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    Bob Hurley doing what he loves best: surfing a secret spot in Sumatra

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Terence Loose

If there’s one thing that the U.S. Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach, presented by Hurley, proves, it’s that Bob Hurley puts his money where his heart is. Although the event is arguably one of the most well known and popular in the professional surfing world, the fact is, the ASP “Dream Tour” – the 10 events that make up the major leagues of surfing – never carried significant prize money. Until Bob Hurley took over.

Last year, his company raised first prize from the traditional $15,000 to $100,000. And guess what? The big names in surfing, the guys that cruise around the world like rock stars, known to surfers and non-surfers alike, all showed up. Slater, Irons, Machado… They electrified the event… that was won by a local soft-spoken hero, Brett Simpson, who beat world champ Kelly Slater in the final to simultaneously snag the biggest paycheck in competitive surfing history and a ticket to the Dream Tour.

“Last year’s event was like a fairy tale,” says Hurley. “Pat O’Connell and Mick Fanning led the charge with the top athletes, and having Kelly Slater and Andy Irons in the event for the first time in eight years was magic. The surf was some of the best ever at Huntington Beach, and HB’s hometown favorite and underdog [Simpson] beat the world champ to take home the biggest cash prize in surfing. Plus, OC’s female hometown favorite, Courtney Conlogue, took down the field to win Women’s. Imagine if we told that story beforehand; no one would believe it.”

It’s this sort of unbridled excitement for the sport of surfing that has steered Hurley’s business life, from a “surf shop kid” to running one of the action sports industry’s most successful companies. A company, by the way, that grew from upstart to giant status in just a few years. “I always have been fortunate enough to follow what I love doing,” says Hurley. “So every step of my business career – from shaping boards to importing Billabong to starting Hurley – was always for love. It was very organic and never a business scheme.”

And to this day, when Hurley speaks, the stoked surf grom still present in his voice, one still gets the feeling that his one fear is that business might just get in the way of his love for surfing.

Did you ever want to become a professional surfer?
It was my total aspiration, starting with seeing the movie Pacific Vibrations [the classic 1970s surf film]. But I wasn’t good enough. I was passionate enough, but I wasn’t good enough. But I just did whatever I could to keep surfing. First I foiled fins. They used to have these wood-fiberglass fins and I wrecked half of those, but my boss was cool and he didn’t fire me. Instead, he taught me how to glue blanks together and then he let me shape some boards. So I thought, if I can’t make money off surfing maybe I can make money off working in the industry. So I became a board shaper.

How did you go from board shaper to industry leader?
I was a fairly successful board shaper in 1981 and I had two good [Australian] friends who came to stay with me and who were really knowledgeable about Billabong, which [at the time] was a tiny brand in Australia. But Billabong was innovative and had punk rock shorts and I liked that, so I wanted to get some to sell at my little surf shop in Costa Mesa, Hurley Surfboards. Then, one thing led to another and the owner of Billabong offered me the exclusive license in the U.S.

And everything changed.
Yes, but honestly, my plan was just to be a guy who shapes boards and is affiliated with Billabong, because I really didn’t want to run a big business. But as things evolved, we had a pretty big business and I found it really exciting.

Then in 1999, you decided to give up the Billabong license to start your own brand. People thought you were nuts. Was that a tough decision?
Not really, no, because it was a very personal choice. It wasn’t a calculated business move. We were thankful for all those years at Billabong and that we were able to grow Billabong into the second strongest brand in the market. So I felt good about the work we did in brand stewardship; we didn’t feel like we were jerking those guys around. But we had this feeling that all these kids we wanted to serve wanted something different and we wanted to be part of it. It seemed like destiny. But realistically, we had 150 employees and explaining to them why this was a good idea… well, there was a lot of internal stress at the company. A lot of people said we should make a smaller line or that we needed to lay off people. But we operated business as normal and were blessed to not have to lay off anyone. And, we had products that were different and mattered to the kids, so it was really just fun, not stressful.

Hurley has always embraced innovative music, including giving huge bands like Blink 182 their big break. Why?
We’ve just always loved music. Blink 182 was a young band that we sent on their first tour to Europe because they didn’t have any funding and we just liked the guys. They were hard workers that took advice and took their job seriously. Then, there was the MTV Music Awards in 1999, where they were nominated for best album, best song and best video. They were in New York City and their manager, and my friend, called us and said the band was backstage and MTV was wigging out because the boys wanted to wear Hurley T-shirts and MTV had a no-logo policy. Paul Gomez, our marketing director, said, “OK, just do whatever MTV says.” The manager said, “No way, that’s a bunch of crap. [We’re going to put] duct tape over the logos and the second we go on stage we’re gonna rip them off. They can’t tell us what to do.” And we said, “Oh, yes they can.” But then I’m watching the show and the boys go on stage with the logos on and they won best song, album and video. So that was a spectacular day, but there was a whole series of events like that that made the journey, as corny as it sounds, feel like destiny.

Do you feel that you helped break the “surfers-only” attitude of surfing companies?
I do. In ’99, when we started the company, our big idea was that for 25 years, a spectacular surf industry evolved. And the fundamental theme of the surf industry was exclusivity – “We’re cool, we’re surfers; if you don’t surf, stay away.” But kids began to evolve and that became an obsolete concept in my mind. So we decided to start a company about inclusivity. That was the big idea. We don’t believe that we only have to work with people who have saltwater in their veins.

But, at its core, Hurley is still about surfing.
Surfing is so wonderful and that ties back to my primary involvement in the U.S. Open. [Surfing is] a magical, amazing, timeless thing that the entire world seems interested in and we want to show it in the proper light by bringing in the best athletes and showing that it’s pretty diverse and not just Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. There are articulate, inventive surfers. There are guys I see in suits and ties with little round glasses that I think would know nothing about surfing, then I see them in the water ripping. So you just have to be more open-minded these days because the world has changed a lot.

Most credit you for turning the U.S. Open around. Why did you step in?
For 50 years, the U.S. Open has been the event that has brought the best surfers in the world to Huntington Beach. But it had gradually deteriorated to a B-grade event for the eight years previous to our involvement. Lack of corporate sponsorship caused the event to be downgraded in status by the ASP, which in turn dictated that the world’s best surfers no longer needed to show up. Roger Wyett, our CEO, came to me and suggested that our industry could do better, and our team stepped in. We are surfers, and we absolutely love this sport. So the primary goal was to showcase surfing in all its glory and we feel Huntington Beach provides a spectacular venue: the iconic pier setup, easy beach access and good surf. It all makes for a unique and ideal arena for spectators.

It’s also one of the two richest prizes in surfing with $100,000 going to the winner [the other is the Hurley Pro at Trestles]. Why did you voluntarily more than double the first place prize money?
Because we really value the athlete and the sport. Prize money had not significantly increased in the past 15 years, which seems out of step with the growth in the rest of the surf industry. These are the athletes that drive the growth, so it just seemed like the right thing to do.

But rumor has it that it started with your personal inspiration.
True. I was sitting in the announcing booth for our webcast at the Hurley Pro at Trestles in 2008 when [top pros] Taj Burrow and Kelly Slater were just on fire. Rabbit Bartholomew, the head of the ASP at the time, was next to me and I asked him a hypothetical question: What if a guy like me said, “We’re going to up this to a million dollar first prize? Who needs to vote on allowing that?” He said, “I’m the head of the ASP and I say you can do whatever you want whenever you want with the first prize.” So I called Roger Wyett and talked with Pat O’Connell to [see what we could do]. It was a pure response to what Kelly Slater and Taj Burrow were doing in the water. We were so inspired by the performance in the water. So, I told Rabbit we’re going to make first prize $75,000. Not a million, but we’re going to more than double it. [Standard was $30,000]. Then [in 2009] in Huntington, it was $15,000 first prize and we raised it to $100,000. Honestly, though, I don’t see it as noble. I’m just a huge surf fan.

So, is surfing a sport or lifestyle first?
Surfing is three things. It is a sport, it is entertainment and it is a lifestyle. That’s why Huntington Beach is a perfect arena to showcase all three. So, this year’s event features upgraded music, art and lifestyle components. Weezer will be the headlining musical act, the Walk the Walk fashion show is now the National Championship. And the Nike 6.0 BMX and Converse Coastal Carnage skate events are now featuring the very top athletes in their respective sports. With Nike, Hurley and Converse collaborating closely on this event, we strive to provide compelling and inspiring experiences for the kids.