Can This Blue Collar Foamball Authority Nail The ‘Surf City’ Winner Once Again?

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Skip McCullough might not be getting paid the big bucks to be a clotheshorse for surf apparel brands, but then again, who is these days? Unless you’re cozy in the CT Top 10, the surf industry payroll is more like an unpaid internship.

As the tide recedes on the golden era of surf sponsorships, many former pros have been left in the nude, shivering in a harsh new reality. Who am I without logos? You mean I don’t get paid just to exist and occasionally post wetsuit pics to Instagram? Brutal stuff. Existential crisis via tax return.

But here’s the upside: becoming a normie with a real job means you’re now less useless to society than the average pro surfer. A species that’s contributed little to the greater good beyond stylish water ballet and overpriced lifestyle edits. And now, without the paycheck, they’ve got a new nickname: brokie.

Skip took that red pill early. He saw the writing on the wax and got on with it. These days he swings a hammer, pours concrete, joins timber, and still surfs better than 99% of the planet. Actually, he’s frothing. Skip’s been all over Indo and Central/South America in the past few years, and his clips have shown up repeatedly in Spectacular Waves—Stab’s annual highlight reel of the most arresting visions from the salt.

We rate him. That’s why we brought him onto Red Bull’s Channel 51 as a wildcard host alongside Jamie O’Brien, Coco Ho, Jordy Smith, Dooma Fahrenfort and Josiah Amico, to altcast the first CT event of the year. If Skip’s name hasn’t hit your internal surf rolodex yet, ask anyone on the QS who they most fear when it starts tubing and they’ll name the La Jolla local every time.

Let’s not forget: he won Cloud 9 in 2018, logged more legit bombs at Pipe and OTW in the past few winters than most career lifers. Indo? Milked it.

Anyway, enough throat-clearing. Skip nailed last year’s El Salvador call with JJF. Here’s who he’s backing in 2025:

Men: Ethan Ewing, Yago Dora, Bryan Perez, Al Cleland
Women: Erin Brooks, Caity Simmers, Molly Picklum

Place your bets over at Betonline.AG