Wavelenght - We're gonna explore the world, our way. Pat O'Connell on The Endless Summer 2
We’re screening your favourite surf and feature films all summer long from the clifftops of Cornwall at the Wavelength Drive-In Cinema. Get your tickets for Endless Summer II here.
We caught up with ES2 star Pat O’Connell the day after the Rumble at the Ranch, pro surfing’s official 2020 reboot. The fact that while very much in the hot seat running pro surfing’s elite tour as the Men’s CT Commissioner, in its most tumultuous season ever, he took time out to chat about ES2 speaks to both his vibe, and the warmth still felt for the film. Pat picks up the story:
“The whole thing first came about when I heard talk that ‘they’re gonna do another Endless Summer.’ At the time, my group was what’s now called the Momentum Generation; we weren’t called that at the time, we were just a group of friends. Kelly hadn’t won a world title yet, nobody had done anything. Kelly, Taylor, Rob, Shane, Ross and myself were all just trying to get on Tour, doing the trials at events, as this was before the ASP set up the two WQS/ WCT tours (1991).
So in February ’92, there was this talk of looking for a surfer for ES2, and Kelly was obviously the person that was gonna get it. So I get a call one day, and there was no caller ID back then, and it was around the time everyone was always prank calling each other, pretending to be someone, every time you’d think your friends were fucking with you.