Big Wave Challenge
Photos by Steve Gaffney (SteveGaffney.com) by Kevin Cody The South Bay Boardriders Big Wave Challenge for the largest wave ridden in the 2023-24 winter season had plenty of worthy entries. Photographer Steve Gaffney’s photos from the last week in December are among the contenders. The swell invited comparison to the swells that flooded the Hermosa […]
Women fearless in SB Boardriders/El Porto shorepound
photos by Steve Gaffney (SteveGaffney.com) Photos made the surf look good at the South Bay Boardriders/El Porto Surf Shop contest two weeks ago in El Porto, but only because the level of surfing in the Boardrider contests keeps improving. Nowhere is this more evident than in the women’s divisions. In the Women’s Open division, competitors […]
Torrance surf a surprise at SBBC/Dive N’ Surf contest
Photos by Steve Gaffney (@SteveGaffney) Historically, the South Bay Boardriders/Dive N’ Surf contest at Torrance Beach has had the best swag bags and worst waves of the annual SBBC seven-contest series. Dive N’ Surf is notoriously generous to surfers, and this year was no exception. Torrance Beach surf is notoriously stingy with waves, but this […]
A Grand (Avenue) last week of 2023 for surfers, through the lens of Steve Gaffney
Photos by Steve Gaffney (@stevegaffney) Photographer Steve Gaffney was at Hammerland and neighboring El Segundo breaks during the final week of December 2023.
Jimmy Surf Fiesta takes the plunge for Browning
Surf photos by Steve Gaffney (SteveGaffney.com) “A Plunge for the Cause” was among the highlights of the 18th Annual Jimmy Surf Fiesta held during the first big swell of fall, at 42nd Street in El Porto on Saturday, October 14. The ice tub plunge was a benefit for surf filmmaker, and former pro surf Greg […]
Gale force winds challenge SBBC surfers
Photos by Steve Gaffney (SteveGaffney.com) Gale force winds, approaching 20 miles per hour during the South Bay Boardriders/El Porto Surf Shop in El Porto contest two Saturdays ago left announcer Mark Cole at a loss for words. “I’ve said, ‘Challenging conditions’ a hundred times already. I need a new word,” he apologized over the […]
Don’t be a melon head, Manhattan Beach Police tell MBMS e-bike riders
by Kevin Cody “Waves of the future,” the motto painted above the Manhattan Beach Middle School quad, applies even to the way the 1,300 students get to school. An estimated 90 percent ride e-bikes. Because of e-bike speeds of up to 28 miles per hour, they are considered more dangerous than pedal bikes. But rather […]
Manhattan/El Segundo big wave bombs
Photos by Steve Gaffney (SteveGaffney.com) Los Angeles County Lifeguards Matty Mohagen and Shane Gallas pushed the limits of paddling into big waves at the Manhattan-El Segundo border about 7:30 a.m. on January 6. The shore pound was 10 feet. The outside waves, breaking past the end of the jetty, were two to three times that […]
Hermosa delivers, surfers respond to the South Bay Boardriders Club/Waterman Surf Contest
Hermosa delivered on its reputation for big closeouts on big days, and local surfers schooled by big days at Burnout and Hammerland responded to the challenge during the Saturday, April 23 South Bay Boardriders Club/Waterman surf contest at the Hermosa Beach pier. Adding to the challenge was the presence of Barbados surfer Ocean Gittens, who […]
Surf photographer Steve Gaffney advice: Stay low, keep moving
Steve Gaffney is a fine arts photographer who finds inspiration in surfing, and returns it. When surfers see him running up and down at the waterline, their surfing ratchets up a notch. Gaffney has been photographing South Bay Boardriders contests every winter since 2012. The contests are held six times a year, generally in North […]
Jimmy Surf Fiesta 2021 in Manhattan Beach, Photo Gallery 3
Gallery 3. Photos by Steve Gaffney