May 29, 2008

Tony “Hussein” Hinde died surfing on May,27

Maldivian surf legend Tony "Hussein" Hinde died surfing on May,27th


Tony “Hussein” Hinde, the father of surfing in the Maldives has passed away, surfing his home spot at Pasta Point on May, 27th. He was found face down near shore and despite CPR, could not get back to life. What can be believed as a drowning happens only 4 months after the tragic death of his wife Zulfa. Which is an immense tragedy for their 2 kids, Ashley and Mishal.

In December 1973, Tony and his friend Mark Scaunlon shipwrecked in the North Malé atoll in Maldives aboard the Whitewings, a beautiful ketch where they were hired as crew. That changed Tony’s life completely. After a few months of refurbishing the boat, they realized how good the surf is. Tony once sent a postcard saying “I am thousand coulours away from home” And home became the Republic of Maldives where he turned muslim to be able to marry Zulfa and become a Maldivian citizen. For 15 years, he managed to keep the secrecy of worldclass surf in the atolls among a few friends. Which made it one of the best kept secret in the whole history of surf discovery. He was forced to launch Atoll Adventures in the mid-80’s and Tari Village because there were a few foreign plans to develop the surf over there. Tony Hussein always remained the landlord over the camp and changed to Dhonveli Beach & Spa in the early 2000.



Here was Tony making calls for organizing the boats around, together with his partner Mark Scaunlon in May 1999.

Local surfers in Malé will have a paddle out ceremony outside Varunulaa Raalhugandu, the main surfspot in the capital to give a tribute to the memory of their surfing father after his funeral. He will be greatly missed by his family, Maldivian surfers and countless surfing guests that he took care personally at Tari Village and Dhonveli (now Chaaya Dhonveli)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow - that is very sad news. I had not heard anything.

Anyone know the situation? Hit his head on reef?

Very sorry to hear that - let me know if you hear any other information.

John

Unknown said...

He had a heart attack, got the sadly news from his partner at Atoll Adventures, Mr Ian.

Daniel Arena
Liquid Trips

Anonymous said...

I'm so shocked at this news. My prayers to Tony's family and children. I had the honor of interviewing Tony for the Surfer's Journal and will never forget his smile and our surfs at Pasta.

Anonymous said...

Indeed, Tony Hussein died the other day. Pretty tragic. Got hit by a longboarder wiping out. Back of the head. He fainted and died later. They took him out of the water when he was unconcious and took him to the hospital where he died apparently. Very very tragic.

Anonymous said...

What a loss. I had the luck to meet Tony several times in Maldives and Sri Lanka. Sharing clean waves with him and Iboo and the Byron crew at Pasta Point is one of my sweetest surf memories. He had a Ferrari sticker on his red 8ft pintail board.. and we made fun of italians all the time. at 50+ of age he was a stoked kid. His surf tales of perfect Honkys, terrible reef cuts and life with the Maldivians, were the stuff legends are made of. Thanks for sharing them with us Tony