You heard it recently from racers on the recent Volvo Race. More recently we heard it from racers in the 2015 Transpac. The oceans need our help. In fact just about everyone who spends time on the ocean shares both an appreciation and concern for the sea. One of the great ocean recreation pioneers has been on the water and teaching the value of the ocean for decades. Jack O'Neill, who invented the surfing wetsuit, is a sailor, surfer and avid ocean advocate. His 65' catamaran has also shared an ocean experience with 75,000 kids! Sailing and sailors have a lot to offer the world and Jack O'Neill, now 92, has been a pioneer on all fronts. The Santa Cruz Waves tells the story:
Jack O’Neill, the inventor of the surfing wetsuit, a sailor, wave-rider, and former hot-air ballooner, is 92 years old. His life’s work tells a tale of the evolution of surfing, while his memories tell the story of a man with a life well lived.
By Joel Hersch
h jack
During the last week of March 1964, a 9.2 earthquake shook Alaska to its core, causing a massive tsunami to travel across the North Pacific. One of the biggest swells to ever hit the West Coast rose up out of the sea, sending 25-foot blue-water giants rolling across Third Reef and Steamer Lane, where just a few brave Santa Cruz surfers paddled out for the inside lineup.
The waves were so ferocious that the entire San Francisco Bay was shut down—tanker ships were directed back out to sea—while closeout sets pummeled the Santa Cruz harbor entrance at the jetty.
The breeze was light that day, underscoring the power of the swell, and 41-year-old Jack O’Neill—still seven years away from the surf injury that would leave him with the iconic black patch over his left eye—was sailing his Pacific Catamaran, or “P-Cat,” just off of Lighthouse Point, making a line into position for an inconceivable takeoff on one of the mountains of water piling high on the far outside.
Manning the tiller while his loyal sailing companion Dave Wally operated the mainsheet, Jack felt the two stern ends of the 19-foot catamaran lift and the rush of water over its hulls as they caught the massive wave and began careening down its face, the two men holding on for their lives.
You can still get on the ocean with O'Neill Yacht Charters.