Are you planning to paddle on a board this summer? Hang on your leash securely, we talk about surfing and AAA UK Breitling replica watches with Kelly Slater, the undisputed champion of the discipline. Interview.
This summer, you are launching your fourth collaboration with high quality Breitling super clone watches. Was this collaboration obvious to you?
Kelly Slater: Absolutely! They help us financially to clean up polluted ocean areas, a cause that is very close to my heart. They listened to my team when we pushed the idea of creating bracelets from recyclable material in our luxury replica Breitling watches. We all decided together to use an eco-responsible material, Econyl nylon. It is a nylon thread made from nylon waste recovered in particular from fishing nets that are thrown into the sea – a real disaster for the seabed.
Breitling has just released the special edition perfect fake Breitling Superocean Automatic 42 Kelly Slater watches, limited to 1000 pieces, which you actively co-designed. What did you look for in the design of this watch?
We wanted to create a watch inspired by a model from the 1960s, with strong colors. The orange model has a special meaning for me. It is inspired by the 1:1 best Breitling copy watches my father wore when I was a child. One day he bought himself a new bracelet. The next day, we were going surfing when the bracelet dropped in the middle of the waves. The watch got lost somewhere in the ocean, it was never found.
You created your own eco-responsible clothing brand, Outerknown. In thirty-three years of career, what changes have you observed in the oceans?
I remember my first trip to Japan too, with my childhood hero, Tom Curren. We were alone on a beach. It was almost paradise, except that we thought we would never be able to reach the ocean as the beach was full of trash. To clear our way, we invented a game: the one who touches the most waste with his feet before reaching the water loses. We made it funny, but in reality, it was sad. In Indonesia last year, I had to give up one of my sessions because my leash was constantly clinging to everything that passed.
Do you use a watch when you surf?
Still ! Having Swiss movements Breitling replica watches is essential, especially in competition. I need to be able to get my bearings for my time management.
After several days away from home for G-Land, what do you want when you get home?
Buy organic fruits and vegetables!
Really ?
Yes, I love cooking healthy foods. There, I’m just dreaming of a fish with vegetables that I could cook for my girlfriend and me.
Do you have a routine on D-Day of a competition?
A jog in the rocks (the areas where we surf are often rocky). It’s a precious moment that allows me to feel the present moment… and know if my feet will follow me that day. I have had a string of foot injuries during my career.
On a normal day the day before a stage, what does it look like?
It’s frustrating! The day before a competition is a time of great stress. At that time, I want to surf without stopping to clear my mind and have fun on the waves. But I have to curb my thirst for surfing so as not to exhaust myself for the test the next day. I then have to force myself to stay in my routine and make sure that my body works well with the waves.
You have more than thirty years of competition under your feet, what is the coolest memory you keep?
Oh… I have a myriad of them! But the most recent memory is also the best of my life. It was four months ago, a few days before my fiftieth birthday. I was participating in the Pipeline in Hawaii. The day before, I doubted. I had a serious injury about five years ago and at that time I hadn’t won any competitions. Despite all my experience, all the things I had accomplished, there was this voice in my head telling me about failure. Then D-Day arrived. And I emptied it. I focused on my breathing, I was in the moment. And I gave myself victory!
Do you ever come across fear?
She followed me hundreds of times. As a child, the big waves in Florida (Kelly Slater grew up in Cocoa Beach, Florida, editor’s note) terrified me. But I was still driven by my desire to surf, I couldn’t stay petrified. So I learned to read the ocean like a map. To use my reason to tame my emotion. I was like, OK, that spot over there is dangerous. If I arrive from that side, I will be in a more favorable area. Sometimes I feel like a military officer preparing his ground.
Do you have a secret spot where you like to catch the waves?
Yes, but I won’t tell anyone (laughs). Good very well, I will spit the piece. There’s an island I’ve loved going to in the Pacific Ocean for four or five years. It’s hard to get to, it’s super expensive. There are only two very specific times of the year when the conditions are correct for surfing. The water is hot, crystal water. You can see up to forty meters underwater. And it’s beautiful, it’s only reef, there’s no sand..
How do you see the future of surfing?
We are witnessing a big change at the moment in the world of surfing with artificial waves, which allow surfing inland.
You have also created your own wave pool…
An ambitious project… I wanted to design the best artificial wave in the world. And I knew that if the wave pleased me, it would please everyone. And the best part is that once it’s gone, it comes back. When I hear people who come to tell me that it was the best day of surfing of their whole life, I tell myself that it is successful.
I saw a picture of you with Anthony Kiedis (vocalist of Red Hot Chili Peppers). Between Anthony and Frusciante on a board, who is doing the best?
But no! Frusciante is surfing? Really ? I have never had the opportunity to surf with them before. If I had to choose, I would take the waves with Flea (bass player of Red Hot Chili Peppers, editor’s note). I’ve known him longer than Anthony. He’s probably the craziest of the bunch.