Stealing the Wave
The Epic Struggle Between Ken Bradshaw and Mark Foo
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- 14,99 €
Publisher Description
'A classic tale of sporting rivalry' Observer
'The tales are gripping ... surfing emerges as a dangerous, solitary and potential fatal obsession' Telegraph
'A fascinating glimpse into obsession' Independent
A gripping true story of a tragic and bitter rivalry in the world of surfing
Winter. Mid-eighties. Hawai'i.
Two surfers are battling for supremacy at Waimea Bay, home to the biggest waves in the world. Old-school, and some say too old, Ken Bradshaw commands respect with his fearlessness and fearsome temper. Mark Foo is the new kid on the block. Icon of the younger generation, this photogenic Chinese-American wows the crowds with his lightning repertoire of cool moves.
One perfect day at Sunset Beach, Foo audaciously steals a wave from under Bradshaw's nose, sparking a bitter feud that is to last for over ten years and end in tragedy.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In a tale set mainly in the Hawaiian Islands, London-born Martin (Walking on Water) narrates the decade-long conflict between two of the world's best known "big wave" surfers: Ken Bradshaw and Mark Foo. A large, irascible Texan, Bradshaw considered himself lord of Oahu's Waimea Bay in the 1980s and had a habit of biting chunks out of the boards of any surfers who dared to trespass on his domain. While Bradshaw was an old-school purist, the younger, Chinese-American Foo was alive to surfing's commercial potential and had a feel for the spotlight. The rivalry endured through one board-chomping and numerous monster waves. Yet as media attention and technological advances such as Jet Skis raised the stakes in big-wave surfing, the two men developed a grudging respect for one another. Their budding partnership was cut short in 1994, however, when Foo drowned while surfing with Bradshaw at Maverick's, south of San Francisco. A scene insider and surfing journalist, Martin knew both men well and is at his best writing about the lure of the waves. In the end, Martin tells a gripping story of not only the intrapersonal competition between the two men but the real struggle each faced against the ocean.
