Stab Magazine | The Decorated History of Quiksilver's Young Guns

Live now: How Surfers Get Paid, Season Finale

546 Views

The Decorated History of Quiksilver’s Young Guns

These roots run deep.

style // Aug 17, 2019
Words by Stab
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Whenever I hear “Young Guns” I’m immediately transported back to hearing INXS’s seminal 1982 sweeping electro masterpiece “Don’t Change” for the first time. 

The year was 2007 and Young Guns 3 was the DVD spinning in my parents’ Panasonic DVD recorder (remember them?).

Young Guns I and II were cool too, but mark three was Reynolds, Marzo, Wilson, Carrisa Moore, and Ry Craike at his peak; infantryman Garrette Parkes was ripping too, but he was still grom skinny.

The boys (and girl!) scored offseason Bali – rippable Canggu, Keramas and a few of the east coast waves before they’d been done to death – waves made for throwing fins, and even darted over to empty G-Land. It was a hi-fi smorgasbord, and I slurped it up like an avocado juice after a marathon session at the Racetrack. 

ScaleWidthWyIxMjAwIl0 QS 2017 YoungGuns Bosko 4903

The Young Guns realising a dream.

Whilst Young Guns was the cinematic record of Quik’s home team, King of the Grom’s was their gift to nurturing the competitive surfers of tomorrow. Held every year in the high performance eden of the south of France, KOTG has/had an unrivalled record of uncovering surfers who would go on to become competitive powerhouses in years to come. Alejo Muniz and Wiggles Dantes won the first two in ’04/’05 respectively, the criminally underrated, coming soon to a WSL event near you, Matt Banting won in 2010, and Quik’s favourite son Mikey Wright took it out in 2012.

89c16bac6e43d5fe2030a9b7f2df22fa

King of the Groms to King of the World.

Perhaps the most significant KOTG performance came from our current World Champ, Mr. Gabriel Medina, in 2009. Gabs blitzed the field with a performance that would likely have won him a (then) ‘CT held in similar conditions. His lowest scoring wave in the whole thing was a 9, and considering it was ’09, when aerial surfing and competitions didn’t collide all that much, it was truly was a “holy shit, this is the future” performance moment.

And, the rest of Gabby’s results are, shall we say, history. 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/7bkdmBWbedo

2015 saw Quik open their annual to both (all) genders and in doing so, revamp their Young Guns heritage.

They could’ve called it Monarch of the Groms, but that was far too Monarch of the Glen, which is about the most un-hip parallel you could draw, so the new, digital Young Guns was born. Since the re-brand the three surfers discovered have been Seb Williams (who’s just biding his time and healing his wounds before inevitably bursting through), Rio Waida, who will undoubtedly become the greatest surfer the Indonesian archipelago has ever seen, and Sammy Pupo, brother of and, as much as we love Miggy, the first genuine future world champ material to come from his bloodline.

Talk about un-dusting the future!

Phase one of Young Guns is in full effect, to enter post your clips to Instagram and tag @quiksilver + #YGSurfContest. We (being Stab) are picking our top eight fav entries and sending them onto the next round. 

For all the pertinent information on how to enter, click here!

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Watch: ‘Haiku’

Scenes From a Remote Reality, by Vans & Karina Rozunko

Mar 25, 2023

Sun Room: The Overnight Success Of A Young Surf Band

What's it like touring the world and living off of McDonald's?

Mar 25, 2023

How Surfers Get Paid, Episode 6

An instructional manual for the modern professional surfer

Mar 23, 2023

7:03

Caity Simmers — Extreme Competitive Surf Vlogger

Cool is chemical.

Mar 23, 2023

Globe Pulls Out Of The Apparel Game

…and, Taj Burrow and Dion Agius are now looking for new main sponsors.

Mar 22, 2023

Owen Wright Announces Retirement From Competitive And Heavy-Water Surfing

But will surf final CT event at Bells.

Mar 22, 2023

29:05

Fancy An Ale, Some Good Music, And A Bunch Of Tubes?

Ballet's minimalist full-length will satiate your needs.

Mar 22, 2023

João Chianca Spent Seven Years On The QS Without A Sponsor

And look where he is now.

Mar 22, 2023

Take Stab’s 2023 Audience Survey, Win A 3-Board Quiver

Stab towels and Premium subscriptions also up or grabs.

Mar 21, 2023

Jessi Miley Dyer On The New Challenger Series Schedule And More

Did you know that you could miss the mid-year cut and still theoretically win the…

Mar 20, 2023

5:05

Don’t Miss The Last Wave Of The First 2023 SEOTY Entry

Jacob Willcox's ‘Into Dust’ just set the bar.

Mar 20, 2023

Warren Smith on New Welcome Rivers Range and Buying Jaguars on Facebook Marketplace  

Now available in the Antipodes...

Mar 20, 2023

5:13

Wavegarden Spills How The Sausage Is Made

BTS of their global air wave rollout ft. Yago Dora, Dion Agius, Reef Heazlewood and…

Mar 18, 2023

Minds, Machines, And The Magic Of Hands

How modern shapers split their time between designing files and hand-finishing boards.

Mar 18, 2023

3:31

Are Hectic Lefts The Final Finless Frontier?

William Aliotti is on the right-foot-forward fringes.

Mar 17, 2023

Watch: Luke + Eddie

A mostly unknown, on-duty lifeguard won the most prestigious big-wave event in history. How Luke…

Mar 17, 2023

7:10

A Pipe Master, Ryan Burch, And Some Pickle Forks On The Eastern Seaboard

This one ticks a lot of boxes

Mar 16, 2023

Brazil Has A Talent Problem

And three other things we learned from the Rip Curl Pro Portugal.

Mar 16, 2023
Advertisement