Special coverage presented by Surf City - El Salvador Travel

 

Looking to do something different about the longboard finals, DUKE's filmer on that trip, Juani Gayol (fanatic and connoisseur of world longboarding), shared the idea that the master and fundamentalist of world longboarding, Kai Ellice Flint, was in El Salvador.

Not competing because he had finished 11th in the ranking, but accompanying Soleil Errico and his friend, the legendary CJ Nelson.

It only took one Instagram message to be quickly answered for us to be heading there that same afternoon.

The invitation included surfing perfect waves in a secluded spot, Mizata, and eating something delicious at the restaurant across the street, Nawi.

He asked if he could bring a friend and the answer was yes.

I asked him if another longboarder could come, but he said he preferred not to share the video with someone whose ideals or way of seeing longboarding were so different.

Since he was the original guest, I told him to forget about it and that we should go there alone.

I expected a more lively conversation, but things were quieter on the way there. We exchanged a few ideas, and there was quite a bit of awkward silence along the way.

But as the trip progressed, things loosened up.

We arrived at Mizata and there were two people in the water; the late afternoon was beautiful with the super glass wind and the right-handers breaking non-stop.

It was a beautiful session for everyone, and we got out of the water to fill our bellies and then exchange some ideas more freely, amidst a few laughs.

That enigmatic character, yet at the same time so normal, so like everyone else, was crowned world champion a few days ago.

I've already talked about how life takes unexpected turns. Last year he wasn't even in the finals and was just there to support the team, and this year he was a mega world champion who received praise from everyone.

It was an interesting experience going to Mizata with him, but even more interesting was seeing him surf in these finals and that someone as fundamentalist as him ended up winning in such a close competition.

I think that with all this talk of fundamentalism, more or less important to some... I could perfectly understand that request that people who do not share that different way of seeing the discipline not come.

Like everyone who's different, like everyone who wins world championships, Kai has a different way of seeing and doing things. And it's precisely by doing it that he wins world titles.