Photo: Newspix/Rex Features

Andy Irons, three time world champion surfer, was found dead in his hotel room in Dallas on Tuesday. He had been scheduled to compete in the Rip Curl Pro Search in Puerto Rico but became ill, reportedly with a bout of  dengue fever, which he had contracted at an earlier event.  He was on his way back to his home in Hawaii.   On Wednesday, the Association of Surfing Professionals, Rip Curl event organizers and pro surfers unanimously decided to postpone competition until Friday out of respect for his memory.

Andy Irons – Top Hawaiian surfer and three times world champion

Andy Irons, who has been found dead aged 32, was a three-time world champion and the most competitive big-wave surfer of his generation. Surfing was in his DNA. His uncle Rick was a legendary figure in the sport in the 60s and his father, Phil, a surfer too. The fact that Andy’s younger brother Bruce also took up the sport probably fuelled his competitive drive. “All he wants to do is win. It’s why he exists. It’s all he thinks about. Winning heats, winning contests, surf, surf, surf, heat, heat, heat, win, win, win,” is how Bruce described his brother at the height of his career.

Irons – known by his initials AI – was brought up in the small town of Hanalei on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. His international breakthrough came in 1996 when he was 17. Against seasoned professional surfers, and riding waves that were hitting 25ft, Irons won the HIC Pipeline Pro competition on the neighbouring island of Oahu. He had to take the day off college to compete in the final. The following year, he qualified for the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour.

“You could see he was something special,” said David Riddle, who acted as coach and mentor to Irons for 20 years. “When he was on a wave, whether it was free surfing or in a contest, you could not take your eyes off him. You didn’t want to miss what he was going to do next.”

Irons embraced the tour and, equally passionately, the lifestyle that went with it. “I don’t think I missed a party those first couple of years,” he admitted later. Inevitably, his performances suffered and, at 19, Irons had to qualify for the ASP tour all over again.

The “Irons age” of surfing, as it has been called, lasted from 2002 until 2004. He won three successive world championships (the first Hawaiian to win more than one) and his battle with Kelly Slater – the most dominant surfer in recent history – in the Pipeline Masters, the final event of the 2003 season, is considered one of the most memorable moments in the sport.

He is survived by his wife, Lyndie, who is expecting their first child in December.

Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing the obituary along.