42 Facts About Laird Hamilton

Laird John Hamilton was born on March 2,1964 and is an American big-wave surfer, co-inventor of tow-in surfing, and an occasional fashion and action-sports model and actor.

Laird Hamilton is married to Gabrielle Reece, a professional volleyball player, television personality, and model.

In 1967, while still a young boy living on Oahu, Laird met with 1960s surfer William Stuart "Bill" Hamilton, a bachelor at the time, on Pupukea beach on the North Shore.

Bill Laird Hamilton was a surfboard shaper and glasser on Oahu in the 1960s and 1970s and owned a small business handmaking custom, high-performance surfboards for the Oahu North Shore big wave riders of the era.

The young Laird invited Bill Hamilton home to meet his mother.

Bill Hamilton married Laird's then-single mother, becoming Laird's adoptive father.

Laird Hamilton had a reputation for an aggressive demeanor around others of his age.

Laird Hamilton became used to this role and was uncomfortable being in the center of anything.

Laird Hamilton was known for his physical and mental toughness.

When he was 16, Laird Hamilton left the eleventh grade at Kapaa High School to pursue a modeling career and work in construction.

Laird Hamilton continued to do occasional men's action sportswear print modeling.

Laird Hamilton has had long-time sponsorship from the French beachwear company Oxbow surfwear.

However, competitive surfing and contests never appealed to Laird Hamilton, who had watched his father Bill endure the competitive surfing contest politics and the random luck of the waves in organized championship surfing events.

Bill Laird Hamilton regarded surfing more as a work of art, rather than based chiefly on wave-by-wave ride performance scored by judges.

In 1989 Laird Hamilton featured in windsurfing movie Moving Target alongside Fred Haywood.

Laird Hamilton appeared as Kevin Costner's stunt double during the 1995 filming of Waterworld.

Reportedly, Laird Hamilton was nearly lost at sea when his Kawasaki Jet Ski ran out of fuel during a squall.

Laird Hamilton then drifted for hours before being rescued by Coast Guard off the Island of Maui.

Laird Hamilton commuted daily to the enclosed set between Maui and the Big Island by jet ski.

Laird Hamilton met women's professional volleyball player and New York fashion model Gabrielle Reece in Maui in 1995 after a television interview by Reece, who was hosting the show 'The Extremists'.

Laird Hamilton has experimented with the foilboard, an innovative surfboard which incorporates hydrofoil technology allowing a higher degree of precision and effectiveness of aerial techniques within the water.

Laird Hamilton has become a proponent of Stand up paddle surfing, an ancient Hawaiian technique that requires a longboard and a long-handled paddle, as well as considerable skill, strength and agility.

Laird Hamilton then piloted the watercraft back to a landing, where Lickle was immediately taken to a hospital for treatment.

In February 2008 Laird Hamilton joined the board of directors of H2O Audio, a watersports music company in San Diego California.

Laird Hamilton had used H2O Audio products on many of his long distance paddling endeavors before joining the company.

Late in the day, on a stand-up paddle board, Laird Hamilton dropped into one of the largest waves of the day and proceeded to "shoot" the Malibu beach pier at an extremely high speed.

Laird Hamilton serves as an ambassador of surfing and watersports and occasional lifeguard to other tow-in surfers.

Laird Hamilton joined a protest in Malibu against a proposed plant, which would affect the quality of the local waters.

Laird Hamilton is a co-founder and co-creator of XPT Life or Extreme Performance Training, along with his wife, Gabrielle Reece.

Laird Hamilton has a daughter with his first wife, big-wave surfer and clothing designer Maria Souza.

Laird Hamilton married volleyball player and fashion model Gabrielle Reece in 1997.

Laird Hamilton was a central figure in the 2004 documentary Riding Giants about giant wave surfing; and the opening sequence of the 2002 James Bond movie Die Another Day, as Pierce Brosnan's big-wave surfing double.

Laird Hamilton appeared in Waterworld, as Kevin Costner's stunt double in numerous water scenes.

Laird Hamilton appeared on the cover of the Men's Journal April 2006 issue.

Laird Hamilton appeared in the Sundance Channel television show Iconoclasts with Eddie Vedder from the popular American rock band Pearl Jam.

Laird Hamilton was a special guest star as himself in the animated television show Phineas and Ferb.

Laird Hamilton was interviewed as part of the Australian documentary Bra Boys: Blood is Thicker than Water.

Laird Hamilton had a minor role as Troy in The Descendants.

Laird Hamilton was the Celebrity on the Volvo Ocean Race Boat Puma Powered by Berg.

Laird Hamilton did a spectacular exit off the boat by diving off it as it was at full speed.

Laird Hamilton appeared in the Season 11 episode of Hell's Kitchen, where he taught the red team how to wakeboard as part of their team challenge win.

Laird Hamilton has a chapter giving advice in Tim Ferriss' book Tools of Titans.