Laird Hamilton (born Laird John Zerfas on March 2, 1964 in San Francisco) is an American big-wave surfer, co-inventor of tow-in surfing, and an occasional fashion and action-sports model. He is married to Gabrielle Reece, a professional volleyball player, television personality and model. Hamilton and his family split their time between residences in Maui, Hawaii and Malibu, California.
Laird was born in San Francisco on March 2, 1964, in an expe...
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Laird Hamilton (born Laird John Zerfas on March 2, 1964 in San Francisco) is an American big-wave surfer, co-inventor of tow-in surfing, and an occasional fashion and action-sports model. He is married to Gabrielle Reece, a professional volleyball player, television personality and model. Hamilton and his family split their time between residences in Maui, Hawaii and Malibu, California.
Laird was born in San Francisco on March 2, 1964, in an experimental bathysphere designed to ease the mother's labor. His Greek birth father, L.G. Zerfas, left the family before his first birthday. Afterwards but while he was still an infant, Laird and his mother, Joann Zyirek Zerfas, moved to Hawaii. Even as a child Laird was adventurous, as is shown in footage of him jumping off a sixty foot cliff into deep water at 7 years old.
While still a young boy living on Oahu Island, Hawaii, Laird met with later-legendary 1960s surfer Bill Hamilton, a bachelor at the time, on Pupukea beach of the North Shore...
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