Laird Hamilton

Laird Hamilton (Source)

Laird Hamilton (born Laird John Zerfas is of Greek origin and one of the most influential big wave surfers as of August 2000.

Laird was born on February 3,1964 in San Francisco to L. G. Zerfas and JoAnn Zyriek but, he was raised on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii from a very young age. Before his first birthday, Laird's father left and two years later Bill Hamilton, the legendary 1960's Big-Wave surfer was chosen as his adopted dad.

Hamilton is widely regarded as the best of the best at surfing particularly big waves. He has been seen surfing swells 35 feet (11 m) tall, moving at speeds of 30 miles an hour (50 km/h). A "big day" for Laird are waves of up to 70 feet high (22 m), during which he reaches speeds up to 50 mph (80 km/h).

Laird has been credited with innovating and popularizing tow-in surfing, which has met with mixed reactions from the surfing community, some of whom feel that it is cheating and polluting. Laird's explanation is that tow-in surfing is the only way to catch the really big waves such as those seen at Jaws (Peahi) off the coast of Maui. Laird also makes it his business to regularly clean up the beaches at his favorite spots, so he says "There is a good feeling when we come back". Laird used tow-in to conquer the Tahitian surf spot Teahupoo. A wipeout in Teahupoo, a particularly hazardous shallow-water reefbreak southeast of Tahiti, means almost certain death. Laird's successful ride on a particularly challenging wave cemented his legendary status. His ride there of August 17, 2000 is known by surfers as simply 'The Wave'. (A shot of him riding The Wave made the cover of Surfer magazine, accompanied by this caption: "Oh My God...") He has also been credited with inventing the foilboard, a surfboard incorporating hydrofoil technology.

Laird with daughter Reece Viola (Source)

Laird is an all round waterman, gifted in a number of other watersports such as windsurfing, waterskiing and jet-skiing. Demonstrating his superb ability in the water, in 2003 Laird sailed his windsurfer between the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Kauai, some fifty miles away, an endeavour he completed in just five or six hours. He later sailed his windsurfer back again.

Laird Hamilton is often accredited for being such a successful big wave rider because of his sheer physical stature, enabling him to take on larger waves which many smaller surfers could not physically handle. Laird stands at an impressive 6ft 3 inch (1.91m) weighing in at 225 pounds (102kg).

In November 1997, he married volleyball player and model Gabrielle Reece. They have one child together, a daughter, Reece Viola Hamilton, who was born in October 2003 and have made their family home on Maui.

Laird has appeared as an actor and stunt performer in several movies, including a starring role as an unethical surfer in 'North Shore', as a stuntman in 'Waterworld', and more recently starring as one of the big wave surfers clad in a body suit in the opening sequence to the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day. Although in the film the big wave surf was intended to be portrayed as the coast of North Korea, the footage was actually shot at 'Jaws' on the north coast of Maui over several days in December 2001.

In 2004 Laird and NHL player Chris Chelios trained with the US bobsled team, and hope to form the first Greek bobsled team at the 2006 Winter Olympics.