Tahiti Pro: Finals Day
It can be hard to get excited, hard to write about even, when you get a clearly anti-climactic Finals Day following hard on the heels of a day like yesterday.
Especially when you consider the whole stated purpose of the mid-year cut was to avoid these deflationary troughs to hold Finals during the euphoric peaks. Equality comes with a cost and despite the reduced fields the WSL is still essentially trying to cram two contests into one waiting period. As every comp following Margies has shown, bar J-Bay, there just isn't enough quality surf per waiting period to fit two into one. Solutions?
Cut the men's field to the same size as the women's? Tinker with the format?
I'll leave it to more innovative minds.
Finals Day was saved by a sizzling Men's goofyfooted Final, and hold that thought, we'll come back to it down the track.
A few bomb sets were sprinkled liberally through the Men's Quarters. Kelly got one, to get through with generous scoring, Hog got one, but couldn't secure a back-up against Caio. Pupo was relentless to eliminate Kanoa and Kauli Vaast was way too precise for Matty McGillvray.
Massive skillset discrepancies made the Women's Quarters interesting, if frustrating to watch. Easily the most advanced pigdog technique belongs to veteran Courtney Conlogue, showing that, with application it can be done now. Not at some indeterminate point in the future, which a lot of the female pros made reference to.
Courtney (Poullenot/WSL)
Sea Tiger had the high, mobile front leg, and upright body, of Bruce Irons with all the precise speed control and vision that entails. Riding a longer 6'5” and with Tahitian expertise in the channel she laid down a template for how it can be done.
As for some of the weaker performances, I could never be as brutal or accurate as Steph Gilmore's scathing self-assessment. “I suck out there,” she said. “I gotta lot of work to do”.
“It's new territory for me,” she went on, “and it's weird that it's happening at this stage of my career”.
Steph (Ryder/WSL)
Weston-Webb charged some thick ones and looked the most likely to emulate the classic goofyfoot line that Vahine Fierro showed beautifully. A late, quiet paddle with an immediate knife in under the lip.
It was tough watching Vahine sit passive in her semi against Brisa waiting for sets that never came and getting beaten by four stock standard top turns.
In the end, like the Men's, the results were consequential only at the margins. Brisa edged out Lakey who never looked mentally in the right space to hunt down hollow nugs. A set wave she paddled over in her QF against Brisa was a heat-defining, year-defining, missed opportunity. It went completely unremarked by the booth. Missed opportunities, bad reads, and tube dodging were scrupulously scrubbed from history by the Woz team.
Brisa (Ryder/WSL)
Five months until Pipe and despite the vague motherhood statements ("I gotta lot of work to do") and lack of any clear plan, there will be a new standard expected next year. Some will reach it and some will continue to coast, relying on the Woz to duchess women competitors through heavy water.
Sea Tiger will head the Coalition Of The Willing, along with Moana Jones-Wong, Vahine Fierro, and the next gen of women chargers.
Courtney (Ryder/WSL)
“It takes you to a place out there that no other wave does” N. Hedge. I appreciate those below the the line who gave “explaining Hog” a shot but I'm still left mystified by his performance. And the kebab in the gutter line was not meant as disrespect at all. Quite the contrary. Hog has put his battle with alcohol in the public domain and I'm grateful for that too. For too long I was the guy in the gutter, I've seen people close to me battle the drink, as we all have. For Hog to show what is possible on the other side is an inspiration. It is a new template for what it means to be an Australian male. What is worthwhile, what needs to be overcome and how to do it. That is far more important than a surfing contest.
Cheers Hog, my shout for a kombucha.
They went straight from Women's Quarters into Women's Semis. Why? They normally go from Women's Quarters to Men's Semis. Kelly let it slip after his disastrous Semi against Vaast. He'd pressured Renato to hold it off, hoping for a wind shift and Hickel must have buckled under the GOAT pressure, despite Kelly assuring us the Woz doesn't pay attention to his contest directing.
We've learnt from watching 'The Lost Tapes', that what Kelly says as part of the public record and what he does don't always align perfectly.
Nonetheless, with Brisa and Sea Tiger through, Kelly paddled out against Vaast. A million times I've seen Kelly sniff out deep inside drainers, including his last 2016 Chopes win against JJF. This time it was Vaast, who first paddled up the reef for a long, deep, south tube, then paddling back out, stole a throaty west nug from right under Kelly's nose. Within five minutes Kelly was in deep combination.
It bamboozled him in a way we haven't seen before. “He's baffled,” said Strider, “in between two worlds”.
Kelly (Ryder/WSL)
For 32 and half minutes of a 35 minute heat the number next to Kelly's name was 0.00. With 2 and half to go he stroked into a nothing burger - the kind of wave you or I would catch out there in desperation - for a 1.17.
To change the game you have to reimagine what's possible.
I could never imagine Kelly Robert Slater with a heat score of 1.17 at Teahupoo. There should have been a mercy clause invoked with five minutes to go, or Kalani waving a white towel from the poop deck.
“I thought I might not catch a wave,” he said later. And I believe the only reason he did catch the scrappy little piece of shit was because he wasn't ready to concede to the history books a 0.00 heat at Teahupoo.
My personal conspiracy theory is as follows. Raimana Van Bastolaer who normally acts as Kelly's spotter (perfectly legal) double-crossed him and switched teams to the local boy. Minus Raimana's calls, Kelly was left stranded.
That's taking nothing away from Vaast. The fast twitch fibres of youth, plus the intimate knowledge of the reef and a parochial crowd who would erupt into chants of “Kauli! Kauli!” all added up to a crazily superior win over the GOAT. He was so dominant he had time and space to clown Kelly with a switchfoot tube-ride.
Kauli (Poullenot/WSL)
His run came to an end against Pupo in a final that featured incredibly precise and technical tube-riding at small Chopes - probably the best ever. Pupo was near flawless. He rode seven waves for six completed deep tube-rides.
Vaast made one crucial error on a deep, cornered out nug. A tail hungry foamball caused a catastrophic stall and he went down the mine. That ride was a mid 8 at least.
A multi-sectioned chamber ridden with impeccable Tahitan tube style and speed control was stymied a little by judges for a 7.63. That style, of burrowing in like a tick on a wild animal, was demonstrated to me by local Tuamata Puhetini, still one of the most stylish goofy-foot tuberiders I've ever seen.
The Kauli chants and his comeback rides couldn't overcome Pupo who employed a simple strategy: Tube-rides begat tube-rides. That reef rewards rhythm like nowhere else on Earth and once he started, Pupo just kept going.
Mig (Poullenot/WSL)
'Griff out, Kanoa in' is the only consequence for the comp as far as the Final 5 goes.
I have a dark horse pick.
Ethan Ewing. The reasoning is: once judges have seen the repertoire-heavy styles of Kanoa and Italo, Ewing's perfect rail game will stand out. It will be a visual relief.
If they then decide that is the standard being set, he can roll through the field, using youth and conditioning to deal with multiple heats to deal a shock and awe blow to Toledo.
Possible, yes?
What say you..?
// STEVE SHEARER
Comments
Pupo was so professional in composure and performance. Almost flawless performance- incredible performance, like he set a new bar for professionalism under pressure. Inspired confidence under pressure. It’s understandable that the locals wanted a local win which was technically within reach, but in truth Pupo seemed too well prepared technically and obviously had done a tone of technical mastery training which showed from strategy to every wave he rode. Fxz543#!1!! amazing performance.
According to Pete Mel and fellow commentators…the final is going to be the greatest day of pro surfing, ever. Never seen before excitement and drama served up by the WSL at Trestles…buckle up it is going to be the EVENT, the BEST, the MOST AMAZING thing ever to be seen on water.
I think they earned their pay after the 3 mins of bs over exuberance ever coming from the WSL comments booth, ever.
I was pretty critical of Mel through the event but you could hear him smirking and was clearly taking the piss in that instance.
Yeah he knows where his bread is buttered. I think off air he would have a different opinion but "don't quote me one that".
I think Trestles as the final location is a bit of a joke altogether... There are 1,000 better waves on the planet than there...
Miguel so close to knocking Kanoa off the 5th perch, aye.
Great final. So impressive.
Missed Gabe through the contest. But then I missed most of the comp due to a funeral and assorted other life stuff.
Could we have another one next swell, please?
Edit: btw, Pete Mel was mostly very good in the booth, I thought. The bits I did catch.
I rate Mel, not knocking his comment style or input. He and others just did what they have to do and tow the company line…it was just a bit over the top promotion.
Oh, I absolutely agree on the corpo spruiking, and my comment wasn't aimed at you.
I do like that he seems to speak his mind a bit more than the others, and that he's very knowledgable on surfing and surfboards.
He's got some work to do on bathymetry and wave science though. They all do.
Why? What did he say?
Odd that someone that can put themselves in the perfect spot at the perfect time on the back ledge at maxing Mavs for a 50footer wouldn't understand bathymetry.
Not at all.
Big difference between doing (instinctive, intuitive) and knowing (theoretical). The greatest surfer who's ever surfed our local point doesn't understand wave period.
I doubt he was even aware before the event he'd only miss out by a bee's dick with a win + whatever others results were.
If Igarashu had of gone out a heat earlier,or Pupo won 1 more heat through the year,he would've been in the 5.
There'd be very few people out there that would've put any money on that happening even at the start of this event.
That've would've been a nicely profitable dark horse betting on that one.
I think the winner was women's tuberiding. CC dragged her butt then grabbed the rail, just got to master the 'exit via curtain' to complete the slater backhand technique.
Kauli fell? Miggy wins.
The losers are the kids in America. No Griff!?
Thx Steve
Loved seeing Pupo win one, really excellent surfer at times and always having a crack. Great write up as always Freeride
The most interesting comment within a great write up, was the acknowledging that the style of surfing paying big points is subjective and varying from year to year, event to event and even heat to heat. We’ve all seen examples such as Matt Wilkinson swinging from non-entity, to flavour of the month and back again in the course of a few events. All under the auspice of which “surfing the judges are looking for”.
We have seen from recent pro surf productions that the head judge informs the panel of the surfing they are to reward on any given day. This completely undermines the ( now laughable) protestations that “you can’t script this”.
Obviously you can script this.
Who tells the head judge which surfing style is appreciated more on any given day?
As contemplated above by Freeride, what is to prevent a surfer’s style being rendered unfashionable at the pointy end of a world title run during the acute moments of the final’s day surf off?
Who determines which rates higher between the absolute cutting edge pinnacle of rail work, as never before witnessed in surf history and the performance extensions of aerial and intra-lip trickery ?
Anyway….Go Jack and Ewing.
This is surfing’s grand final. Last year was a cracka. Chances of a repeat episode of ultra quality conditions are slim indeed. Regardless- The early AM alarm will be set and first beer necked as the festivities kick off.
Good times ahoy Cap’n!
Grand final fun will proceed irrespective of surf quality*
* May not be entirely factual
shame that Finals day wasn't on the day before........would have been all time........need to cull the men's back a bit, way too much wasted time in the first round with no result....or have women' as a separate event.
Yep. Fuck off the pointless non-elimination and repechage rounds and we are in business.
Maybe Kelly jinxed himself the day before when he called one of the heats that had a combined score of only 3 point something between both surfers 'probably the lowest heat score i've seen in my career'.
He can pobably now say the same about his score in the semi.
It'll have to be as big and good as it gets at Trestles for Ethan to be a chance for the title,the other 4 surfers all have well known advanced air games,and Trestles always allows for that kind of surfing since airs became a standard move the top guys can pull out virtually anytime in their repoirtoires.
Ethan might do the best turns,but someone else will do turns that'll score only slightly less,then go to the air every time and the judges will score the point of difference for it.
I'm gonna call they'll be biased to that,that's my feeling on it.
Trestles is the kind of place they'll do that a lot.
It'll be between Toledo and Robbo i reckon,and it should be.
They're the only 2 surfers that've had that consistency across the season that would have them as both competing for the world title at the last event under the previous rating system.
Don't rate Toledo until he mans up and gets some big ones. Seems like he is scared but knows he can still win in the soft stuff. You can't claim to be the best in the world until you are and winning at soft Trestles is no claim to fame.
Smashing write-up, thank you. Courtney’s performance is exactly why they should have sent the women out in decent size Pipe for qualifying rounds at the start of this year. She’s excelled in the bigger stuff for years. On the money re. Steph, she’s had pipe, gland and now Tahiti as a driver to get going on left barrels (and that’s just this year) and excuses like that when you’re a seven time world champ do not cut it. I love her surfing but sometimes her attitude is a bit too “meh”. But maybe like Kelly, when you’re that successful you can do whatever the hell you want. Speaking of, if/when Kelly retires WSL should do everything to get him in the commentary box. Similar to Leyton Hewitt and tennis, love or loathe as a competitor, he’s brilliant on the mic.
Looking to the Olympics at teahupoo, I wonder if national teams will be selected on professional rankings or ability at the wave? There’s an interesting topic….
Last point is well worth more consideration, hey PB?
The Olympic quali route means half the contestants are CT surfers and half qualify via the ISA Games, which are usually held in sloppy South American waves. The conversation about preparedness - or lack of it - may take another sharp turn if small wave wizards make the five ring circus.
Could be carnage if it gets big bloody dangerous for the wee wizards.
Really great read FR. You can see there's alot of very considered points within.
Sea Tiger was great and great analysis of her game. I wonder how many world titles would have gone the other way in years gone by if Pipe and Teahupoo were on the calender. Maybe Courtney would be a 5 times world champ.
As for Hog. Bloody hog. I watched my $1000 payout slip away as he refused to better a 2 point ride. Nearly the best 20bucks i'd ever spent but what a great performance. I knew 100percent he'd come out in true Hog form. The question was asked, of how he could do it. My personal take on it is, each generation of elite surfers has within it a sprinkling of prodigies. Hogdog is one. These crew, so long as they maintain their health and keep surfing lots don't lose any of their ability. And their ability and flair stacks up against any generation. I think we forget quickly as humans in general. Hog was a good reminder and inspiration.
Great result for Pupo. Seeing the forecast for finals day i guessed it would be a goofy win. I thought maybe Yago or Vaast but Pupos negotiation of long thick tubes was insane and so consistent.
Really enjoyed the contest especially with the Tahitian flavour thrown in. Seeing their wild cards do so well and seeing the Tahitians all cheering from the channel in the final was insane.
As for capturing the whole show, i thought WSL missed so much. For example, that black set that came through during Stephs heat and we didn't even see anything of her sprint paddling for her life during it is crazy. That's what we watch for. Those blood sport moments. Life and death. They missed so many moments and waves due to ads, interviews, replays,etc.. Wondered if they had work experience kids manning the cameras and production team. But overall, it's free so can't complain too much.
Cheers.
Women's sport is in an amazing place right now and wsl comp is a great example, hats off. Courtney is a great champion so is Brisa. Reduce the mens
Great write up Steve! Nailed every point. Wicked 2 days of comp. Hedgy sending it was priceless, as someone already mentioned above, overcoming addiction to then be surfing / performing like that is no easy feat. The girls killed It too and It was definitely eye opening to see which one of them performs the hardest in such waves. Steph backside is to no surprise, I'm surprise shes surprised, her backside sucks and it always did. If you try to find online videos of her going backside its quite hard to find a whole lot, for a 7 time world champ that shouldn't even be a question of ability. Good old Kelly fucked up on his heat against Kauli Vast, even on his post heat interview he made all kinds of excuses but we all saw it, the kid shook him real good and took the mickey out of him by going switchfoot on that wave which definitely deserved more scores than it did (but the surfing world is a bit behind). Kauli's and Miggy's performance were incredible, an awesome match that got me glued to the screen even though wave size had dropped, it still made for an excellent final.
With reference to the strange surprise at Hog’s performance levels, it’s pretty obvious that an early forties surfer who’s kept themselves in shape, should be hitting their surfing peak in waves of quality. This bodes well for Queen Stephanie. She’s so young in surfing terms that there’s many years ahead of her , perhaps post-competition, to still elevate her backhand tube riding skills. She’s so talented that it’s only a matter of application and desire.
Who knows…she might just park up at a great left and impress herself and the world with the next frontier in surfing performance: Actively improving technical scope as you move into your fifth decade and beyond.
Or she might park up at a great right and keep doing what works best instead.
I'll bet that's more likely.
That's much more often how it works for surfers in their mid 30's onwards.
Sticking and focusing to their strengths while gradually moving further away from what doesn't work as well and hence is less enjoyable.
I just don't see the desire in her to work on that part of her game.
She would have made a better effort of it by this point.
Probably the biggest disadvantage of growing up and being local to a place like snapper rocks as a natural footer,without any lefts anywhere near the same standard nearby.
Easy to get stuck in your comfort zone if you don't have that urge to
get out of it at all.
Great to see Pupo notch up that maiden CT win after 10yrs. He surfed so well in the final. Style personified. Seems like a pretty humble, likeable fella too. Congrats to CC for the win and to all the women who had a go.
"For too long I was the guy in the gutter, I've seen people close to me battle the drink, as we all have. For Hog to show what is possible on the other side is an inspiration. It is a new template for what it means to be an Australian male. What is worthwhile, what needs to be overcome and how to do it. That is far more important than a surfing contest."
Well said FR.
Do you reckon a natural footer could of won in the conditions for the final?
For sure. The two finalists weren’t necessarily the best surfers in the event or on the planet, that’s just the way the cards fell.
John John or Jack Jack could’ve won that easily along with another couple of dozen natural footers from around the world.
Absolutely.
Rewind back to Jack Jack's R of 16 loss to Hedgey. He was accelerating and decelerating in the baz with the same deft skill as Vaast or Mig, and doing it while contorted backside. Steve called it the best display of technical backside tuberiding he'd seen and I'd concur.
Jack had Hedgey in deep combo up till 8 minutes to go, then when Hedgey got his first wave, Jack caught the very next wave.
Big mistake.
That handed priority to Hedgey, who capitalised with 3 minutes to go. That last bomb would've been Jack's if he played it straight.
Anyway, Jack's fine motor skills were miles above other surfers and would've had him in great stead come finals day.
Nailed it Stu, Jack should never have taken that wave.
He will get plenty more cracks at it and win a few.
i still can't fathom how the girls have been on a shit load of boat trips to the ments and most cant backside tube ride to some extent......especially Steph, must have been on a million trips over the last 12 years or so and never bothered to learn to ride the barrel backside....
In the ments theres nearly always a frontside barrel to surf instead nearby.
Better to surf somewhere there's no options but to keep surfing backside.
I reckon Steph needs to book a month at G land in season and just surf there everyday.
There's a lot more swell at that time of year than on the goldy and the crowd isn't as bad for what the waves are.
And she can practice every day as it breaks pretty much every day.
Now that there's 3 barreling lefts on the womens tour,including G land itself,she needs it now more than ever if she's serious about a record breaking 8th world title,as she's not dominant like she once was in most other conditions anymore.
Amazing how under-prepared they were for this season. However, the next gen appear to be getting ready...
Put them on a kneeboard for a few weeks at a hollow left and they will soon pick up backside tube riding
As an ex kneelo I tube ride way better on my backhand.
Great Comp great write ups....Kelly and Matty C the best commentators
I reckon Miguel and Kauli were playing a very similar game tactically on finals day, both with some incredibly technical inside drainers. Miguel just played it a bit better in the final and obviously lady luck played her part. Good effort, for someone who's never won a CT final Miguel's composure was amazing.
As far as Kelly goes I think Kauli took it when he got the jump at the start. Kelly's ego was then saying he needed to get something huge to answer back; as befits the Goat. That's why he let Kauli's second wave go, didn't look amazing enough for the great Oz. If he'd gone that one he would have been straight back in the game. By then he was screwed, telling himself he needed a bomb and leaving everything else. He wasn't at all interested in building a heat against him by lowering requirement. The ocean's cooperated with him so many times in the past but not yesterday. Killed by hubris I say, kind of fitting but sad. Kauli was a worthy opponent
Well said regarding Kelly.
Heat aside, The fact that he just wanted a bomb also played a part I reckon.
Yeah, fair enough I guess, they were still coming through most of the day but the swell was dropping. Thank goodness they still got a bunch of waves for the final, even if on the inside ledge, would have been a bit of a fizzer if they hadn't.
Great comp. Congrats Miguel, tube riding maestro; about bloody time! I reckon Kelly's semi final will become the defining historical moment of when he finally let go of being a competitive surfer. You could feel it. It just didn't mean anything to him anymore. Which is okay. I'm sure when he resets his rudder for the future, he will continue to contribute in a profound way. Isn't that what a champion ultimately is?
I don’t like the final five format, irregardless of whether it’s at Trestles or anywhere else. The Tahiti contest should have determined the year end champion. The men’s side would have been more consequential to Toledo and Robinson. On the women’s side, Carissa pretty much had it locked up going into Tahiti. As it was, Moore safety surfed the contest to not get injured and Gilmore might have too.
It was a great last two days, but really the only drama involved igarashi and Colapinto; and of course, my least favorite surfer on tour advanced into the final five.
And, I still don’t understand Wsl insistence on keeping the loser’s round.
Bang on Mr Shearer great writing, Leroy agrees with all points wholeheartedly. As far as Hog goes the mythology of this beast of a man only grows. Leroy enjoys the the tale shrouded in kebab and took the writers illustration as intended.
I would say though that our little porkers now 20k richer, so perhaps he should be throwin down for those kombuchas, - a fantastic write up afterall. Maybe we should all have a kombucha as a toast n roast for 'The hog' Slayer of the South Pacific. Where do you go for one of those, good for your gut biome I've heard??
Leroy on Vaast.
By far the standout of the event and one foam ball ride away from winning. Who got the AI award?
Leroy on Pupo.
Underated.
Pupo was paying 67-1 to win the event outright from the start. Leroy knows this because he placed a piss ant but highly rewarding $3 on the outcome.
At the quarter final stage Pupes (as I now fondly and encouragingly referred to him) was paying 10-1. Leroy threw in another $10 and after all his horse trading he walked away with about $300. If anyone cares to know that...... Leroy ended up in front.. yeeeah :)
Leroy on Tahitian wild cards.
Leroy is getting onboard the train for more in the future WSL. It really was sick to see the fans going nuts from the channel. Shake that Drollet kid out of his coma and maybe a couple of others.
Leroy on how to manage event windows.
You lot might think Leroys a bit of a nutter for rehashing and peddling this one back out but just hear him out here. Lights. Gargantuan lights that illuminate the waves in a way that has never been done before. Surely if Leroys new headtorch can cause semi blindness from 50 yards we can light up a surf contest already.
We got batteries now. We blast rockets into space and reuse them, many technical innovations have gone down last couple of years.
.
If I was the WSL I would put it out tender offering the advertising space. Basically what the wsl want are giant floating pylons with a dome that can be hung from one of those military drones (yeah and the military can chip in) and it just put the dome up with the drone, and the lights are in part powered by wave energy derived from turbines attached to the pylons.
Its actually not that hard.
If the competitors complain about sharks, throw an extra 10k.
Anyway enough from Leroy
Where does the habit of referring to yourself in the third person come from?
P.S- the drone to dome light pylon combo might take a couple months to work out but in the meantime what about a digital scorecard that is attached to the canopy of one of those boats? Or scores that are transmitted directly to the surfers watches.
Holding your arms up like that,,,, who needs it?
Great write up as always. Sad for us Seppos that Griff is out. The only American male surfer in the CT I really enjoy watching right now. Kanoa is like diet coke or something. I can't take anymore of Kelly's narccicistic blathering in the booth. Yes he is the only guy who does tow the WSLs bliss agenda but the guy can't speak for more than thirty seconds without talking about himself and what he did back in blah blah blah
Fil's world title is going to be a fraud Robbo's the number 1 in my mind. I love Fil's surfing in small to meadium waves but if you can't ride real barells you ain't the champ pipsqueek
What's happened to brother?
Great write up as always. Sad for us Seppos that Griff is out. The only American male surfer in the CT I really enjoy watching right now. Kanoa is like diet coke or something. I can't take anymore of Kelly's narccicistic blathering in the booth. Yes he is the only guy who does tow the WSLs bliss agenda but the guy can't speak for more than thirty seconds without talking about himself and what he did back in blah blah blah
Fil's world title is going to be a fraud Robbo's the number 1 in my mind. I love Fil's surfing in small to meadium waves but if you can't ride real barells you ain't the champ pipsqueek
Some great observations above Leroy the Maddog.
Re the night surfing, would make those black backless sets, look even scarier!!
For anyone that just can't get enough of heaving left hand slabs, the Arica pro QS is on right now. Semi pumping. Yew
Into em Ethan!
Great write up Steve,
With great honesty.
Power on mate!
I really wish I hadn't made that tick metaphor in the write-up.
Found a paralysis tick burrowed into the back of my head yesterday which sent me to Ballina emergency.
Careful where you wave that magic pen of yours mate it's dangerous what it manifests.
I had one on a camping trip way back, uncle Mark used the same solution qldrrzz used for everything then and poured Bundy all over it.
Had a lump there for years
damn, that's bad luck FR. I squirmed when I read the metaphor just now, picturing one of the little bastards, and thinking hope I dont get another anytime soon... Hope it hasnt knocked you around too much
Restless night's sleep last night, was having reverberations, dodged the foamball, over the foamball, under the foamball, through the foamball, cavitating in the foamball, caught by the foamball, devoured by the foam monster
SL… claim or no claim?
maybe one of those 'i don't believe it either' shrug claims .. but there's no escaping the foamball.
The claim is not my style, only remember doing it once, paddled out at a lonesome left, never seen anyone surf it before and got shacked, claimed that one, but no one saw so I guess it never happened
I just watched too many heat replays, Hog vs Robbo in particular, loads of foamball action and seriously good surfing.
I don't know but, irrespective of his undoubted ability in small waves, if Toledo wins this year there'll always be an asterisk next to his title. *piked it at Pipe & Chopes
*Heart muscle problem
Lionheart!!!!
I genuinely hope he trains hard in the off season and comes back as a big wave surfer of substance.
Congrats Freeride on all your write ups plus the Hog note about what can be done on the other side
As a fellow surfer who has let alcohol nearly beat him , but won’t …the effort of Hedgy to to come back from where he has been , is a inspiration and a motivator that it can be done
King Kelly got skunked by his own game whilst the young bloke had a tubefest in 3ft (maybe 4ft on the biggies?) in his own bacckyard. Pupo was brilliant in the final which he had to be against a local wizkid! Would have loved to have seen finals day on the previous day when it was perfect solid paddle in Chopes!
My theory is that Kelly beat himself. Too much over thinking and too stubborn. Good ol Kelly just thinking way too much.
,Just catch waves and surf Kelly!
Agree with comment above and it was hard to watch Kelly just sit there waiting for the bomb that never came instead of getting busy from the get go.
But hats off and all respect to Vaast surfed the perfect heat.
https://www.worldsurfleague.com/posts/505478/full-access-pass-to-teahupo...
Anyone else had the displeasure of watching this? If this is a representation of the WSL, you can understand why they are the way they are.
Pristine waterfall!
Yeew!
Can kind of see why Steph doesn't do well there
Can't surf left barrels?
Or can't stand the Wozzle's unhinged bullshit?
Or just distracted by the beauty around her (notwithstanding "pristine waterfalls" which are actually streams running through degraded, weedy ex-banana plantations)?