Fiji Pro 2014 Forecast
Don, the whole crew probably gone surfing. 2.5m at 14 secs ssw should be all time. Good trades yesterday so should be groomed with light winds for the first two hours. Going to be great to see backhand tube riding skills of the women's. Website says possible 9:30am start fijian time!
First heat just hit the water. Haven't seen any waves ridden yet but it looks pretty solid.
Hats off to the ladies.....
First heat between Sally and Tyler was great stuff, both girls thoroughly charged. The rest of the heats, save for a few waves in Steph v Bianca, have been fairly ordinary. Reckon the girls still in the event should take a lead from Sally and ride a longer board. Makes it harder to turn but easier to navigate the lineup and take late drops. They just need to be on more waves.
Flick it off mute for a bit to watch a M. Manuel replay and after Pottz has already broken down the replay, I hear Turdpel describe the replay word for word.
I've seen waves spitting at the girls on their take offs, are they not really sitting on the best section?
Looks like it's starting to pump out there now, perfect size and barreling on a couple of sections. Should be great heading into the final.
Good to see the ladies putting the bodies on the line!
Shame the wind spoilt the waves in the final but the girls stepped up big time imo,and ya gotta give credit to them cause most of them charged a big unpredictable lineup,stoked for them and glad no one was badly hurt.Well done girls and hats off to the ASP for taking a chance .
Yep hats off to the girls for sure. Shame the guys aren't going to get anywhere near that size surf.
The forecast looks rather tragic, doesn't it!
So what are you guys predicting for the mens?
Also, you say the SN CB forecast is undercalling it. What about the arrival times? How do they stack up atm?
Arrival times are spot on, it's just the sizes. You could probably multiply the forecast by around 1.5x and get what's expected. Biggest days look to the in the 3-4ft range with 5ft bombs but very inconsistent.
Righto, thanks Craig. Good to know.
Yep, I'd say 4-5ft at best at the peak of the swell around Tuesday 3rd/Wed 4th.
Main problem with the forecast period will probably be the inconsistency. All of these swells will be originating from Fiji's far swell window, and often it won't be direct energy but sideband. So, there will be very, very long breaks between the sets. Which means less surfing and more filler commentary.
Ben , you mean more Joe Turpel ?I dont mind the others waffling on but Joe grates on me.....................
Send in Wassell!
Mr Visser was surfing cloudbreak this week.
Any sign of a swell for Fiji yet? Another layday today by looks.
Hope they don't have to ride fishes or mals to get a score!
I'm pretty sure they'll run it tues-Fri this week as the outlook beyond that looks even more woeful!!!
Any chance they'll run overlapping heats after Rd 1 to try and wrap this thing up in 3 days instead of 4?
Yeah I reckon there'd be a reasonable chance of that happening Don.
Just watched the morning's report - they are hoping for something to pop up towards end of waiting period. The commissioner reckons things could change here (fiji) pretty quickly. Those forecasted ridges of high pressure look ominous
It's going to be contestable this week though, just average viewing especially if it is inconsistent as Ben suggests. Maybe get through to round 4 or something and wait for a finals day at end of period. BTW can they extend it beyond the waiting period???
Meanwhile in Indo....standard pumping
Big call if they wait till the end of the waiting period.
Agree Stu. Old mate said a swell popped up when he was interviewing Bourez. They are pretty optimistic those Seppos.
Fiji's swell window is such that these swells, just don't pop up with a few days left in the waiting period. If they run the standard comp Tues/Wed, that means they'll still need 2 good days left to finish with only a waiting period window of just over a week (Thurs 5th to Friday 13th). Fiji's swell window usually has travel times of 3-5 days (Tasman - Southern Ocean), so that means they'd wait until Tuesday 10th before knowing what the finals are going to be run in? Massive gamble IMO, particularly with all major weather models showing some massive blocking highs in Fiji's close range swell window during the waiting peroid. They'd be hoping GFS comes off with that Tasman low prognisis being majorly upgraded.
Feck I hope the finals aren't run in small sh1tty cloudbreak!!!
Surfline calling (hoping?) for something better around the 12th June.....2nd last day of waiting period.
http://www.surfline.com/surf-science/fiji-pro---official-forecast---fore...
Our long range forecasts don't have much at all for that swell. Just updated and looking at 0.7m @ 14.5s Dire stuff!
Best of the period still looks like the next 4 days.
Craig wrote:Our long range forecasts don't have much at all for that swell. Just updated and looking at 0.7m @ 14.5s Dire stuff!
Best of the period still looks like the next 4 days.
Agreed Craig.
Surfline had around 3ft@15 sec for later on the 12th and more so 13th. I think they were relying on the stronger period to imply better quality swell.
Does anyone else think that Surfline tend to overcall wave sizes? I was just reading there Fiji forecast and they were saying " after the ladies comp was run in 10-12ft surf last Wednesday and Thursday"
I watched a fair bit of the comp on those days and i.m.o the sets were 8ft tops.
Just me or anyone else agree?
And we're off! Round 1 starts in a couple of hours. Looked pretty small when they panned to the surf in the Dawn Patrol segment but the ASP reckons it's "three-to-five foot (1 - 1.5 metre) surf, variable winds". I assume by "variable winds" they mean "windy as buggery from the south-east", which is what it looked at the time.
GF - Surfline call wave face height. So their 10-12ft is 5-6ft in "surfer's feet" (which is ironically how the ASP measures wave heights, as per the daily call).
GF, Just to back up what Ben said, here is Surfline's page explaining their wave height scale. The photos are particularly instructive.
http://www.surfline.com/surf-science/wave-heights---forecaster-blog_22495/
Thanks Wally and T. B
There's a few inconsistent 4 footers rolling down the reef this heat. Jeez the winds are gonna play havoc though, already blowing strong. Mix a stiff breeze with the low tide and it'll be a different story.
Probably more 3 foot but there's the odd 4 footer....before any of you pedantic bastards pull me up on the size.
Terrible opening heat, just kept getting slower and windier it seemed. Tiago gets his first wave with 5 mins to go. Don't think I'll be watching much more if it goes on like this.
2nd heat much better. Bourez looking dangerous!!!
The ASP desk seems to have morphed into the ASP picnic table.
The palm frond weave is a nice touch though;)
As was the gumby trying to SUP in the background. Bet they didn't realise their shambolic performance was caught on camera.
Can someone please enlighten me, who's the big Grizzly Adams chap that's at every contest? Seems to be best mates with everybody, always in the VIP spots schmoozing with the pro's? Does he have any particular role or is he just there to squeeze his rotund frame into the camera background?
Must have the best job going. Travel, sink piss and by the looks of him, makes the staff topping up the buffet pretty nervous.
Your kind of job Zenmon???? ;)
Think your talking about Fletch, the Rip Curl Team manager.
And it pumps for Kellys heat......the guys got a swell magnet up his arse
mick-free wrote:the guys got a swell magnet up his arse
Quote of the event!
zenagain wrote:Can someone please enlighten me, who's the big Grizzly Adams chap that's at every contest? Seems to be best mates with everybody, always in the VIP spots schmoozing with the pro's? Does he have any particular role or is he just there to squeeze his rotund frame into the camera background? Must have the best job going. Travel, sink piss and by the looks of him, makes the staff topping up the buffet pretty nervous.
Grizzly Adams is Ryan Fletcher, Rip Curl's Team Manager. Effectively looks after the competitive needs of Mick, Wilko, and Owen, and also indulges in the 'CT delights.
Do the participants participate in Kava..?
If so are they drug tested..!
Feck me Fletch has the toughest job in the world. What qualifications does one need to get that job?
Seriously do not understand why a rip curl employee needs to be at every WCT comp event (partic when the sponsors aren't even rip curl). What could he possibly bring to these events for the Rip Curl surfers?
Coke
udo wrote:Coke
Dunno Mick strikes me as more of a ginger beer kinda guy, or maybe solo.
donweather wrote:Feck me Fletch has the toughest job in the world. What qualifications does one need to get that job?
Seriously do not understand why a rip curl employee needs to be at every WCT comp event (partic when the sponsors aren't even rip curl). What could he possibly bring to these events for the Rip Curl surfers?
If Fletch wasn't there, there would be no one to hand Fanno his Rip Curl cap for interviews.
Might be jumping the gun a bit but the Girls waiting period starts this weekend.
What's the chance of a mega swell!?
The one good thing about Rio is that it makes Fiji all the sweeter! Looking forward to this one.