Hurley Just Signed A New Surfer

When the pandemic first hit, pretty much every major surf brand either cut members of their team or dropped salaries drastically. Many of them did both.

At the time, Hurley had more money invested in athletes than almost any other brand, with John Florence alone pulling in close to four mil per annum. Hurley had also recently been sold from Nike to Bluestar Alliance, which meant they had new owners of the business and thus new operating strategies.

The combination of these two factors led to (what felt like) the departure of their entire surf team. John Florence cut his losses and took a $2M payout to terminate the three remaining years on his contract (and soon thereafter started FMX); Carissa Moore stripped her )( logos but never officially announced her departure; and dozens of Hurley’s regional and international team riders were cut loose, ending — in some cases — decade-long partnerships (Julian Wilson, Rob Machado, Ace Buchan, Michel Bourez, and Lakey Peterson included).

Then, slowly but surely, Hurley’s new owners came around and started acquiring their team back.

Carissa slapped the inverse parentheses back on her boards, presumably after her deal was re-negged. Kolohe and Filipe also agreed to stay on, rounding out their A-Team. And all around the world, young little rippers started receiving goody boxes in their mailboxes again. The world was righting itself.

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Today, Hurley announced the arrival of its newest team member, Taj Lindblad. Taj is a stylish and powerful 19-year-old from San Clemente, California, who recently represented Team USA at the ISA World Games in El Salvador, in place of injured Olympians John Florence and Kolohe Andino.

As a youngster gun, Taj was sponsored by Quiksilver. He then transitioned over to RVCA for a few years, before being picked up by Hurley today. We wish them the best of luck in their endeavors.