Jeff Hakman interviewed Gerry Lopez for the December 1972 issue of SURFER Magazine. Lopez was 22 years old.

In what ways has surfing in the Islands changed over the last five years?

The first breakthrough into a real radical high-performance style of surfing was when Dick Brewer brought out his Pipeliner series [with Bing], and I guess that was back in about ’66. When California had their noseriding era, we had our Pipeliner era. And right after that came the Australians with their V-bottoms, and I remember that as being the beginning of the actual length change with boards going shorter. The two people who I feel were most responsible for the shortboard change were Bob McTavish and Dick Brewer.

Brewer brought out the first mini-gun and that thing really worked.

Yeah, that was Brewer and Gary Chapman. When they came out with that it was so advanced.

Do you look for any particulars in a board as far as design?

My own boards are very light and basically speed designs. I use a lot of vee for maneuverability. Here in Hawaii that works best. Of course I’ve tried them all over the world and it isn’t always what’s happening.

Just for myself, I find vee a little sluggish sometimes on slower waves. Like on the slower wave, especially on a real small board, you need as much flat area as possible.

Who are some of the hot young surfers in the Islands?

Oh, there must be a million of ’em. When I surf Ala Moana I see at least 50 hot young surfers that I think are just super! I’m sure everyone’s heard of the hottest ones, you know—Michael Ho, Mike Kealoha, David Smith, Mike Smith—the list is endless.

It’s really amazing. I don’t think I’ve seen anywhere else in the world where you can go out and see the caliber of surfing that you see at Ala Moana on a good day.

It’s unbelievable, like even on the North Shore, at Sunset or Pipeline, you see a lot of good surfers, but only at Ala Moana do you see 

They’ve got their little trip down completely.

How do you tailor your living to surfing?

I practice yoga and watch my diet. Not too many heavy foods. The only way you can stay on top of it is to stay into it totally.

I surf the best when I get a lot of sleep, eat right. I find that consuming a lot of protein really helps me surf aggressively for long periods of time and not burn out, whereas without that extra protein I get lackadaisical, don’t have that edge that I normally do.

Have you had any radical situations in big surf?

Ah, let me see. I’m trying to think of a recent one. Last year! Pipeline! There was a whole week where it just broke on the outside. Every day. We went out one day and as far as we could paddle, waves just kept breaking further out. So we just had to keep going further and further out. It was myself and the Farrant brothers and Jose Angel. It was the most frightening experience of my life! The waves were coming up as fast as we could paddle out. I’m sure you’ve had a few experiences like that.

Yeah. Especially on the North Shore. I don’t think there’s anywhere else in the world that can come up like that place. I’ve had quite a few experiences where I’ve felt really uncomfortable. More often when I was younger.

Yeah, when you’re not quite as experienced. I guess I’m still waitin’ for that super radical wipeout where I think I’m not going to make it. I got stuck in a cave at the Pipeline once . . . .

I fell out of the top of this wave and went down and didn’t hit bottom when I should have, and just kept going deeper and deeper. Then when I finally hit I pushed off and I hit my head on the top. I was inside one of those big crevices. There were rocks all around me. Somehow I got back up.

I’ve heard stories of wipeouts at Makaha where guys have actually gotten shoved through an opening into sort of like a cave underneath, and then after the whitewater and surge subsides, trying to come out and actually striking a rock above them. That would just blow my mind.

Right! That’s exactly what happened to me. I pushed off the bottom and just smashed my head on an overhang. All I could feel was rock all around me and it was so scary, man.

Yeah, but the water was churning and I couldn’t see anything. It was all white. I’m sure you’ve seen those big long crevices while you’re paddling out at the Pipe.

Yeah, and they’re really deep and they go down on all these angles and stuff. I guess the water churning at the bottom just shot me right out—finally. It was real brief, but it was a pretty heavy flash. I think the worst wipeouts I’ve ever had as far as being held under the longest and wondering if I was going to come up were at Makaha, though.

When you surf out there at 10 or 12 feet, it’s such a comfortable, mushy wave, and then I’ve been out there on a couple of 20-foot and it's one the worst wipeouts around.

Especially coming off the Point, into the bowl section.

Oh, man! I remember one time during that Smirnoff contest [1970] when it was 15 feet with a few bigger waves.

I took off on this giant wave and my heart practically stopped. Just one of those suspended animation things—and I looked over to my left and there's Buffalo [Kealuna], sitting in his boat, right there about five feet away. Just looking at me! And there were all these photographers in the boat with Buffalo, just holding for their lives. I almost drowned on that wave. It came completely over me.

There he was, man. I couldn’t believe it, dropping in right next to me in a boat!

You’re noted for you deep positioning at the Pipe. How far back you get. Do you have to push yourself back there, or does it come natural? I think if you’ve acquired the timing, you almost don’t have to look where you are. You know by how the water’s working around your board—that'll tell you where you’re at on a wave.

Like you say, it’s a matter of timing that you develop. You position yourself farther and farther behind the peak there. You know that it’s going to open up enough to let you through—sometimes. And so you can just, you know, chance it.

Can you describe the most impressive ride you’ve ever seen, or maybe experienced yourself?

Every time I go out, I see a dozen rides that stoke me out. But I think as far as riding the tube, Rory Russell and Sam Hawk at Pipeline probably impress me more than anyone else.

Do you make a good living off of surfing, and do you think you’ll be able to in the future?

Ahh . . . that’s debatable. I make a comfortable living. I own a surfboard shop, Lightning Bolt Surfboards. And by shaping boards I’m able to live comfortably. I think professional contests will eventually probably develop into a pretty large moneymaking thing.

I was wondering about that. I hope we can hang in there until they get to that point. I’m sure that younger surfers like Mike Ho and Larry Bertlemann and some of those guys are going to really benefit from the coming pro scene. How do you feel about the upcoming big money events this winter?

Are you going to do anything special to get ready?

Well (chuckle), I’m not giving away any secrets. I’m definitely going into some sort of training program similar to any athlete.

You get to the point where the level of competition is so high . . .

. . . and everyone’s matched so equally that whoever has the edge that day is gonna excel.

Physically, everybody’s about equal. Whoever’s going to win depends on their state of mind that day. If you’re more relaxed than somebody else you might make it.

Which contest or event have you enjoyed the most?

The Expression Session had the greatest waves last year. That was probably the neatest thing because the waves were giant and the hottest surfers were out. It was just great. Kinda like a contest thing in that everybody was there.

Not like the other contests, though. No official winners or losers, which is kind of neat—everyone’s competing against each other, but in a subtle way. Really beautiful. I remember during your tube rides there was applause on the beach. But still, there was sort of this thing, whether anyone admits it or not. A competitive feeling. Maybe against yourself to strive a little harder. A most gratifying situation for me.

Yeah. Like you’re not penalized for not making the wave. There’s not so much pressure.

What is your personal philosophy on living and surfing?

It changes every two weeks. Let’s skip it.

Style has always been the focal point of Hawaiian surfing. The earliest Hawaiian surfers put emphasis on a real stylish approach to riding a wave. It was the type of thing where they weren’t out there to rip it to shreds. The point was to be just real casual about riding a wave. They tried to make themselves fit into the beauty of the thing.

That’s one thing that was lost in the transition from big boards to small.

Style. Hawaiian style. I think you really see that a lot over here. Even in the real young surfers that really haven’t been around for long.

It’s more of a blending than tearing apart. It’s just different, because the wave’s faster and better shaped and more massive than, say, California or the East Coast. We’ve become more involved with a unity with the wave rather than just riding a surfboard.

Several days later Hakman and Lopez were in California for the 1972 World Contest in San Diego, and the conversation resumed, along with SURFER publisher Steve Pezman.

 You know, it used to be that the young guys were on top, but I think that’s changing. Like, five years ago there weren’t that many hot surfers in their middle twenties. Everybody’s hanging in there for a bit longer now. Probably because they’re making a living off it. It’s still super hard, but it’s getting better. And as it gets better, the surfing will too.

 How's this thing going? [The World Championships] I can't wait to get home and surf in those $10,000 contests, man.

: I think this will be the last amateur World Contest. Like in the Islands this winter there’s gonna be $30,000 in prize money. The Smirnoff is $10,000. The Hang Ten is $10,000. The Pipeline Masters is $5,000. Then the Duke contest and the Expression Session.

: Wow! What if someone won the Smirnoff for $5,000, the Hang Ten for $6,000, the Duke for $1,000, he’d be set.

: Yeah! And if this winter goes good, there’ll be more sponsors interested for next year.

: You know what would be neat? The World Contest at 40 grand.

: Just put the money in a pot and everybody would come on their own, pay their own expenses and everything.

: Yeah, everyone would come to win a $10,000 first prize.

: I hear Katin is considering a man-on-man contest with each round winner getting bucks and the overall winner getting a fairly large amount. But the man-on-man aspect, all the way through, would really be exciting to watch.

: Wow! That would be really neat. I’d better stop by and say hello to Nancy. (To Jeff) You and I gotta hang in there for a couple of years.

[Photos: Drew Kampion, Jeff Divine, Dan Merkel, John Severson, Art Brewer]

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