this is a pretty cool deal here. i happened to be talking to this guy at duke's while he was refinishing a busted board on the beach. after talking a bit he introduced himself and invited us to watch him practice with his tandem partner as they were finishing training to head to santa cruz for nationals the following week and on to spain/france for world competitions the next week after that. very nice, and very helpful on some key pointers for taking a perfect wave. thanks bear and BTW, this kicks butt.