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Laird Hamilton is as tech savvy as surfers get. Here he looks at the shapes and materials that make boards great—what's changed over the years, and what hasn't: With the advent of foam and fiberglass and now carbon fiber, surfboard design and technology have come a long way in the last 30 years. Some of the sports that benefited from that technology were obviously wind surfing and tow surfing. For tow surfing, we changed the design of the boards. Normally in conventional prone surfing, to ride a giant wave you need a huge board. What we did was because we...

The world knows him as a fearless superhero who rides mountains of water. But, as Alex Wade finds out, there’s more to LAIRD HAMILTON than massive waves and daring surf antics. In an exclusive interview, the legendary waterman tells HUCK about his estranged father, his distrust of people, his love for red wine and Jimi Hendrix, and his boundless commitment to pursue what he calls his ‘art’. It’s 2:15 on a Thursday afternoon. I’m in southwest France, the weather’s pretty good, and I’m about to meet Laird Hamilton. I should be stoked, not least because Laird has been a hero...

A post from "60 Minutes'" Braden Bergan: My family isn't shy about giving me story ideas for "60 Minutes," but my definite favorite was Lesley Stahl's 2004 profile of big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton. The idea came from none other than my much-younger brother, Will. In an effort to stay close during his teen years, I stayed up late with him watching movies like Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer II. From the first time I saw Laird Hamilton using a jet ski to tow into waves too big to paddle into, I was fascinated. How could anyone surf waves that giant?...