Surfing’s Anti-Hero Makes his Second Act
By Jeff Mull


At 29 years old, Bruce Irons is turning over a new leaf in his life by creating a new beginning for himself. He’s stepping off the World Tour, and in the process, revolutionizing professional surfing by opting to spend his time pushing himself over the ledge for the cameras rather than the ASP judges. Welcome to Bruce’s new world…the future of professional surfing.

It’s never easy to go against the grain. From its inception, the World Tour has always been the place to be, the Promised Land, 72 virgins, perfect waves, cold beer, a place where surfing shines and progression is rewarded. The Good Life. But as goes life, as goes the World Tour and things are rarely what they seem.

The beer is indeed cold, the waves are indeed firing, but in truth, being on the ’CT is a grind to say the least. Layovers, jetlag, magazine interviews, autographs, photo shoots, team managers—they’re all constantly jockeying for your undying attention. But let’s be clear: Life on the Tour sure beats the living hell out of the cubicles and florescent lights where most of us spend our 9 to 5. But then again, Bruce Irons isn’t most of us.

Having grown up a part of a surfing dynasty, the Irons Clan had planted deep roots throughout the Hawaiian Islands and by the 1970s had cemented their name as a reputable family full of talented, promising surfers. Raised along the razor-sharp reefs of Kaua‘i’s north shore, at a young age Bruce and his older brother Andy were quickly forging a reputation for themselves in the surf industry. Their weekend jaunts from the Garden Island to the North Shore mesmerized the surf world with their progressive, balls-to-the-wall approach to Backdoor and Pipeline, all with their characteristic aloofness and common disregard for personal safety.

“I remember the first time I really saw Bruce surf on the North Shore,” says Rick Irons, cousin to Bruce and current publisher of Surfer magazine. “He must have been around 13 or 14 and he was just ripping backdoor…just playing with it. I wasn’t the only one impressed. A lot of people saw how confident he was out there and what he could do. That’s when people started to take note of Bruce and realize what he is capable of.”

From his teens into his 20s, Bruce became the quintessential anti-hero to the surf media. His brash attitude toward surfing matched his beautifully reckless style in the water. There wasn’t a wave Bruce wouldn’t go on, a tube to heavy for him to pull in, a section where he wouldn’t get lofty. It was Bruce’s world: big airs, big hacks, and big barrels. The surf world was addicted and eagerly awaited his arrival to the Tour the same way an 8-year-old yearns for Christmas morning.

In 2004, the time came and Bruce had qualified at the elite level. Game on. Time to shake things up. But despite proving to the world that he could hold his own in the world of singlets and heat horns (Bruce holds victories at the Pipe Masters, the Eddie, and most recently, the Search Event in Indonesia), it never really happened. Where were the fireworks that were promised? It seemed there was something missing from Bruce, or maybe more importantly, there was something missing in the Tour.

It’s been said time and again that the judging on the ASP isn’t commensurate with the surfing. When three standard turns on a wave gets you through a heat and a massive hack or huge punt leaves you relegated to the loser’s round, something is amiss. The old-school approach to judging new-school surfing has affected every surfer wanting to progress the sport in the competitive arena.

According to one-time ’CT Surfer Shea Lopez, “…there were times when I’d blow up a wave, pull off an air to layback snap to reverse, and get a 7. Later in the heat I’d do four standard turns and get an 8.5. I’m like, ‘What do you guys want?’ I’m watching from the judges’ tower and I’m freakin’ out. I’m watching someone do three floaters that anybody in the world could’ve done and get an 8. There’s no degree of difficulty. They rode the wave straight to the shoulder, did three floaters, and got an 8. I would’ve loved to have gone out and had to push my surfing to the limit to get my scores. When everyone has to do that, it’s great.”

Lopez isn’t the only one sharing that view. According to Dane Reynolds, “If you’re truly pushing yourself in the water, you’re not going to make every turn or land every air. You have to pull back to make a heat.” If anyone was affected by the judging, it was Bruce. How do you tell dynamite not to explode? How do you tell lightning not to strike? How do you tell Bruce Irons to go for a 5.5?

You don’t.

All of this leaves one dying question: If the best surfing in the world isn’t happening on the Tour, then where the hell is it happening? In a word: video. With Bruce stepping back from the tour, he’s now putting his time and energy into his new creation, Irons Brothers Productions, where there are no chains holding him back, no heat horns telling him when and how to surf, just Bruce being allowed to be Bruce.

With the construction of Irons Brothers Productions, Bruce is essentially blazing a new path for the way the surf world views professional surfing and redefining what it means to be a professional surfer. When one of the world’s most respected surfers chooses to advance the sport through cinematography rather than through the ASP, he’s in fact legitimizing the long-held idea that not every surfer has to be a contest surfer; you can, in fact, be at the very pinnacle of the game and never have to put on another jersey.

All of this came to fruition when Irons Brothers Productions released the much-anticipated film, Dudecruise. The film more than lived up to the hype. Not only does it give the viewer insight into Bruce’s personality, along with his affinity for car accidents and Ping-Pong, it does all of this by showcasing some of the most progressive surfing in the world. The movie has been an instant success with Dudecruise’s producer Matt Beauschene gaining top honors at the 2008 Surfer Poll and Video Awards as the year’s Breakthrough Filmmaker for his role in directing the film.

According to Blair Marlin of DC, Bruce’s move to focus on filming over competition not only legitimizes the idea that a pro surfer can have an illustrious career through celluloid, but it also sets the stage for an unprecedented look into the lives of pro surfers.

“Films like Dudecruise and [Dane Reynolds’s] First Chapter show kids what the guys are really like free from the madness of the Tour,” explains Marlin, “surfing waves they have chosen to travel to away from their public commitments, and sharing the time with crews that allow them to be themselves. Instead of paddling out and trying to figure out how a board reacts in the pocket at this or that certain wave, the guys are just stoked to be surfing good waves with their friends. And contrary to what most videos portray, the boys do fall, and the kids don’t mind seeing that too. What is captured by cameras on trips like these are what kids can relate to most, which I would say is the biggest reason why movies like these are gaining more relevance. Dudecruise in particular was a movie that shows personality, and was meant to leave the kids with some funny quotes to recite to their friends, and more than just an air reverse to talk about when it was over.”