Pancho, power ranger. Photo: Joli

One of the most powerful surfers that ever buried a rail, Pancho ruled much of the North Shore the late 90’s and 00’s with an outrageous frontside gouge that literally killed even the meatiest of sections dead. Dead in a violent frenzy of aerosol water particles. It seemed like his place was that of the perennial North Shore freesurf ripper/Searcher, but he somehow broke the mold and qualified at the ripe old age of 32, even peaking with a 7th place finish in ‘07. For some reason everyone seems to like the out and out power guys, it’s somehow more savoury, more manly perhaps, to count them among your favourite surfers. Everybody loved Pancho.