Hotter Than Hell.

Every year, Rip Curl holds their annual global wettie meeting in the exotic location of Thailand. All the top dogs rock up to talk about neoprene, sales and other executive nonsense that doesn’t matter to you or I. They also play a massive golf game with the loser of the round required to perform a punishing task. This years punishing task – surf five waves in tropical water whilst covered in Rippy’s warmest steamer, booties, gloves and a hood. The unfortunate soul who was required to undertake this task was Mick Ray – Rippy’s Global Wetsuit Manager. It was all captured and compiled into a neat little clip so we decided to give Mick a call to see what went down.

How bad was this form of punishment?
It was terrible mate. I tried to make it out as hard-core product testing but it was actually from a bet I lost. All the crew from all over the world come to the annual wettie meeting and over the last couple of years we’ve had this muck-around golf tournament to break the ice. In the heat of the moment we said the loser had to surf down at Phuket decked out in all of the latest winter gear. I was the unfortunate one and had to suffer the consequences (laughs).

How long did you last?
The bet was that you had to catch five waves. It was so hot. I was actually doing all right for a while but towards the end I started overheating. When I got in and started taking my wetsuit off, I think my body hit the emergency switch and I started to sweat like crazy. My body definitely had pressed the alarm because I was sitting in an air-conditioned room for about two hours and I couldn’t stop sweating.

Did you shed a few kilos?
It was bizarre how my body wouldn’t stop sweating for a few hours after. Yeah I reckon I would’ve lost some weight for sure.

Lastly, was there any medical staff on hand?
No, unfortunately there wasn’t but there should’ve been (laughs). At least we know the suits work though, even if they aren’t the ideal conditions to be using them in (laughs).

Tags: Rip Curl