Huge congratulations to Matuse Family Member Derek Dunfee for winning this year’s Monster Paddle Award!

Surrounded by family, friends, sponsors and media heads, Derek attended the Billabong XXL Awards last Friday, April 17, 2009 at the Anaheim Grove. All evening long, he and his entourage were steeped with anticipation to discover whether or not the 50 foot Mavericks bomb he paddled-into last November 30th would be declared 2008/2009’s biggest paddle. With a deep field of candidates in this category–including Twiggy Baker—Derek’s people literally went nuts when his name was announced for the Monster Paddle Award. After giving a heartfelt speech, Derek barely had time to reflect on the magnitude of this accomplishment – obviously because of the night’s ongoing festivities.

However, for those who don’t know, Derek suffered ligament damage and a spiral fracture to his ankle while being clipped by the lip at Cloudbreak last May. Derek trained rigorously to recover from this injury. He cut out all alcohol, heightened his nutrition and devoted himself to a highly disciplined regimen. Before he even got back in the water, Derek did hot Yoga in the mornings followed by intense afternoon rehab sessions with his brother, Shane Hurdman. And though Derek’s surgeons were skeptical he would surf again anytime soon, Dunfee was wrapping his balky ankle in duct tape and charging Puerto by early fall. Then, amazingly, during last year’s Thanksgiving weekend, he pulled into a wave that now and forever puts him in the record books.

Derek’s victory cannot be measured by the attention he’s received or even the $15,000 he won. Derek’s feat is better defined by the dedication and singular focus he embodied while getting in shape again to charge Mavericks.

Words cannot describe how proud we are of Derek. Being the Matuse Family’s first unofficial member, we know this is just the beginning for the La Jolla native. Much love and big ups once again DD!

From left to right: Dave Sargent, John Campbell, Matt Larson, Brandon Lillard, Derek Dunfee, Adam Warren and Jamie Sterling

This entry was posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 3:34 pm and is filed under News.