Billabong Pro Pipeline: Men's Final
Another crazy Slater day - one of those days where he seemed destined to win from start to finish.
An eighth Pipe Masters win is now in the history books. The first was in 1992, five years before his Finals partner Seth Moniz was born. Nine years since his last win in 2013.
(Heff/WSL)
We saw vintage Slater performances in and out of the water: He suckered Miggy Pupo into an interference call, ended up in tears after the Final, even teasing retirement from the podium, which is another classic Slater trope when he is on top, saying, “I might not show up to Sunset - I have to have a talk with myself”.
He'll be there. Once again, he dominated the sport. Total ownership. His tactics were superb, his performances superior. Courage, decision making, composure all running at a level above. Even the spiritualism and tears at the end had a tactical edge. “I've committed my life to this,” he said through the tears, “All the winning, all the losing, all the crap. I've hated lots of it”.
Slater's dominance was shadowed by an elephant of unrealised equality. A subject that, in Oscar Wilde's words, “dare not speak its name”.
Head of Competition Jessi Miley-Dyer was as cheery as a chipmunk in clover this morning when she announced Finals Day, “I'm here to let you know that today will be Finals Day," she said with a huge grin. “We'll be starting with Men's Quarter-Finals and then moving into Women's Semis”.
'Finally', thought a million surf fans, 'we get to see the Women at proper Pipe'. Huge crowd. Chunky gnarly Pipe. Minimum of $25,000 US Dollars for paddling out. $80,000 for the winner.
(Heff/WSL)
But as Men's QF 4 ticked down a pall of silence fell over the webcast. It was like someone had died suddenly, but we didn't know who, or how. Well, we knew who - it was the Women's Semi-Finals.
Nothing from Jessi. Nothing from the booth. Not a word of explanation to the audience. For a broadcast team that can't manage to catch all the live action and keep pace with what is happening on screen it was a remarkable level of co-ordination. It was like an invading force was massed outside the WSL citadel and any mention of the Women's comp would have given the enemy an excuse to sack the fortress.
Back to the Men's Quarters. The gulf in class between the Pipe experts and the surfers who had ridden a run of luck to the Finals was massive. Kelly was completely dominant over Kanoa, as was Miggy Pupo over Mesinas. Ibelli had an easy run over Sammy Pupo.
Only JJF and Moniz was a true contest. It was far from perfect Pipe. The dreamy E or SE wind of the first couple days had been replaced by north-quarter winds, corroding the faces with raggedy chips of water coming at right angles across the face of the lefts. The rights were slightly cleaner, and unspeakably heavy with the west angle. Moniz found an entry into a right. Eight, ten feet..? It was one of those rides that put a metallic taste of fear and andrenalin in the mouth. His fins skipped out, he sketchily regained edge control, already under the lip, and managed to get inside a cave which looked to sending collapsing stalactites into the path of the Hawaiian. Clean make. 9.60.
John John responded with a deep, deep tube ride on a smaller Backdoor wave. Then a classic, behind the peak Pipe ride for a 7.67 and a 9.00. He had control of the heat with six minutes to go.
(Bielmann/WSL)
As Marcellus Wallace noted in Pulp Fiction, pride can fuck with you. And it fucked with John when he got detonated on an unmakeable Backdoor wave. No need for him to catch it. No need for him to try and out-do Moniz when it came to charging. There was nothing to prove. His board snapped. He wasted minutes on the go around and paddle-out. And then had to watch Moniz getting blown out of a decompression chamber for the winning score.
Had it been five minutes later, John would have been on a ski and possibly back in position. Two days of ten foot Pipe had been wrangled sans impeller and exhaust, but now the skis were called. It could only mean the Women were warming up. An inducement. We have to infer this because the commentary - paid handsomely for the job of identifying and analysing the sport in real-time for fans - had gone as mute as Easter Island statues.
The ski assist was not a sufficient inducement. Money was not, as Rochelle Ballard so astutely noted on Day One, a sufficient inducement. Nor was the crowd on the beach, the chance of having the lineup divested of sausage-wielders, equality, broadcast eyeballs, an historical day for Womens surfing etc etc.
Don't get me wrong. I do not disrespect fear. Fear is the most disrespected commodity in action sports and popular culture. Contrary to the therapy speak that “nothing” lies on the other side of fear, in this case it's very much a something. That something includes death, permanent injury, humiliation, career suicide etc etc.
At a certain level though, someone has to be courageous enough to be honest about the fear. It could have been Tyler, maybe Carissa. At the least JMD should have protected her athletes and carried the can for them.
Instead of making a statement such as, 'we've decided conditions are too unsafe and in the interests of our athletes have decided not to hold competition' or words to that effect, JMD threw her girls under the bus. Making it clear that “after discussions with the women” they'd decided not to run due to the wind. It was a disgraceful display of corporate cowardice and JMD should on the next plane home looking for a new job. But she won't. People fail upwards in the WSL, until they get disappeared and never mentioned again.
In the most bitter irony possible, while JMD was telling us the surf wasn't good enough for the Women to run, Kelly Slater was threading a wide open tube at Backdoor. A lifetime ride for anyone.
(Heff/WSL)
It leaves us with a series of questions about holding a Womens comp in conjunction with Men at Pipe.
To wit: What did they think was going to happen?
Pipe gets ten foot and gnarly, what did they think was going to happen?
If the elite end of the field was not prepared to paddle out, should that small matter not have been dealt with in advance?
Or do they think they can get away with treating a global sporting audience like idiots and pretend it's not happening?
We watch Pipe because it defies corpo-speak and the made up reality that woke capitalism likes to smother us in.
ELO was ashen-faced and grim on the stage as Kelly basked in his moment of glory. Even a smoke and mirrors flim flam man like him couldn't escape the fact that the credibility of his organisation was bleeding out on the sand.
Let's finish on a high.
What can you say about Kelly's Finals performance? There was so much in it. The outrageous Backdoor waves, the tippy toes pull-in with the lip gracing his dome like a swinging death club, so finely honed even he was “glad it didn't kill me.” He put Moniz on the ropes early, accepting his challenge to send it and charge and then taunting him and teasing him into closeout after closeout. Moniz had reason to feel aggrieved after being robbed of the normal rest period between Semi and Final but he didn't complain. Kelly stalked him and showed him lots of different looks, making sure he was constantly in his grill.
(Heff/WSL)
Halfway through they both had four waves. Moniz, four non-makes. Kelly two brilliant rides and had him combo-ed. From there it was control and pressure. Moniz caught a bomb on the buzzer, maybe the biggest, heaviest wave of the day. Only shaded by Kelly's deeper tube on the wave before.
We have to find a way to bury our epidemiological differences and get him to Australia.
More than ever, the sport seems to ride on his shoulders.
// STEVE SHEARER
(Bielmann/WSL)
(Heff/WSL)
(Heff/WSL)
Comments
Well deserved win for Kelly Slater. You could see he was going to win early in the rounds. His backdoor knowledge was superior to any other surfer other than JJF. Shame JJF did not get through to the final. BTW, quads far are better for outright speed and deep tube riding.
A truly epic moment in sporting history.
Brilliant write up. Thank you, SS.
I missed most the comp and most of today, and was scratching my head re what happened to the ladies. Well, the Wozzle weaseled out, we now know. For shame!
The bit I did watch seemed sort of weird and incoherent and not quite the epic comp it should have been.
Well done to Kelly. Not my favourite human being or surfer, but easily the most impressive.
That first picture of Bielman's just made made well up all over again.
And spot on with JMD. How much more courageous would it have been to have a camera in that meeting?
Thanks Steve
Yep what a moment, that's a capture of a lifetime. Emotional.
Yes brilliant
Evo where are you brother ..
Great write up, freeride.
Was an amazing competition. So exciting until the end. (Guys).
I am 100% an advocate for equal pay…and have accepted the girls voices when they say “we want to compete on the same waves” we need clarity on the decision for them not to surf. If it was a surfer decision, they don’t deserve equal pay. If it was a WSL decision, they (girls) should be kicking up a stink…imo only.
Has any of the girls that should have surfed, made any mention on any social media?
to be fair that was pretty heavy pipe i am not sure the girls have had enough exposure to pipe like that to be considered safe, i get your point but for me the fact that they are human is enough to deserve equal pay , i get the arguments and they are perfectly valid like tennis for me is more open ended i mean play five sets if you want the same money i get that! but sending the girls out in those conditions would be very sketchy they probably would be fine but imagine one of them died or got hurt
The point was not the equal pay, but that the WSL was too chicken to broadcast the fact that the women's comp was not gonna run after all.
Not sure if you can say that though jock o, that's the truth, but it's directly implying the girls are inferior in some way than the men, which is exactly what everyone is trying to eliminate.
The girls claim to be fighting for an equal stage. If its an equal stage they should have been prepared to paddle today. Any less is an admission of inferiority.
Epic morning of surfing though. I watched every minute of every heat. The best man won. Seth or JJF equally deserved to be in the final.
And King Kelly's victory speech was the icing on the cake. Can't take anything away from him - he is a once in a lifetime athlete!
yes good point! the equal pay thing is a very interesting topic, like tennis if you want equal pay at the very least play 5 sets, it is hard to broach this subject without coming off as a sexist jerk but you are correct if they want an equal playing field yesterday was there opportunity , but incredible contest !
Young male rookies also have limited/ no exposure to Pipe prior to paddling out to for their heats.
GOAT!
Much respect Kelly. Please keep going
Another great write up. Really enjoying these articles. To coin a well worn phrase, It's great to read something with refreshing honesty for a change.
There were winners and losers today- both of them were pro surfing.
Great write up. This should be sent to and read by every single member of the WSL.
So good to see Slater winning what he described as his 'best win ever' against a young, generational Hawaiian whose full of aloha and humbleness. Such a classic final, will definitely go down in history.
Hoping the girls score big glassy 10foot A frames tomorrow that they're waiting out on!
I was unsure how pipe would feel as the opening act instead of being the crescendo to the CT. Unsurprisingly the waves done the talking and it was an epic few days of surf. There was no where to hide out there and Kelly is the undisputed in his greatness. I also grew a newfound respect for Seth - what a charger, just not as wily a competitor at the pointy end of the comp. JMD and the WSL have made an all time fuck up, no amount of corpo bullshit can save them. Thanks for the great write ups FR.
"Two days of ten foot Pipe had been wrangled sans impeller and exhaust, but now the skis were called. It could only mean the Women were warming up." - thats just gold :)
As I said in the live comments, there is far too much whinging on this site, SS included. Wasn't the men's enough for one day? Do you wanna see Ash Barty followed by Rafa on one night? Wait for tomorrow and you can watch the girls FFS.
They called it on in the morning. They said the girls are up..…when it came time, nothing. It was unfair on Seth who never got a break to rest and prepare. They fucked or some chickened out.
I told heaps of friends and family who would never normally watch Pipe to watch it because the women would be on today, a historic first. They all tuned in and are wondering wtf? Also i wonder how many people/girls took time off work just for this morning. Wouldn't have been a problem if WSL hadn't made it absolutely clear today was THE finals day. Anyway, that's just another perspective to chew on. At the end of the day, who really cares i guess.
Maybe the girls want their own finals day separate to the guys
Think it’s still going to be smokin but little bit smaller tomorrow anyway
Why do you equate pointing out something for what it quite clearly is as whingeing?
They missed a golden opportunity today 'to advance the sport'.
Personally, I couldn't give a rats but if I was a sponsor I reckon I wouldn't be too pleased.
A champion of sport now even a bigger surfing legend.. great win kelly you seriously deserve to go out a winner again .. I loved watching you surf over your career live and tv..
Phenomenal performance and write up.
Couldn’t not deny the man, I reckon only he could’ve handled some of those back door waves.
Anyone else notice him paddling beside Seth on every wave, just kind of looked like he was strategising too the max - make him go, push a little chandelier over, ensure he take off where he is, give him no room…….I’m probably being cynical.
Day didn’t turn out as good as the first two. Certainly the wind etc made for tricky Pipe. I think WSL blew yesterday, they may’ve had it all wrapped up in a rainbow should they have run.
Monstrous sets still...tmoro morn be very interesting !
Incredible achievement, congratulations to Ke12y - perhaps these other professional surfers need to question themselves, their abilities and their tactics if they cannot beat a nearly 50 year old man who is 7kg overweight and unvaccinated.
It's almost like he's purposefully handicapping himself by foolishly and ignorantly ignoring health guidelines regarding the world's deadliest pandemic.
Highly likely that he is Vaxxed .
Not a chance.
He has a mind capable of critical thinking, vaxxed?.... of course not!
Of course he's vaxxed.
If he is he'll still have to be a little careful of his comments as Novax ended up getting deported because his presence may promote anti-vax sentiment.
That's true, he'll have to step down from his IG soapbox a while.
If he's '7 kilos overweight' and 'unvaccinated', then you're implying he's unfit,and likely will miss the 2 events in Australia due to their current government regulations regarding that (i'm sure you were aware of that).
as well as he'll be 50 in a few days.
How did you think he'll become 'Ke12y then in light of those things?
It was highly unlikely a nearly 50 year old man who is 7 kgs overweight and unvaccinated could win a top-level surfing competition; with the best surfers in the world, most of them less than half his age in damn heavy barrelling reef break waves on the North Shore - but Ke12y did.
That's why Kelly Slater is the best competitive surfer of all time and only a fool would bet against Ke12y - I don't know how he may accomplish a 12th world title, but if anyone can do it, he can.
A strong showing at Sunset and Portugal and the Aussie legs will not matter. He made the cut last year missing several events. He gets 10,000 points for that one event. Another 6-8k from the next two events and he will be all good.
I would happily be the ‘fool’ to take the other side of your bet … long time Kelly supporter in most respect but he ain’t winning any more work titles (vaxxed or unvaxxed) this is a beautiful but probably final Ct win - congrats kelly
7 kgs overweight ?
Brilliant write up again Steve.
Absolutely agree regarding the woke culture equality crap. The same ideology that sees biological men competing against women where we're gaslit to believe they're stunning and brave. And similarly, women getting equal pay to spectacularly underperform. Don't get me wrong, Steph is incredible to watch, truly "dancing with Krishna" and Carissa is amazing. But, come on! Truly the elephant in the pro surfing room. Very brave of you to even write it up in these "enlightened" times. Let's see how much backlash you cop. Or maybe it'll be directed my way? Bring it snowflakes haha!
JMD has today proven herself a disgraceful joke, so too has the wozzle and its muzzled talking heads.
No joke is Kelly, the greatest sportsman in the history of the world. Incredible victory, masterful, epic, far beyond legendary. In fact, I could almost feel he'd won when Seth awkwardly wouldn't stop hugging him pre heat lol.
Couldn't agree more with your second last sentence. This segregation bullshit is pathetic.
Edit to add: I'll happily eat humble pie if the girls send it tomorrow and it's still 10 ft first reef. Then, equal pay deserved. We'll see eh?
well said I can watch women play basketball, soccer, tennis, netball but surfing rugby, Afl and cricket they are miles behind men in regards to standards not to say they won't be in the future but currently to be demanding equal pay there is only so much money that either the WSL, AFL etc can financially keep propping it up before it becomes unviable
Which brings us to the up coming contests at Chopes and Gland.......the girls will have to lift their act before those contests start not hum and har during.......in some ways im glad they didn't run the womens today as it might have shifted the whole vibe of the mens final and maybe the men might have had to finish in sub par conditions.....anyway we will see how the womens ends up because they still have to run it.......took the edge off what was a brilliant contest and the WSL needs to clean its act up a lot and be honest with the surf fans instead of the secrecy and tip toeing around it seems to do a lot.
The women will be just fine at G land they'll most likely surf the moneytrees section and if speedies shows itself then the guys will get that.
3 or 4 women's events were run at cloudbreak rather succesfully,and that gets bigger than G land.
Way bigger,to the point they cancel the contest and the global big wave chasers show up and take over like we saw a few years back.
"- had gone as mute as Easter Island statues." Gold FR.
That article was pretty funny. Maybe they should have kept the women at Maui. Perhaps pipe is showing the women’s tour has a different style / approach, which is less about charging, which is fine but if pipe is going to stop them from being competitive it’s a pretty stupid stop. It’s not like they schedule the mens tour for a stop at 20 foot Jaws or Mavericks cause that’s for a different type of surfing and would stop it being competitive.
I think you're in to something here. In bodyboarding, the tour (men's and women's) shifted to prioritise heavy slab waves from the millennium. Women at Pipe, El Fronton, etc. Are they as technical as the men? No, but they are waaaay less supported than men, or women's surfing.
What's key I think is that they know they will need to front up to those waves, so that's what they free surf and train for. And despite bodyboarding's scene being at a low ebb the women charge.
I don't think the current women's surfing tour sends the message to emerging talent that they need to know how to surf 8ft pipe, so completely logically, they train to perform in other conditions. You'd be mad to be a woman on the current tour and focus on your pigdog airdrop skills with a cross wind when your competitors are dialling 4ft turns using the same precious hours. It's like saying to a budding female cricketer that she should focus on a test batting style when the current Pro level is all t20s and One Day games. Of course they won't skill up for it.
I reckon the 3 or 4 women that might be capable of having a proper dig at solid Pipe should be given the opportunity.
In waves like the men's final,i reckon a heat between say Carissa Moore and Filipe Toledo would possibly be pretty evenly matched lol.
Yeah fair point. There’s probably an opportunity for lesser skilled but more ballsy riders to earn a spot based around charging. The problem for them would getting through the QS slop.
The thing about 20-foot Jaws and Mavericks got me thinking.
I believe the surfing tour should include all conditions, from 1 to 20 foot
I also believe the top 36 (or top 24, or top 16) surfers should be put against specialists (locals or not) in *every* venue and also against former champions etc
That would make things so much more interesting
Well done Kelly. Genuinely better than JJF out at pipe, still, after that performance.
Hopefully it’s just as big tomorrow and slick as oil conditions. Only need two hours. Can’t blame the wind then.
Big call.
He's a better competitor,at least in waves like Pipe at this point in his career.
I reckon JJF would've made it a closer final than Seth Moniz did,just he didn't have any last second luck to get through his quarter final,like Kelly did in round 4 against Barron Mamiya.
Perhaps the greatest individual sporting win ever? Hard to overstate how difficult it would be to do what Kelly Slater just did at that location and at his age.
Regarding the girls, I was watching the broadcast with my son and we were saying the same thing - no mention of the women by the commentators at all. We were looking forward to seeing Carissa Moore get Bckdoor-barrelled off her head and lift the trophy! She’s amazing. However, I doubt JMD had a choice whether or not to send the girls out. But then lying about it while the wind blew lighter and the waves were pumping? Ridiculous. If some girls said ‘no way’, why not walk their opponent through?
Another act of self-immolation by the WSL.
Yeh, it’s the lack of communication to fans that frustrates us all. And it’s deliberate not just incompetence.
Tell us straight up what is happening and everyone gets respect for the honesty.
Awsome win KS. I hope Australia finds a way to get Kelly here for the Aussie leg, if he wishes to come.
Glad the womens didnt run, Im not interested in potential female bloodshed or finger pointing humiliation for a surf event.
Good to see commonsense prevail.
Hear hear Mick. Kelly should be the only story to come out of today. If the gals did run it would have simply highlighted the gulf between the men and women - no winners there.
Kelly can come as long as he does 2 weeks iso (assuming he's not vaxxed). Whether or not McGowan will let him in is another story
The Margs Pro probably won’t run this year.
Doubt it, McGowan is about to ban unjabbed parents from seeing their sick kids in hospital.
Regarding Bells, Dan Andrews seems to be quite lenient with the purebloods. Oh, hang on...
Seriously cnut can you fuck off
:D :D :D You crack me up gf!
I don't think Kelly would be too fussed to miss the Margs event.
It's always been one of his less successful events on tour,and i might be wrong,but i think it was the one event that he never managed to win.
He's always seemed to prefer surfing the east coast of oz instead of the west,kind of in contrast to JJF,who definitely prefers the west,and always arrives earlier and leaves later than kelly around that event.
I've followed / watched pro surfing for over 40 years and this whole comp but mainly today (K.S's 3 heats) was the best I've ever seen. Gotta admit I had a lump in my throat during the final 10 minutes of the final when it was pretty clear he was going to win.
To win that comp the way he did with all of it going down in big pumping Pipe & Backdoor puts the cherry on top of what has got to be the most amazing and dominant career in elite sport ever.
If he does decide that's it, I for one reckon it would be the perfect way to go out. Once he does call time, surfing as a whole will be left with a massive hole that can't be filled.
Bravo Kelly! You're a freak of nature.
If he calls time,it'll be on the tour itself,not Pipe i reckon.
He loves the comp there too much,and when he can still win it at nearly 50,and been making the semi's most years in between his wins,then i reckon he'll go to 55 still competing there easily.
No way he'll give it away yet when he can still surf it how he just did.
What are the odds of someone important from the WSL seeing this and thinking, you know what he’s right. We really fucked up. And addressing it?
Or do they do what they do so well and sweep it under the rug, never mention it and pretend it didn’t happen?
Poor another whiskey.
Tyler Wright, on her Instagram this morning said “coming in hot” Brissa Hennessy said “let’s go!!!” JMD said “LFG”
Lakey Peterson on her instagram said “Women's semi up later..tune in to watch” JMD said “lets go”
Whats LFG acronym for?
Lets Fucking go
Bit irrelevant from Brissa Hennessy as she's not in the comp now.
Nothing from Carissa or Moana?
That's the final i hope we get.
Thanks for the articles SS . It was certainly a day to remember for a number of reasons.Watching KS performance through out this contest was amazing, his fitness and bravery plus knowledge to paddle back out through backdoor was astonishing. I had both finalists in my fantasy pick and have 3 of the women remaining. I can’t see the same size crowd turning up to watch the women’s finals , they have blown an opportunity , maybe the woz were worried about the real possibility of a female competitor dying out there . Lastly I find it amusing that some whinge about others whinging making them even bigger whingers .
Amen Padre 76
What are the girls going to do when it's 8ft and perfect tomorrow?
Surf.
Every excellent scores in the event!
Thanks heaps for posting that video Yuri. Great to see the waves with a less Zoomed-in video. So cool to see those waves at Pipe/backdoor with a bit more context [which you can't get when you are always zoomed in on the surfer.. Shows you how fast they are really going and just how insane the waves were
Good point Lilas. Many of us will never have the chance to watch a Pipe Masters at the beach. So it is nice to see how the waves and the atmosphere looks like from different perspectives. Great compilation Yuri!
Hey! Thank you! The channel is always looking for new perspectives. Specially the beach view, because it is our favorite! Please subscribe the channel and help us bring new content!
Kelly is a legend. Imagine tackling 10ft pipe winning against men half your age, but can’t come to a country because of 2 needles.
It's a miracle he's not dead from the covid yet.
Haha yeah fuckin covid cough...better be scared of that one eh 99.7% survival rate...follow the money and see the real deal or bow to the fear and mask up with you face nappy and booster vax digital ID BS...fuckin covid my ass
Probably already had it and didn't even know it,like most that catch it.
Still, we need that booster, and the 4th shot, and if the health dept says, the 5th and the 6th... one every 3 months they say.. That's ok isn't it?
S.S. I didn't read all the comments so forgive me if this has been said but I think your commentary on the day is horseshit.
I don't actually care if the women were called off because the conditions were "too scary" or "not good enough". I'm happy to wait. I would have preferred the men's were sent out in cleaner conditions. Something around that size and clean would have been epic. As it was they did remarkable things with fairly twisted conditions. I think it's an advantage of the sport that they can adjust, delay and reschedule. If you want pure schedule go to the olympics. I'll go further and say it was a correct and brave decision. All credit to them.
I watched the day from start to finish and when the wind held NE I was thinking to myself the girls would be postponed, and then they announced it. No big deal.
I'm sure you are a smart guy but for goodness sake stop being so cynical. I don't thinks it's a conspiracy.
Enough said.
With respect, I think you've missed the point in spectacular fashion Wbat.
The WSL has made a huge deal of having a totally integrated Tour with men and women surfing the same waves for the same prize money accessing the same eyeballs.
That has been a keystone of the way they are marketing the Sport.
They've hyped the everloving shit out of the Women surfing Pipe as historic etc etc.
Promised women would be surfing on Finals Day with Men, including as recently at this morning.
And then when that obviously was not going to happen, pretended like it was not happening, at every level of the Sport.
It's not a conspiracy it's just an incredibly toxic, amateurish way to run a professional sport that treats the fans like complete idiots.
What happens in your professional life if you make a promise then can't fulfil it?
Do you just pretend it hasn't ever happened?
This is huge for women's sport, women's surfing.
And they are going to have to solve this problem at some Point.
Freeride, I reckon they would have delayed the men's if they could have.
I don't think they pretended. I was sitting there watching it and when the wind held NE(?) I was thinking they would call of the girls and then they did.
""It's not a conspiracy it's just an incredibly toxic, amateurish way to run a professional sport that treats the fans like complete idiots.""
Or they reacted to the situation as it played out. A correct and brave decision in my eyes. I want to see the girls in clean, pumping surf which is not what it turned out to be.
I'm going to reread it but though the article was gossip and sexist. I could be wrong.
"The ski assist was not a sufficient inducement. Money was not, as Rochelle Ballard so astutely noted on Day One, a sufficient inducement. Nor was the crowd on the beach, the chance of having the lineup divested of sausage-wielders, equality, broadcast eyeballs, an historical day for Womens surfing etc etc."
Sexist dribble.
"Instead of making a statement such as, 'we've decided conditions are too unsafe and in the interests of our athletes have decided not to hold competition' or words to that effect, JMD threw her girls under the bus. Making it clear that “after discussions with the women” they'd decided not to run due to the wind. It was a disgraceful display of corporate cowardice and JMD should on the next plane home looking for a new job. But she won't. People fail upwards in the WSL, until they get disappeared and never mentioned again."
Well that is what happened. The wind didn't go to forecast and the conditions were not to the standard which takes into account both performance and safety. What was she meant to say? Pretty lowbrow commentary.
"It leaves us with a series of questions about holding a Womens comp in conjunction with Men at Pipe.
To wit: What did they think was going to happen?
Pipe gets ten foot and gnarly, what did they think was going to happen?"
Yes, they will. And hopefully they will get the forecast correct and they will get the finals of both men's and women's on the same day. And if they don't that's life.
When all is said and done I think the girls have gone really well for their first Pipe contest. They will get better. They will start to focus on it more and put the time in. And in a year or two they will out surf at Pipe 99.9% of the guys that follow this site.
Good on the WSL for delaying. It gives the girls stronger position to improve and show their skills.
They said the women's semis were going to run immediately after the mens quarters but ghosted out of that call. That's the way they normally run things - keep the mens and womens comps in sync, not finish one off while the semis of the other hasn't run.
I agree conditions weren't exactly user friendly and the girls would have had a hard time out there, but at least own up to it and announce it, rather than try and sweep it under the carpet with not even a mention. The whole contest has been run, trying to shelter the girls from maxing Pipe...
I don't agree with your last couple of comments but everything else I do.
I watched it start to finish and saw when Jessie MD came on and said that due to the wind and after discussion with the girls they have chosen to run their heats on another day.
I'm not sure what more she should have said.
maybe look at the wind forcast for the next couple of days, its not getting easier
So are you disputing the fact the guys were getting near perfect 10 point rides when the call was made? Are you disputing the fact Pipeline is Pipeline? Did Pipeline not live up to what one would expect Pipeline to be? If a decision is made to hold a surf contest at Pipeline, would it be an extraordinary turn of events, that Pipeline actually shows up and breaks like Pipeline? Could the WSL have just been transparent to it's fans who were promised there would DEFINITELY be finals of both mens and womens today. If any of the above is untrue, i'd like to know which part.
Do you reckon they should have run Chopes on one of those code red days? Cloudbreak on one of those mega swells?
If they can be honest and transparent about it, they can hold the whole mens and womens at gums, i don't care. Just don't feed us the hyperbole and bullshit and then quietly retreat in the corner and say nothing leaving fans on the beach, on the internet and on tv in limbo, with no idea and no one standing up and being straight and honest. Not that much to ask Wbat. If they don't wanna put the ladies out in what was very dangerous Pipe, don't look at the forecast, which clearly showed, very real Pipeline, and proclaim to the world that they're definitely gonna run it. Not sure how you're missing that connection. Unless you're JMD!! hahaa
Code Red swells at Teahupoo happen once every 5-10 years. Same with the big CB events.
Today's surf at Pipeline was the third time it's done this in the last week.
I think it was a comparison for the women only,even if still a pretty crappy analogy.
Pretty sure no one is paddling into waves on 'code red' days.
So by your reasoning they could have run the mens on a code red day with jet skis towing em in.
Guessing that's not permitted in world tour events but maybe I'm wrong considering how often the WSL change the narrative.
Wbat - “ Well that is what happened. The wind didn't go to forecast and the conditions were not to the standard which takes into account both performance and safety. ”
Huh, it was fucking pumping..
How you could think otherwise is beyond me
I thought from a Pipe/Backdoor point of view it was pretty junky.
Chopes no because you can’t paddle it at that size.
Cloud break yes.
Well, we will see won’t we. At least two proper pipe days left in the waiting period. They can chose one of those or a 4 foot day. What will it be?
Btw an ene wind is cross/offshore for back door.. plenty of those coming through all afternoon, after the comp ended.
That's the best comment I have seen.
Let's see what type of day they choose. I reckon if it's 6 to 10ft and clean they will send them out and the girls will have a red hot go.
@wbat
"When all is said and done I think the girls have gone really well for their first Pipe contest."
What do you base that opinion on as the consensus is that most were pulling back on 4ft waves [I watched it with anticipation but to be honest it was very underwhelming]
Aside from all the WSL bullshit, the performances in the water were less than inspiring. [The same can be said for some of the guys performances i may add]
"They will get better. They will start to focus on it more and put the time in. And in a year or two they will out surf at Pipe 99.9% of the guys that follow this site."
That's a big call and I feel goes against an irrefutable fact.
-Surfing takes a very long time to master.
30 years of tube riding experience cannot be purchased, it must be earned. 2 years of pipe training is not going to get you very far. Try 5-10 years at a minimum before you would even begin to feel a little comfortable out there [at the sizes the men have had for the contest]
In the end , some of the girls and guys will never feel completely comfortable out there and I can respect that as 8ft pipe is not a place to take lightly. After all, it is the most deadly surf spot on the planet by far. RIP all those who lost their lives out there.
Hot Stuff LT!!
I'm not commenting anymore. Believe or not I have to clean and mop the bathroom.
Final swipe. SS, do better.
sorry mate, but I think you've royally missed the point with your criticism.
But it's all good, I respect your right to your opinion.
Thumbs up.
Also worth mentioning (re: Women's event) that the WSL gave up a full day of epic 8ft surf yesterday - slightly smaller than today - in order to hold both Men's and Women's finals today for a 'Historic' day of competitive surfing.
So, I'm curious why they didn't run the Women yesterday. Could have done them on their own and given then maximum media exposure too, with the Men running today (rather than bundling up together). Mainstream media only has a certain number of slots in each night's news broadcast.
Lotta pressure on what happens tomorrow.
I just wrote a answer to your previous comment and you deleted your comment. Bummed.
;-)
Ah soz, Steve posted straight after me and his answer made much more sense (didn't see your reply though, must have been at the same time).
Thanks Kelly. Thanks Huey . Thanks Freeride.
Standing ovation to all the chargers of today. The spectacle of nature and the elevation of human spirit in a single day. Epic.
Here’s the thing : Maybe the chicks need a bit of going home and pondering the remorse of not fronting up to the challenge. Sometimes we need to take a step back in order to find the ability to move forward.
There is a precedent for what you’re describing here and I would actually go as far as recommending the wozzle write it into their rule book for future reference
From now on, any competitor who backs out of surfing a heat through fear must complete one successful slab tow session with Mark Mathews
Great write up as you expect from FR.
Some real problems with the production. The disconnect in the booth is annoying, they miss so much trying to do too much. The cross to Gerry Lopez the other day was a joke and disrespectful to the guy. I think interviewing the previous heat winners while another is underway doesn't work. The ad break cutaways don't work, just announce the break for the tv audience and keep it going. I agree with FR the unprofessional way the womens call was made is embarrassing but I think the call was right, it would have made for an unedifying contest, the lefts were unmakeable and backdoor was way too sketchy.
Surfing is very lucky to have a champion like Kelly.
I reckon that's a bit hard on JMD.
At least wait until their event is finished before drawing those conclusions.
You're just presuming without knowing for certain she made excuses about the wind for them.
What if that's actually true?
Will there be another article tomorrow apologizing to her if the surf is similar but the wind is better,and the girls get some bombs and it ends up vindicating the decision today?
Would Keiren Perrow have sent them out there if he was still in the job?
But then again there is one clue it wasn't going to happen today.
The girls heats would normally have wrapped up before the guys going off traditional contest history.
And 3 heats would of been easy to fit into the timeline.
But that's just conjecture without confirmed knowledge,especially in these days of equal pay and equality.
If they end up running the girls in smaller conditions like before,after the swell abates,you'll be pretty much proven correct,we shall see,but right now it's jumping the gun to my mind.
It's a rant for after the woman's final if it happens in their post contest article,not for taking up half the article of Slater's 8th Pipe win and his first for 8 years (not 9 as the contest would need to be in december this year,like it used to be).
If JMD did pull the pin on the girls because the surf was deemed too heavy for them,it would have been with the tacit approval of the CEO too,seeing as they would of been sitting in the same corporate viewing box,and he would of given the nod of approval,even if he wasn't actually involved in the direct decision making.
It not all completely up to her i believe,and she'd have more hand holding in the decisions made regarding the girl's at this event than all the others,with the exception of Tahiti to come,if it gets solid there too i'd imagine.
There's going to be some parochial protectionism to the safety of female pros,considering most people involved in the contest organising are blokes,when it comes to something like solid Pipe.
And they'd be in the advisor's group to JMD.
One day it may be gone,but not quite yet.
they didn't make the call on the women's at the conclusion of the Men's comp.
They made it during the men's quarters which should have been followed by the Womens semis. If the wind was no good then, why send the men's semis out?
It's not the call that's really the problem, Those conditions would have been beyond the ability of a good portion of the men's field. It's the pretence and hiding behind an excuse that makes it look awful
Actually, according to the comment timeline on the live page, they made the call (that the Women would not be run) at 10:43am (Sydney time), about twenty minutes before the end of the Kelly/Seth final (which finished around 11am).
JMD previously announced earlier in the day that the Women's Semis would begin after the Men's Quarters. She was aware of the building swell too ("peaking around 3pm").
No, no, no.
We’re all conspiracy theorists and they weren’t hiding anything from us after this call.
Just ask wbat.
FR.
Kudos, from a journalistic point of view
You have aggots the size melons!
Of
Amazing win so happy for Kelly such a freak, crazy to think he is a few days off 50, Seth well deserved place in the finals though surfed amazing in the semi's.
Regarding women, maybe could have been more honest in why they weren't holding their heats, but it wouldn't have been great watching seeing them just dodging sets much rather see them get waves in smaller conditions...but yeah weird how they didn't run womens event yesterday too.
BTW. Like others have said these write ups are very well done.
It's a shame on his last world title he was only a few weeks shy of being the only surfer ever to win a world title in his 40's,and now just a few days shy of being the only surfer in his 50's to win an event.
Well regarding winning an event over 50,there's still Chopes later this year,and he has a handful more Pipe events left in him too i'm sure.
I'm gonna call it about a 1000 to 1 odds of him ever getting a world title in his 50's though,if he never achieved it all through his 40's.
Considering Kelly's start to the season. I'd put him at 4 to1 odds.
yeah 1000 to 1 is pretty far off the mark.
100 would be more accurate,if still off the mark.
Problem is Pipe,with Chopes,and possibly G land if it happens this year,are the only events where a generational performance gap between his surfing and the curent top guys hasn't really widened much or at all.
And he needs solid swell to keep even those breaks within the gap.
The other events are generally smaller,softer and allow for all the air tricks and turns to be done.
Kelly doesn't have the air game of any of the top 10 really these days,plus quite a few others,and his turns aren't really any better than most other guys in most waves these days either,so he doesn't have that point of advantageous difference like he used to have.
He's not a favourite at sunset,and he doesn't even like surfing there that much,which may well mean an average result,and he might well miss the 2 events in Australia over the vax issue,if that government is still in the business of making examples of high profile sports people who've made any anti covid vax statements beforehand.
He'll need to have a properly consistent year,quarters and better nearly every event,to be 4-1 odds.
He hasn't had a year like that since 2013,the year before Medina ushered in the new generation of the top guys with his first world title and the others that came with airgames that were all new and innovative and left the guys before them in the dust.
If Medina takes the year off,JJF gets injured again,and Ferreira and Toledo have a worse year than the last few they've had,or some kind of similar scenario to that,and Kelly can step it up like he hasn't for about 8 years now,then he's a firm chance.
But that's a lot of stars that need to align.
Fair analysis. Throw in Kelly having a niggling back issue.
400 to 1.
Then again, add in lully heats in early rounds, underscoring variety in progression by judges.
50 to 1.
The mainstream press is abuzz with Slats. Mostly predictable, but thought this little piece in The Weekend Australia stood out with a bit more class and insight. Not even close to the quality of the above article by Steve, but still pretty good for mainstream. Fun fact. Alan Border was Australian Test Captain when Kelly Slater won his first Pipe Masters!!
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/kelly-slater-wins-the-pipe-master...
Alan Border?
Fuck! That definitely helps put it in perspective.
haha. Yep! And Red Hot Chilli Peppers "Under the Bridge" and Nirvana's "Smells like Teen spirit" had just rocketed to the top of the charts.
You read The Australian? Oh yeah, in WA there might not be much competition. I’d be just sticking to quality newspapers myself. ;-)
Come on now Batto! How dare you accuse me of such things!!
Nah it just popped up in my fb feed. I'm innocent i swear!!
You’re a man of honour BD, I have to accept your word on that.
Great article SS. Very well written and it’s a refreshing change to read some honesty in surf media.
It’s hard to believe that in three of the best days of surfing competition in history that not a single 10 has been given. I think they could’ve given 2 or 3.
Owen's opening ride for the comp should have been the first.
Bonzai pipe said g'day.
Spat at him twice, swung a third section and let him out kindly. Yeew.
I think the concept of a 10 has been a bit hoaxy ever since they failed to give one to JJF at the Marg's event in 2017,in light of his performance there in that event being the most dominant of any one surfer over the rest of the field in any event in pro surfing history.
9's appear to be the new 10's.
I remember when Parko won Kerama's the waves were so perfect they were giving them out like lolly pops.
I don’t feel as hostile as Steve to the Head of Competition Jessi Miley-Dyer saying “after discussions with the women” they decided not to run. I’m assuming that the implication is correct. The decision was based on a quorum of female competitors who said they didn’t want to go out.
If you spend a lot of time complaining about WSL corpo-speak consistently obscuring and misrepresenting the facts, I don’t think you should complain too much when some honesty slips out.
I guess the delayed announcement was due to the WSL being rather annoyed and embarrassed about the decision. I was very disappointed the women didn’t compete on what would have been an historic day, but it is more important that people get to go home safely to their families rather than end up at the hospital or the morgue.
Wally - “ but it is more important that people get to go home safely to their families rather than end up at the hospital or the morgue.”
Of course, no one wishes harm on anyone. But this is pipe we’re talking about. It’s a heavy scary dangerous wave. If the women don’t want it, take it off the schedule.
Teahupoo at 6-8ft will be arguably as dangerous as 8-10ft pipe, what happens then? Don’t paddle out at perfect Chopes?
I think, if all 4 women declined to go out, then I guess they had to postpone. If less than 4 women declined, I think, while the declining decisions should be respected, they should have been treated as forfeited and the contest should have continued with whoever was left.
To the point where possibly say Carissa paddled out by herself and had a solo freesurf for 40 minutes?
Brilliant write up again SS. Insights that deserve to be in print. We should never be afraid to ask the challenging questions, no matter how offensive they may be to some. A (civil) debate itself creates progress and refinements..
Jeez i hope Kelly announces his retirement ...go out a winner ,world no. 1 and do it on his 50th birthday.....
That's one tantalising prospect when you put it that way Simba.
I'm with you on that one Simba. What a way to go out!!!
He's 10 years overdue from retiring from the tour when he last could have gone out a winner as a world champ.
I don't see him retiring from competing at Pipe yet.
In fact there's still one statistic he doesn't actually hold..
Being the only surfer to win a CT event OVER the age of 50.
He missed it by 6 days.
So that will have him back again striving for that i bet.
And Pipe is always his best chance of a CT victory and has been for quite a few years now.
“The best surfers in the world” should be able to attempt ANY conditions the ocean throws at them on any day.
Male or female.
In saying that, none of us would be here today if God did not design women to be able to take a pounding.
MA, this comment is pretty disgusting and I request you take it down so no else has to read your purile attempt at humour.
Very ugly comment
Very ugly comment
Kezzas so glad he had that Head Reduction work done last year or he would not have got under that Lip today
I'm wondering how often competitors get a say in whether a contest runs or not. Thought that went out with the old ASP.
Steph Gilmore sure as hell didn't get a say the other day.
I think my highlight today was Seth helping chair up Kelly. Heartwarming :)
Today I was truely stoked that Kelly Slater won. It was a performance for the ages, one that will be remembered for many decades to come. I have never been happy with people saying he's the greatest athlete of all time as I have always believed Don Bradman to hold that honour, but with this most recent victory I'm reassessing things. Over thirty years at the top, that's hard to beat.
As for the situation with the women I think we should reserve judgement until we are in full possession of the facts. I sincerely hope there is a reasonable explanation for what happened.
Nick 100% I’ve never seen that before lose a final an chair your opponent up .. Seth you’re a legend.. awesome moment
Hopefully it’s still solid for the Women’s final tomorrow. Maybe it’s not the worst thing to run finals day on different days. Like if the waves are skitz and it is beyond the women for a few years, then run the men’s finals so we can at least watch that.
Last year at Margies I think they didn’t run the finals at Box because they wanted to run Men’s and Women’s finals at the same time. So fuck it, would have bee good to see the men at Box if the women weren’t up to it.
And yes, they fucking should be. An elite level surfer should be able to surf the same waves that hundreds of no name local guys surf for fun every day, but reality is there isn’t that skill level yet, so at least let’s see the guys face some hectic slabs
I thought on a human level Seth was awesome, but as far as playing right into the GOATS's gameplan goes he couldn't have made it easier for him.
Kelly loves getting adored and having all the touchy-feelies.
It's Brazilians like ADS and Medina who showed how "scratchy" he gets when people disrespect him in the water and get in his grill. And thus make him lose focus and make mistakes.
Anyhow, Seth was glorious.
Maybe next time he might not be so friendly and be a bit more competitive.
He's obviously got the chops to be a Pipe Master several times over.
Zeke Lau is a Hawaiian that has that Gabbyness about him.
The worlds full of top blokes, but very few champions
You don't have to be an over-confident, narcissistic, obsessively self-absorbed raging egomaniac to be a champion, but it certainly helps.
Just to rub salt into the wounds of todays decision and why just about everybody is scratching their heads.. Here's half an hour of yesterday morning. Still no idea what they were waiting for. Turns out they need 3 pumping Pipe days to run a mens and womens final.
Would have been good to see the girls have a crack at that.
the goofy at 6:30 was having a good day!
I reckon! Did you see the bodyboarder do that crazy pull his board out from under his chest and hold it above his head while he body surfed before pulling it back under him? Have never seen that one before!
I reckon all the local pipe frothers be stoked they keep the womens comp on hold. Imagine Pipe being your local break and 1/3 of the season is consumed by comp.
Btw great write up, cracker morning of viewing. Hoping Carissa and the local charger have a cracker final. Well they’re my picks
Regarding the quote from JMD about the women - i.e contestants - not wanting to surf. The decision is a three-way split between JMD, the Head Judge, and the Surfers Rep - who, we could assume, had spoken to the four remaining surfers.
It doesn't just come down to the contestants.
10.01 The "Call": For CT Events and non-CT Events where a representative of
the Office of Tours and Competition attends in their official capacity:
(a) In relation to competition proceeding, the waves must be considered
contestable in size and shape. The Head of Tours and Competition (or
designated representative) will make the final decision (i.e., the
“Call”) in consultation with the Head Judge and CT Surfer
Representative(s), which decision will take place in a private area with
only these three (3) parties in attendance.
Wonder how things would have played out if Seth had the 40 minute rest and Kelly had to come in after his semi, swap jerseys and get straight back out there?
JMD had already made the call though.
Made it and announced it.
Somewhere along the line, the call was reversed.
Anyway, looks like breezy trades tomorrow, and Mon.
Tues (Wed) looks smaller and cleaner.
Could they wait that long, and lose all momentum?
Well done Kelly. Amazing that his body and motivation has held up so long.
The forecast for coming days is solid so the women will have their chance.
I can imagine the fear but glory and redemption waits if they choose.
Carrisa has by far the most natural pipe / backdoor skills.
I reckon Moana is another level above Carissa but hopefully a final with some mackin' Pipe sets will sort that debate out! :-P
" People fail upwards in the WSL, until they get disappeared and never mentioned again." So true of a lot of corporate culture.
I think a number have said it one way or another but we just witnessed a truly great piece of sporting history. I haven't jumped out of my chair for sport since 2016 when Sharks won the GF. I jumped and screamed to the kids to watch this on that 9.7, same for Seth behind. I mean .000001 sec less agility and they are carting KS to hospital. These surfers are freaks. Phenomenally good. The WSL when they put these incredible talents in great waves will get audiences.
On the girls at pipe, IMHO lets give them time. It takes time to be able to surf that stuff. Many interviews the boys experienced at pipe were saying they scared. Look at Sal at big cloudbreak and Maui. Tyler at P Pass. Carissa, Steph etc. These girls are fn unreal. They are - they'd embarrass 99% of us. I personally didn't get exhilarated by the pipe performances so far, but I've had it at other locations and I don't think it will be long before it's the same at pipe.
I was stoked for KS. Gee a couple of those new rookies blew me away. Bring on Chopes and G land. Bring back Cloudbreak. Lots of controversy changing pipe to 1st event but I've now never been more interested in what's to come nor less interested in Trestles.
I read it as if the remaining girls had decided not to paddle out, for reasons only known to them (but surely their own safety was front of mind). The WSL has shown they won’t force them to paddle out if this is the case (I.e. Cloudbreak). As a fan having been promised the girls at consequential pipe/backdoor I was disappointed not to see them, but I understand their decision.
Steve - your written analysis is sharper than Kelly’s head razor, and wielded just as often. Thanks for the articles! Please keep them coming.
Another great write-up Steve from an amazing event and result. Thankyou for your spot on analysis and excellent reporting. Keep them coming, please, makes for great reading and fabulous finish and wrap to the entire event. I wish Stu could afford to pay you to be there at all the remaining comps (like proper surf journalism from the good old days) and report to us live from the sand, to better inform us with more of what is really going on behind the scenes, such as what was said at the women's meetings prior to the cancellation and so on. That's all part and parcel of sport. Many of older salts will remember such reports, for example, from when the men met with Fred Hemmings prior to them having to paddle out and confront their demons in that mega Thanksgiving 1974 Waimea Bay swell for the Smirnoff Pro event. Hope the women get out there in cleaner conditions tomorrow, or the next few days, and charge into some proper Pipe caverns. They are well capable. Forecast still looks good for more surf legends to be made.
I've been ranting to my wife all day about the womens comp. It's so fucken weird. I don't train, I have never had a surf coach, I don't have a particularly good relationship with a shaper around my big wave quiver - and yet; I would have paddled out today at Pipe and surfed switch foot on most waves. It wasn't THAT big or challenging. I'm genuinely shocked and disappointed in the women. I think they need to have a really serious meeting about this.
AND, the fucken commentators are "hype this" and "hype that", "big, gnarly, he/she is a real charger" all the time!!! ALL THE TIME!!!!! Fucken disgraceful. Reduce the hype, be vulnerable, be real, and maybe charge 20 times as hard and not claim two foot, barely covered Backdoor Pipe barrels.
Farrrk Billie. Braver than me. Spent 2 months on nth shore 20 yrs ago and 6ft Hawaiin backdoor (my 8ft+) made you feel like you're being hunted. 2nd reef was breaking today. Big. Deadly. No thanks.
who feels sorry for this bloke's wife
People fail upwards in the WSL...remember Kieran Perrow? Surfers rep on the big day at Cloudbreak a few years ago, 1 of 3 on the decision making panel. Went awol, surfing somewhere, not around to take part in the vote, had to ring in another surfer (never named). Not long after he’s made commissioner. JMD will be running the WSL next
You, billie, are either taking the piss or a complete tosser.
I WAS exaggerating to make a point. I can't surf switchfoot. But shit, I wasn't THAT big and heavy. There were heavy waves, but competitors could pick and choose without the crowd.
I think I’ll wait to see what the girls paddle out in before I criticise .
But wasn’t it kellyslater that said it was too dangerous to surf cloudbreak all those years ago only to watch other top 30 guys go out and charge ?
Looks like you were correct. Was quite solid and clean today. They WERE waiting for the wind!
I will wait and see also.
Would be some level of difficulty telling the coroner, "oh yeah, everyone knew some one was gonna die today".
But those pipe masters, like Kelly, make the impossible like rather easy.
Come on Kelly.... maaate.... go for 12.
There’s a lot of fat grumpy old men in here that have far too much negativity towards the female pro’s that surf way better than them
Yeah, I am afraid I am not with the anti pro surfer girl sentiment, leaves me wondering if any others here have daughters that they actually care about, seriously?
Men telling women how it should be?
At least that's how it came across to me.
Ignoring the commentary ( god that was painful at times) today really was some thing to behold Kelly being 20 some thing super human at 50 and Seth paddling for non stop taking repeated beatings beyond any of our capability's and then ending with a bomb.
Thought FR's writing was as usual skilled and really well versed piece but I didn't get with the bit re the girls.
I think you'll find most of the people here are married or have daughters and every single one of them have mothers. I think the biggest gripe is with the WSL promising one thing and delivering another and using the most convenient of excuses rather than being honest and upfront.
When does having only one chromosome absolve you from accountability?
Don't answer, it was a rhetorical question.
You’re right Zen.
Only part of the plan the WSL didn’t account for was if it pumped the entire context period, what to do with the women’s comp then.
But they are better surfers than just about everyone on here without a doubt
Yeah understand your point Zen and the bit about WSL which I wouldn't try to defend plus I thought FR did a fair job in his write up.
But note there are no women here commenting so in terms of accountability, accountable to who a group of blokes?
Thanks FR for the great and thoughtful provoking commentary.
There appear to be 3 issues being discussed here.
The first is Kelly’s incredible win which was pure mastery of the water and the mind.
The second is the performance of WSL in managing professional surfing. That is a reasonable debate to have but I guess their job is to promote the sport of surfing in the best way that they can and in the world in 2022 make money out of it. The same can be said about AFL or A league or any other sport. We would all prefer to be surfing Lennox head in the 70s with no one out, Kombi van smiling over us, sliding in and out of purple haze. That ship has sailed. I don’t think the readers here are the target for the WSL. It is the punters/aspirationals.
The third issue is the insidious overt or latent sexism that underpins some comments. Both the men and women are doing the same job. They are professional surfers. They presumably train and work a similar number of hours. There job is not to ride the most extreme waves. Their job is to entertain and the target audience is not necessarily the same. We are a decade or two beyond discussions about a glass ceiling etc for women. Equal job should mean equal pay whatever industry. One could then argue that the men bring in more revenue which may be relevant in a way but I am sure that sponsors want to unlock the very valuable women’s clothing and merchandise market. They will probably make more money there than the blokes buying one pair of board shorts for the season. To say that they need to surf the exactly the same waves to deserve equal pay or status as professional surfers is sexist rubbish and a massive disservice to all the daughters, wives and mothers being underpaid in their own careers whatever they may be.
Thanks again for the stimulating thread.
Nonsense.
I disagree that the job of women surfers is to surf the heaviest conditions. I think their job is to entertain the viewer and probably specifically targeting the emerging female surfer/aspirational market. Those viewers aren’t going to relate to the women getting smashed on the take off of large funky pipe.
I don’t think the difference in wave preference for the cohorts needs to be “called out” like some dishonourable act. I am sure the audience for this form of entertainment will enjoy watching women surf 4-6ft pipe/backdoor. Of course the audience isn’t angry male surf enthusiasts as discussed.
"I am sure the audience for this form of entertainment will enjoy watching women surf 4-6ft pipe/backdoor."
You might be right, though it makes me wonder why they didn't stay at Honolua Bay, which is far more appealing to that cohort. The Women had a great track record there.
Right now, it feels like this will become a rolling drama, a conversation that returns every time Pipe or Chopes is on.
Very true and good point. I can still see the value of holding the comp at pipe though for the equality aspects even despite wave size and heaviness issues. I am sure in 10 years the viewing will be different. Just look at Justine DuPont at jaws now.
I found it more interesting to watch the women at pipe , seeing them push themselves more
Plus it opened up the way for some of those less ranked to win the comp rather than the usual Tyler , Steph or Carisa.
Would have looked to have seen Steph in this comp such a shame she wasn’t
Any publicity is good publicity...?
captain flash ,jeez i thought they were surfing for a world title ...you know best surfers in the world in the best waves .....sounds like you want it to be an expression session at a size they choose and feel comfortable in, well im sorry it doesn't work that way. WSL might have been better off having a day for the girls who WANT to surf big pipe as an expression session so women like Bethany kk Moana etc could show case their skills which would have been great to watch.
"WSL might have been better off having a day for the girls who WANT to surf big pipe as an expression session so women like Bethany kk Moana etc could show case their skills which would have been great to watch."
There's an idea although the Woz would have to substantially alter their narrative.
Maybe "expression sessions" of various types would be more attractive to followers of the women?
Bethany seemed to be struggling out there at any size. Not a chance that she would have made any of the set waves yesterday.
The finals today were fun to watch. Decent size. Moana obviously dominating and Carissa struggling to live up to the moment. Tyler got a good right. Not an embarrassment by any stretch and a decent showcase of women’s surfing. I bet a lot of men and women surfers were inspired by Moana’s slick style, lines and positive attitude.
Looking forward to the women’s pipe comp in 2023.
I wanna see a surf off at heaving Pipe between Captain Flash and Bethany and see who 'struggles'.
Ha! Second that - she's a bloody legend.
At least she would have had a fricken crack at it. Imagine what she could do with two arms. Incredible stuff. League of her own, I reckon.
Back Surfing 25 days after that Tiger shark ripped her arm off.
Fark!
Great an accurate write up still like the way you dont WSL sugar coat the obvious
which is infuriating. Horses for courses and these horses arnt horses for this course.
Slater as I said 2 years ago when I was last there he was still the best and still is.
Slater from the first heat had a purpose unseen for a long time and just surfed
vintage Slater in fact Ive never seen him so aggressive he simple dominated every
heat never looked like loosing. The guy is absolutely a human freak.
Slater is the best advertisement for surfing in and out of the water and realistically
the greatest athlete of all time. Im wondering if he actually is human.
Good to hear this morning on the wsl while the Women's final was on, Kelly saying he still get's anxious, nervous, or for us general charges (shit's himself ) every time he paddles out there at that size, before he throws himself over the ledge on his first one of a session..
I’ll hazard a guess FR76 was a dissenting voice when the WOZZLE tried to bring the circus to Lennox… great write ups and swell forecasts
What an amazing athlete Slater is. We may not all be on the same page with Slater when he is outta the water, but gotta marvel at this man's ability, execution, longevity, and committment. I have been entertained.
As for the elephant, well, the problem with any social dilemma is that there isnt always a simple solution. That is why it remains a dilemma. At some point not all interests are met and people will always see a topic differently.
Do we want equality or equity?
Do we need to call out equity (or infer it) in action when we see it?
I dont have to.
We should be a society that allows fear to have its day.
If fear was a factor, then why didnt they feel empowered to say so?
To me, this felt like a pioneering moment for women's competitive surfing. Something here should be celebrated: they pushed themselves at Pipe and will be no doubt be better for it.
Tyler did- and good on her- after spending long periods of time out of the water after her SA illness and watching Owen’s recovery-https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-07/tyler-wright-pipeline-2022/100809434
Yep, so she did. I saw footage of TW commenting on that after I posted. Good on her!
I think we should give the girls a fucking break and see how this develops over the coming years. This year seemed like a good first step. All but the first day of women's comp was held in decent sized surf.
Completely agree
G.O.A.T
Can't see anyone beating this win at pipe. At 50 yrs old to win Pipe, what a legend.
Just caught up with the replays, Kelly was magnificent. The raw ability at his age and his ability to keep up with younger generations - plural - I'm lost for words. Particularly liked just how crazy-late and steep his drops into Backdoor were, and how he set up very deep tubes and made them. He did one of those as a recovery into a fearsome looking wave at Haleiwa 1 or 2 years ago that just made me go 'whaaa?!'
FR - I missed the comments as the event went on. Did anyone discuss board design? 3 things of note
1)Back (?) to narrow Hawaiian gun style boards, they were longer - especially evident on Kelly as he's surfed some short boards out here before. Reminded me of some early 90's designs and lines (eg, the carves done on the shoulder after the tubes) except...
2)Without the rockers of that time. The boards looked flat on entry. Easier for paddle, obviously. Is that the new thing in the Islands?
3) Kelly won on a quad. Has Pipe been won on a quad before/recently? Looks like the BWWT use of small quads in huge surf has crossed over into a Pipe win - although they use small fins set higher up the board.
Kelly won the 2013 pipe masters surfing a quad.
Moana also won today surfing a quad. Kelly won pipe on the deep six / wizard sleeve in 2008. Was that a quad? I thought it was.
yes 5'11 quad
https://www.swellnet.com/news/rearview-mirror/2018/12/12/day-kelly-slate...
Hmm @1.25 -- Thruster?
&t=105sSS > thank you for your brilliant writing/analysis for the whole event; so many twists and turns; a plot that unraveled by the day, with interesting characters, dominated by nature, an event without precedent (for me).
Amateur hour management by the WSL; a surprise - nah? For the record, I think Ross Williams's insights are excellent vs. Strider's which are like cheap cereal (all sugar).
The women's questioning in this thread is interesting "IF" the athletes chose not to surf. A note for context - last week Bryce Ellis rescued someone from drowning in NSW and the headline references his refusal to paddle out at Waimea a lifetime ok? Why? Coz "Eddy Would Go" > that's the metaphorical essence of our lifestyle/sport/spiritual pursuit > given that premise, for me Kelly, JJF, Barron, and Seth were on a different level of commitment and bravado - I could watch them all day - as it's unobtainable (for me). Unlike a tail waft in 2ft slop, which is unedifying (for me).
I genuinely felt engaged with this contest and its outcomes, like never before? Thanks again SS great writing > bring on Sunset (my favorite wave..to watch) > RR
‘Decompression chamber’ epic.
That’s when you know your in a real tube. In a lifetime of surfing I’ve experienced it probably a handful of times. Great description.
JMD should have called off the mens contest before Philipe Toledos heat , as is was unsafe for him .
Ibelli copped a bit of shit for being replacement for Medina. Thought he did a good job . At least he went. Top effort.
Didn’t kelly. Date Pammy Anderson back in the day.. scored a 10 for that too ..
He did. When she was in her prime too.
Blokes's done extremely well for himself in a lot of areas other than surfing.
Haha. Too good!
Udo CLASSIC MATE
Great descriptions of Kelly's road to glory.
I've been watching & before webcasts following the tour for as long as I can remember, it seems like the current mob (WSL) get a fair bit wrong, what are your thoughts around not running the day prior, all the footage online showed much cleaner & more contestable conditions, was it just the forecast didn't hold or perhaps something else at play? Kelly did mention he hadn't surfed for 2 days because his back was sore.
Great work KS - definitely the GOAT of GOATs to win at his age. He sure as hell must know a thing or two about staying healthy. I hereby appoint KS head of the World Healing Organisation - get in the sea and get healed LOL
Superb article Steve - "decompression chamber / with the lip gracing his dome like a swinging death club". so true.
Beaut pictures by Heff also.
I don't blame the women for not going out the same day but there's no need for the berating and belittlement in some of these comments. The women are flamin' brave to get out amongst it like they already do. The last thing we need is corporate or fan pressure resulting in a death in their ranks during a comp, or worse the death thru depression/failure that has happened to so many over-pressured athletes like Aussie stunt super star Dale Buggins et al. Well done to all the women at pro level - keep up the good work ladies.
I think the crux of the article is the BS job that the WSL, via JMD, did on all of us in their coverage.
On their Thursday, while running that great day through the mens, JMD said they would be waiting for the Saturday to run the womens with the men as the swell and winds were considered better that day. At that stage, and all week really, Friday was looking at 6’+ waves with very light winds from the south east, pretty much direct offshore. The Saturday was forecast to go 6-8’ swell, a marginal but serious increase given the break, with stronger winds from the north east, almost getting around to side shore.
Views on the beach cams showed glorious conditions on their Friday and they weren’t running, with big and solid Pipe and backdoor, clean as it gets and the locals getting phenomenal rides. Saturday had slightly bigger conditions and less friendly winds, exactly as predicted, and they went with the mens, claimed they were going with the womens, and then didn’t.
So someone decided not to run either the mens or the womens in the better conditions on the Friday, which may have been more conducive to the women having a dig. Instead they held off for the Saturday when the swell was bigger again and the winds sent ribs up the pipe barrels, making it harder for both.
They forgot the people who actually watch for what, to run it on a less favourable Saturday, for what purpose? Just eyeballs, or having more kids on the beach. And then they sent out reps (JMD) to run the corporate BS line.
They compromised the women, they compromised JMD, and they treated the viewers as fools.
Not the best corporate strategy I’ve ever come across. On the other hand, pretty typical these days - the consumers, a group of people you keep bullshitting to even when it’s obvious that you’re bullshitting them.
Consumers who pay nothing to view the WSL's product don't have much to complain about in my eyes.