A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Alexandre, João (Dapin)

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

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Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Cheerful, fitness-minded goofyfooter from Florianópolis, Brazil; world-ranked #8 in 1994, and one of his country's first internationally recognized surfers. Padaratz was born (1971) in the landlocked town of Blumenau, near Florianópolis, began surfing at age 12, was a semifinalist in the juniors division of both the 1986 and 1988 World Amateur Surfing Championships, and turned pro in 1988, along with just-crowned men's world amateur champion and fellow Brazilian Fabio Gouveia.

Despite the fact that the two were, as surf journalist Ben Marcus wrote, "the oddest of odd couples," Padaratz and Gouveia were at first presented as a package deal to the rest of the surf world. The shy, swarthy Gouveia, a regularfooter from a poor family, initially had more success on the pro tour, and was world-ranked #5 in 1992. The garrulous blond-haired Padaratz, raised in an upper-middle-class family, lived in Huntington Beach in 1987, where he learned English and groomed himself for a career in surfing.

When Padaratz won the 1991 Alternativa International event in Rio, beating future world champion Sunny Garcia in the finals, he became a national celebrity. "There is President Fernando Collor De Mello," Australian surf journalist Derek Hynd wrote the following year, without a trace of irony. "There is Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna. There is Flavio Padaratz." He further bolstered his reputation by winning the World Qualifying Series tour the following year.

Padaratz rode with equal parts flash and power, rounding off each turn and smoothly connecting one move to the next. In 1994 he beat Kelly Slater in the finals of the Rip Curl Hossegor Pro in France, and finished the year rated #8. He slipped to 36th in 1996, then dropped off the world tour for three years— breaking his arm in 1997 after falling down in a drunken pile while dancing, and breaking it again the following year playing soccer—then came back in 2000 at age 29, after winning the 1999 World Qualifying Series. Padaratz remade himself into one of the sport's most disciplined athletes, combining daily swimming, cycling, surfing, yoga, and meditation into what he called "the Process." He finished the 2000 season world- ranked #10, and stayed on tour through 2003.

Padaratz appeared in more than 20 surf videos, including 

 (1997). In 2005 Padaratz hosted his own TV show in Brazil called 

Neco Padaratz, Flavio's tongue-studded younger brother, was also a world tour pro.

Padaratz, Flavio

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Features

Videos