Bio - Tandem Surfing - Chuck & Tiffany

BIO - Chuck Inman

Born:                November 2, 1972
Hometown:        Portland, Oregon
Resides:            Honolulu, Hawaii (Waikiki)
Occupation:       Personal Fitness Trainer for Seniors
Height:              5'10"
Weight:             165 lbs
Stance:             Goofy
Began surfing:   Longboard - 1992 / Tandem - 2006 / SUP - 2007
Personal quote: "Follow your heart, you'll never regret it!"
Sponsors:          Quiksilver, Walden Surfboards, Honolulu Club, Key Manufacturing, Blowsion Kolors

Chuck's Background

Chuck Inman learned to surf at the age of 18 in the chilly waters off the Oregon Coast in thick wetsuits, booties, gloves and hoods not knowing that one day he would call the warm waters of Hawaii home. Naturally athletic, he was encouraged to get into the sport by a close friend and was quickly drawn into the lifestyle.

During this time Chuck also attended Pacific Lutheran University on a football scholarship and was on the NAIA Division III National Champion team in 1993 and National Runners-up team in 1994. He also ran on the PLU track and field team, competing in the 100m, relay and triple jump events. After graduating in 1996 with a BS degree in Health and Fitness Management, he turned his athletic pursuits to surfing.

Post-college, Chuck built and owned a successful tent rental company that he eventually sold to have more time for other opportunities and of course, surfing. (Thunder Tents is still in operation in Portland, OR today.) With more time on his hands he started taking trips to Hawaii a couple of times a year to get his surf fix and soak up the warm weather.

Chuck made his trips to Hawaii permanent at the end of 2005 and moved to Waikiki right across the street from Queens, which is now his home break. In a career change, he became a self-employed personal fitness trainer for seniors. His first client, Bear Woznick, just happened to be a tandem surfer who was training for the inaugural International Tandem Surfing Association (ITSA) World Title that was coming up in the summer of 2006. At Bear’s constant urging, Chuck eventually agreed to give tandem surfing a try and was paired almost immediately with his first partner, Shannon O'Neill. That summer Hawaiian Airlines' magazine, Hana Hou!, featured tandem surfing in its August/September issue and Chuck and Shannon made the cover.

Soon after, Chuck met former French tandem surfing champion Marie Vigne by chance on the beach in Waikiki and jumped at the opportunity to partner with her. With the coaching of former PLA Tandem World Champion, Bobby Friedman, the pairing of Chuck's natural ability and Marie's experience paid off at the 2006 ITSA World Championship and they placed 5th - narrowly missing the podium after advancing through the trials to the main event. Marie returned home to France later that winter and Chuck once again found himself in search of another tandem partner to compete with on the newly formed ITSA World Tandem Tour in 2007. Bobby had one suggestion - Tiffany!

BIO - Tiffany Rabacal

Born:                July 5, 1978
Hometown:        Honolulu, Hawaii (Kalihi)
Resides:            Honolulu, Hawaii (Waikiki)
Occupation:       Document Solutions Executive
Height:              4'11-1/4"
Weight:             105 lbs
Stance:             Goofy
Began surfing:   Tandem - 2002 / Longboard - 2005 / SUP - 2008
Personal quote: "Life isn't about ‘what ifs’."
Sponsors:          Roxy, Honolulu Club, Key Manufacturing, Glenn Thering - The Lomi Guy

Tiffany's Background

Tiffany Rabacal was always a “water rat” growing up in Hawaii, but was a swimming pool kind of girl who literally went to the beach less than five times a year before she started tandem surfing at the age of 23. Prior to that she attended Hawaii Pacific University on a full academic scholarship while competing on their nationally ranked cheerleading and dance teams. As one of the only girls who has competed on both teams in the history of the programs at the university, she was on the HPU Cheer team that finished third at the Division II NCA Nationals in 1999 and on the HPU Dancers team that became the NDA Division II National Champion Runners-up in 2000. In 1999 she was also asked to choreograph the half-time routine for the Oahu Bowl football game.

Tiffany graduated in 2001 with a BSBA degree in Marketing and naturally entered the competitive world of sales in the print and document solutions industry. However, she missed the fun of performing and the challenge of active competition, so she kept busy coaching and choreographing for a local All-Star cheer program and gymnastics gym.

While teaching in 2002, Tiffany was introduced by a fellow coach to Jim Moore, an experienced tandem surfer, who was looking for a new partner. The only requirements were that she had to be small and could swim. Even though she had never surfed before and couldn’t remember the last time she had been to the beach, she agreed to try the sport and ended up loving it. Her partnership with Jim continued for the next three years, highlighted by a win at the 2004 Steinlager Pro-Am contest in Waikiki and a feature role in the winning Ocean Recreation Short, “Two Mo’ Bettah’”, at the 2005 Hawaii Ocean Film Festival.

Tiffany later partnered with Bear Woznick in 2005 to pursue competitive tandem surfing on the international level. In July of that year they travelled to France and placed third at the Biarritz Surf Festival in what was then the largest professional tandem surfing competition in the world. Tiffany's knee was unfortunately injured later that year when she was dropped on the board during a bad tandem wipeout, and a torn MCL sidelined her for about three months. Although her eventual return to tandem surfing was challenging, she was determined to compete again at the international level and made the decision to look for a new partner.

A brief interim partnership with Roman Schwoebel followed with whom she advanced through the trials and into the main event for the 2006 ISA World Championship. Soon after, former PLA Tandem World Champion, Bobby Friedman, suggested a promising partnership with a friend of his who was also looking for a new partner to surf with on the inaugural 2007 ITSA World Tandem Tour - that partner ended up being Chuck!