Catching up with Bing Rider: Mele Saili

March 21, 2016

Photography: Cole Beal @colebeal

Style for miles. Mele Saili. photo: Cole Beal
Style for miles. Mele Saili. photo: Cole Beal

B: Where are you travelling to next?

M: I’ll be off to Australia beginning March 23rd with a group of girls:
Erin Ashley (worm) – Profesh Longboarder
Hayley Gordon- Surfer/Videographer
Sarah Taylor- Short board extraordinaire
We plan on renting a surf mobile and  doing a drive thru of the coast, surfing and meeting up with our Aussy friends along the way.
We’re documenting the fun, so keep your eyes peeled for a video soon after at Leashless.tv

B: Who do you find the most influential in your surfing?

M: There are two women in particular that I drawn most of my inspiration from. I’ve always looked up to Jen Smith because we grew up in the same town and I saw how she got to travel the world and essentially went on to make a career as a woman longboarder and a world champion. The other is someone I’ve always and will forever admire – Rell Sunn  the a master of style and flow, I find inspiration in her surfing every day.

B: What Bing Models are you riding these days?

M: I’ve been bouncing back and forth between the Silver Spoon and the Elevator lately. For the days that are smaller and softer I’ll take out the Silver Spoon and for the days that stand up a little more with a steeper wave I’ll take out the Elevator.

B: Are you working on a board model?

M: I’m looking forward to working with Matt Calvani on a new a low volume nose rider to add to the line up of Bing models. I’ll keep you all posted on what we come up with!

B: When did you start surfing and where?

I come from a family of surfers and shapers who have deep roots in San Diego surf history. So surfing seemed like something that was always encouraged.
 
I started surfing at age 12 on my dad’s 10’0 Gordon and Smith.
He’d would take my younger twin sisters and I down to Tourmaline Surf Park in Pacific Beach almost every day and essentially that beach became our second home. A couple years after learning to surf I started competing and soon after started winning. Eventually, allowing me to traveling to different parts of the world – it’s been a real blessing.

Mele Saili. Always an eye on the horizon.
Mele Saili. Always an eye on the horizon.

To learn more about Mele Saili, visit her team page here on bingsurf.com. 


Mele’s Picks Available Now on bingsurf.com



Also in Bing Surfboards Blog

THE DESTINATION IS THE DESTINATION
THE DESTINATION IS THE DESTINATION

May 07, 2024

Travel is all about getting somewhere else. The journey, comically titled “the destination,” by some real masochists, feels more to me like a practical joke then a zen-buddha lesson in being present; a blur of drinking $9 Chardonnay while trying to stream Lego Batman across the isle and entertain a baby with a series of 10 second activities (tray table, crackers, seatbelt, headphones!).

View full article →

THE BOARDROOM 2023 COMPETITOR INTERVIEWS
THE BOARDROOM 2023 COMPETITOR INTERVIEWS

October 02, 2023

Name, hometown, and surfboard brand.

Josh Peterson, hometown Virginia Beach (born) Haleiwa (currently living), and my brand is Peterson Surfcraft. 

When and where did you start surfing? Describe your first surfboard.

I started surfing when I was about 15 in Virginia Beach, and my first board was an old funboard from WRV that was about 7’6” and had glass on thrusters and an insane airbrush.

View full article →

EL CAMPEON
EL CAMPEON

August 22, 2023

At the beginning, it was just an idea, but at the same time, a challenge I had set for myself some time ago. Honestly, I saw it as complicated since it was my first time traveling alone to Europe, and I was curious and nervous because I was literally going to another country. The only thing that reassured me was being able to speak Spanish over there. But, of course, none of this would have been possible without the support of the entire BAPU beachware team who encouraged me and gave me the motivation not to doubt myself and make this a fulfilled goal, we organized various activities while presenting the short film "El Gordo" to raise funds for this trip. 

View full article →