Andy Irons Memorials, New York/Puerto Rico

The surfing community is still in shock after news broke early yesterday that Hawaiian three-time world champ Andy Irons was found dead in a Dallas hotel room. Andy, 32, withdrew from the Rip Curl Pro Search, Puerto Rico, after contracting Dengue Fever.

Mourners around the world have shown their grief in numerous ways. The Puerto Rico Search event called a lay-day out of respect for Andy, with all surfers, event organisers and hundreds of admirers paddling out for a memorial ceremony. Nine-time world world champion Kelly Slater was amongst those who attended the ceremony: “A few weeks ago I had a friend going over to Kauai to see Andy, and I said send him a message: When Andy surfs angry he smashes people and tell him to come to PR angry, focus that energy and use it,” Slater said. “So my friend called him and said he told AI the message and AI said he’s ready and I was so looking forward to see him surf this week. Just to see him.”

“There aren’t words to describe,” Slater said. “Unfortunately I’ve been through this with friends. There’s nothing that can make it better. You just have to feel it and process all those memories.”

One particular memorial was crafted by Justin Jay in an unlikely location, downtown New York. “It’s such terrible day for the surfing community,” Justin said. “This is a guerilla wheat paste installation that I did last night as a tribute to Andy from the City of New York. Please feel free to forward to anyone who you think might appreciate knowing that we’re thinking of Andy here in New York City.” – Elliot Struck

More to come soon.