| Dave Kalama | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Newport Beach, California, U.S. |
| Residence | Kula, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) |
| Weight | 195 |
| Surfing career | |
| Sponsors | QuickBlade, Kaenon, Easy Rider, Kalama Kamps |
| Major achievements | Windsurfing World Championships: 1991 Hard Rock World Cup of Windsurfing/Ho'okipa Winner, 2010 Rainbow Sandals Molokai 2 Oahu Paddleboard World Championships SUP Winner, Naish Maliko 2010 14’ Winner, 2011 Maui Naish International Paddleboard Championship (Maliko) Winner, 2011 SUP Awards "Top Male Paddler" Finalist. |
| Surfing specifications | |
| Stance | Regular (natural foot) |
| Shaper(s) | Dave Kalama |
| Quiver | SUP surf boards, SUP downwind boards, SUP race boards, tow-in surfboards, surfboards, foil boards, windsurfs, OC-1, OC-4. |
| Favorite waves | Jaws (beach) |
| Favorite maneuvers | Tow-in surfing |
| Website | www.davidkalama.com |
Dave Kalama is a big wave surfer/tow-in surfer, stand-up paddle (SUP) surfer and racer, surf and SUP board shaper, windsurfer, outrigger canoe racer, private adventure guide, and celebrity watersports enthusiast. Kalama, his wife, 2 sons and 1 daughter live in Kula, Maui.
Kalama is credited with the co-development of the big wave surfing technique of tow-in surfing, along with Laird Hamilton, Darrick Doerner, and Buzzy Kerbox.[1] Recently, Kalama together with close friend Laird Hamilton have been actively promoting and mastering an ancient Hawaiian mode of water transportation and watersport called SUP, "stand-up paddling", and he has begun a series of increasingly longer solo paddle events between various Hawaiian islands. Kalama and Hamilton are also credited with the co-development of "foil surfing" (hydrofoil surfing).
Kalama is a descendant from a long line of noteworthy Hawaiian watermen; his grandfather brought outrigger canoe paddling to the mainland U.S., and his father Ilima Kalama was the 1962 world-champion surfer and a lifelong outrigger canoe paddler.[2] Kalama is known socially amongst surfers as placing a high respect on local and community surf etiquette.
Kalama is a part-time coach to SUP competitors Kai Lenny (2010 and 2011 SUP Surf World Champion) and Slater Trout.
As a high school age athlete, Kalama was a competitive ski racer and high school football player in the winter sports resort town of Mammoth Lakes, California.[3][4][5]
In July 2006, Kalama and BamMan Productions business partner Laird Hamilton were jointly awarded the Beacon Award at the Maui Film Festival for "helping to revive the surf film genre."[6]