New Prints Part 6: Surf

HÖRFA have unveiled their newest prints, with six fresh designs to choose from.

Learn all about the inspiration behind our stunning new designs.

Surf

Surfing is not just a sport, it’s a culture.

A surfer is someone who practices and enjoys their sport at the very heart of nature, surrounded by the elements.

Being a surfer today is different from what it was like back in the early 1900s when the father of modern surfing Duke Kahanamoku and his friends started spreading the word about a thrilling new outdoor activity.

Surfing is a sport that breaks language, culture and racial barriers. It has successfully done so for years producing a lot of individuals who have in return contributed much to the sport, such as Kelly Slater, the most dominant competitive surfer ever.

Initially regarded as just a pastime, there are now surf tournaments held throughout the world with a World Surf League and an estimated 25 million active surfers worldwide.

Surfing has a rich heritage, full of interconnections with music, movies, literature, and various visual arts.

The 1991 film Point Break featuring, Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, captured the togetherness that the surfing society summarises.

The Beach Boys made a song all about ‘Surfing USA’ in 1963, which has stood the test of time, still played endlessly today.

HÖRFA’s origins began in Devon, so we just had to pay homage to our roots with a Surf print. Check out the stunning new design here:

Surf Facts:

1. The first account of surfing was given in 1778 by Captain James Cook when he saw it being practiced in Hawaii. Cook wrote: “I could not help concluding this man had the most supreme pleasure while he was driven so fast and so smoothly by the sea.”
2. The first official surfing contest took place at Corona del Mar, California in 1928.
3. Since 1999, there’s been a degree course in Surf Science and Technology at Plymouth University.
4. The record for the longest surf ride is 3 hours, 55 minutes, set by Panamanian surfer Gary Saavedra in 2011, riding an artificial wave created by power boat.
5. A person who hangs around a beach pretending to be a surfer but isn’t is called a ‘hodad’.
6. The biggest wave ever recorded was 1738 feet! That’s about 500 feet taller than the Empire State Building!
7. The most people to ever stand on one surfboard is 47.
8. It’s possible to surf on the river! There are rivers that, at certain times of the year, create a backflow and make waves, known as tidal bores. The River Severn in Bristol is the only river in the UK where you can surf.
9. The longest ride ever done on a single wave was 37 minutes on a pororoca, a tidal bore found on the Amazon River.
10. Dogs enter surfing competitions too! Huntington Beach in California has hosted the Annual Surf City Surf Dog contest to raise money for animal welfare organisations.
11. The first recorded use of ‘surfing’ as a mode of using the internet was in 1992.
12. The term ‘channel-surfing’ for frequent changes between TV channels dates back to 1986.