For many, he is the Big Kahuna of the surfing world. Woody Brown combined skill and ingenuity with an easy ‘beach boy’ grace that earned him a guru status in his Hawaii home.

Award-winning film maker David L Brown (no relation) captures Woody’s blend of enthusiasm, wisdom, humour and spirituality in this portrait. Born to a wealthy family in New York, Woody ran away at 16 and, inspired by aviator Charles Lindbergh, bought a glider and set several records. The film also depicts the death of his first wife in childbirth, leading to his decision to leave his two children with relatives as he set off for the Pacific’s wild blue yonder, surfing 25ft waves and inventing the modern catamaran, based on a traditional two-hulled canoe.

In 2002 he was reunited with his son and stepdaughter. Woody died, aged 96, in 2008, but his story shows the spirit of aloha remains very much alive.