In the days of COVID-19, news from the pro surfing front has been scant. No contests to speak of, no leaderboard shakeups, no mid-heat shark scare at South Africa’s premiere righthander. (Yeah, in the Before Times, we would be heading into J-Bay right now.)
But about a week ago, a morsel of news dropped like a bomb on the frontlines: Conner Coffin was leaving Channel Islands for JS Surfboards. He was leaving the boards he had rode since diapers (practically), the brand that embodies his hometown of Santa Barbara to a tee, for an Aussie import. It was like Lennon leaving The Beatles, or Jordan leaving the NBA. Well, not quite, but give us break – like we said, pro surfing news has been slow.
“A lot of people keep saying, ‘they must be paying you more money,’” Conner says in our chat below. “But no, I just really love the boards. More than anything, it was just a great opportunity to work with JS, who has shaped for guys on tour and world champs for 25 years. He has so much experience…and with the whole COVID thing, I had plenty of time to ride through the boards and really dial them in.”
The news was big, at least when scaled to our smallish world these days. So, we called up Conner to chat about that, and a handful of other things. Like, can we survive without pro surfing as we once knew and loved it? Short answer: yes.
Have you been going crazy being home for so long, or are you kinda digging it?
Well, I’m 26 and I turn 27 in a week – I don’t think I’ve been home for this long of a stretch in 11 years. I’ve actually really been enjoying myself. Obviously, I miss getting good waves, traveling to my favorite places across the world, and I miss competing. But, under these circumstances, there’s so much to be grateful for. I still get to surf when I want, and I’m getting all this extra time with my friends and family. Just trying to focus on all the positives.
Have you been scoring waves?
I wish I was quarantined here [in Santa Barbara] during wintertime. [Laughs.] But we’ve actually been having one of the best springs up here in a while. With all the south swells, I went down to Lowers a little bit. There’s been a few fun windswells. Then we had a sneaky Rincon day. We’ve been surfing a bunch. And fortunately, even during the height of the closures, we’ve still been able to find something to surf.
What’s the quarantine crowd been like up in Santa Barbara?
The only time it was really crowded was when all of L.A. was closed, and everyone was coming up here. Other than that, it’s pretty much been par for the course. People have a lot more time on their hands, and everyone wants to get out of their houses and enjoy the beach a bit more – it’s been a little busy because of that, but all good vibes. Everyone’s just stoked to be in the water.
What else have you been up to? Playing music? Training?
I’ve definitely been playing a lot of music in the past couple months. Lots of guitar. Also been working around the house, like, cleaning the garage. Been cooking and gardening a lot. Trying to eat super well.
A little bit of training here and there. I actually had a lingering back and hip injury for about a year. It was bothering me last year during the events. So, I took the first couple months of this to really clear that up. I’m feeling good now. It’s not looking like anything is starting up anytime soon, so now I’ve got plenty of time to focus on getting back in shape.
“Right when I got on them, there was this freshness to it,” says Conner. “It really invigorated my surfing. They’ve sorta unlocked new parts of the wave for me, sorta given me a new freedom.”
What went into your decision to switch over to JS?
Last year, I rode one of Ace Buchan’s boards at J-Bay and it felt really good. I had never really ridden any other boards my entire life, besides Channel Islands. I felt like I had been there so long, and I kinda needed to mix it up a little bit. We had been trying to make some new boards at CI for a while, and I wasn’t exactly getting the results I wanted – not in competition, but just the way the boards felt.
Jason [Stevenson] made me some boards when I went down to Australia in February. I got four, and one or two of them were pretty much magic. Those guys were super down to make me more. And with the whole COVID thing, I had plenty of time to ride through the boards and really dial them in.
A lot of people keep saying, “they must be paying you more money.” But no, I just really love the boards. More than anything, it was just a great opportunity to work with JS, who has shaped for guys on tour and world champs for 25 years. He has so much experience. I think Al [Merrick] had that at Channel Islands – since he’s been gone, I haven’t really had that with someone who’s been doing it for a super long time. They’re all really good shapers [at CI], but JS just has so much experience with surfers on the tour.
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Still, must’ve been hard leaving Channel Islands after all those years…
It was probably one of the hardest decisions I made in my entire life. When I got the boards from JS and they worked so well, I was almost bummed. [Laughs.] But I knew I had an opportunity. I was super open with the CI guys. They’ve done so much for me, and I’m so grateful for everything. I love CI, I love the brand, I have a lot of friends there. I wouldn’t be where I am without them. I didn’t want to burn any bridges with those guys. I still live here, and I still wanna be boys with all those guys.
“It was probably one of the hardest decisions I made in my entire life. When I got the boards from JS and they worked so well, I was almost bummed. [Laughs.]”
Where are you really excited to try these boards out, once you can travel?
I’m super excited to go back to Australia and post up on the Gold Coast for a bit – work with JS, and surf with Joel and Mick. Besides that, I’d love to go back to J-Bay and ride one. Or a big day at Cloudbreak. Those are probably the two places that I’ve been missing surfing the most this year.
You’ve been pegged as a power surfer guy, but JS has a pretty strong roster of air guys with Julian, Mikey, Ryan…do these new boards make you wanna finesse your air game at all?
Oh, totally. Right when I got on them, there was this freshness to it. It really invigorated my surfing. They’ve sorta unlocked new parts of the wave for me, sorta given me a new freedom. That’s been inspiring me to try more progressive maneuvers. They have really good pop and tons of control in the air. I’ve always wanted to get better at airs and maybe this was the push I needed – because I kinda, really needed one for a while. [Laughs.]
Have you been missing the CT, or has it been a welcome break?
It’s been really nice to pump the breaks. That usually happens when you have an injury or you fall off tour. But, given the fact that everyone’s in the same game here, it’s been nice to hit pause. It’s also been firing me up for when competition does start back up. It’s such a crazy time we’re living in, and there’s all this uncertainty – but I’ve just been trying to do what I can to stay sane, stay healthy until we can have contests again.
“I don’t like watching wavepools, because I think it’s kinda boring – the long ones, the short ones are a little more exciting,” says Conner. “To me, firing Chopes, Cloudbreak, and Pipe – those are the ones that are the most exciting to watch. And for the non-surfing crowd, too.” Photo: Kelly Cestari/WSL via Getty Images
Before the whole coronavirus thing, it seemed like everyone in the surf world revolved around the tour – the surfers, the fans, the media, etc. But now that it’s gone, everybody realized they can kinda survive without it. Do you feel the same way? Would you ever take the freesurfer path?
It’s funny…right before I qualified for the tour, I almost stopped competing to be a freesurfer. That’s what Parker has been doing, and he’s got a great thing going on with Roark. For me, I tried really hard to qualify for the tour and I’m really stoked I did – but at the end of last year, I was feeling pretty tired and burned out on traveling. Then, all of a sudden, I’ve got what could potentially be a full year off.
To me, competition is something I’ve always done and loved. But freesurfing is super tempting. That’s the reason everyone gets in to surfing – that freedom to express yourself, work on projects, do whatever you want. Sometimes that creative freedom gets a little squashed by competing. But I’m going to hopefully put in a few more years on the tour…hopefully a few better years than the past few.
After the tour, to go on The Search with Mick and Mason – that’d be a dream come true as well.
How would you feel about a specialty tour event for, say, California surfers only?
I think it’d be great. I think the WSL is working on putting something together at the wavepool and maybe a couple other spots later this year. With COVID being so ever evolving it’s been tough to organize. Hopefully, as the world starts to return to somewhat normalcy, we can do some of those regional events.
Like you said, we can exist without the tour. But it’s also made everyone realize that watching surfing is pretty fun. You can kinda rag on it, but it’s pretty good entertainment. I know I miss watching it. If they could pull off something like the Triple Crown, or a handful of regional events for North American surfers, I think that’d be super welcomed by all the surf fans – me included.
Conner, tucked away at last year’s Margaret River Pro. Photo: Cestari/WSL
Now that we’ve had this pause in competition to take a breather and look at things in a different light, are there any ways you would update the tour?
This year, I’ve been in the thick of it with those guys trying to figure out what they wanna do. They’re talking about coming back next year with a new face of the tour. There’s a couple options being floating around.
What gets me excited is having really good waves in amazing locations. I don’t like watching when the waves are shitty. I don’t like watching wavepools, because I think it’s kinda boring – the long ones, the short ones are a little more exciting. To me, firing Chopes, Cloudbreak, and Pipe – those are the ones that are the most exciting to watch. And for the non-surfing crowd, too.
I think there will be more of a focus on finding better waves more often. Sorta like what the Big Wave Tour does. You have a location, then you have a window, and people are on call. If the tour adopted that method, that’d be really cool. That’s a little unrealistic, but they’re talking about it.
Another aspect they’ve been talking about is the amount of people on tour. You want to see surfers from all over the world, and see everyone have their chance. Ideas have been talked about having only 16 guys on tour. I personally think that’s too few. There needs to be a happy medium of surfers. If it’s too small, then it might be too elite. You might lose interest. You need to have surfers from a lot of countries, who are growing the sport elsewhere.
I always wonder: Is surfing meant to be much bigger? Is there a max size and if you’re a surfer, then you’re into it? Maybe it’s not worth shoving it down peoples’ throats who aren’t gonna dig it. Maybe there is a certain size it’s supposed to be. And with that, we can all do what we love – make a paycheck, support an industry, and have fun. Maybe that’s the best case scenario.
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