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Funny the surfers you can run into at the airport. Many years ago I ran into Andy Irons waiting for a plane at Coolangatta and he said hello to me ! ANDY IRONS wanted to talk…to ME !!!! Despite having Lindy there, after exchanging a few words, I could tell he was actually keen to talk. And although I desperately wanted to, I played it all cool and just walked away because I was so intimidated by his fame. D’oh !  

Not any more. Running desperately late for my flight back to Bali (jetstar were ringing me) when I was finally slowed down by the inevitable queue lined up in the boarding chute, I recognised the tiny frame of an unmistakable Eli Hanneman, who was clearly second last to check in.  

I was instantly intrigued by a guy who I knew had experienced such a radical mix of fortune recently. When he took out the US Open at Huntington Beach, not only had he won his first massive event, in the process he catapulted a stunning 23 places up the Challenger Series rankings, virtually confirming his slot for a Dream Tour start next year. In short, he’d made it! But any excitement over his own trajectory was tempered by the suffering going on in his home island of Maui after it was decimated by freakish fires, generated brutal and unrelenting gale force winds.  

Tracks: Hello mate, you going to Indo for a comp?  
Eli: No just for fun  
Dude you got a great result in America huh ?  
Oh yeah, thank you.  
You actually won the thing right ?!  
Yeah so stoked. 
No doubt, you’ ll have qualified for the dream tour now huh, where are you on the ratings ?  
Fourth  
Unbelievable, you looking forward to surfing some of those Dream Tour spots ?  
Oh yeah, I haven’t made it yet though.  
Still .. you actually won one so man you kinda have ! Well done. Big prize money for winning that thing still? 
It’s not what is was  
Used to be like 100 grand US right ?  
It’s like a fifth of that now.  
Still, all those people, all that prestige.. All those ratings points!
Yeah thank you, it was pretty special.  
How old are you?  
20  
And you’re from Maui huh?  
Yes I am.  
Fuck, how is it over there? 
The town I grew up in is gone.  
Oh man, that’s so heavy. 
Yeah the winds were blowing down telephone poles.  
Have you been back since the fires?
Yeah 
How was it? 
Hundreds of people have died, maybe even thousands.  

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I’m so sorry to hear that, how are you coping ? 
It happened just two days after I won so I’ve just been pretty happy to be away to be honest. 
Happy to try concentrating on surfing then? 
Trying for sure.  
You got any throwaways? 
Yeah I got a round of 80 loss. (at Snapper first up) They’re tough. But I’m straight into the second round for the last two.  
How many comps to go? 
Two, Ericeira and Saquarema.  
You got good support from your sponsors ? 
Yeah really good. (he was sporting a Red Bull cap)  
Well that’s only gonna continue by the look of it huh, congratulations on the win and all the best for everyone in Maui Eli. 
Thankyou  
Do you mind if I knock up a little story for Tracks on you?  
Not at all man, thanks.  

And with that we were shown to our seats and I was left to contemplate some of the stuff I didn’t find out, like where he’s been surfing in Australia. Although there was no Business Class, he was right up the front of the plane and he’s such a small guy it looked for all money like it was Business for him, he had so much damned room. It had only been a seven or eight-minute chat but it offered a great perspective on the vicissitudes of life.  

Click here to donate to the Maui Wildfire 2023 Relief Fund