Beau Cram Is A Talented Surfing Everyman

A surfing life is a many-splendoured venture and there’s no one way of doing it.

Australia’s packed with surfers who could’ve made a living surfing, but chose to do something else. In many ways it’s a smart move. Turning something you love into a job sounds great, but it inevitably changes your relationship with it. Beau Cram is a talented surfer with a rich surfing heritage from Sydney’s Northern Beaches who can turn his hand to any craft. Instead of pursuing a professional surfing career, Beau chose to learn a trade, save the pennies and travel. What’s resulted is a pure surfing existence, and an O’Neill O’riginal that we can all relate to.

Beau’s finless surfing is something quite special.

Now if the name “Cram” seems familiar in surfing circles then that would be thanks to Beau’s Dad Richard Cram, 80s pro and proud owner of one of the most revered cutbacks in surfing history. R. Cram was a competitive force in his heyday, but decided to hang up the rashie in his mid 20s to live a slightly more, stable existence (if half of the stories from 80s tour life are true then it was one hell of a party). As a result his offspring grew up with a realistic take on the multi-faceted surfing life. In short: three to the beach and thrusters weren’t a necessity, thus leading to Beau being prolific on crafts with four, three, two, one and indeed, no fins.

Crafts of all shapes and sizes, fins, sex wax and a carton of Coopers Green = happiness.

When you’re at the first of life’s many crossroads in your late teens, knuckling down and getting a trade isn’t the most glamorous option. However, it sure pays off if you’ve a penchant for surf and travel. Whilst many of us chose expensive degrees followed by poorly paying jobs as our entry to the workforce, the likes of Beau can already be full qualified with a pocketful of pesos in Mexico whilst we’re enduring the soul-destroying process of trying to secure the first job. And as a bonus, on return home it’s easy to jump straight back on the tools to replenish the funds. 

Backlit Beau taking two fins to a dusky J-Bay wall.

There’s a sizey disconnect between professional surfing and the less glamorous form of the sport that the rest of us enjoy. And that’s why the O’Neill O’Riginals works. There’s something life-affirming about talented surfers building their lives around surfing for no other reason other than the fact that they love doing it.

Watch O’Neill’s The Originals episodes One, Two, Three and Flea.