Jack O’Neill Memorial Paddle Out

Lower Point, JBay – Championship Tour surfer Jordy Smith and friends joined locals and other surfers from all over the country for a Memorial Paddle Out in honour of Jack O’Neill at Lower Point yesterday morning. For the man who pioneered the wetsuit, it was fitting that the weather had arrived in JBay, and it was a freezing, cloudless morning at Lower Point. Surfers were trussed up in their best rubber as they launched through the keyhole into the fresh southwest wind blowing up the point, for the paddle out. Memorial Paddle Outs were staged worldwide, with Jack’s hometown Santa Cruz leading the proceedings. Over 2500 people joined the celebration there in what was the biggest memorial celebration the surfing world has seen to date. People were on surfboards, in boats in the water, and lining the cliff, as 1977 Surfing World Champion Shaun Tomson from South Africa made a speech honouring the man. In JBay, Jordy Smith led the proceedings. “Jack O’Neill was such a visionary and a pioneer,” said Jordy. “Apart from wetsuits and all he did there, he was a forward thinker on so many different aspects of our surfing life. I wouldn’t be able to surf […]