in France, with family in tow, only to return to the scene of a crime. Your effort and money invested into the tools you need to earn an income are gone, with out a trace. Imagine a self-employed, trucking owner-operator. She wakes up one morning to realize she’d been driving for so long she forgot to sleep, but once she did, it was so deep that not even the firing up of her rig as it got jacked from outside her motel room was forceful enough to cause a toss or a turn.

That is a serious thing for a trucker and an athlete. And that all got me curious as to how his surfing, and approach to heats, has suffered, strengthened, or both. CJ was ranked in the top 5 at the time and has thus remained—#4 at the moment. What’s it been like to surf waves on unfamiliar setups; how does he position himself on the board when he’s paddling for a wave compared to those in the quiver he knew? Has his foot placement shuffled on carves and turns and airs? Has it affected his strategy in a heat; is he still confident enough to go on the waves he wants, first, or does he feel compelled to hang back and let his opponent take the first wave to judge how he has to surf on boards that aren’t his? Could it be that the boards he’s borrowed, bought, and since had shaped are actually better than the ones that got lifted? And if so, in what ways does that alter his agenda on tour? The pro contest in Mundaka/Sopelena on the northern coast of Basque country just ended today; CJ scored third place. Obviously, he's adapted, but what did it require?

Compelling. Would be cool to talk to these guys about that. (As well as the Irons brothers about the crisp million they got worked for by some swindling investment clown. Not entirely respectful of personal privacy, I concede, yet still fascinating story.)

Anybody else ever get boards stolen? For us lay folk, no doubt it really hurts in the wallet, and no doubt agitates our inner misanthrope. Message boards across the digital surfing world have notes from victims of surf theifdom. Always a dick move.

Regardless, CJ Hobgood—or anyone who’s friends with him—if you read this and feel compelled to respond, you’ll be guaranteed at least one interested listener. Would enjoy learning how such an odd and unlikely occurrence has affected your job. And also very much into what your riding now, and if there are any major deviations from the dimensions of the stolen boards. Are they different enough to have you reconsidering your go-to shapes? Will you get all 'Dane Reynolds / Kelly Slater' with your board selections?

See, so many questions. Total surf nerd doucheyness going on right now. But there’s an interesting story in the aftermath of getting robbed!