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Randy Rarick: Living His Passion
By Roz Makaula

It’s 5 a.m. out on the North Shore, at Sunset Beach. With a cup of tea in hand, he walks out of his house, into the dark of the early winter morning and greets the ocean. His ears tune in to the voice of each wave as the blue planet whispers its message.

“It’s pitch dark, but by the sound of the surf and the amount of white water and current I can see moving, I can pretty much tell what the surf is doing,” says Randy Rarick, Executive Director of the Triple Crown of Surfing, “if it’s big here at Sunset, I know we’re in good shape to run the Haleiwa event.”

It’s that time of year again, the near-end to another season of surfing competition—it’s the Triple Crown, the final events of the Association of Surfing Professionals World Tour. After noting the conditions at Sunset, Rarick drives to Haleiwa, where he makes another wave assessment.

“I get there and it’s still pitch dark and it’s the same deal. If the waves are good enough to run the competition, my first call is to Surf News Network because that’s who fans out all the information that the tournaments are on.” Every morning for the next six weeks, he’ll have his cup of tea and meet with the ocean as part of his daily ritual while running the Triple Crown.
Rarick says one of the hardest things about a surf contest is that you can’t schedule it.

“People ask, ‘what day?’ and ‘what time?’ I don’t have a crystal ball so we have to make that decision in the morning. That responsibility lays on myself and my Contest Director, Bernie Baker.”

By a quarter to seven, it’s light enough for the two to know if their instincts are right or not. If their instincts are on, calls are made and a staff waiting on-site rolls out the sound-system, puts up the banners, and prepares Haleiwa for a day of surf. Two hours after his first visit to the water, competition begins. For Rarick, a day of competition usually means a full eight hours, but, he insists, by the time the contest starts, there’s really not much for him to do—he credits his staff of 60 and good surf with making his job easy. A modest person to note,

Rarick’s job is far from that.

During the November-December period of the Triple Crown, this Kalani High School graduate puts all his energy into the demands of running a surfing phenomenon that creates millions of dollars of revenue for North Shore businesses.

“When the events come rolling around, we have to hire a production crew, the officials, the announcers, the judges, the computer operators and all that goes with it to produce the event,” explains Rarick.

“We did a study here the last two years and its estimated that with all the influx of people, the Triple Crown generates between seven and eight million dollars, which is really significant. It is a significant economic impact on the North Shore.” The high number of visitors creates a great demand for vacation rentals. Rarick breaks down the number of competitors and the volume of people that flock to his hometown each year.

“There are 132 men surfers in the men’s division and there’s only 18 women surfers in the women’s division, so you’re only looking at an actual 150 contestants,” he says, “but with them come their girlfriends, their boyfriends, their spouses, photographers, sponsor representatives, team captains, the scouts, the different clothing companies and all the magazines that cover it.” Rarick says in surf magazines alone, there are over 70 that cover the Triple Crown. Then there are the sports magazines, the fashion magazines and all the other media outlets that cover it too.

“We have about 250 credentialed media people that show up. That spreads the message worldwide. The message is much broader than what you see at the surf contests.”

According to Rarick, surfing has grown from a fledgling sport in the 1970’s to a five billion dollar industry in America alone. He says it’s estimated that there are four million surfers in the United States, with another six million internationally.

“In the early ‘70’s, 10 thousand dollars was a big purse and now the average purse is a quarter of a million dollars. In the last 30 years, surfing has grown tremendously in relation to where it was 30 years ago.”

And Rarick’s passion for surfing has grown even longer. Winding the clock back to 1959, on the shores of Waikiki, a self-described “full-on haole” boy began his love affair with the white horse.

“I got taught to surf by Rabbit Kekai—the famous beach boy. I was 10 years old, Rabbit took me out and sort of launched me into this career.” One year shy of his teens, this soon-to-be crowned prince made a lifelong commitment. “At 12, I got really hooked and I decided that surfing was really going to be what I wanted to do.”

The son of a businessman, Rarick’s father, who owned Pro Golf Supply Hawaii, wished for his son to follow in his footsteps. “It’s funny, my father always wanted me to be a golfer.”

Rarick dove into the surfing world wide-eyed and eager. He worked at different surf shops throughout high school and learned how to shape boards. “I saw the transition from long boards to short boards in the ‘60’s, early ‘70’s. About that same time, I was competing in the amateur ranks.”

A very active competitive surfer, Rarick claimed Junior titles in the late 1960’s and went on to compete in what he calls the “old Duke meet” and the “old Smirnoff.” After finishing high school, Rarick took his surf adventure on the road. “I went to my first year of college in Australia. It was really an excuse to just go see what the waves were like.” Rather than staying in college, Rarick says he attended the school of reality. “I came back, opened a surf shop and then teamed up with Fred.”

Fred Hemmings, then Producer of the surfing events of that era, partnered with Rarick to create the genesis of the Association of Surfing Professionals. “We formed what was called, International Professional Surfing. The IPS, was the predecessor of what is now the ASP, the World Tour.” For the next eight years, Rarick ran the Pro-Tour before settling down at home to launch the Triple Crown of Surfing. “The Triple Crown began in 1983. We had the individual events prior to that and then we linked them together and called them the Triple Crown—that was 21 years ago.”

Rarick attributes the longevity of his career to staying drug free. “I didn’t get into drugs. I’m just very anti-drugs. I liked the idea of being in control of my situation than being whacked out.”

With the Triple Crown underway and a hectic schedule to boot, Rarick jokingly says this is the time when he gets the least amount of surf in. “I’m so busy, there’s no let up. We finish one tournament and we have to break everything down and move it from Haleiwa all the way up to Sunset. We rebuild this miniature city that includes towers, scaffolding, bleachers and press trailers. It takes us a few days to build it up and get it ready to go. When that event raps up, we break it all down and move it to Pipeline. By the time the Triple Crown’s done, I’m completely crazy. It’s just a lot of time, effort and energy. The whole Triple Crown wraps up a few days before Christmas.”

So what does the go-to-guy on surfing do when not wearing his promotional hat? “Probably traveling,” he answers. It’s time now for Rarick to focus on other things, including his personal life and his adventurous desire for travel. “I take two weeks after the Triple Crown and decompress.”

Last year, Rarick visited New Zealand, this holiday, he’s going snowboarding in Canada. “That’s when I’ll take my wife on vacation.”

Travel is what Rarick describes as his hobby and his interest. He and wife Jacque have a certain way of making their travel plans. “I get to do a trip, basically a surf trip and then my wife and I do a together trip. She realizes that I have to go surfing but at the same time, I have real enjoyable time with her.”

Earlier this year, Rarick has visited Eastern Europe, Brazil, South Africa, Japan, Korea and Indonesia. He does most of his traveling between the spring and fall, when it’s off-season on the North Shore. “I like to be here when the waves are good. When the season starts calming down, that’s a good time to take off.” Rarick enjoys going to the southern hemisphere when its summer in Hawaii, because as he puts it, “it’s winter there and that’s when the surf’s good.”

For nearly 30 years, Rarick has traveled extensively, taking in the sites of 120 different countries—he’s surfed in about half of them. Recognized as one of the most well traveled surfers in the world, Rarick goes out of his way to find a liquid playground. “I’ve surfed in Korea and in Burma, all up and down the coast of Africa. I’ve been to obscure little islands out in the middle of nowhere.” Rarick likes to go off the beaten path he says because it’s not necessarily for great surf, but more for the adventure, to curb his curiosity and to learn about different cultures. “I live I Hawaii. We have the best surf in the world, so my standards are super high, because I compare everything to here. But since I get a chance to surf here all the time anyway, I don’t necessarily need to go somewhere to get perfect surf. I’ll go to places more for the intrigue, the cultural exchange. If I get to surf along with it, that’s a plus.”

Last summer, this surfing guru traveled to India. “You don’t really think of India as a place to go surf, but we got good waves and at the same time, it was super interesting to see the Indian culture.” The summer before, while on a tiny island off the west coast of Africa, Rarick and his friends introduced the sport to some local youngsters. In Burma, he said it was the same deal.

“Where ever we go, we try to turn kids onto surfing. It’s a buzz. When they see you ride a wave, they just can’t believe it. Then you put them on a board and shove them on a wave, they’re hooked.” Because Rarick is a shaper, he’s actually made boards out of indigenous woods for some of his new young buddies, even leaving his own boards behind for his newly learned surf students. “When I teach some kid to surf in some far off country, I get real personal satisfaction to see the look in his eyes and that little bit of spark that he realizes what I realized when I was 10 years old.”

From a surf point of view, Rarick says South Africa is one of his favorite spots. He’s been there 23 times. “When its summer here, its winter there. That’s when it’s their prime season and they get really great surf.” Indonesia is another favorite. He says a lot of surfers go there because the waves are really good during the summer time. “To me, the aspect of traveling and interacting with different cultures is what makes life really interesting.”

And making life interesting seems to be what Rarick does so well. As if lecturing on a college campus, this Professor of Surfing shares his thoughts on living. “I’ve had this philosophy—do as much as you can while you can, worry about getting old later because we’re all going to get old anyway.” Rarick says he’s probably forgone financial independence in lieu of the pursuit of seeing and doing. “I drive a used car and I don’t live extravagantly at all. One nice thing about the surf lifestyle—you can wear t-shirts and shorts and that’s your attire.” Rather than pursuing real final success, Rarick says, “my goal has been more pursuing personal endeavors that have brought me success.”

Never motivated by money, Rarick does what he does for the world of surfing as a way to give back. “Surfing has really been very good to me, its laid up a plan in my life. Some people say it sounds like a lot of b-s, but I say, not really. I get a lot of personal satisfaction out of doing a good job and seeing other people enjoy, but also benefit from my endeavors. When I hand a check to somebody for 10, 20, 30 thousand dollars, I’m stoked that they did that good that they deserve to get that—I wish I could give them more.”

At 55, Rarick is rearing to give more—already entertaining the thought of a successor and willing to train the right person for his crowning position. “I’m looking for a younger person to take over running the Triple Crown. I’m seeking someone who is enthusiastic, would love to follow in my footsteps and wants to build on what we laid the ground work for.” Rarick warns that the job is not an easy one. “Running the Triple Crown is a huge task, it’s really complex and time consuming. As soon as they find out how much work is involved, they don’t want to know about it. For me, it’s different because I’ve grown with it. I would definitely need an apprentice here that I’d like to train.”

Rarick says he doesn’t see himself as ever really retiring, “my lifestyle has just been ongoing. I think I’ll be in surfing for a long time. I don’t see myself getting out of it. It’s what I do for pleasure, its what I do for business and I’ve learned to balance to two.” With that said, he contemplates life a decade away from now—a life that may take him away from his shore. “I figure I can surf the North Shore for about 10 more years ‘til I’m about 65. The North Shore is demanding from a surf point of view. I think I can handle it ‘til my mid 60’s and by then I’ll be slowing down.” He adds that he may even move back to town at that time, so he can surf Waikiki. “I grew up in Waikiki. I think it would be a great place to end my career.”

It’s difficult to fathom the word end could ever enter the supernatural rolling whirl that is Randy Rarick. If one day surfing came to a screeching halt—heaven forbid—and there was no such thing as this awesome water sport, our king would still have a kingdom to rule. “In my life, I’ve got more experience and more travels and more tales that I could tell than most people will ever experience in a lifetime.” And perhaps one day he’ll become Rarick the author, forever cementing his-story in the surf arena for generations to come.

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