Onya camel, paddling waves like that solo! Epic! And congrats marti para doing us inbreds down here proud, hearty yeeeeuuuwws to you and your crews!

Not because Marti should have to , or because the recipient was Camel .
But I personally would be alot happier if the Paddle In winner was awarded $ 10 K , and the biggest wave ( unless a miracle happens , will always be Towed in ) should only get $15 K .

Obviously the costs involved in chasing tow waves is significant , but the other " i feel " has more on the line .
Alternatively the tow guys could argue that most/some of teh paddle waves might not have been achieved without tow guys in the vicinity as " Insurance " .... ! ?

I agree Southey, I think the paddle in should have more weight to it.

Also in my opinion I thought Camel's wave was the biggest paddle in and biggest surfed as well.

Marti's was going mental in the background behind him and big and heavier than Camel's, but the perspective of the video with Marti more on the shoulder looked to be a touch smaller. It's a hard one but kudos too all the guys that entered and chase down big swells for a living.

congrats to the CAMEL, i agree with southey ,more $ to the paddler. the camel with $5 k pocket money and a new 10ft byrne rhino --paddle cloudbreak this year jeffrey...

Good chance Camel will cut the tail of that 10 footer, take the fins off and throw a big offset balsa keel on.

No offence to Al but thats Camel.

Not long ago he got some beautiful Gunter Rohns he took the fins out and turned the board by using his hands as side fins.

Cant say I would have thought of doing that. lol

Really? A moment of insight? I would have thought that moment was when Camel paddled in and caught and surfed the biggest wave in Australia.

Having sat on the cliff and talked about how thick and what shape the little bits of cut up ice cream containers should be to jam his fins in... and then watched him spend hours cursing and looking for one that Bec dropped in the sand, I can imagine what insights led to that immaculate looking wave.

I watched Storm Surfers, great movie. It really highlighted that all of that stuff talked about in the film exists in Camel, except magnified a million times. Without all the flotsam and jetsam he did what they were trying to do, actually reaching the perfect moment, in tune with nature, under his own steam, inner and outer. Man/nature beats, well actually, man/nature trounces technology, love it. Surfers still exist.

I know first hand that he is far from perfect, years ago I was actually going to make sure that he never came to South Oz again at one point, but I appreciate his commitment. Awesome as Kelly Slater is, there was a shot of Slater in the mags once, supposedly on the wave of the year at Gland, after he had faded Camel who had already been barreled on it from way inside. I guess Camel even figured that one out now too.

Congratulations to him, a long journey to be there and still be able to perform, under his own steam.

This bit maybe off topic, but be a bit smarter than that Storm Riders. That abs, muscle dribble reminds me of the old ockers in the fifties. Our basket ball coaches used to tell us that garbage when we were kids. Then the imports came and we were confronted with... abs and muscle that could out run, jump, last and coordinate any untrained local. I embraced it and improved out of sight and became a Personal Trainer because of that experience. I watched that film thinking, 'imagine what a fitter, stronger more confident Ross Clarke Jones and Tom Carrol would do on those waves' the attack, if the mind and spirit had the tools, the body, the vehicle to work with.

I remember Tom Carrol years ago saying that weights made him stiff, or something along those lines. Simple, get a new trainer then. Don't fall for the 'this is me, this is what I am', blurb. People can be anything they want, if they are open enough as you guys demonstrate on one hand. Imagine a fitter, stronger, faster, more robust athlete, how awesome that would be and feel. Like the same driver getting out of the bored out commodore with flared guards, and into the genuine race car. No comparison. Maybe I'm wrong... newsflash... Lowndes borrows mates lowered Austin 1800 with front and rear spoilers and humbles shocked V8 super car teams. Better still RCJ, get rid of that black thing and get an ab less, muscle less Colt Bellet 1600 with mags and racing stripes and give it hell. Feel the speed of that thing.

Back on track, deluxe Camel.

Great comment uplift but I have to take the "people can do anything they want...." line with a grain of salt. More on that soon.

Gidday Blindboy. Its a massive topic, but one that as a Personal Trainer I am extremely passionate about, so I'll explain a bit, plus it really relates to Camel.

We met at Black's years ago and got on well enough to talk about lots of stuff. Introduced through sports and training, I love visualisation and the whole Personal Development thing and did a zillion courses and books and stuff. Personally it lead me to a Spiritual direction, but even if you have zero interest in that, the basics of it are simple, provable and irrefutable. What I saw crystal clear is, that like anything, the knowledge is useless unless embraced and used. What I quickly saw in Camel was that he unknowingly was a master of it to some degree. Like another Dave Kelly, who I hardly knew, but could see it clearly in him. Or Slater.

He told me about the hours and hours and hours as a kid that he had spent looking at a particular picture of Gland, and dreaming about it. There's an important key, he was not worrying about it, no what ifs, no questions, but simply dreaming about it. This went on for ages until one day he was at Gland and the Indonesians were looking for a Westerner to help run things and keep the visitors happy. Despite every man and his dog blurbing and dribbling about how they would do anything to live at and surf Gland, the truth is, deep down and not so deep down, they wouldn't. Somehow, at the right place, at the right time, he was the only one that put his hand up. So in reality he was the only one mentally open to living and surfing at Gland. The others simply weren't fully mentally open to it. So his dream came true. In the same vein, I wanted to live and work, and have a good, steady, full time job, with good income, that allowed me to surf heaps, in isolated Elliston, population 200, where there was supposedly no work, no good jobs. To cut a long story short, that's what happened, and I got to surf Black's more than anyone. I also witnessed exactly what Camel did, because when I told the instructors of one famous course that that's what I was going to do, they were shocked and horrified, and started telling me things like, 'what about the future, how long could surfing be a part of my life', etc, etc. I saw that even they didn't really believe what they were teaching.

I remember being at Ulu's when a grommet Mike Parsons was a terrified mess at 2 foot Ulus, with everyone trying to console him. He became a small wave legend. Ala Cheyne Horan. Yet later, for whatever reasons, those two actually, truthfully, fully changed their minds, and presto, a miracle, we have two big wave legends.

Its so basic. If I show you a film, and you decide mentally that its sad, you change your body in a zillion ways, and have tears, depression, etc, etc, etc, whatever. If I show you a different film which you decide mentally is funny, then bingo, a zillion changes, a smile, feel good, etc, etc, etc. You can constantly make your own films, in your imagination and your mind. Its funny, Tom Carroll is the reason I decided to have two horrific wipe outs each and every surf at Blacks. Somewhere in a magazine he said that without wipeouts, you aren't pushing yourself and won't improve. Right, wrong, who cares, I whole heartedly believed it. After all, he was Tom Carrol, the guy that toyed with huge Pipeline. I bought it, hook line and sinker. So I took some horrific beatings, each time actually, truthfully stoked, and got better and better, more and more relaxed. Some people nick named me 'Mad Mick', who cares, even better. However, I remember sitting there one day with The Easter Reef guys, the big wave legends, watching them genuinely scared, unable to paddle in, whilst I had a ball, and got even more confident. I knew surfers that were in ways heaps more talented than me, that terrified themselves at Black's, and who could barely get down a two footer, let alone look at it and decide how they wanted to surf the thing.

One thing that we can always control, our thoughts. Its a basic fact, think a particular way, make particular chemicals, hormones, etc, get a particular result. I watch all sorts of people do their sets and reps. They can think, 'this is awesome, I'm powering, breathing like an athlete, getting fitter and stronger, I love this, I can give everything, like a machine, right to the end, I'm the real deal, etc, etc', or they can think, 'fuck this, its killing me, when will it end, I should be out partying, life is too short, fuck the breathing, weights don't work, did I pay the electricity, she/he thinks I'm weak, etc, etc'. Two totally different sets of hormones, chemicals, mental patterns etc are created, which if repeated often enough, create ingrained behaviour and patterns, habits, which in turn create different directions and outcomes. Both are training and doing reps and sets, but over time the results and directions will be totally different.

Tom Carrol can play the 50/testosterone card if he chooses and go that way. Or he can decide to elevate his testosterone, entirely possible through training, diet and recovery. And most importantly change his choices, or more simply, thoughts. Its the thinking, not the testosterone. And anyone can think anything. There are plenty of modern teenagers with ridiculously low testosterone and elevated estrogen through choices, thoughts, lifestyles and behaviours.

I would love to have been able to see inside his mind after that wipeout in the NW WA. He could have thought, 'that's it, its over for me I can't do it anymore, this isn't fun, I'm fucked, I knew it'. Or, 'fuck,this is awesome, I'm 50 and I just had and survived the heaviest wipeout ever, where no one, absolutely no one has ever been. I'm stronger and more experienced than ever, I'm Tom Carrol a fucking legend... here we go, a whole new chapter, better, smarter, stronger, fitter than ever'. Whatever he thought it meant he looked pretty good on that last break they surfed. Repeat either thought train over and over, and arrive at totally different stations in life. Don't like the station, catch a new train, its always free and waiting to be boarded. Its always a choice, the thinking. That's if you choose to master your thoughts, or let them toy with and drive you. That's the real training.

What's with giving the winners boards for prizes? These blokes have done a lot of work to ride those waves and have put a lot into there boards along with the guy who makes them, but I assume now they will all be riding Al Byrnes from now on, it's not a junior contest where they give surf brand product away. What next, give Kelly a rip curl wetsuit next time he wins Bell?

If everyone was as idealistic and as committed as you uplift I would be more accepting of that point of view, but that's not what I see around me. More later.

Hi Uplift, are you Mick Tomlinson?

Gidday no, but that's a classic. I'm friends with Mick, but he would laugh (or be horrified) at people thinking he wrote all this stuff.

Fascinating reading, uplift.

I second that, great reading uplift!

Interesting re reading this thread , in less than a week it is time to judge this years big wave awards

And have you got an entry in this year Camel?

"years ago I was actually going to make sure that he never came to South Oz again at one point, "
Sounds like you are lucky your mate let you back in the state camster!

grogan , lucky ? I waited till he gave the all clear ,via the grapevine. shaun your comment was very valid. the al byrne gun was a beautiful looking prize but didn't have the required glass strength and subsequently broke,by the first big wave that came near it . geez it looked good but and will be fixed one day and kept for the sentimental value/trophy. wonder who will make the Oakley/surfing life big wave awards prizes this year? ben yes I did enter, you should know that seeing as it was mentioned by ' s-l' when he paid me out for exposure on some thread recently .

camel ... unless s-l stands for the " Law " himself ( in which case i myself would take back what i said to him in these walls with respect , especially his contributions to switchfoot surfing ) . and if not , then i wouldn't stress on what he thinks ..... during the entire SA - VIC shitfight threads , he was actually negative towards the locals and their feelings on such matters .... so i believe his thoughts were in regards to some being hypocritical .