Channel Islands’ Newest Surfer Practices Polyamory

The first time I met Ian Gottron, it was a windy day at an otherwise occasionally world-class right-hand pointbreak.

There were only a handful of people out, and the surf didn’t seem to allow for much. It was zippy and crumbly. The northwest wind tore across the water, breaking swell lines into a disorganized succession of gutless slop.

Ian had paddled out less than an hour after landing and driving up the coast from the airport. He was joined by his friend and collaborator Remy Armstrong, who had momentarily abandoned his occasional position behind the viewfinder.

When Ian got to his feet, it looked as if he was surfing a different wave on a different day. No pumps, all rail, effortless elegance. “Californian wave-riding IQ,” someone in the water said.

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Watching the raw-ish session above, uploaded to YouTube’s servers by Channel Islands, reminded me of that day. It confirmed not only how much Ian must love being in the water, but also how, as a spawn of the “ride everything” ethos, he must love truly surfboards of all shapes and sizes. A genuine polyamorist. He swiftly adapts to whatever he puts his hips into. And how fortunate is it that now he has access to CI’s copious files, archives, and factory rafters. Paradise.

On the single afternoon session filmed by Remy, whatever lines made it past Isla Todos Santos and toward ‘Gato’ were ridden on three different boards with three different fin setups: a CI Mid, a Free Scrubber, and a five-fin Bonzer CI collab originally made for Dane Gudauskas.

Less high-performance than most of what you’ll find here, but definitely ticking the “makes me want to go for a surf” box.