Travis Logie started his 2013 ASP WCT campaign off with a 9th place at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast.
LOS ANGELES, California/USA (Wednesday, May 22, 2013) – Travis Logie (ZAF) , 34, is the consummate event dark horse. Over the course of his eight-year tennior among the ASP Top 34, Logie has combined his under the radar presence and world class ability to top the likes of Dane Reynolds, Kelly Slater, Joel Parkinson and Jordy Smith at some of the best waves around the world in stellar conditions. With nearly a decade of experience on the ASP WCT, Logie seems to be improving with age despite a move to a wave-starved Hollywood, California. ESPN.com caught up with Logie to hear what prompted the move from the perfect waves of his South African home and what he’s doing to produce his best surfing. This… is their story…
What are you doing in LA? What am I doing in LA? My wife is chasing the dream, the American dream. She’s trying to be an actress. So we moved right into Hollywood, into the middle of the madness. It’s pretty far removed from good old South Africa, but we love it. I’ve become a bit of a road warrior driving to get waves.
How long have you been living in West Hollywood? I’ve been living there for a year. It’s been fun.
Has it been an adjustment? It’s been a huge adjustment. Where I’m from the water’s warm all year round. I live five minutes from the beach. You jump off the pier and you’re in the lineup and on the best days there’s probably fifteen guys out. I don’t have any of that over here, but I have a lot of friends here and I’ve surfed a lot of different waves. I think the variety of haves has been really good for my surfing. It’s also much easier travelling from here. It’s a lot less flying so I’m getting to events a lot less drained.
How long does it usually take you each way to get to the beach from where you live in LA? I’d like to say it’s an hour, but it’s really more like an hour and a half from when I walk out the door to when I put on my wetsuit somewhere. In the winter I usually go to Ventura and in the summer I like to surf Lowers or Huntington.
Have you gotten stuck in some crazy traffic? It once took me three and a half hours to get home from Lowers — two accidents on the 405. I was in a super good mood by the time I got back. On a good day it takes me twenty minutes to drive five miles just from my house to the 405. On a bad day it’s forty five. Once I got on the 405 then the fun really begins.
So you had a good start to your year on the Gold Coast, then another decent result in Rio? Yeah, I had a good start on the Goldie. My boards are going really well at the moment. I feel like I’ve got things dialed for this year. My body is feeling good. All of my injuries are gone.
You impressed a lot of people on the Gold Coast. I think I’ve improved every year, but I think more so in the last year. Maybe it’s moving to the States and making every surf count because I’ve got to mission so hard to surf. I get to events and I’m psyched. Going to surf early morning warm ups at contests is a pleasure.
For the full interview with Travis Logie log on to ESPN.com.
