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Editorial

ICE BREAKERS

COLD WATER SURFERS – EDITORIAL FEATURE – CHRIS NELSON

ICE BREAKERS

> COLD WATER SURFING <

“That degree of cold carries with it an inherent threat, a quiet, ever-present menace. It waits for that one mistake when responses are slowed, when coordination and judgment are slipping, when the cloak of hypothermia clouds the senses. Just one broken zip during a mid-winter duck dive or a heavy wipeout can trigger a fight for survival.”

Ice Breakers, Chris Nelson

THE IDEA

Chris Nelson was commissioned to bring to life the untold story of cold water surf pioneers for a main editorial feature for The Telegraph Magazine.

THE RESULT

Written by Chris Nelson the 6 page feature brings together interviews and anecdotes in a compelling read. Published by The Telegraph Magazine.

Accompanied by photography sourced by Demi Taylor.

THE APPROACH

Chris was commissioned by Telegraph Magazine to write an in-depth yet accessible feature about those surfers who shun warmer climes to ride waves. The 1700 word article drew on the stories of pioneering surfers from Alaska, Nova Scotia and Scotland, bringing to life their adventures and the spirit that drove them to break trail in these frigid waters. The article ran as one of two main feature pieces in the weekend Telegraph Magazine, with images sourced by Demi Taylor from leading photographers.

Ice Breakers: The untold story of cold water surf pioneers by Chris Nelson for The Telegraph Magazine.

Ice Breakers, The Cold Water Surfers (an excerpt)

Charlie Skultka frantically scanned the frozen shoreline, the dark fringes where the raging Pacific collides with the forest-shrouded Mount Edgcombe volcano. Waves pounded the razor-sharp lava reefs, offering no safe haven for him to scramble ashore. He’d been drifting in the icy waters for about six miles and was beginning to run out of island.

For most people ‘do or die’ is a slogan, a mantra to stoke the fire or push them out of their comfort zone. Here in Alaska it is a very real possibility. Having wiped out and lost his surfboard, Skultka was locked in a fight for his life. Without the extra buoyancy afforded by his board, he was like a leaf in a river, helpless against the torrent.

ICE BREAKERS
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JENNY JONES

STEP BY STEP – INTERVIEW FEATURE – DEMI TAYLOR

STEP BY STEP

> INTERVIEW FEATURE <

The sun’s rays have cast a golden shimmer across the ocean. I’m sitting in the line up with Jenny Jones – Olympic medalist, 3 times X Games winner and multiple British Snowboard Champion, her eyes fixed firmly on the horizon. We rise and fall with the passing swell and our chatter drifts back to snowboarding. “There was a time before the Olympics when I felt ready to begin winding down my competitive career, then I got the call…”

Step by Step, The Jenny Jones Story by Demi Taylor

THE IDEA

Demi Taylor was the Editorial Manager for the 2019 Watergate Hotel Magazine, involved in the production of the publication from content planning through to commissioning, flat planning, as well as editorial contributions including a feature on Olympian Jenny Jones during her stay at Watergate Bay Hotel.

THE RESULT

The interview feature with Jenny Jones written by Demi ran to 4 pages in the Watergate Hotel Magazine.

THE APPROACH

Demi was the Editorial Manager for the 2019 Watergate Hotel Magazine, involved in the production of the publication from content planning through to commissioning and briefing writers, illustrators and photographers as well as copy editing, flat planning and talent management.

Olympic snowboarder Jenny Jones took time out with Demi Taylor during her stay at Watergate Bay Hotel to contemplate her journey from dry slope to become the UK’s most successful snows sports athlete while soaking up the best of what Watergate has to offer. The four page feature accompanied by original illustrations by Victoria Jones brings the journey and experience to life.

Olympic snowboarder Jenny Jones takes time out with Demi Taylor to contemplate her journey from dry slope to Olympic hope and soak up the best of what Watergate has to offer.

The stars are clear and bright in the night sky, so what does tomorrow hold for Jenny Jones? “I’ve spent so much time away in the mountains, it’s now about catching up on the coast. I love being back in Cornwall – the waves, the beaches, the outdoor living, it’s wild. Depending on the surf, I might go for a ride. I’m into road cycling…We’ll see,” she says laughing, before taking a last longing look towards the horizon.  

STEP BY STEP
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ROB MACHADO

ROB MACHADO – INTERVIEW FEATURE – CHRIS NELSON

Rob Machado interview feature with iconic surfer by Chris Nelson

If I won the heat and if I won the World Title, what would be my path? What would I have done? What would have been? It’s so interesting. I think that really solidified the true me. That’s who I am, and I’m totally ok with it.

Rob Machado – surf icon

THE IDEA

Chris Nelson was invited to interview surfing icon Rob Machado for an in-depth feature to coincide with the release of the award winning Momentum Generation movie.

THE RESULT

Written by Chris Nelson the main interview feature ran to six pages in Japan’s premiere surf culture magazine Surfin’ Life.

THE APPROACH

Chris sat down with Rob at the Huck Magazine offices, the day after the premiere of Momentum Generation in London. They spent an hour chatting about Rob’s life as a pro surfer, drawing on many of the pivotal moments in a career that has influenced the course of modern day professional surfing. The feature weaves together key events that Rob was involved in, drawing on his first hand recollections and honest insight, to assess not just the personal effects but also the impact he and his band of contemporaries – Kelly Slater, Shane Dorian, Ross Williams, Benji Weatherly, Taylor Knox, Pat O’Connel and filmmaker Taylor Steele had on wider surf culture.

Rob Machado interview feature Surfin' Life Magazine by Chris Nelson

Surfing in the 80’s was dominated by a legion of strutting alpha males; stocky, pigeon chested, sun-crisped, each confident that they were the best surfer on the planet. They went by monikers such as ‘Kong’, ‘Occy’ and ‘Pottz’. These were power surfers with power egos, charging huge waves on the North Shore’s gladiatorial arena. Punching boards, sometimes each other. Then as the 1990s dawned, a group of fresh faced teens drifted together in a small house overlooking Pipeline.


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MASERATI TRIDENT TALES

MASERATI MARQUE – CAR CULTURE FEATURE – CHRIS NELSON

TRIDENT TALES

> MASERATI MARQUE <

You’ll not find a trace of the subtle generational Darwinian gradualism so aptly demonstrated in the genetic code of the Porsche family tree. This is a tale of ‘punctuated change’.

Chris Nelson on Maserati

THE IDEA

To capture the essence and the impact of Maserati as a motoring icon, touching on key moments from the brand’s history in a 900 word feature.

THE RESULT

Written by Chris Nelson, the article included bespoke artwork and was the main feature and centre-spread of Influx magazine as it premiered its new larger printed format. It is also hosted online via the Influx website.

THE APPROACH

With a life long passion for car culture, Chris drew on his depth of knowledge of Italian auto erotica to tell the tale of an iconic marque bringing to life touch stone moments and landmark designs though narrative story telling. From the triumphs of Stirling Moss, through to the unrivalled desirability of the bespoke 5000GT road cars, the aim was to weave a story infused with the smell of oil and leather, capturing just why the Maserati name still has the power to stir the soul.

TRIDENT TALES: Chris Nelson captures the essence and the impact of Maserati as a motoring icon, bringing to life key moments from the brand's history.

Here is a marque powered by the latent energy of history

TRIDENT TALES by CHRIS NELSON

The flames rage, dancing from white to yellow to furious crimson. In the blink of a startled eye, a ball of heat engulfs the red Ferrari, reaching from below to grasp the open two-seater in blazing, clawing fingers. Scarletti leaps free and is instantly wrapped in the coat of a quick thinking mechanic, smoke spills across the straight as cars pour headlong into the white shroud.

At that same moment, on the far side of the 14 mile Nurburgring circuit, a squat white car drops into the banked curve of the Karussell, compressing as it arcs through the slingshot. Sterling Moss feathers the throttle as the Maserati momentarily unweights on the exit, before it squats down and bites, the fierce three litre engine propelling the feather-light Tipo 61 ‘Birdcage’ onto the open tarmac and into the long right-hand uphill curve, peripheries transformed to a blur of green once more.

Here is an era when lives and races balanced on a knife-edge, and the oil strained tarmac produced some of our most enigmatic stars and iconic designs – an era when Maserati stood as a titan. 1960 saw Moss claim his second Nurburgring win for the trident crest by a clear 4 minutes. His first had been in the dazzling 300S – a sleek, modern design with art deco influences that spoke of movement, even when standing still. Flowing curves, fluid lines and polished alloy side vents – it was a ‘proto-E-Type’ in looks and Ferrari beating in speed. Moss’s Birdcage may have lacked the sophisticated lines and classic good looks of its predecessor, but it was no less dominant. At rest it sits like a big cat waiting to pounce, wheels seemingly out of scale in its low slung body. But in the hands of Moss it was untouchable.

THE MARQUE

Maserati as a marque has lived a life steeped in glory and infused with the kind of intrigue and betrayal that would rival any Hollywood grandee or royal court. It is a story of humble origins, noble aspirations and villainous capitalists. Here is a tale of fiery Italian industrial strife, fiscal disasters, infused with Gallic flair, with plot twists tied to the overthrow of a south American dictator, a freefall from grace and ultimately, like the best dramas, redemption. At its towering heights, during that golden era of the 1950’s when Lancia was the choice of playboys and glamorous actors, Maserati stood apart as the marque of sultans and kings. The legendary A6G bloodline of spiders and berlinettas scored landmark track wins. This series of light alloy bodied cars were designed for gentleman racers and clothed by the finest carrozzerias in the land; these were the true supermodels of their time.

It would be easy to get lost in the drama of it all, were it not for the cars. Here is a marque born out of a primordial passion for motor racing and one that has evolved through its many metamorphoses. You’ll not find a trace of the subtle generational Darwinian gradualism so aptly demonstrated in the genetic code of the Porsche family tree. This is a tale of the punctuated change espoused by Eldredge and Gould – sudden jumps that have seen progeny transformed. The exquisite, race refined A6G begat the brutish 5000GT so beloved of the Shah of Persia, the crisp clean Khamsin lead to the cheap and frail Bi Turbo, before finally rising from the ashes as the 3200, delivered under current owners Fiat. Through it all, the Maserati name remained infused with the DNA of the founding brothers – Alfieri, Bindo, Ernesto and Ettore, and their drive to build and race.

In Italy the winds are heralds of great change, revered for their power and ferocity. It’s fitting then that Maserati harnessed their monikers for many of their offspring; the subtle Mistral, the glorious Ghibli, the futuristic Khamsin and hooligan Shamal. The Bora roars out the mountains, a devastating airstream that sends temperatures plunging, frosting the landscape with ice and driving seas into a fury. Maserati’s Bora was a radical departure from the front-engined Ghibli. It blew in a new era of car design; mid-engined, flat lines in the new folded envelope style of the Carabo, Manta and Iguana. This was a brief, yet heady period as design ran rampant and boundaries dissolved, a tiny window before the chill winds of the 1973 oil crisis gave everyone the flu. As a first offering from new owners Citroen, the Bora was a pure Italian supercar, sprinkled with Gallic technology. It screamed futuristic promise, whilst whispering darkly of the ghost in the machine.

That Maserati survives at all stands not only as a testament to Italian determination, but also the momentum and drive that the flagship 5000GT generated. Maserati stamped its foot to the floor with this super exclusive 5 litre, 170 mph sports car and sheer torque dragged the company out of the fifties, and propelled it through the depths of the eighties, into the light again. Here is a marque powered by the latent energy of history. More exclusive than Ferrari, less obvious than Lamborghini, more daring than Porsche, its name alone still carries the ability to stir the soul.

Originally appeared in INFLUX MAGAZINE.

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