Joel Tudor

Tudor started out in skateboarding and, while in his early teens, gained both recognition and sponsorship for this. On the water, his apparently effortless skill saw him win his first professional ASP competition at age 15, making him the youngest competitor to win an ASP event. Unlike the vast majority of his contemporaries who were riding only modern short surfboards, he also rode the out-of-fashion longboard, and it was the longboard that catapulted him to worldwide fame in his mid-teens. His reputation was such that, when he was on a break, other surfers would sometimes leave the water to watch his silky mastery of such skills as nose-riding. Admiration of Tudor was a major factor in the longboard revival of the 1990s.

Despite wide recognition as the doyen of modern longboard riders, and regularly competing in the longboard world championships, it took seven attempts before he finally won this event in the Canary Islands in 1998. Some Criticism has been forwarded, especially by other surfers such as Roth Allen, that his skills are largely blown out of proportion and that his only real skill is effective marketing. Nonetheless he has enjoyed a spectacular and influential career. Joel Tudor is also a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu brown belt.

Joel now has his own surfboard manufacturing company.

Tudor is reluctant to be pigeonholed as a longboarder. He possesses an extensive quiver of stubs, fishes and single-fin pintails, and chooses his vehicle according to the conditions. A masterful tuberider, he has gained recognition as an all-around world-class surfer, opening eyes to various designs. His act at Pipeline, where he routinely stands apart from the maddening crowd with Lopez flow on '70s designs, has become legendary. His "Joel Tudor Model" shaped by Donald Takayama was the best-selling signature series in history. The long-time relationship eventually soured, prompting Tudor's own board label.

Due to his skill on both longboards and shortboards, on big waves and small, Tudor is widely considered to be one of the best surfers alive, and is also known for being unusually open-minded with regard to the diverse equipment that can be used for wave riding.