Surfline

A short documentary about the life of Sean Collins and the creation and evolution of Surfline.

Collins served as President, Chief Surf Forecaster, and Founder for Surfline. Over the past 30 years, he had helped to develop a sophisticated, proprietary system of wave forecasting - much of which is currently used in LOLA, Surfline's Global Swell Model. Through Surfline, Collins provided weather and forecasting services to every lifeguard agency in California, the Coast Guard, US Navy Seals, National Weather Service, numerous television and movie production companies, multiple domestic and international governmental agencies and nearly every surf company in the world.

Collins also directed an exclusive crew of Big Wave riders to chase the largest waves on Earth at any moment - including Mike Parsons, Brad Gerlach, Shane Dorian, Laird Hamiltion, Greg and Rusty Long, Jamie Sterling, and many more.

Sean Collins was named one of the "25 Most Influential Surfers of the Century" by Surfer Magazine in the summer of 1999, the "8th Most Powerful Surfer in the Surf Industry" by Surfer Magazine in the summer of 2002, and in the TOP 100 People who wield the most Power and Influence in Southern California by the Los Angeles Times WEST Magazine in the summer of 2006. Finally in July 2008, Collins was inducted in the Surfer's Hall of Fame, and his hand and foot prints are immortalized in stone next to the DUKE statue in front of Huntington Surf & Sport, on the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street in Huntington Beach, California.

When asked if there was a secret to success that he would want to convey to the kids coming up surfing these days, Collins responded, "Really simple things when you think about it. Mostly just follow your passion, try to be a really good person and a good judge of character, and then just surround yourself with a great team and really good people. Add lots of luck and all kinds of great things can happen."

Collins passed away unexpectedly on December 26th, 2011. Show less