Ian Cairns On Starting The ASP And Building The Foundation Of The Championship Tour

WSL Founder Ian Cairns talks about starting the ASP and building what would become the Championship Tour. He looks back at the early days of the tour, their crazy dream, patching it together "with chewing gum and masking tape," the widespread growth of surfing worldwide, and wanting to end the tour in Australia. He describes living in Western Australia on a farm, surfing all the different waves there including Strickland Bay, the site of the Rip Curl Rottnest Search, and then explains how they relate to some of the iconic breaks on the North Shore. He tells stories from his own successful competitive career, talks title aspirations, details how he knew it was time to hang it up, and calls winning The Duke in 1975 the highlight of his career.