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

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

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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

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Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Beschen, Shane

Shaggy-haired big-wave surfer from South Africa; winner of the 2006 and 2014 Maverick's Surf Contest and the 2008 Red Bull Big Wave Africa; 2014 Big Wave World Tour Champion; regular on the Billabong XXL Awards podium throughout the 2000s. Baker was born (1973) in Durban, started surfing at age 13, and by the late 1990s the slight (5'11", 154 pounds) regularfooter was quietly challenging heavy water breaks all over South Africa.

Baker jumped onto the international scene in 2003 after making the finals in the first big-wave contest he entered, the Red Bull Big Wave Africa at Dungeons. For the rest of the decade he steadily expanded his big-wave repertoire while tow-surfing and paddling into the most hairball waves he could find, all while maintaining a day job as a Billabong sales rep.

Baker was a last-minute invitee to the 2006 Maverick's event, where he thoroughly dominated a talented field in 25-30 foot surf, notching several perfect-10 point rides on his way to victory and a $30,000 prize. In 2008 he took the Red Bull Big Wave Africa title in wind-whipped 20-footers. By 2014, the year of Baker's second win at Maverick's, now a stop on the Big Wave World Tour, he was a clear favorite heading into the event; he had by that time began spending winters in San Francisco, surfing Maverick's regularly. He won the contest easily, posting two perfect-ten rides on the day.

He had also picked up the win at the Punta Galea Challenge, on the Basque Coast, one month earlier, also part of the Big Wave World Tour. With those two victories under his belt, Baker easily captured enough points to win the 2014 Big Wave World Tour championship.

Baker had a brief role as the token pothead "Hemp" in 2011's straight-to-video 

; the role was not likely a stretch. When asked by 

 magazine how he stays relaxed in big wave lineups Baker replied, "I like to use some 'special stuff' to calm the nerves."

A perennial nominee at the Billabong XXL Awards, Baker claimed the 2007 Biggest Wave award; the 2009 awards for Biggest Wave and Overall Performance; and the 2010 Ride of the Year award. When Baker wasn't winning, his big-wave partner Greg Long often was.

Baker joined the pro kitesurfing tour in 2012. Also that year, Kate Lovemore, Baker's longtime girlfriend, was 

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Videos

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Videos