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RICHARD BERENTSEN
We were on the fence about this months “Snake
of the Month”. The question posed by the staff
was whether Richard is a true snake , or a 911 phone
call waiting to happen. You see Richard is a gregarious,
talkative, friendly (almost too friendly) guy that
definitely makes his presence known in the line-up.
He is notorious for dropping in on people but what
is a much bigger concern to most is his apparent
lack of board control. I personally have had a few
near death experiences directly involving Richard.
Surfing a close interval wind swell with him in
the line-up is frighteningly similar to a game of
Russian Roulette (with 3 in the chamber). You never
know when his nine foot guillotine will be headed
your direction. A split second judgment call will
decide whether you continue to surf or limp up the
beach. You can
only pray he’s somewhere near the tail. It’s
much like Evil Kenevil riding at you, at top speed,
with no handlebars and you’re trying to cross
the street. Which way do you run? You know if he
hits a bump you have a 50/50 shot of coming out
unscathed.
If you haven’t met Richard he is fairly easy
to identify. In the past his hair has been red,
blue, yellow and nowadays nonexistent, but his Teal
colored ‘67 VW bus is unmistakable. If you
see him coming get out of the way. I’m talking
about land of course, because Richard could verbally
pin you in the parking lot. The guy has a story
for every occasion. I once saw him give Phil Becker
a 45 minute dissertation on the finer points of
shaping. His Hawaiian big wave wave stories are
an entirely different monster. Everything about
Richard keeps you moving fast and he’s actually
pretty fun to have around (in small doses).
All kidding aside he’s a solid guy with a
heart of gold. When he's not coordinating the set
designs for E television or hanging out with his
son Brock you'll see him scouring the coast in search
of waves. In one 3 day period he was spotted at
Trestles, Malibu then El Porto. He has some big
balls in the winter too. I’ve paddled with
him on some double and triple
overhead days at Porto and the guy somehow makes
it out on a longboard, now
that’s tenacity.
story and animation by Michael Durand
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