Surfpolitik Kelly Slater enters the debate

In: Surfpolitik by Stu Nettle 25 Comments Mon 28th Nov '11

Tags: kelly slater , greg webber , wave pools , Kelly Slater Wave Company

click to enlarge

Late last week both Kelly Slater and the Vice President of the Kelly Slater Wave Company issued statements rebuking an article I wrote on Swellnet. The statements appeared on US websites, Surfline and The Inertia. Slater called my article "very one-sided and at times outright ridiculous" and alluded to a conspiracy theory between Swellnet and Greg Webber. "The Swellnet article", said Slater, "reeks of a last-ditch, desperate attempt to try and throw a wrench in the workings". He also thought I had a personal vendetta against him.

If you haven't read the statements yet here they are in their entirety.

Countering each charge against me would make for tedious reading, but it's worth noting that subsequent to my article Slater and his team did get many of their claims approved by the patents office. They still don't have their patent although it appears more likely that it will be granted. If it does get granted then the real wave pool story will begin.

As for the assertion of a personal vendetta against him, well, that's just ludicrous, I've been the first to celebrate his sporting achievements but this was a story about something else. For further reading check this article I wrote in 2009 - it begins, "I wish Slater would piss off." Or this one 'Slater the Dictator' also from 2009.

Loading Comments