Even to dilettantes, the name Andy Irons will forever be synonymous with legendary surfing, the kind that made him the equal of Kelly Slater but also one of the most influential figures in the water over the last decade plus. Irons grew up in Kauai in a surfing family and gave back to his community through the Irons Brothers Pine Trees Classic, a youth surfing contest he created with his older brother Bruce.
Andy Irons passed away yesterday in a Dallas hotel, reportedly from Dengue Fever, on his way home to Hawaii from a contest in Puerto Rico. He was 32 and leaves behind a wife just a couple months from giving birth to their first child.
This video was created by his sponsor, Billabong, but it's as good a tribute as any for anyone who wants to know what Irons was all about.