Hurley Pro Sunset Beach: Finals Day
A weird, underwhelming finals day rescued by humble Hawaiian power at the end.
The day ended on an almost impossibly high emotional note with local Haleiwa surfer Barron Mamiya cruising to a crushing win over Kanoa Igarashi.
The prior Women's Final had limped along to a disappointing conclusion as Malia Manuel didn't get the bomb set wave she needed to get past winner Brisa Hennesy.
We'll come back to the X's and O's of the Finals in a minute...
First up, did they get the right guys and gals in there for the Finals? For the men, almost certainly yes. Although Ethan Ewing might rue not making the Final and an argument could easily be made his surfing was the best of the event.
No-one could deny Kanoa's nine-point ride which was the difference between them in their tight Semi.
That heat was the only one of the day that featured multiple set waves allowing for clear wave for wave exchanges.
Consistent all event, Kanoa Igarashi was a worthy finalist (WSL/Heff)
Mamiya needed a little luck to get past Caio in their Semi-Final: with a minute to go Ibelli allowed him into a tiny, nothing wave at Sunset Beach. The type of wave exactly no surfer ever would paddle into. Mamiya needed a 3.30. He loosed the fins on a foamy little section and then milked it into Vals Reef, the shorebreak reef where kids learn to surf. Another little click hit put him on the beach with the clock out of time. It was enough. Minutes earlier Mamiya looked cooked when he mis-read a running wave, lining up for an air, hesitating and then falling awkwardly on a floater attempt.
A Sunset Beach contest decided at Vals Reef was portending a very, very bad anti-climax for the Woz, after days of pumping surf.
How did we get here?
It does point to a structural problem, with the fully integrated Men's and Women's Tours using the same waiting period. In essence, an extra contest - albeit half the size - has to be squeezed into the same waiting period. Even allowing for the abundance of surf that comes with winter in Hawaii, they simply ran into the problem of a shortage of surf. Luckily, in Hawaii, a shortage of surf means a clean 4-6ft day at Sunset Beach. At other venues it will have greater consequences for Finals Days held in less than ideal conditions.
This structural problem will be offset by the mid-year cut, when rosters are pruned heavily and waiting periods become less cluttered.
On the Women's side, it seemed equally convincing that the right two women were facing off in the Finals. Waves were in short supply for the Women's heats, by pure chance. The rookies who had looked unbeatable yesterday in pumping surf were brought back to the pack by much more elusive opportunities. Brisa put Bettylou to the sword with one wave. The best set wave of the day, opened up with a Pancho Sullivan-style top turn then completed seamlessly. That nine-point ride was never seriously challenged by the 17-year old.
Henessey's succes was built around a long drawn out bottom turn and top turn combo (WSL/Bielmann)
Gabriela Bryan had the better surfing chops but couldn't match the two set waves ridden by Malia Manuel in their Semi. The mana she had relied on all event went AWOL in the Final and in a moment of desperation Malia charged a lip on a closeout that ended in a brutal wipeout.
No surfer was disadvantaged more by the in-between size and inconsistent conditions than Jack Robinson. He tried up the point, he paddled to the bowl and back up the point again. The drone footage showed an incredible array of wave angles refracting as they felt the reef and Robbo did not benefit from any of them. He was comboed immediately by Kanoa in their Quarter. Kanoa shoved two eights down his throat and then spent the rest of the heat shadowing him, harassing him, almost physically blocking him at one point late in the heat. Assuming Jack makes the Top 5 - he sits just outside the top 10 right now with a schedule almost tailor-made for him - it would be almost impossible to see him besting a version of Kanoa prepared to employ those tactics at Trestles. We'll put that scenario in the back pocket for now. Pull it out if we need it.
Ewing was incredible. If there is any argument about who did the best surfing today it should be resolved by rolling the videotape on his heats. Almost every wave was ridden flawlessly. He had a long wrapping turn no-one else could do, a soap around the bathtub line with a high rebound. A distinctive lay-back snap in the hook. A fully buried top turn hook and a sharp end section turn with an explosive whip to the final stages.
Contra early versions of Ewing he didn't lay down when behind against Kanoa. His last turn was pure aggression and execution, it was just the wave that lacked length.
Ewing left nothing on the plate in his Sunset campaign - a solid year awaits (WSL/Bielmann)
After two opening events in Hawaii, Ethan Ewing is the sole Australian representative in the Top 10. We have four surfers within the cut line. Despite the brave showings of the rookies, these are grim times for Australian pro surfing, at least on the Men's side.
On the Women's side of the draw, the make-up of the Top 10 is remarkable: Five Hawaiians, three of them rookies.
All the current rookies on the Women's Tour are within the cut line.
That's simply insane after two events at the most challenging waves in the world where incumbency should carry massive advantages.
And what about Barron Mamiya? The quiet, humble Hawaiian was in tears after the Final. After a shocker 2021 where he barely made a heat, he's number one in the world, on a trajectory for a World Title campaign. Robbed of a finals berth at Pipe by a buzzer beater by the GOAT he now gets to relieve that same GOAT of the yellow jersey to take the number one spot heading into Portgual.
Supertubos will fit his fast twitch, under the lip style to a tee.
Yeah the boy (WSL/Heff)
A chasm seems to have opened up in the world of professional surfing. While Mamiya was hacking waves to pieces in the finals with precise but raw power surfing, his homies were in the back of pick-ups whistling and cheering their boy on. The energy of working-class surfing, which once belonged to Australia, now resides almost solely in Hawaii. In hard-scrabble towns like Haliewa where wealth isn't a pre-requisite to live near the beach and develop a skill-set. Where utes and pit bulls sit in front yards. Mamiya thanked his Dad, who has “sacrificed so much for me”.
This working class grit, personified by John John Florence, raised by a single Mum, who waited tables to raise three boys on the beach is contrasted sharply by a more cosmopolitan, bred-to-be-a-pro type.
Both Brisa Hennessy and Kanoa Igarashi come from this more globalised - dare I say, privileged - position. That's no dig at them. They are running fully with the opportunities they have.
In starting the tour in Hawaii, the energy of the sport has shifted back to this grittier dynamic, and the consequences will be far reaching.
It's hard not to like it, to get caught up in it even. It feels more authentic and hardcore than it has for years. After the stultifying commercial status of the Gold Coast start, where you could barely move for corporate edifices taking up the space, to see the families and friends of the Hawaiian's on the beach cheering on their surfers is a major breath of fresh air.
Somehow Elo, is getting this right. Maybe not all of it, but the most important bits.
// STEVE SHEARER
Comments
Awesome write ups.. thanks heaps. . For words etc, super cool recaps...
definitely gonna be a very interesting tour for 2022...
Go pickles! Best of luck in Portugal.. and sooo cool the yellow jersey is gonna be on a wild cards back... Look out .hoowee
As much as I'd prefer a Pipe finish, I'm (somewhat unexpectedly) loving the shake-up that two Hawaiian events are doing as they kick of the season.
Gonna be one hell of an interesting year.
They should start and finish at pipe. Get rid of the non-elim round in the reg comp and use that day to complete the final 5 day at PUMPING pipe. It's the only way
Yep the elimination round should go. Wildcards should also go and instead have a small trials before each event (let the wildcards win that and then go into the main cop).
Have commented but not thanked.
Thanks Steve your your honest and insightful write ups, I look forward to each and everyone.
As you said, not sure how the WSL are doing it but it is working.
What I would suggest:
- Jinking with waiting periods (? separate or lengthen)
- one more Hawaiian event, potentially at the end.
- down to earth local commentators (eg Makua)
- continue with overlapping heats
- continued rookie support, less bias towards previous achievement
- propensity towards big water venues with only a smattering of small wave spots
- another left point (or Fiji)
- oh, and fuck Trestles off
Many thanks
To finish in Hawaii,the season would have to extend at least 2 months,as september is still off season,and october is hit or miss as the first month when the swells start brewing again.
November might work,but then it's just a few weeks until the new season for the tour starts again.
Which means an extra long period of time in Hawaii for most of the pros.
Perfect for the local pros and maybe for a few of the others,but i think the WSL won't do quick turnaround trips to the same venues and keep things annually only.
And i doubt they'd have 2 events at 1 venue within the same year,like presumably with Pipe starting and finishing it.
Although i think going to the same places within a season was done back in the 80's when they used to run at least double the events in a season,but times have definitely changed.
Finals in September in Indo somewhere, 2 legs; one right, one left. Put them on a boat for a week or 2. Better than trestles in every way, could argue better than Pipe too.
Trestles as a regular event like in the past,G land moved from its june slot to september,which is still a prime month in Indo,and sticks to the annual only visit format,then the Keramas event back on the calendar as the decider,or vice versa with those 2 events.
Actually G land as the decider.
That way it goes back to some extent a serious barrelling wave to crown a world champ in.
I don't think anywhere can beat Pipe as the decider though.
Not in terms of ticking all boxes that range from proper serious waves to bums on seats a stone's throw from the contest itself.
And regarding which place is better to crown a champ in,ask the pros themselves.
Some would prefer pipe,some it wouldn't matter much maybe,and there's a few that would definitely prefer indo:
The most well known one would be Filipe Toledo.
Anywhere but pipe (or chopes) would be his dream event to finish it in.
In lieu of the above,cloudbreak would be perfect.
But that might wreck Toledo's world title run too lol.
@ jetson.rover - yeah can see how start / finish in HI wouldn’t work in the current format.
However if you had 10 events each with ~ 1 month wait period (do yellow / green lights as in big wave comps to give everyone time to get there) you could kick the year off mid- late Feb with Haleiwa and Sunset and reserve December for Pipe.
As for ‘finals’: how does everybody feel
about them?
In a sport such as surfing where randomness, luck and Mother Nature play such big part I feel consistency over a whole year produces a more fair champion than a manufactured finals series.
If it were to persist, where would be the best place for it?
It’s hard for me to imagine anywhere other than Pipe.
Thing about Pipe finishing the season and sunset/haliewa starting it,is it works keeping the events compacted into one block over of handful of weeks,but for the pros that aren't local,are they cool with missing christmas back home,or doing a quick turnaround trip back again?
I'm sure for some missing xmas back home probably isn't a big deal,and no one wants to travel more than they have to.
But i'd presume for others it's a no goer.
I would say what i've said is the main reason the WSL won't go for it,which is why they've never publicized it as an option.
I don't think the WSL wants to force the pros into that choice of choosing xmas over the contest or making them backtrack many hours to somewhere they just were a week or two earlier.
And yeah i was thinking more in terms of the tour running how it always did until last year,but it'd work in it's current format too.
It's lucky that last year both the best male and female of the season did end up winning the world title as if it was the traditional format.
It very well might not be this year.
Shit, I somehow got confused and thought Barron Mamiya had qualified last year, but that was Imai Devault, aye.
I hope they keep BM and Caio on, and that Gabe comes back and goes berserk.
And thanks for another beaut of a daily analysis.
If Gabe comes back Caio is off as he's Gabe's replacement.
And yes i think you're confused.
That DeVault bloke did not qualify and surf on the tour last year.
Makes two of us then :-)
From the Wozzle website:
Top 12 Qualifiers from 2021 CS Rankings
Ezekiel Lau (HAW)
Liam O'Brien (AUS)
Connor O'Leary (AUS)
Jake Marshall (USA)
Callum Robson (AUS)
Samuel Pupo (BRA)
Nat Young (USA)
Imaikalani deVault (HAW)
Lucca Mesinas (PER)
Joao Chianca (BRA)
Jackson Baker (AUS)
Carlos Munoz (CRI)
De Vault surfed the challenger series and yes, he did qualify.
Nah probably just one of us......me lol.
Somehow he slipped through the cracks of my inefficient awareness,that a simple fact search would've shown.
Or maybe i should've followed the challeger series.
With Mamiya being #1 I think they have to keep him, and with Ibelli being Gab's replacement he should be in until Gabby returns. He usually does well at Bells and Margies too, so should be a shoe-in to make the second half cut. Mamiya's already made the cut pretty much. So neither will need the wildcard after that, Medina will get it.
Surely LOB gets an injury wildcard too?
The new schedule and mid-year cutoff might shake up the tour in a way no one really foresaw - those who thrive the solid waves having a big advantage over the small wave wizards. Also forces the Women’s tour to take big leaps and bounds forwards in the types of waves they are expected to perform in.
Fuck it’s entertaining watching overlapping heats in 6-8ft surf, so much better than people playing chess in 2ft beaches,
Chess in 6-8ft sunset is definitely better than in 2ft beachies,even if somewhat frustrating to watch at times.
It's exactly why the results ended up being a complete mixed bag to what they usually are at all the other events.
Great stuff as with all the recaps. Cheers FR.
That was some pretty raw stuff seeing Mamiya's realisation of his achievements. Awesome stuff and his surfing was super impressive.
Brisa was unreal too. All that time on Tavarua seems to have taken her surfing to the next level in powerful surf.
Good comp, here's hoping they tweak things so proper Sunset is taken full advantage of in the future years.
Stoked Hawaii's over. The 2am starts were killing me. Bring on a much friendlier arvo time slot in Portugal. Yew!
Kayo... watch it on delay. Just turn your phone off so your mates don’t spoil it.
Great wrap again. I think they need to remove Jessi m dyer from the pressos, could any one have a more distasteful look when it's meant to be all about Aloha and celebration.
I was watching kaipo all amped and up beat and couldn't help looking at her resting bitch face.
Elo got that wrong, he woulda been better up there himself.
Kaipo makes stuff ups himself on the stage.
I thought at the Pipe event when he didn't give Kelly the mic to make the customary victory speech before moving on,and Kelly had to nudge him to get it just in time,was a pretty huge gaff.
Especially since it was Kelly winning his 8th after a long time and he was a few days off turning 50.
I actually felt embarrassed just watching it.
As for JMD,her media speaking and appearance skills aren't really a prerequisite for her role.
At least not since she got the job anyway it seems.
All things considered it was a good day of surfing. Smaller swell but clean and everyone had earned their place in more sizeable conditions.
Freeride don’t know how you sum up so many heats so well on such a short timeline.
In regards to the structural problem of the integrated tour, it’s simple,
rejig the opening few rounds. Rd 1 and 2, 16 rounds of the mens and only 4 surfers eliminated On the womens side, it’s 8 heats and only 2. Ridiculous waste of time. Pipe and sunset have also shown if conditions are good, overlapping heats work a treat. Sounds simple but appears hard for the woz to figure out.
Cheers for the right up Steve. Was an entertaining Hawaii leg
Epic summary FR76 . Epic comp for so many reasons . It felt as though all of the past WSL crimes have been washed away with the last high tide .
Anyhow , looking forward to watching the CT year unfold with renewed interest , YEW !
Enjoy your write ups.
Was Ultra slow most of finals day, was there any potential run days in the waiting period which could had been 8ft plus? Excuse the laziness I haven't been on a deep dive into the forecast
Consecutive CT stops where mens pro surfing has moved me considerably emotionally (Moanas win at Pipe was good too). Hasn't happened before from memory. Couldn't be happier for Barron, seems like a really down to earth guy. Really moving scenes after the hooter. I think and as Barton said, there really is something special about watching the younger, untried, untested, competitors achieve the unthinkable or achieve their dreams. Great analysis once again FR. What an exciting year of surfing ahead where the hierarchical status quo is well and truly being challenged on both sides. Fingers crossed pumping surf continues and provides the next gen with more chances to keep pushing.
Baron’s emotion was really
special wasn’t it.
What ticked me off a little was Strider.
He just had to get right in there quickly and then finished the interview with ‘ we’ll let you compose yourself’ ….
….why should he compose himself, let the tears flow. Leave the young man be in his moment.
Strider / anyone in the water add absolutely nothing to the telecast.
Strider can be annoying, but while Chris Cote did the worlds most deadpan commentary on Kelly's ridiculous Pipe win, I actually thought some Strider emotion would've been better (like when he awesomely ruined the commentary on Zietz North Point ten)
That was Pete Mel.
Fair enough, but same point. Too much puppy dog enthusiasm is annoying, but I reckon there's a place for it
This year's commentary made me think to other sports I'm into, particularly NRL. Ex-pros like Joey, Billy, Ennis, Anasta, Gaz when he was doing it, Gal, Soward, Sterlo. Unbelievable at it all; all things considered. Play-by-play (tbf they don't do it much), colour or analyst, sideline, pregame and post game presentation. Thursto has a way to go get as does Lockyer lol. With pro surfing, every single one of the wozzle main cast crew were woeful apart from Makua (next to no runs on the board) and Barton. There is no excuse anymore. No one wants to hear their continued unprofessionalism or learning on the run BS coupled with the toxic positivity. They've had years to perfect their craft. They've failed at evolving from amateurs. Time to move on me thinks. Paul Evans and Ben Monday for Portugal please or fly Ronnie or Deadly over.
Definitely agree Benno. Some of the commentators just seem so fake and like they're trying to overhype things at the wrong moments, yet when there's action they'll talk over it or not actually appreciate what's being done by the surfer.
It's a funny one surfing. Seems like most of pros from the past just end up on the pro surfer scrapheap. There's not much recognition for the past. Apart from the top tier world champs, and extreme personalities, the rest just fall by the wayside. Seems football really keep alot of their legends involved in the sport for a long time, same as cricket, especially in the media aspect. Pretty rare to cringe when a surfer who's highly respected by his peers takes to the microphone. Doesn't seem to be the formula the head honchos of WSL want to run with though.
totally agree BD.
Totally agree aswell BD. It's actually rather sad looking at the reality of it. Of course no one's perfect, but we don't have to be insane and continue doing the same thing either.
Free ride writes ; "The energy of working-class surfing, which once belonged to Australia, now resides almost solely in Hawaii. In hard-scrabble towns like Haliewa where wealth isn't a pre-requisite to live near the beach and develop a skill-set. Where utes and pit bulls sit in front yards. Mamiya thanked his Dad, who has “sacrificed so much for me”. "
Yeah, Ive touched on this quite a few times. 8 jan 2021- "Look at the great era of Australian pro surfing. Working class kids living by the beach. The Mps, rabbits, Carrolls, Lynchs, even parkos and Fannings. A cheap hand me down board and cut throat crew in the line up. Now the line up is full of millionaire hipsters. Meanwhile, Brazil beaches are the Dbahs and Narrabeens of the 1980s.
There wont be another dominant Australian era while the tough kids are forced into rentals in Logan and Toongab" - https://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2021/01/08/welcome-the-s...
Yeah, agree. I'm traveling the east coast now, visting nearly every town with surf and the most (out of a few) fucked up thing that I've noticed IMO is that in most places, there are a HEAP of houses sitting empty, just getting rented out for holidays/weekends. Housing crisis my arse. Can't rent them cause they're not listed. Want to buy one? Better have a million plus for a 2 bedder fibro crapshack and no way to pay for it as there is no job within 50kms that will pay close to that much.
Lots of boomers with V8 landcruisers, fancy arse boats and top of the line caravans though, so I guess as a country we've really nailed it! It's not poverty that really destroys the happiness of a country, it's inequality.
Yeah man. Can't speak to it in Aus but here in the US all the beach towns are losing rental properties fast as everyone is buying and then airbnb ing their places. it's messed up blue collar/restaurant workers can't find a place to live and all the rich people just come and go...no community anymore. Humanity continues to stab itself in the back and then look surprised when the find the knife buried to the hilt.
Well done Steve, I hate pro surfing most of the time, but your write ups have me hooked. Those last few paragraphs celebrating the Haleiwa lad andy his pickup truck ‘entourage’ - and drawing comparisons to the hungry Aussie pro surfing heyday - were pure gold.
Yes,more Makua Rothman.
'Soap around the bathtub line' could also be used to describe the FR writeups. Smooth and sharp as. Thanks Steve and Swellnet!
Great and entertaining write ups Steve very accurate and informative.
Im now a huge fan of the tour starting in Hawaii in real waves be perfect
if they would finish there as well. All in all great entertainment Ethan was
easily the most improved and impressive. Unfortunately except for pumping
Chopps and G-Land its going to be a anti climax and Trestles WOW thats
just a insult to the worlds best surfers and us as interested spectators.
Can someone please educate me . If one surfer won every contest of any season , he or she could still lose the title in dribbling Trestles ? That is not going to happen but its possible. If so, what the fuck.
If not, I haven't been paying attention. Sorry.
That is correct,
just like the AFL, NRL, NBL, A-League etc etc
Not saying it’s the best system for surfing, just that it’s pretty common in sports.
I thought it was a format they introduced that was somehow more ideal in a pandemic interupted season where no event was really safe from cancellation.
Now that events are looking easier to lock in with more certainty and normality is returning,i really hope next year they return to the old format.
They dodged a bullet last year with both the best male and female surfers all season winning the world title,but if they keep this current format in place from now on,a low value farcical world title will be a given before too long
All to create more 'excitement' on the last day of the season.
And when it happens,watch every surf media outlet,except the WSL one itself of course,cry hoax.
Agree,wholeheartedly.
Gra.
Great write up sir. Women's final was terrible but what are you gonna do.
Prediction: Brazil will be one of the best comps of the tour....it actually has been the last few years
Said no one in the history of surfing?
Brazil has pumped the last few events
Yet pros dodge the event every year including kelly's foot?
even Kelly's left foot made it last time. Surf was pumping
Overlap men's and women's together every event, M/W/M/W... Reduces time required, puts chicks in the best waves and with guys to guide/push them.
This is actually a real interesting idea… I think I could get behind it
Add my thanks Steve. Enjoyed your write-ups as much to see whether what I was seeing was also in the eye of a more surf-savvy commentator.
And yet I missed the finals day. Didn’t think they’d run on their Friday after the Pipeline fiasco, and I was out. Will catch up on some replays.
As for Hawaii start, I’m sold. Used to love seeing the comp finish in spectacular Pipe, but too often the finals were run in 3’ rubbish, and at least one world title was won on the back of an air on a 2’ wave, no barrels, no other turns.
So love the Hawaii start, love the overlapping heats, much better for TV. Can’t abide the new finals format or that it is held at Trestles. Should be decided on full year results rather than that pony show.
Next comp Portugal, you say. Better get that in my calendar.
If the finals were held in Hawaii the locals would have to build their points all around the world like everyone else and that would mean they may not get to surf at Pipe etc. I’m sure they wouldn’t like that so now they get a kick start for the season in their home breaks.
It used to be spread over the different breaks around the world but now the mid year cut off changes everything and an early start is gold.
Aussies could find themselves stuck in the challenger series for some time to come.
Aussie pro surfing has been done for 30 years in terms of solid success (eg.world title trophies).
Not even averaging 2 titles a decade since Slater entered the scene,with only 3 guys getting titles,and only Mick multiple ones.
5 in the last 29 years vs Brazil 5 in the last 7 years (discluding 2020 with no tour).
That's the exact same world title winning stats as Australia,3 guys,2 a world title each and the other 3 titles,in a timeframe under a quarter of the length,in a nation that has nowhere near the same surf break quality overall.
Like Florida compared to California for an American comparison.
Guys who were highly touted when they were young,like Owen Wright and Julian Wilson,didn't really get anywhere near the highs expected of them,except Julian in 2018, and are now done or looking very near the end.
Jack Robbo and Ethen Ewing look like the best Aussie prospects in the next few years,but it's still early days and here's hoping they becoming something more like Mick was competitively rather than Julian and Owen.
Well Owen was the highest money earner at one stage (albeit due to one big US win) before his injury and Julian didn’t do too shabby. Australians have lost the shortboard drive we once had with kids getting onto boogie boards and mid lengths rather than embracing the “above the lip” surfing that’s a prerequisite for success on the tour today.
Things have started to change and RCal was giving it a good lash but let’s face it the Brazilians have the jump on us with Gabe and Italo head and shoulders above the rest.
The Aussie decline seems to have coincided with the sell off of the large Australian surf companies that supported our young talent.
Hopefully, there will be a new up and comer amongst the new kids on our block but the big three Brazilians will be hard to topple.
I reckon JW was dissapointing competitively for all the hype he had from a young age.
Ok fair enough if he never won a world title,but he should of had a consistant record on par with Taj Burrow.
Child prodigy,freak talent and the best sponsorship deal of any aussie for a few years there.
Almost a world title heir apparent the publicity was painting him to be a decade or so ago.
But maybe that was just the media spin and was never really him.
Yeah he didn't do too shabby,but let's face it he fell fairly well short of his potential they were selling us for most of his time on tour (and for a few years before he was on it).
I don't think Owen was sold as intensively as the guy to carry Australian surfing on his shoulders and take the torch from Mick and Parko,but he's fallen well short of his potential too i believe.
Owen came back from injury and won both the Quiksilver and Teahupo’o while Julian just got pipped at Pipeline by Gabriel who is one of the most freakish talents to ever ride a surfboard.
Both surfers mentioned are up against the three biggest hitters of the last 20 years from Brazil as well as MF. I think saying they haven’t lived up to the hype is a real discredit.
I don't.
They were supposed to be amongst those guys challenging for titles year after year.
Just going by the hype around them for years.
Even if they had less success than the brazzos,the gap should've been a lot shorter.
Owen had that good run in 2012 making 3 finals in a row and winning 2 of them.
But that's been the peak of his career,near the start of it,with 3 or 4 other sporadic event wins over the years.
JW had one proper good year,but promptly went back to struggle street mode after that,which was where he was most of the years of his career for CT contest results.
I'm not talking occasional event wins as a barometer of their success,i'm talking year in year out top 5 world title contender for most years of their career,like Mick,Parko and Taj.
JW and to a slightly lesser extent OW,had the kind of high profile next big thing hype around themselves like those other guys did,and it's just a fact they don't hold a candle to those guys competitively in the long run.
Anyway it doesn't really matter it's just my observation,and it'd be a lot of other people's too if asked i'm sure.
Here's hoping Jack Robbo and Ethan Ewing will bring Australian CT surfing back to the Mick/Taj/Parko level of success in the coming years.
One thing to remember with Mick and Joel is that they both won a CT event in their teens before they qualified, and Taj qualified when he was 17. Can't think of any young Aussies doing anything like that since then. They were special talents.
Maybe it was easier back then before aerials became standard moves in contests.
Taj was a lead innovator for those but it was mostly in his freesurfing and much less common in his contest surfing,unlike when the Brazzo storm and JJF entered the picture.
Slater never pulled them out overly often in contests either.
It's definitely some kind of driven desire thing with the lack of aussie success at world title level the last few years.
The Brazzo pros in the last 10 years are like the Aussies in the 80's were regarding hunger and ambition.
Just that they're a quarter of a century later with the advancements in surfing evolution and equipment allowing them to do all the crazy aerial stuff all the time.
It does feel a little lately like the Brazzo storm has peaked with Medina taking a break and Toledo and Ferriera having an ordinary start to the season and them all being closer to 30 than 20 now,but we'll need to see how the year pans out to gauge that one.
Doesn't appear to be any Aussies ready to push straight into that window of opportunity right now though.
We'll need the whole season to see if significant change eventuates or not.
My original comment was about how the setup of the new tour wouldn’t work for the Hawaiians if the final was held at Pipe.
Not only does this now give them an advantage IMO, but leaves more chance of our guys being on the wrong side of the mid year cut off.
Somehow this thread seems to have become about how disappointed people are in the overall Aussie surfing performance and I don’t share that view.
Even if it was true, I don’t think the new circuit does our guys any favours, but I don’t think that was why it was changed.
The thread went where it did based off the last sentence of your original comment,and i basically alluded to it in the affirmative by saying aussie surfing is done at CT world title contender level.
i better write 'male' CT level as that bloke that hit me up before about Steph,Layne and Tyler's
world title's might show up again lol.
"Aussie pro surfing has been done for 30 years in terms of solid success (eg.world title trophies)."
Layne Beachley
Steph Gilmore
Tyler Wright
Sorry for not stating the bleeding obvious that i was talking about the blokes.
I'm guilty of an unconcious chauvanistic overthought i guess.
"Pickles threw a bunch of turn angles and layback variations at Sunset Beach today, most of them successful, making the repertoires of established pros like Tyler Wright look limited, one-dimensional and boring." "She went through Defay and Gabby Bryan in Round 1, Carissa Moore in the Round of 16, then faltered against Brisa Hennessy in the Quarters despite a strong heat."
Great WSL surf scene summaries, Steve; moved me to watch some sunset heats.
Still can't figure out why they gave Brisa an 8.6 for 2 mid-face carves?
Thanks Wally, Grand finals seem to to work for team sports , but for individual sports , tennis , golf , snow skiing , skateboarding etc, the number one is usually the guy or gal who wins most comps. Like you said not maybe great for surfing. I personally would be fucked up if I had won all the serious wave comps and got done in 3 foot rubbish by a couple of air reverses in the Grand final. Just have to see how it all works out I guess.
Imagine being the guy (or girl) that dominates the regular season, leading by a mile come finals time, only to miss out because of a twisted ankle or something. Finals day is a stupid idea.
And Sunset was good, but not as good as I thought it would be (get out the back!).
Looking at the challenger series, they have Honolua Bay for men and women later in the year. I'd rather see Honolua as a CT for the men (and women). If the surfers are only going to catch waves waves on the inside bowl at Sunset, they'd be better off having the comp at Honolua. Swap the Sunset comp back to a qs challenger, and have Honolua after Pipe. Sunset probably makes more sense as a qs anyway, as a proving ground for qualifiers hoping to step up.
did anyone do a shout out to Laura Enever on the womens commentary side in this thread? I thought she did a really good job, and is improving each time i hear her, and she charges!
Yes I thought the same. She needs to be there full time. Real life recent experience, no hype, understated and a lovely person to boot.