Background
His father was a Green Beret and traveling most of the time, and Jay immediately took to surfing and quickly became a respected surfer in Santa Cruz.
His father was a Green Beret and traveling most of the time, and Jay immediately took to surfing and quickly became a respected surfer in Santa Cruz.
As a surfer, he made his reputation surfing Mavericks in Half Moon Bay, California. At age 16, he was made internationally famous when his wipeout at Mavericks was caught on film and made the cover of Surfer magazine. Although a successful competitor, Jay is remembered as a soul surfer, winning many sportsmanship awards throughout his career.
Born in Georgia in 1978, Jay Moriarity and his family moved to Santa Cruz, California, soon after his birth.
Not limited to either a shortboard or a longboard, he was known as a versatile surfer who appreciated all aspects of surfing. After intense physical and mental training with his master and close friend and Mavericks regular Frosty Hesson, he began surfing Mavericks at 15 years of age, and soon became a respected regular in the line-up.
In 2001, Moriarity co-authored a book with Chris Gallagher entitled, The Ultimate Guide to Surfing. A film, Chasing Mavericks, directed by Curtis Hanson, chronicling the life of Moriarity was released on October 26, 2012, with Jonny Weston playing the role of Moriarity.
The book Making Mavericks, authored by Moriarity"s mentor Frosty Hesson, was also published in October 2012.
Moriarity died a day before his 23rd birthday on June 15, 2001, in the Indian Ocean off the coast of the island Lohifushi in the Maldives, drowning in an apparent diving accident. In Lohifushi for an O"Neill photo shoot, he went free-diving alone but was not seen after. A search party recovered his body late Friday night.
Moriarity has an annual paddleboard race in his memory, the annual Jay Moriarity Paddleboard Race aka "The Jay Race" is held in Capitola Ca.
After his death a memorial was held for him at Pleasure Point.