“Not Only Did He Beat That Frickin’ Temper-Tantrum-Throwing Goober, Thank God, But He Did It On A Board He Crafted Himself”
Joel Tudor celebrates the maiden Longboard World Title of Kai Ellice Flint.
Kai Ellice Flint just won the Longboard World Title in El Salvador on a board he shaped, glassed, and airbrushed himself. Something that, according to Joel Tudor, hasn’t happened since 1982, when MR won his fourth consecutive title on a board not dissimilar to the one he submitted in EAST.
“That’s insane,” Joel gassed, equal parts proud and flabbergasted. “That’s the biggest accomplishment of him winning. Not only did he beat that frickin’ temper-tantrum-throwing goober, thank God, but he did it on something he made himself. That’s surfing. That’s punk. That’s what it’s supposed to be. I literally just finished teaching jiu-jitsu, wiping down mats soaked in sweat, and opened my phone and there it was: Kai won. Goddamn. It made my day.”
Joel first met Kai at Noosa years ago, where he was riding a “bitchin’ old Sam Egan longboard.” He impressed not just with his drop-knee panache, but his attitude. “I remember saying, ‘Hey, let me borrow that thing,’ and he loaned me this great piece of surf history. He had a beautiful style too. I just remember thinking, man, this kid is really cool.”
He recalled Kai’s early appearances in the Vans Duct Tape events before the tour went dormant. “He didn’t have the greatest showing in the first couple,” Joel admitted, which makes the 29-year-old’s return to full-time competing on a skint tour all the more impressive. “It’s fuckin’ super admirable to put your head down, work that hard, and win like that,” he said. “It’s a great day for longboarding.”
And not least because Kai did it the old-school way: on a hand-shaped single fin, not some souped-up three-fin performance log. “He killed it this year,” added Joel. “Won Huntington, which is a tricky wave. Surfed it really well. Didn’t do great at Bells — but Bells is a terrible longboard wave anyway. It’s blown out ninety percent of the time. That’s the story of our tour. We just get whatever’s cheap for the WSL. Wherever the tourism board pays for it — that’s where it goes. El Salvador? Sure. Abu Dhabi? Sure. There’s no effort to make good events, just whatever costs the least. It’s kinda sad.”
He paused before adding, “You know, it’s funny — a couple years ago I actually messaged him, told him, ‘Dude, quit wasting your money. Four events a year at six grand each? That’s a down payment on an apartment.’ I was being the caring uncle — like, if you’ve got the cash, buy property. Protect your future. But he didn’t listen. He put his head down and did it. And I fuckin’ love that. I eat my words.”
Inevitably came the Tudor missive. “Financially the tour is still such a major fuckery,” he said. “You don’t even make back what you spend to go. The majority of people left on tour are dead broke, man. With the industry shrinking, longboarders are the last people anyone’s spending money on. Unless you’re a cute girl with selling power, you’re fucked. You either do GoFundMe or have rich parents — that’s literally what it’s come down to. Kai doesn’t come from money, so he was selling boards, staying with friends, doing it organically. It’s cool to see that pay off.”
And hey, if you chop your own wood, it’ll warm you twice.
“He deserves it,” Joel said. “He’s in that top tier of guys who do it right. But it’s brutal. You win, and after taxes and travel and boards, you might clear twenty-five hundred bucks. Last place on the CT makes fifteen grand. That’s the joke. That’s why I don’t compete anymore. I can’t lose that kind of money every year.”
He laughed. “If we even made what the old shortboard guys did — thirty grand for first — I’d make a comeback. For fuck’s sake, I’d do it. But there’s no money. None. It’s why I fought the WSL back in the day. I wanted to get us paid. They threatened to fire me if I didn’t shut up. So I shut up. But I should’ve kept going.”
As the conversation wound down, he softened again. “Man, Kai did it the old way,” he said. “No rich parents, no handouts, no industry backing. He built his own board, paddled out, and beat the guy who throws tantrums. I mean, that’s storybook shit. He should get a beer at the Northern, celebrate properly.”
Awoooo.
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