Mack Crilley
Our next rider is from a region in the world with a reputation for having some of the heaviest waves on the planet, it is made up of a staggering 137 islands!
Amazingly you can find 10 of the world's 14 climate zones and the islands are the most geographically isolated chain on earth.
The local alphabet only consists of 12 letters and you will struggle to find a single snake or bill board and gambling is illegal.
With it's stunning natural beauty it makes it the perfect surf getaway, one that I wish to add to my list in the very near future.......
"Aloha my name is Mack Crilley and I am 23 years old and I am professional bodyboarder, I was born and raised in Hawaii on the island of Maui.
I grew up right across the street from a very user friendly beach with my mom and dad.
Both my parents were in love with the ocean so ever since I can remember we have been going to the beach.
Body boarding was the easiest way for my parents to introduce me to the ocean, I would lay on the front of the board and my mom or dad would ride on the back.
It wasn’t until I was about 6 or 7 years old that I discovered the jack stance, Dropknee bodyboarding.
I saw a video of some professional bodyboarders from Hawaii doing Drop knee and I was blown away! I wanted a board just like I saw in the videos I watched! My first high performance bodyboard was a Bob Marley Ballistic board, green deck and rails with a black and white Bob Marley picture on the slick.
Big beach on Maui became my favorite spot! It’s a short 15 min drive from my house and there is always something to ride.
I entered my first bodyboarding contest at the age of 12, It was the 10th Annual Paia bay Beach fest and I took home 6th place In the menehune division “12 and under”.
My biggest inspirations in bodyboarding were my friends and family, I loved the ocean and so did my friends. I owe a huge part of my skills to my family and friends who would pick me up and take me bodyboarding, drop me off buy me food and motivate me to go big and follow dreams!
My uncle Koa Whitford and his son Quinn were amazing standup bodyboarders and really motivated me to do more standup bodyboarding on waves I didn’t know it was possible to do on. They took me all the time after school to the big waves and they would always standup bodyboard, they were my coaches!
I then got a free ticket to LA from the Maui Dk wars event to visit the ultimate bodyboard master Chris wonton! He picked me up from the airport and I spent a week with him at his home surfing all his hidden gems.
It was one of the coolest experiences of my life hanging out with the legend and getting footage! It gave me a huge confidence boost and I pursued my dream as a pro bodyboarder and entered every contest I could.
After wining the the prone and Dropknee state championship on Oahu I went down to sandy beach where I heard science bodyboards were throwing a shore break contest. When we showed up the only division that wasn’t full was the standup bodyboard, I ended up winning that contest and even got sponsored by science bodyboards.
I then returned every year and since then I made almost every final in all three divisions and took home 5 stand up bodyboard 1st places and a Dropknee 1st place.
The best of us from the Science bodyboard team decided we were gonna do the world tour! Patrick Orr, Sammy Morretino Pohaku kekaulua and I.
We called ourselves the “feral krew” because we were a group of jungle boys that had little to no experience about being outside of our country.
While on tour I met with Ayaka Suzuki who is now my dream girlfriend,
she really pushed me to continue on the world tour and gave me some extreme travelling lessons! Ayaka also follows the APB world tour and because she is in a different division than I am, we make a really good team!
Besides travelling the world tour back at home I work at a surf school “Maui wave riders”. It’s an easy satisfyingly way to make money for me. I also work side by side with my dad as a handy man, plumbing, flooring, roofing, landscaping and what ever else needs to be done for his clients.
I plan for the future to be a full time professional bodyboarder travelling the world for competition and videos, I am getting closer everyday to my dream.
My sponsors are Science bodyboards, gyroll, viper surfing fins , The foam company bodyboard shop, Boobieshack clothing, and also Ululani’s Hawaiian shaved ice.
It’s pretty cool being sponsored and learning how to work together with companies for each others better interests.
On Maui my favorite place to surf is Honolua bay. It has many sections with barrels and ramps. The crowd is a little harsh but there is almost always enough waves to go around. Favourite wave In the world though is hard I have so many favourite spots, Nazare in Portugal, Puerto Escondido in Mexico, Arica in Chile, Itacoatiara in Brazil but still my all time favourite is The Banzai Pipeline!
I have many other spots though I would love to try like skeleton bay, shark island, and on the top of the list is El fronton in the canaries.
I plan to travel this year for the APB Fronton king!
As a bodyboarder I love to wear clothes that are bodyboard related. Right now in Hawaii there is a boogie t shirt contest going on. How it works is you send in your best shot to the contest to make a shirt, whoever sells the most shirts wins the grand prize. I think it’s great for our sport, I also have a t shirt being released by Kings soul clothing that will help contribute to my world tour fund.
My favourite clothing comes from The foam company, Boobie shack, and the Ululani’s Hawaiian shave iced gift shop.
I love all kinds of music but before I surf for a contest I like to listen to artist's that amp you up. It can be rap, rock, reggae as long as the energy is positive with good lyrics, I also enjoy to play the ukulele.
Big shout outs to all The Hawaii bodyboarders who have made me who I am today by showcasing their passion for the sport and supporting me on my journey! Also to all the fans of bodyboarding and supporters, couldn’t be here without you!
Photo credits include:
Shane Chalker Photography
Asa photos @kbb808
João Araujo
Buho Jarquin
Dooma Photos
Mack thank you so much for catching up with us, love what you are doing for the support, keep living the dream for all of us bro 🤙🏻.......
Soon we will have some super secret news to share from the main man over at Thrash, Fran.....Watch this space❤️ and we couldn't be more excited...
Last few spots remain with the one and only Valentina Diaz down in Mexico with our boy Heriberto Sanchez of The Puerto Experience, Ladies improve your skills on this all Female adventure May 13th-18th 2020.....
Details of the All Star CoEd Bodyboard adventure down in Mexico will be released soon Aug 19th 2020 🤙🏻😎❤️ save the date...............................
