Words.YT The professional surf circus in Santa Cruz has a wide array of characters and surf stars that make up one of the most influential surf scenes in the world. From tow-in chargers to aerial innovators, Santa Cruz’s pros have pushed the performance level of surfing into the future for decades. While not as flamboyant as some of his peers, Josh Mulcoy has quietly carved out a nice niche in the SC surf scene. His hard working ethics and fluid, carving style have kept him in the public eye for quite some time now. Picked up by Fox in 2005, Josh is stoked to be on a never-ending schedule of exotic photo trips with the rest of the Fox team around the world, yet still has his roots firmly planted in Santa Cruz soil.

Spending upwards of half of the year away from home, Josh is a surfing ambassador of the West Coast and Santa Cruz and proud of it. “The West Coast is like a big jewel of surf and talent. It’s a huge influence on the worlds’ surf community. There are so many amazing things that go on here every year and I’m stoked I can be a part of it.” Even though Josh appears to never miss a swell in Santa Cruz, his extensive travel schedule would make any surfer envious. “I plan to travel as much as possible”, he says. “I just got back from a photo trip to Israel which was surprisingly good. I have a few photo trips planned in the next few months. I really try to be away in the summer months, so I can stick around here in the winter.” Yet even the heartiest of world surf trekkers can get homesick from time to time, especially when your home is Santa Cruz. “Sometimes, I miss home. When I’m on the road and the waves are firing it’s easy to forget about home. I love to travel, see new things, and experience as much as possible, but when things get rough I really miss home. I feel so comfortable when I’m in Santa Cruz.”

While Josh has made a career out of being more of a photo trip surfer, he is certainly no stranger to competition and excels at the few events he enters. For two seasons in a row, Josh was named MVP for Team Santa Cruz in the now defunct NSL Game series, and has had quarter and semi final berths in the last two O’Neill Cold Water Classic WQS events. “I think competing is good for some people”, says Josh, “I’m just not that person. The only contest I know I will do for sure is the Cold Water Classic. I think being a photo surfer can be good, or bad, it just depends on how you present yourself when you do your job. Some places in the world, including Santa Cruz, can be very sensitive. You just have to go about it in the right way when you’re shooting these places and have respect.” This respect, along with modesty and humility, is what makes Josh a pleasure to work with and has helped him sustain a pro career for nearly fifteen years. “The main thing for me is to surf a lot. I feel very lucky to have this job. I am in very good contact with the photogs in town and when it’s good to shoot, I’ m there. The first thing I do when I wake up is check the buoys, call up one of the photogs, and get to work!”

Although his Santa Cruz peers have definitely inspired him throughout the years, his true surf and life inspirations are derived from his Dad. “Harbor Bill” Mulcoy has passed on his undying love of the ocean and surfing to Josh and, along with Chris Aluffi and Adam Repogle, is still his main surfing comrade when in Santa Cruz. And the fruit hasn’t fallen far from the tree. “My dad is my biggest influence. He loves to surf more than anyone I know, and will stay out longer than anyone as well. Whenever I’m getting good waves and I think of going in, I just think of him and stay out longer, because I know he would.”

Being able to rip in the variety of challenging surf that Santa Cruz has to offer, Josh has an extended family tree of state of the art surfboards of all sizes. “I have a solid quiver from 5’10 to 8’0, mainly thrusters. Most of them are round tails except for the shorter boards. I just recently got my own model with Stretch and Surftech. It’s a 6’0 squash tail, TL2 model. This is the board I have been riding a lot when the waves are head high. When I’m surfing bigger or hollower waves, I go to my round pins.” Many may not know that Josh is also one of the best professional kite surfers in the world, and this has opened his mind to new ideas concerning surfboard construction and design, not to mention the fact that it can keep him in the water on those blown out afternoons. With this in mind, it’s easy to see why Josh is a valuable test pilot for innovative companies like Surftech and their new TL2 technologies. “I think the future is going to be about surfboard construction more than anything else,” claims Josh. “Surfboard materials have been the same for so long. I think people will come up with some crazy ideas for board construction as designs evolve and new materials appear.”

With world class surf stars like Flea, Ratboy, Barney, and Peter Mel in the same lineup, even an established pro can feel left out of the big picture. But when asked about where he thinks he fits into the Santa Cruz surf scene, Josh respectfully explains how his roots run deep, “I just want to be a solid, well-rounded surfer with a good style, and hopefully, that’s my spot in the surf scene here.”