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PHOTO: NELLY / SPL
IN DEPTH
DROP IN
Nat Young walks up the beach to a post-heat interview at Pipeline. Mavericks champion Anthony Tashnick at home in Santa Cruz.
“How much money were you making at the peak of your career?” I ask Mel, shifting in my seat and quickly following up with, “you don’t need to answer that if you don’t want to.” “It’s OK,” he responds. “I was making about $150,000 per year ... and someone like Flea was probably making a lot more than that at the time.” It’s been at least 10 years since the industry began shifting funds away from the local pro to invest more in the top guys. Santa Cruz used to have dozens of athletes who made good money to surf. Some of them included Jason “Ratboy” Collins, Darryl “Flea” Virostko, Shawn “Barney” Barron, Adam Replogle, Ken “Skindog”
6 0 | SANTA CRUZ WAVES
PHOTO: NELLY / SPL
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