This 15-Year Old Surfs Like A Man
Merrik Mochkatel is now on (y)our radar.
Yeah, the kid in the above edit is 15 years old.
Or, he’s 16… but he was 15 when this was filmed.
“So, what’s your diet, dude?” I ask Merrik Mochkatel when he picks up the phone. “Are you just eating strictly whey protein and ground beef or what?”
He laughs.
“Yeah, I love eating. I’m honestly just always eating and then trying to work out a lot,”
It shows.
At 5’11 and 170lbs, the Gen-Z talent already surfs like a man, and he’s already confronting a version of professional surfing that looks very different from the one his heroes inherited. Fewer oversized junior contracts, fewer blank checks for promising teenagers, and more pressure to prove you can do more than just surf well.
Despite being a sophomore in high school (yes, he goes to high school) Merrik is sharply aware of all of it.
“Everyone knows there’s so much less money in surfing than there was, I don’t know, 10 or 15 years ago,” he says to me. “Back then you’re 15 and you’re good at surfing and you can get a huge contract. Now there’s a lot more to it.”
When I ask him if he’s planning on going to college, creating a social media focused surf career, trying to qualify for the CT, or just wanting to make films, he laughs.
“All of it,” he says. “One person I obviously look at is John. He’s so good at competing and so good at making films, and he also seems like a very educated person. I’d love to have my own take on that. For now, I’m sticking to what I know best and hoping that people believe in me.”
The North Shore-based goofyfooter is currently in 10th grade at Kahuku High, trains before school with Raynos Hayes and Kahea Hart, is planning to compete this season on the QS, and spends the rest of his time filming with his friend Morgan Lavin (who made the above edit.)
“Right now there’s a couple QSes coming, so I’m really focusing on that, but I also just love filming and doing edits with my friend Morgan. This is our third edit together, and we’ve made a lot of progress since the first one. I feel confident that each edit will just get better.”
Their latest edit was filmed entirely at Bowls over the Hawaiian summer. In June, Merrik was forced to choose between continuing in his beloved Local Motion Surf Bowls event or heading to US Champs at Lowers. He stayed in Hawaii.
“I surfed a heat and then US Champs was the next day,” he says. “I was just like, I’ll stay here. It’s hard to walk away from such a good event and such firing waves.”
Merrik made the semifinals in the Bowls event, dropped a 10 and a 9, and surfed some of the best waves he says he’s ever had in a heat, which you can see above.
“It was probably the best decision I’ve ever made,” he says.
Not bad for someone whose biggest decisions still include homework.
For now, there’s no grand reinvention of professional surfing happening here. Just a sensible, talented kid worth keeping on your radar.
Oh, and his last name Mochkatel is pronounced MUH-SKAH-TELL
“It’s such a confusing last name,” he laughs. “My great grandparents came from Germany to Ellis Island, and their last name got changed.”
As someone missing a few vowels myself, I relate.
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