The late-blooming, era-defining bromance of Snips & Gerr. Photo Ellis/A-Frame

Arriving on the scene with some stir in the mid 80’s, Gerr (the one on the right) was famous for an outgoing extrovert personality and a penchant for nightlife, the very anti-thesis of Curren or the serious American straight guy pro approach. After a bridesmaid’s runner-up finish behind Hardman in ‘91, Gerr became disillusioned with the contest scene, and walked away from the tour at his peak, aged just 25. He could have gone the musician-hippy route with Donovan, but instead went on to embark on a legit big wave late career flourish with unlikely sidekick Parsons, that saw him win the XXL. Gerr’s surfing was spontaneous, fast and radical, kind of like a louder, longer haired, funnier Pottz, just not as good.