KEVIN/ JARRETT

In a similar vein to Doug Young, Kevin ‘Ernie’ Jarrett is the only surfer on this list whose accolades don’t extend to competition success. As we suggested in our intro when questioning who and why are the greatest surfers in one’s opinion Kevin is the perfect example. While Kevin won the NZ National Junior title in 1971, he tended to shy away from competition and basically built his reputation through riding the tube, mainly at his home break of Matakana Island where for twenty years plus he mainly surfed alone getting piped off his head. Kevin forged a relationship with Allan Byrne early on as a grom when AB came to shape for Bob Davie in the Mount, and the two became mates for life pushing each other in the surf as to who could ride the deepest. In 1977 both Kevin and AB were invited to compete in the Stubbies event, the biggest contest of the day. AB was also Kevin’s Best Man at his wedding and AB is quoted in world surf media that during his time Kevin was one of the best tube riders in the world. Kevin featured in publications around the world slotted inside perfect Matakana cylinders in the 70’s and in a Surfing World survey similar to this in the 80’s Kevin was voted the Worlds 110th most respected and published surfer. Kevin also gained massive reputation on a visit to the Gold Coast point breaks where Kevin blew minds out at Burleigh Heads and Kirra going toe to toe with some of the world’s best surfers at the time Michael Peterson and Ian Cairns, this feat spread worldwide and Kevin’s tube riding skills were highly touted. Kevin made his living as a local commercial fisherman so spent many of his days parked up at his local island on his way to and from work on the seas.