Why TheRip?

Aerial shot of Tourmo. Credit: Josh Vani // Cover image: William Stratton

Does the world need another surf publication? We’ll save you the hassle of thinking it over: no. But why not get in your ‘75 hard’ reading for the day and hear me out?

Stab, The Surfer’s Journal, Surfline and other big-name surf media publications are pretty sweet. You can’t deny their widespread, thorough coverage does a great job of summarizing the surf world at large.

But, for the casual surfer like you and I, our surfing world is significantly smaller than the scope of these publications. For myself, surfing revolves around the standard pre-work session with my roommate, Billy, and a few buddies to our local breaks on exceedingly average days. I wake up, botch a bunch of waves, maybe rip a sick one (any ride over 3 seconds warrants a claim in my book), and then go to work — and I'm perfectly content with that.

My relationship with surfing is average-Joe at best. And this brought me to a critical question: what surf publication is out there for us— the Joes and the Janes? The PTO surfers? The ‘happy with just being out there’ people?

Après Session #32. Credit: @mauna_________

I bestow upon thou, TheRip. If there’s anything I’ve learned from getting to know all the good folk at Après Surf Club, it’s that, even in this little surfing world we call home, there is so much interesting shit going on. Take, for instance, two friends who started a Surf Café where you can simultaneously sip on locally roasted coffee while watching a board take life in their shaping bay. Or, what about an up-and-coming surf photographer whose unique, tasteful shots of nude surfers are elevating the art on all levels? Has anything been written about the beloved drone pilot who, through thick and thin, has reliably posted free videos of us catching waves for all to enjoy? There are people all around us who are creating, understanding, and progressing the surf community in so many different ways — but they’ll never get the coverage they deserve.

TheRip will change that through some good old-fashioned, deep-dive journalism. Living out our long-gone journalist dreams, our mission is to shed a little light on the not necessarily hidden, but quiet and attention-worthy corners of our little surf world. If we don’t, too many stories would remain untold, and many of us would be ignorant of how beautiful our modern surf scene is. Think of this publication as a love letter to our surfing community —which includes you.

TheRip is small surf journalism aiming to make a big impact. With a local focus and attention to detail, this is the surf publication for you. Get ready to be sucked into TheRip.

Catherine Ames helped to write this Article.

Follow Us On Instagram for updates on TheRip content. Have an idea for an article? Reach out to our editor at Oliver@apressurf.club