Corona Open J-Bay 2023: Finals Day
Corona Open J-Bay 2023: Finals Day
It was too much to expect the Woz to score two consecutive days of good waves, and Finals Day turned out to be an anti-climactic display in highly inconsistent, sectiony 3-4ft surf under grey skies and rain. A far cry from the bluebird perfection of yesterday.
Goofy-footers were distinctly disadvantaged as they raced sections and found the soft corners unable to support a vertical attack. Still, there are levels to the backside game and Gabe Medina proved he's still ahead of his peers via creativity and detailed and accurate reads on tricky sections. Not enough, however, to best the forehand of Ethan Ewing.
Ethan (WSL/Ryder)
At the start of the season with two Hawaiian events looming I noted that physicality was becoming increasingly important to the modern pro. Medina, Ewing, O'Leary, Dora, Jordy, John Florence, Jack Robinson, Ryan Callinan et al: all beefcakes with physiques that could withstand the rigours of a full contact sport.
Carissa Moore has the athletic build. As does Tyler, Lakey, Molly Picklum, Caz Marks, Defay.
Given the equality of technique and equipment at the elite level, the human body remains the biggest variable and a stronger body can do bigger turns. Big turns, turn heats, win events.
Of course, there are outliers; exceptions that prove the rule.
Say what you want about Filipe Toledo, but this small man has opened up a meaningful gap to his nearest competitors when it comes to rail surfing. No-one is doing bigger turns on tour than Toledo. His dominance at J-Bay was astounding.
Filipe (WSL/Ryder)
The closest anyone got to him was Jack Robinson in their Quarter-Final. Filipe strafed a small wave to open up and judges showered him with champagne for a 9.63. He seemed almost too content with that score and Robinson was subsequently on all the best waves in the heat. Even so, he couldn't get better than 2 points to Toledo's highest score and Filipe only needed a modest back-up to win. The one-and-a-half point spread at the hooter was indicative of Jack's superior wave selection.
Otherwise, the dominance of Toledo was massive: 6 points against Rio Waida in their Round of 16 heat, 5 points better than Kanoa in the Semi, 6 points ahead of Ewing in a very one-sided Final. Those are incredible numbers.
Fil (WSL/Ryder)
Toledo could now do a Slater, get 'sick' before Tahiti and spend the next month and a half sleeping in his own bed and surfing Trestles. If Pip started to treat Tahiti the way Slater treated Brazil it would be a blackly ironic legacy of the Slater approach.
Toledo will enter Finals Day as the shortest price favourite of all time.
Carissa is having a similarly dominant year, even if her event wins haven't felt quite as dominant as Toledo's and her performance levels have at times felt shaded by newer surfers on tour like Caity Simmers and Pickles. Carissa seems vulnerable at Trestles in a way that is foreign to Toledo. A rampaging Marks or Pickles, both of whom are less reluctant to employ more progressive repertoires under pressure could see Moore subject to another humiliation on the cobblestones. Carissa has to get comfortable breaking out of that 70% zone where she has won so many events.
Riss (WSL/Ryder)
Molly Picklum has made it clear she won't back down and be guilty of “over-respecting” her opponents. She'll scrap if needed, compete for every wave, and smash anything that moves.
Her QF against Gilmore was the best heat of Finals Day. Judges paid power, repertoire, and a big finish. Like most of the day, the surfer who won the opening exchange carried huge advantages on a dying swell for the rest of the heat. Pickles iced her opener for a 7. Gilmore fell for a 6.33. That fall almost certainly cost Steph the heat and a chance to defend her title. She fought back brilliantly with an 8.77, featuring the full gamut of Gilmore carving and tube-riding but the initial deficit generated by the mistake could not be accounted for.
Pickles (WSL/Ryder)
Pickles then cooly dispatched the only good wave that came through in a wave-starved Semi against Carissa which really didn't offer up much information for future clashes. Moore was marooned, nothing came through. Mother Nature decided that heat.
23 waves were ridden in the Women's Final. 11 from Lakey, 12 from Pickles. Exchanges were crucial with both the 6th and 9th waves for both surfers being the highest-scoring rides after a very scrappy start. Surf became more consistent, offset by a higher tide which put most waves right on the rocks and too sectiony to make more than one turn.
The heat really started halfway through after Pickles flogged Peterson in a paddle battle. Molly caught the only real bomb set of the Final and fell after two big turns. That proved a critical fall. The 7.50 for two turns should have been a 9+ if the whitewater hadn't grabbed her rail en route to another turn.
Pickles won that exchange but the 9th ride exchange was decisive for Lakey: an 8.50 to 6.00 spread for three crisp turns and a clean hit vs Pickles swoop and big closeout carve in the lip. In the 12 minutes remaining Pickles was unable to find another quality wave.
Lakey (WSL/Van Gysen)
A Pickles world title would seem an incredible outcome. After being cut last year to making the Top 5 this year (a courtesy we also have to extend to Joao Chianca of course). Her form at Trestles remains unknown; we'd have to assume she would decimate the rippable walls.
It's easy to barrack for Molly. She shreds, charges, and has a down home Aussie openness where she makes a constant point of thanking the fans staying up to watch her and support her.
Pickles (WSL/Van Gysen)
Toledo and others in the Top 5 have more problematic relationships with the fan base.
I think we will all have to accept though, that in the current era ,Toledo's potential multiple World Titles are legitimate achievements.
Despite the lacklustre Finals Day surf there's been a subtle but noticeable shift in the commentary, led by the irascible Strider Wasilewski towards a little more truth, a little more colouring outside very proscribed lines, which has made it very much more fun to watch.
// STEVE SHEARER
Comments
Interesting how after ELO’s departure everyone appears to have taken a breath, including mother nature. The day before finals day was epic. Everyone seems a bit more relaxed.
Felipe does seem unstoppable and given the current format why would he surf Teahupoo? He is a professional athlete nursing some kind of injury and his only goal is to be world champion, which doesn’t require him to surf Teahupoo to achieve that. In years to come when it hopefully goes back to the ‘best surfers in the best waves’ will he still outperform everyone as he has this year? I’m not so sure.
I’d say he would surf the next contest because he will be surfing it next year in the olympics.
Great read Steve... Toledo wouldn't dare pull a sickie for Tahiti... would he?
If telido skips chopes it further proves the top 5 trestles thing is an absolute joke
Fingers crossed for a serious chopes swell this yr
Over the ledge stuff
Something like the next three days at the end of the road:
Death waves the period is relatively low though would be even more horrifying at 17 seconds!
Great write up.
If FT skips Tahiti, should be out of contention for title in my book.
If going to stick with final 5 format, should be held at a wave of consequence with extended waiting period to ensure it gets proper. Mmmmmm, why not finish Tour in Hawaii???
Any word yet on ELO's departure, why???
Spill the beans someone.
The final 5 won’t work in Hawaii as I think all comps need some sort of a local quota. Agree though a wave of consequence somewhere else or move it back to Pipe under the old format.
Fil was in exactly the same possy last year. He was a lock for Trestles and could've not gone to Chopes but decided to go. No reason to expect he wouldn't front up again this year. Hope he charges. Go mate.
Yeah fair enough, I was more referring to having the world champ being decided in quality heavy waves, not a spot such as Trestles which I reckon should be on tour as performance wave, but not world champ decider.
No arguments from me there Andy :)
I hope he charges Chopes and takes the lot. Flip is an amazing surfer.
Good contest, good write-up (as usual), anti-climax to finish.
Lakey earned her win. There will be more for Molly in the future.
Ps- did JMD get the boot too?
Yeah, JMD gone?
Anybody taking bets Pip won't show at Chopes?
Not a gambling man but I'd stick $100 bucks on that.
Hard to find something to winge about after that epic round 32/16 in perfect surf, it's just so great to see the boys and girls doing what they do best.
I would've given RCal & Steph a bonus point each for wave of the day but Pickles out Stephied Stephie in their final it was brilliant and the way she showered Lakey, there's a lot to love.
As the swell dropped Filipe's odds went through the roof and we all saw why, in small rights he's electric, writing a textbook on variety and angles of carve.
But if he doesn't go to Chopes is he writing off the dream of Gold for Brazil?
-The Air is Dead-
Italo, Jack, John - has ultimately the potential for a career ending injury killed the Air?
Your write ups are the best Steve
I like the line 'doing a slater' FR, and if it was legitimate for slater to do and not get reprimanded then it is OK for Flippy. Speed seems to be the thing to me which is separating him at the moment. He gets so much speed to do those turns especially in 3-4 foot waves and lay into full tilt. Ewen looked the match when it was bigger but noticeably slower (he is a big fella like his dad) in the tiddlies on finals day. I still put a Question mark over Flippy for not charging the chunky stuff going right or left. Slater was a champ for plenty of reasons, one because he was the best backhand surfer on the world, Mick worked hard on it, and Flippy.....here the crickets.
Slater not turning up to Brazil is not the same as Toledo not turning up at Chopes - no one is going to say Slater didn't deserve his world title in year x because he didn't prove himself in shitty small beach breaks.
Agreed, @ Spinifex that's not a valid argument because Kelly has indeed proved himself in shitty small waves over and over during his career, albeit not lately. Flippy has never proved himself in waves over 6 foot, ever. I still struggle that we have a *world champ* who could not ever win a Triple Crown, Pipe Master's or an Eddie. Correct me if I'm wrong, but JJF did win a Triple Crown, Eddie and a World Title all in the one year.... now that's a true champion
Everybody feels the same way about flippy, hence the question mark. He has worked incredibly hard on his rail work not sure why he doesn't do the same on slabby waves maybe he fears for his life and therefore family which is fair enough, if so he should say it. He just becomes a small to medium wave specialist - which is 90% of the waves on the tour, and he is definitley good at those. He is the WSL champ, not the best surfer in the world.
My money is Toledo will go to chopes if the forecast isn’t looking Macking. But I would think he’ll be tentative anyway at chopes so as to not injure himself for the world title show down at trestles.
Connor O'Leary’s nine point ride was the highlight of the contest for me. Thought it stood well above the other nines the judges handed out. Shame the swell dropped off. RCal red hot as well.
Really enjoyed Steph and Mollys heats.
Onya EE.Great surfing by the Aussies.
I think its interesting that Toledo now rarely does airs in comps, i didnt even think he did one in this comp but maybe im wrong judging by that pic above..
Im betting its strategic as even doing a reverse in the end close out section is riskier for a fall than a reo or floater and it seems judges really penalise you if you dont complete that last turn.
Also you would expect airs come with a high risk of injury.
Anyway im loving his surfing and stoked for him to get another win.
Agree. Felipe's surfing this comp was shockingly good. Sure he doesn't have the style or finesse of Ethan yet every heat of his was a clear elevation from the surfing that came before it. In an environment where differences are incremental, the level between FT's surfing and others was astonishing.
Really feels like he and Ethan are the form surfers of the year, and it was a shame they didn't get a full complement of waves in the final cos in every other respect it was a perfect scenario.
I know Felipe is fast and his turns looks insane, but the body pumps he does just before his bottom turns look crook. Much prefer the guys drawing purer lines through their transitions . The surf on the bigger day allowed style to shine through more. There's no denying that Felipe is the most dynamic surfer but it's a bit gross to watch sometimes
Well said Stu.
He did a very small one on finals day... and fell coming out of the landing.
Oh okay i tried to watch all his heats but missed that, still seems to be not going to the air much this year or even last year.
Not that im a big fan of airs, but the odd one here and there i think is good for variety.
Filipe's ability to generate speed, lay it on a rail with a variety of carves in small and mid sized waves is unique and incredibly impressive. As Steve said he was untouchable on finals day. It's unwise to ridicule him by implying he's too scared to turn up to Chopes. He showed what he is capable of in the elimination round at 8'-10' Chopes last year only falling to a rampaging Nathan hedge after going multiple waves and outscoring most other heats that round including Griffin, Seth & Barron (others like Cal Robson finished with a heat total of 0.97). I'll take you money @MikeHunt and hope us he shows us what he's capable of this year.
Some nice tube riding from Fil in that heat with Hedgey but you’re putting a bit of mayo on the 8’-10’ size nolan
haha, that old chestnut. OK, 10' call a stretch, unless it had been me on those waves . . .
Re: Filipe at Teahupoo - here's last year's heat replay, up against the Hog.
Id forgotten that heat, he wasn't holding back at all.
Really hope he has grown in confidence in this area and goes in having a real good crack.
Thanks for posting that Ben. Anyone who doesn’t think Filipe has the ability or will to surf heavy waves needs to watch that. If you still think that then you haven’t surfed heavy waves before. What he is doing is very difficult. He’s done the same at Pipe too. A result won’t be far away IMO
Love that reaction by O'Leary at 3.15 to Hedgey's ridiculous barrel.
Knocks a couple of hundred thousand years off evolution and regresses to a gibbon :)
I thought Ethans first wave of the final was underscored - until Filipe ripped the bag out of his - but still could have been a point or two more than was awarded . Filipe has seriously bulked up this year and its just making his surfing look even better than before . I love how he does not rely on his air game , even if its the best on tour . I thought Gabriel was surfing well and then looked panicked and seemed to be trying to go to the air to get the score against Ethan .
god you really put the cat amongst the pigeons with that Phil not going to Chopes remark. if they choose to run a tour with 8 fat rights on it then you're going to get a guy with the best forehand winning, regardless of having a finals day. i wonder if all the core chargers in here who only seem to recognise mastery of big barreling lefts complained when it was Mick or Parko (or Steph or Tyler) winning world titles almost exclusively on their performance on rights
"..towards a little more truth, a little more colouring outside very proscribed lines, which has made it very much more fun to watch." > does that mean it's now the right time to talk about the GW shark in Nathan Florence's video? If I was Rio's parents, I would have been praying. Did the WSL do anything specific that lead to "no more interactions"? It felt like the elephant was kicked out of the social media room very quickly in relation to this interaction with nature.
Disclaimer: I'm in favor of embracing sharks as an integral component of our surfing world.
Didn't that occur during a free surfing session? Looked to me that the following competition days had the skis in pretty tight behind each surfer when they paddled back out.
Out of interest, following the 2015 incident with Mick Fanning, the WSL awarded a contract to Perth company Shark Mitigation Systems, who used their "Clever Buoy" to monitor for sharks (looks like that arrangement may have only lasted one year). The business has since changed their name to Harvest Technology Group.
https://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2016/06/23/clever-buoy-s...
Thanks for the update Ben > yes it was on the last warm-up day and no I didn't see any "Clever Buoys" in the lineup either during the competition. I did see jet skis revving their engines about 300m out to sea from the line-up. Either way, it was a near-miss for a few lucky surfers on that particular day.
Although the Clever Buoy was seemingly used only in 2016, the WSL also did a deal with Shark Shield in 2017.
https://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2018/04/17/wsl-plays-it-...
Pretty sure they've had drones on shark surveillance patrols over the last few years, though can't find any links.
Ben > you've got to love the fact that the greatest repository of historical dialogue on this issue is the published annals of Swellnet. In all sincerity, hats off to you and Stu for being those peeps. BTW I just skim-read that 2018 link, as its MR area my surfing zone, I vaguely remember the second victim was a fellow who had legally changed his name to "Simon Seagrass" - who had some very interesting perspectives about his close shave with nature..
They've still got the Fisheries dept in WA for Margs onboard tho.
Here's a classic vid of the patrol boat in the thick of things.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-30/fisheries-vessel-narrowly-avoids-...
And btw, congrats on your recent award Ben, well done.
Being the No.1 ranked surfer, Felipe is gonna get the wildcard at Teahupoo, which, going on form, will have the surname Drollet or Vaast.
Is there a harder stop on tour to draw a wildcard?
very true
local knowledge has more premium there than any other stop
Yep, that's cruel.
Great write up Steve!
So glad to see Pickle Juice leading the charge for the next generation of Australian women's surfing on the tour. Hopefully this Challenger Series will see Isabella Nichols and India Robinson rejoin her on the CT with a little more skill and heat intelligence next year.
Fil, well, he did Fil things on Fil sized waves. There is no doubt he is the fastest and most dynamic surfer on tour at the moment. Did he deserve to win JB? Sure, it was a small and perfect swell window for him to surf to his strengths.
However, when it comes to his world titles, I think a lot of surf fans (although recognising his talent) will put rather large inverted commas around them. Sure, you can make the argument that Fil is surfing amazingly on the WSL organised World Tour they have scheduled to end at his home break in Trestles. He's surfed each break to an impeccable standard for what's been put in front of him. But, he hasn't ridden any waves of consequence and don't even get me started on his style (or lack there of).
Look, it might just be me, growing up in the era of the Kelly, Mick and Andy's. But, Fil to me is not a true World Champion. Until he can properly show his stuff and win a contest at macking Pipe, Chopes or Cloudbreak, then it's just a hard no from me. Will that happen with the current big wigs and shenanigans going on behind the scenes at the WSL? Think I'll just have to settle for the inverted commas for the time being.
x2
To their credit Mick (and Joel) had to work hard at surfing solid lefts. Whilst they refined their craft, they never won at macking Pipe, Chopes or Cloudbreak*. Mick got good at it - loved Red Monkey Full Moon. I reckon Fil could do the same if the WSL schedule required it.
* Mick won at 4-6' Chopes against Joel in 2012; Joel won Pipe at 6-8' Backdoor in 2012; Mick squeaked through some 2013 Pipe (left) heats with some 2nd reef rollins to win his 3rd title but was schooled by Kelly and JJF in that comp.
Doesnt matter if they didnt win at those events when it was macking, you know Joel and Mick would go and have a crack. Chopes 14' and who could forget the freesurf fifi 12'?. alotta tour surfers didnt pack any during that volcom event with crew even calling out for the the event to be called off. Joel and Mick had a crack in the freesurf with no vest, below the knee boardies with standtall and pigdogs and getting flexed too. so thats a x3 on the OC. Filipes rollins in the abve heat against hedgey dont cut it for a world champ. His titles will be * by the punters until he proves otherwise
Well said hazcam, couldn’t agree more…
I think Stef will struggle to make the 5
Seems to have lost some hunger
And for a world champ her heat strategy of this yr seems wanting
As if I’ll just wait for the waves come to me
Although waves of last 2 days probably didn’t suit airs as much and as said above telido wasn’t looking for them one wonders after the social media flak of first day where 9 scored for I manoeuvred then maybe the head judge had balls to say this is a point break not a beachhead and airs won’t be scored highly?
Flip was always going to win yesterday. Most boring end to an event possibly ever...after Bells this year...and Pipe...and...and..
Highlight for me was Lakey dedicating her win to her sister in law that passed away while Lakey was competing in the Jbay comp last year.
Huge props also to Molly and her graciousness in defeat. She really shakes it off in the moment and gets behind the winner. Awesome trait.
irascible is a new word to me - but siri knew it
fil”s first wave against jr was brilliant- would i be insane to say a brazzo may have been underscored st 9.63??
thx for the coverage steve, bloody good event
*at
Okay, Fil is the best in the world on 3' rights, no doubt. However, his 9.63 against Jack was an 8, maybe 8.5 at best. The pumpy pumpy bottom turn(s) were ugly AF. Jack surfed waves a third bigger than Flippy and was royally robbed IMO. Seems the death threats worked, and a Brazzo world champ is a foregone conclusion. Anyone care to debate that the reason Elo got punted is because the Brazzos played the racism/victim card? Kryptonite in corporate USA and absolutely grounds to fire the CEO to avoid scrutiny...
I think they would've booted him before or after the event if it was that and found some way to sugar coat his departure. I reckon he said or did something very stupid in Brazil, or perhaps somewhere else that only came to the attention of the board during the event. Without a wsl whistleblower we may never know.
They didn't play racism card IMO, at least in that particular event. They complained about the lack of consistency and clarity in judging criteria, which most people agreed with (independently of nationality). ELO replied with a shockingly terrible letter, which didn't help his cause. The fact that the brazos went public as they did does seem to have had an overall positive effect on how WSL is handling things in and beyond judging.
Another thing: there were no death threatS, as far as I heard. There was ONE online coward warrior who wrote the threat to Griffin - the punk then quickly disappeared from online presence. Totally wrong and that person should respond criminally. It's not like Brazil is a safe place, but the 'death threats' Instagram comment was massively amplified, making it sound like it was a widespread behavior from multiple brazos.
Ethan got a death threat after beating Gabriel at the ranch.
Toledo is amazing, no question, but...I wish he'd watch some Curren & Occy videos and take note of what bottom turns should look like, not a double pump in sight. Just sayin'....
Speed... ( is sometimes needed) to succeed
Epic tune, BBB.
Trivia time: That song marks the first appearance of electric acoustic guitar, which became a hallmark sound of theirs.
Trivia part2; Rolling Stones/ Van Haven, etc producer (Glyn Johns) over in the UK, tried to make the Oils 3rd Album sound more polished & commercially successful....
"Basement Flat" song starts off acoustic....
Thumping amps & rant'atious lyrics flow from the heart
"Must be time for a better place,
My sink leaks and the rats have won the race"
No more trivia, but here's what I reckon is an excellent article on the failure of Glyn Johns and how it led to the opus that followed.
https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/midnight-oil-10-to-1-interv...
What I'd give to have seen those Zig Zag Club gigs in 1982...
Got to see the Oils at the Noosa concert back in 82 after they had just released 10-1. INXS were up just before them after just releasing the Swing album. Was just a youngun.
Loved the Oils ever since.
Correction, 83.
Correction, 83.
My first ever concert I got to go to unsupervised with my mates was 10-1 at the newly opened Sydney Entertainment Centre. They opened with Armistice Day and segued into Only the Strong. Great night for this wide-eyed, impressionable young 15 year old.
Yep, got to see the Oils quite a number of times, the last time in 2018. The energy was always next level.
Had some older mates who got to see them pretty regularly at the Narrabeen Antler, gees that would have been epic.
I've told this one before, but when I saw their 'secret' gig at Selinas, the one that began their reunion tour, they started with Outside World, then went into Only The Strong, including all those weird clanging sounds that precede Garrett's first tirade about being locked in is room. I was thinking we were gonna hear all of 10-1, but I was only half right: We heard a whole album, played in running order, but it wasn't 10 -1.
Quarter of the way into the gig, Garrett stuck one finger into the air and they ripped into Cold Cold Change, then he stuck two fingers into the air and they played Bus To Bondi, three fingers and everyone knew what was going on: Naked Flame, Back On The Borderline, through No Reaction, Stand In Line, and even those weird songs at the end of Head Injuries, Profiteers and something else.
This was 2017, they were a bunch of old fucks by then, but they played for over 2.5 hours and it was quite possibly the best gig I've ever been to.
That would have been fooken epic!
Going to go home after work and crank up some Oils... Cheers.
That would have been sick Head Injuries for me is their best album.
saw them in geelong, march 2022, first time in 15 years i reckon- they were sooo good- my partner had never seen them live and seeing her diggin it….stupid but it teared me up
same for me zen at ‘the venue’ in st kilda,
I had to go and check that and you're right its on the bridge where Garrett does his rant (another halmark from this album).
What a fucking incredible song from one of the best Albums any Australian band has ever recorded.
Fun fact: A mate of mine bumped into Albo while leaving one of the Oils gigs in Perth for the Long Way Round Tour (well before he was PM). My mate asked him what the highlight of the gig was for him. Albo's response: Lucky Country. Legend.
Wayne Swan was just across from us at Big Pineapple gig in 2018. Classic....
Said g'day.... Was just with some of his mates. Got to love Australia how ex Treasurer can rock on to a band with public, no entourage...
Oils acoustic update: They used acoustic on Bird Noises (Wedding Cake Island) which was released on 1980. The same mate from the Albo anecdote provided the correction.
Sure that's not just a straight acoustic being recorded?
Maybe. Ill check.
Couldn't find out and now I am drunk enough not to care.
Caroline Marks’ 9.63 was my highlight of the comp.
Showed everyone how to do it,bottom turn,Smack!
As long as Tylers OK. That's the main thing.
Pretty sure Tyler will make it through after a tough 7 days "work" in J-Bay.
I mean, look at the poor dear. In the 7 days attending "work", she had to "work" 2 days.
3 heats, 105mins, 1hr45min.
Paid $40k USD ($60k AUD), $571/min or $34285/hour. To sit in cold water, in a sponsored supplied wetsuit and catch a few waves at a perfect point break with 1 other surfer in the water.
She now has 3 weeks to recover before returning to "work".
Stop it!
My heart is breaking, oh the misery...
Oh the humanity!
I concur...but interested if anyone can share info on
How is prizemoney taxed and is there a difference if it's earned in Aus vs OS
How would a professional surfers "team" generate income?
ie coach = % of earnings and they back themselves vs upfront retainer, or mix of both.
cost of travel ? - supplied by sponsors ?
I think if the Pro is out of Australia for a certain number of months of the year they can claim non-resident tax status for Australia. I heard that is one of the factors that have the pros having their family's travel with them as if they had permanent residence in Oz they could not claim non-resident status.
Happy to be corrected if wrong.
TheWSL pretty much gets skunked again. One good day out of the waiting period at somewhere like JBay is not really scoring.
Fil Goes faster than anyone and does some impressive hacks. Although
not really eye candy surfing. He doesn't actually lay rail like EE or JJ.
Agreed on Pickles! I can attest to her paddle training too.
Solid double over head day at avoca. I was taking the gentleman's route after each wave, as most were, along the beach and back out with the travelator next to the rocks. Pickles was repeatedly ploughing back out the hard way, micro looking on from shore. Not fun!
So much to be said for pure paddle fitness, even just to get in the right part of the best waves, rate that
Pickles go for it attitude was exciting, though scored way more that Steph's style, that was sublime... these surfers deserve at least 10 rematches; with consistent, quality 5ft waves for 3 years.... I will chip in if needed...
Fil Toledo is able to adapt his surfing to win, according to the judging criteria of each moment.... how many surfers can refine their technique/ skills/ approach are few... in the past.... he's showing the next gen world how to adapt to the fashion fads & limitations of WSL PR business model Inc. Ltd.
P.S. It took 10 years before local clubbies started teaching the kids to use the rip channel near the rocks... outcome; more ocean awareness, more waves, skill & fun!
So much to talk about and analyse in that event. However at the end of they day it was just nice to see them surf one of the world’s best waves and get a day that was nearly as good as it gets. It’s not a hard formula, they have the talent, they just need the waves. Aside from this comp, the other two best of the year were the Challenger @ Narrabeen and the ‘QS at Krui, why? You guessed it - the waves.
Of all the heats I watched, the banter about styles, scores, wins and losses, all I could come at as constant is that this caper we call surfing is one of the most subjective past times and one I’m not sure really needs to be known as a ‘sport’ in the conventional sense of the term.
There is a phenomenon known as ‘Pareidolia’ - which loosely means that you ‘see what you want to see’, you perceive patterns, objects or meaning where there is none. This along with our implicit biases are likely why we think John was better than Connor, this guy’s style is crook, Fil is only good when it is 3 foot etc.
Well done to all. Aside from Lakey, winning here means F-all as does a 10 foot swell and the winners / losers of Chopes as most of the finals spots have been decided.
Thank you Steve I really appreciate your thoughts, time and insight.
Art & style is subjective; some can make their work fashionable and marketable.... like Picasso (while they are alive) who challenged societies perceptions, including the fascist dictators in Spain & Nazi Germany at war in his time...
https://www.christies.com/features/Pablo-Picasso-a-style-guide-11919-3.aspx.
par·ei·do·lia ˌper-ˌī-ˈdō-lē-ə -ˈdōl-yə : the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern
A search on this page which includes comments reveals 30 references to "Fil", 17 for "Pickle" and only 10 for "Lakey." Love all of your work FR, but there was another winner and she seems to get very little cred on here from you or the commenting punters. Wonder why? She's half Aussie after all and tuned her repertoire on a very similar wave down here in Viccoland. Got a powerful smooth style and presents well in interviews.
Lakey is the only 10 on tour
Fair call. Big fan of Lakey's surfing and approach as a professional.
No reason for the under-coverage, just an oversight.
Thanks for the reply. Just an observation not a criticism... and not just on this article.....she just seems to have a lower profile generally and I have never quite understood why.
She has had a quieter year this year and seem lost between the Steph/Carissa story and the new girls (Simmers, Pickles, Marks).
Just an oversight? HA!
Just forgot to mention the winner.
You never miss a shot at Slater though do you FR?
You'll know to do a welfare check on me the day I do SR.
Ha. Very good.
V. much looking forwards to the GOAT at Chopes.
Hope he can pack some big blue kegs.
Some of the most stylish and radical surfing in the contest I reckon was done by Caio Ibelli.
I couldn't agree more, Zen. Kept banging on about it in the live thread till I had embarrassed myself.
I thought he looked so fast and different (from the new breed), his surfing more in the vein of vintage Curren at J-Bay, linking turns seamlessly. A shame he fell a bit too much.
haha, you did mention style a lot in the feed IB, I think many of us agreed with you. Were you online when someone threw up the fitzgeralds clip? Timing was perfect.
Good review Stevie Boy. As much as it pains me to back a brazo Fili Boy is red hot at the moment and is hard to fault. His surfing cuts any canvas like a hot knife in butter.
Final Destination 5 should be an easy feat for Fili Boy. He can have a sleep in go for a casual 40min surf and win a world title. Should be just another day in the office for the funny looking fellow
Thought this would be a huge year with Toledo, Medina, Robbo, and JJF fit, but the crappy waves seems to have killed that off. Hopefully next year they can ditch the finals concept and have a proper four way world title race.
I’m thinking JJF will be MIA next year.
Join Nate on a proper world tour.
Im really surprised a few people have dissed Toledos style, i really dig his style.
Not sure why you're surprised.
One of the crew commented the other night that his style was like a 'cat on pingas', which I thought was a pretty accurate description. Although it's more like a vicious feral cat on pingas. The guy shreds but he's hyper twitchy.
Style will always be much more subjective than other aspects of surfing. Beauty being in the eye of the beholder and all that.
Ha ha "cat on pingas" is a fair description, but i like it, you can tell he is going as fast as he can and just itching to slice into anything he can.
I like old school bottom turns and more cruisy flowing laid back type styles too, but i think to go as fast as possible like he does you have to keep your board moving which is what a two stage bottom turn does.
But yeah style is very subjective
Pretty accurate comments all round on Filipes style.
As far as stance goes, he's got a perfectly centered and weighted stance. He wouldn't be able to functionally do the huge turns he does without that foundation, especially where he starts and finishes his turns.
But yeah, he's super twitchy and throws in alot of extra pumps off the bottom and it takes away from the flow of his surfing, which i think equates to what appears to be an ugly style.
But his stance is pretty much flawless. In my opinion.
Agreed.
I've grown used to it- everything is super functional so I don't see the twitchiness so much anymore.
It would be a boring world if every surfer had the same style. I'm a big fan of his surfing and I don't think his style is completely ugly, but some of the twitchiness still hits me like a strobe light. Either way, it works for him.
Wonder what pumps thru his headphones pre heat.?
trivia question: "cat on pingas" - which movie has that line been lifted/tweaked from?
S.O.F ;-)
Nice! I couldn't actually remember which film it was! Just have flashbacks on the negative film effect.
Do you remember who said it and who they were referring to?
'Cat on acid' was original term. Think Slater talking about Dorian from memory.
Nice, I was wondering why I thought it was from Black and white.
Rik Mayall once said .. ah ah ah fell into my twap!
So does Toledo surf like Dorian?
Interestingly the Oc is quoted as saying Andy surfed like a cat on acid.. but I think he may have been out to lunch and just channeled Kelly without realising it.
I feel like 5 years or so ago JJF surfed at margs and made me think “no one else can do that”.
Subjective leanings on style aside, Pip has done the same at Jbay in 2023.
Interesting to see the prize money they've earned this year and the split between men/women.
Tyler's on $426,110 (USD? 633KAUD) so far, such a battler, so brave.
https://www.worldsurfleague.com/events/2023/ct/74/corona-open-j-bay/prizes
haha ,How's she expected to get by on that.?
Some interesting comparisons in that link.
And then there's the sponsorship dollars on top of that.
Poor dear, such a tough life......
How much do you think it would’ve cost (on average) for an Australian your surfer to go to and stay (survive, drive etc) at each of the events this year?
9 events. Let’s be generous with cost of flying and accom (car, food, bridge jumps etc) these days.
2K x 9 flights = 18K
5K / week accom x 2 weeks x 9 locations = 90K
Total $108,000.
Some doing it real flash, some getting by on the smell of oily rag and sharing everything. Some paying coaches.
You look at a lower ranked pro who made the cut, Seth Moniz, he’s banked $100k in prize money this year. So the tour probably gobbles most of that up.
Having recently looked at flight prices, I reckon $2K per leg is very low. Currently $3-3.5K return to the USA and Europe, if you're flexible. I imagine a lot of pro surfers would be booking last minute too, which jacks the costs up a lot.
"Toledo could now do a Slater, get 'sick' before Tahiti and spend the next month and a half sleeping in his own bed and surfing Trestles"
He could - but probably won't as his poor reputation in waves of consequence has to be a something of a burden to carry.
Other than his lack of big-wave credibility, the Anglo-Saxons haven't got a valid argument as to why Felipe should not be a world champion.
Best surfer in the world at the moment, let's give credit to Marcio Zouvi at Sharp Eye for the surfboards that enable Felipe to do his rail carves -
“ Other than his lack of big-wave credibility, the Anglo-Saxons haven't got a valid argument as to why Felipe should not be a world champion.”
That’s a pretty major one in itself isn’t it? What other reason do you need.