Finals Day 2023
Finals Day 2023
The third consecutive Finals Day wrapped at Trestles with some epic heats, some moments of drama and pure pathos, and Filipe Toledo proving he is an uncrackable nut at this venue.
He's as dominant in the fluffy peaks of Trestles as Slater was in his prime at Pipe, made even more confident with the surfers who were the biggest threat to him: Medina, Italo, and to a lesser extent JJF, nowhere near the arena on Finals Day.
Filipe Twoledo (WSL)
John thrust the ultimate ice cold lance into the heart of Trestles as a Finals Day location when asked in a recent interview if he would be tuning in for the season Finale. “Probably not” he deadpanned “I haven't watched one yet”. His indifference mirrors the fan response when faced with such a non-challenging venue and should be the final arbiter when it comes time to fix the location next year. It probably won't.
(Ed's Note: On YouTube, the max concurrent viewership was approx. 32K on the English speaking and 3K on the Portuguese)
Cringe and pathos were there in spades. The awkward call-out walk-outs were back and as cheeseball as ever. It's hard to imagine the audience they are pitched at. 35 year old hog wrestling fans from Tallahassee..? They would at least have enjoyed their girl Caroline Marks putting Carissa to the sword.
Carissa's back to back Final's chokes are what sport requires in terms of delivering pathos - an almost unbearable agony to watch after another dominant year was dismantled in a slow motion train wreck over consecutive heats. You have to go back to Greg Norman at the 1996 Masters to find an equivalent world-historical choke.
Riss (WSL)
Moore was there from the get go this morning, and everytime the camera cut to her she looked stressed and distressed, like something terrible was about to happen. Her two heats amounted to nothing more than a silent scream she'll wish she could have woken up from. Stiff, nervous, awkward, tentative, confused, tactically inept, delusional. Choose your adjectives to describe her Finals Day performance. Marks was nothing more than solid. She did the same three turn combos she did all day and found no-one in front of her who was willing or able to raise the bar on that performance standard.
By contrast, Ethan Ewing produced an incredible brand of rail surfing but did find someone in front of him willing and able to raise the bar.
But let’s rewind the tape. Back to the beginning of the day.
My two picks, Molly Picklum and Jack Robinson were bundled out early. Pickles by surfing conservatively and getting beaten in a prime exchange by Caity Simmers.
Pickles (WSL)
Robinson had the opposite problem. He took the judges memo about airs to heart and attempted to loose the fins on every wave. Too many falls, not enough execution. Easily beaten for a second year in a row, this time by Joao Chianca, who was oozing swagger after the win.
No dramas though for Pickles (“I'm devo-ed, but it's alright) or Jack (“Pure gratitude. I'm happy, it's all good”).
That bought our Number 3 seeds into the mix: Caroline Marks and Ethan Ewing. From their opening rides it was obvious they were the form surfers of the day, absent Toledo.
Ewing went 7.83, 8.60, then 9.00 against Chianca. The heat was effectively over in the opening exchange. The judges directive, issued via memo, that big airs and innovative surfing would be paid was ripped up and scattered into the breeze by the force of Ewing's power surfing. The speed, precision, and torque of his turns made the Chianca swagger look like Wile E Coyote air pedaling in thin air.
Joao (WSL)
Caz was a little less dominant against Simmers in a sleepy heat where the wind kicked up and neither surfer scored higher than a 6.
Caz came on strong against Tyler Wright. Say what you like about Tyler but she walks the walk. Her provocative, albeit incoherent interviews come across as hypocritical, even boorishly entitled, but she generates an emotional response from fans. Even if those fans are sometimes tuning in to watch her lose. Based on today's performance, Tyler would have flogged Carissa and been a triple World Champion. She buried heavy rail through steep sections and went for the only air on the Women's side of the draw. Tyler ripped. Even if part of her mentality of victimhood is performative schtick, a motivational tool to maintain the rage or even just to troll the ageing male demographic of the surf culture; if it works, then good for her. It doesn't need to be true to be useful. The broadcast missed a major trick not getting a post-loss presser from Tyler. Like all her pressers, it would have been unmissable.
Tyler (WSL)
She wouldn't be the only one to seize the utility of a siege mindset. Rugby League fans will recognise the QLD mentality of constantly seeing themselves as underdogs and using slights, perceived or real, as motivational tools. Queenslander Ethan Ewing copied the playbook, stating "a lot of people have been writing me off”, then, with a grin “I love it, keep it coming."
Ewing silenced the critics first, then the crowd at Trestles who had come to cheer on their boy Griffin Colapinto. First wave Ewing rode, three huge turns, went excellent. A soft left for Griff netted a 5.67.
The Colapinto strategy of trying to go turn for turn with Ewing seemed deeply flawed. Aussie power surfing with a 90's flavour jagged a 7.00, an 8.13, an 8.93 for a 17.10 total.
Ethan (WSL)
Griff answered with 7.73 and an 8.23 (15.96 total). Missing were the big airs that judges had assured competitors would be highly scored.
Colapinto has coaches, he has mentors including Matthew McConaughey.
Did they not read the memo? Not remember the 10 point ride from a single air Griff jagged in Portugal '22?
Did they forget their boy was one of the world's best aerialists at the worlds best aerial wave?
It was a baffling display of tactical ineptitude.
Griff (WSL)
Toledo would not make the same mistake. He went straight to the air on his first wave in Heat 1 of the title decider against Ewing. He sent the message. One sizzling turn then a clean, lofted tail high air.
All of a sudden, the judges switched allegiances. Ewing's three sick turns was scored 7.33 to Pip's 7.00 in the opening exchange.
The highlight surfing of the day followed in the ensuing 25 minutes. Both surfers threw down sizzling rail turns. Offered up extra repertoire and an air game as a means to separate the two, so judges were left with little choice but to show fidelity to their original memo.
Pip squeaked by in the tightest of heats 17.97 to 17.23.
Ethan (WSL)
Tactical ineptitude again. Carissa tried hassling for half the heat then opened with a nervous, unconvincing ride for a 5.50. It left Caz an open door to continue the backhand assault, as formulaic as it was. It was tight, seamless and left judges with easy decisions. Was that wave as good as the last one? Slightly better? Slightly worse? Adjust score accordingly.
You could feel the despair from Carissa compounding as the heat went on. It was truly heartbreaking to see a champion self destructing. 70 minutes of surfing and she couldn't reclaim the form she'd displayed all year. Not even close.
I have no idea how she will get over this one.
World Champ Caroline Marks (WSL)
What was tactically inept for Carissa was a masterstroke for Pip. Keep Ewing off the set waves in the opening half of the heat was his strategy (which he did), then move inside and start surfing, confident the clock would run out as a rising tide slowed down the pace of sets.
It seems a perverse outcome: to win a surfing contest by not catching waves for half the heat.
The Finals Day at Trestles has produced other incentives for perverse outcomes. Like not trying at Teahupoo. Filipe's Dad Dickie explained that Filipe had deliberately under-surfed heats at Teahupoo to make sure he wasn't injured for Trestles.
It's hard to argue with that logic when Pip cruised to victory on fresh legs today.
But it still seems hard to swallow that our World Champ seems unwilling to offer competitive performances at the world's most challenging waves.
But here we are.
Dual World Titles. First back to back Brazilian World Champion.
If the schedule remains the same and Pip can make the Top 5 it's hard to see him being beaten at this wave.
We have to congratulate Toledo and Marks, acknowledge the insane performance of Ewing, and yet come to terms with another Finals Day at a wave that is a dream for beginners and a World Champ who can be beaten in barrelling lefts by wildcards and 50 year olds.
A baffling year for the Championship Tour.
Anyone here able to square the circle?
I sure can't.
// STEVE SHEARER
Comments
I watched J Robo and had to turn it off. The Sepo cheese factor was off the richter !
Ditto, Jack just didn’t seem to be quite switched on today, disappointing but he did incredibly well to make the final 5. Let’s hope we have more waves of consequence next year & lose the softer ones.. I won’t hold my breath.
Ending a wave starved year at a boring 3-4' peak pretty much sums it up - WSL fails big time - very few long-term surfers can be bothered watching it other than to get scores for their home country surfers, signifying a bit of nationalistic pride, overflowing in Brazil no doubt. Big Bells, Margarets, J Bay and Chopes can deliver something worthwhile for viewers, IF they get good surf. J Bay perennially delivers, the others occasionally. This is why the vloggers get more traffic - typically showing good surfing in challenging waves, and you can skip all the promo look-at-me crap at the start and end!
From what I saw which was limited, Ethan made a crucial error in not finishing his first wave in the 2nd heat. That was a huge mistake as he would have had a decent score to build from
I just cant relate to a world champ unable to have a decent crack in the solid stuff while being the best and fastest small wave surfer in this generation
Its a stain that wont wash out
I doubt the finals day venue will change next year and unfortunately we will probably have a triple world champ that is truly unworthy to be called the best in the world
Nice write up sheep
Agree, that was a massive error. It was his first wave of the heat after sitting for 25 mins without one, and then he flicked off with more points on offer down the line.
Not like it could be construed as a warm up wave or whatever. He badly needed to stay in touch with FT.
No one Bags Steph who openly says she cant ride Dredgy Left Reef waves.
Equal Pay, Equal Bagging.
interesting point
Missed the whole thing. Wasn't it going to be on tomorrow morning?
Tomorrow morning in Australia, yesterday in the US, today in Europe.
If they keep the same venue next year it goes to show how far they blow their own smoke up their arse. Then again the failed attempt to get mainstream audiences to tune in just doesn’t work. If you don’t surf you just don’t care. Get back to engaging core surfing community in proper waves. The final five has to be in waves of consequence or else it has no meaning. Fils crown will forever have an asterisk next to it.
flip finished no 1 at the end of the year so if there was no top 5 shoot out he would be 2023 champ yes...and the event is seeded like tennis so he earnt the fresh legs of the shootout. if the year was reversed and last comp was pipe... he is still the winner yes....
inconvenient truth
Bang on.
Doesn't work that way. It's all about pressure and performance when the chips are down. Surfing pipe early in the tour when nothing is really riding on it is totally different to surfing it when the world title is on the line.
What if he had already enough points before pipe?
You're missing the point, we are talking about having a final 5 type event at the end of the year thats a decider.
Yep this +1
"flip finished no 1 at the end of the year so if there was no top 5 shoot out he would be 2023 champ yes...and the event is seeded like tennis so he earnt the fresh legs of the shootout. if the year was reversed and last comp was pipe... he is still the winner yes...."
yep
The only question is whether having a final five reduces the stakes throughout the year, making some of the big guns not go for glory at every event.
When JJF, Italo and Medina were in their prime, Felipe couldn't win a title, but their motivation seems to have waned coinciding with the introduction of the finals format (and injuries of course).
Don't think Toledo will ever be considered an all-time great, but he absolutely rips in everything other than heavy waves and two world titles is a great effort. Actually seems like a great bloke too.
As you pointed out, who wasn't in the finals (men's) speaks loudest about the tour right now. An unlucky year of waves at lackluster venues has only benefited Pip and it makes you wonder whether he would celebrate with the same gusto had he defeated Cloudbreak, Pipe and Chopes winners at today's venue (Eddie too). The cynic in me also questions whether the oft mentioned humility narrative attached to him might be more manufactured than we all think. The Olympics, please Huey, will provide answers.
In the meantime, we needs reefs. If Trestles has to be, then perhaps use it as a stand alone with the winner getting top seed for a five man final day at Greenbush and Rifles.
Green Bush isnt realistic its pretty fickle, only breaks properly when swell is pretty south, needs an offshore and can only surf through the high tide and best on real high tides.
Riffles is also kind of fickle
More realistic is holding it at Maccas and HT's Maccas is crazy consistent, any tide, any swell direction, even good if light onshore, HT's is fairly consistent too
But yeah dont need anymore spotlight on those waves.
Just tried to watch finals on youtube, after the live feed finished before the finals, then you have to go to the wsl edited replays which are showing the wave score before the wave is finished , cant the wsl producers even get that right ? pretty much sums up the wsl year with that effort . Hopeless cunts
Go Ethan! Great effort
Well done Steve for sitting through it all and thank you for your synopsis as always. Take a holiday, you deserve it.
I’m at a crossroads. A bit like a teenager with an iPhone, I can’t take my attention away from the Woz even though it’s wasting my time, provides nothing valuable to my life save for a moment’s cheap entertainment.
Carissa is a legend, has done it all. It’s cruel to see the fate of someone that in previous years would’ve taken the title and cemented themselves as an immortal of the sport. I’d say the days of over scoring safely surfed carves and cutties (all be them beautiful) are over. The new brigade are here.
I truely thought Griff Cola would’ve been the one to push Fil today. In a strange post event interview he seemed like a kid who’d been given Willy Wonker’s golden ticket, rather than someone who blew his biggest chance at a world title. Jack put on the ‘it’s all good’ thing too. Are surfers just better sports, or does it not matter as much to them? They’ll still get up and surf pumping waves tomorrow mentality?
What struck me as supremely professional was Fil’s ability to turn it on straight away. After waiting all day he was able to get straight out there and sizzle from the hooter. A stark contrast to Aunty Riss’ clunky routine.
Caroline, a deserved world champion. I had to cringe at the main anchor calling her ‘Carollupo’ during the final. How embarrassing. Ok they share a similar bottom turn but I’d imagine that’s where the similarities finish. Hoping she turns out a bit more functional and altruistic than that bloke.
Well done to Ethan. My favourite by far. Would be very tough to beat in a year of quality waves
Speaking of which, despite my aforementioned ambivalence to the ‘sport’, here’s hoping the whispers of spots like North Point and The Box are a sign of waves to come for the tour.
We can only hope.
Yeah, you can't deny Pip's incredible execution and intent straight out of the gate.
This is what I'm going to do, and this is how I'm going to do it, is what he told the judges from wave 1.
It was undeniable.
What is also undeniable is we now have a Dual World Champ who is not competitive in hollow reef waves.
It's a legitimate argument that World Champs should have mastery across the range of conditions and Pip is just not there.
Yeah, there have been moments, and even some results when the waves are small.
But if you look at the body of work- it's poor and there's no sign of improvement, or even an intention to improve.
Why would he I guess, under the current format?
I must say I've been fairly understanding of Felipe's plight over time. He's a fairly humble and quietly spoken fella, is undeniably the best performance surfer of his time and by all accounts a great bloke and family man.
However yes, it has come to the point we all want to see rounded excellence. As you say it's hard to hang shit on Fil for doing what he does, he didn't create the game, he just plays by its rules.
I'll be watching with bated breath as to the format, schedule and leadership of next year's tour. It's really hard to see long time surfers continuing their support if they toddle out the status quo.
What a precarious time to be a pro surfer, let alone an up and coming pro junior.
Its shit Carrisa no doubt hasn't got over the last debacle. You can tell she is wounded full of doubt! Its shocking the WSL would put her and i mean her such an outstanding woman of integrity and honesty a great brand ambassada For all young women in the surfing world. To put her through a cringe worthy comp format like this! I reckon she should walk seriously . If the WSL don't change this run away and enjoy your life! I reckon JJ would go with ya team up together and own the Hawaiian surf comp scene
congrats to the world slop league winners
Ha, ha expertly called.
Great stuff FR, your write-ups have been better than the tour itself, thanks.
And some.
100% agree. Some great writing in those write-ups.
Agreed
Nice astute write-up as usual. I haven’t watched any of the final 5 wsl contests, not because it’s held at Trestles (it shouldn’t be), but because I think the format is ridiculous. There should be a better solution to crown world champion.
I feel bad for Carissa, she should be champion; that said, glad to see Caroline Marks win, so there is a new champion besides Gilmore, Moore, and Wright. Marks might be the one to beat in next year’s Olympics in Tahiti.
Good to see Ewing come back from injury and do so well. Would have preferred to see him win, but I like Toledo’s surfing and congratulate him on another title.
I don’t think WSL will change final at Trestles, because they probably got a sweetheart deal to hold it there every September; although, every surfer know it should end at Pipeline.
I’m curious if Slater will get wildcard next year for his farewell tour, as well as, it seems likely now that Jessi Miley Dyer will be named the CEO of the wsl soon.
I surf Trestles alot and it is super fun to surf, watching it on tv as a contest site— not so much.
It’s funny isn’t it, if you asked Riss if they should continue with the finals day format, she wouldn’t want anything to do with it, yet Filly is only going to win world titles if they do.
I absolutely love watching the worlds best do what they do but it’s becoming increasingly harder to get excited about what the wozzle is churning out. I know they’ve been skunked for waves this year but even small - medium chopes and a sub par jbay forecast was still far more palatable than 90% of the locations they went to this year. Surely if they can get some quality waves back on the tour and finish it in something of consequence (cough cough, pipe) it keeps their core fans interested but still connects to the broader mainstream audience. If they’re trying to progress the innovation of the sport with the judging criteria then surely they should be doing the same with the quality of waves. Otherwise Fill’s going to be licking his lips until he needs a couple of new knees.
The Wild E Coyote line broke me. Haha. Unreal write up FR.
Geez a hard watch. If i didnt drop a few bucks on it i couldn't have stayed motivated for an outcome. And really i felt i should have been payed to watch that, but it was still slave labour, at less than 10bucks an hour.
I perversely enjoyed Carissas melt as it happened, but in hindsight, what does the melt really mean.
No offense to Caroline, cos she rips and deserves a WT but really, all past Trestles champs should have an asterisk next to their name.
When you have JJF, the best surfer in the world having never even surfed in one, Toledo unbeatable but unprovable in anything of substance, Steph not falling and apologetically finding herself as a world champ the value of the venue and the format to decide a champ is pretty much worthless.
My highlight was that sick tube. That's right. There wasn't one.
When they showed Carissa staring into the lineup between matchups, i swear i could see her looking out imagining 6-8foot bluewater rifling tubes somewhere in the pacific.
I doubt she'd be choking there....but we may never find out.
Oh well, time to enjoy watching the nation of brazil turn on itself in the great debate of who should represent them in the olympics considering their best chance for a gold hasn't qualified and their worst chance has. Popcorn!
Cheers FR.. great write up again!! How many titles will pip win if this shit venue and format continues??
Im personally glad Toledo won, i love his surfing and i just like the guy, plus he would have won under the old school traditional leader board system. (almost 10,000 points in front)
Apart from this win, he has been super consistent and done whats needed, he had three first places (Sunset, El Salvador, J-Bay,) two 3rd places and two 5th places (including one at pipe)
This comp wouldn't be so bad if they had a similar one day event at Pipe after it, then you would have the small wave high performance aspect, but also have the big barrel aspect too, not sure how they would work it out, but im sure there is a way.
‘Small wave aspect’ c’monn who cares we are talking the best of the best the vast majority want to see them in waves they wouldn’t go out in to see how they really perform.
If the tour was just made up of big heavy barrels there would be a whole host of surfers that could compete at the top level, i know a few of the guys that charge shippies and some of them are quite average surfers in small waves that wouldn't make finals in my local board riders. (actually one use to compete in my local board riders and didnt get any results)
100% big/solid heavy waves have there place on the tour and it should finish at pipe, but the high performance aspect should also be a focus, there is only a couple surfers in the world that aren't on tour that can surf to that level. (like Dane Reynolds)
Like i said i think it would be great if there was two of these types of comps one at Trestles but then similar format at pipe for the very ending, and result's decided on the two comps.
They are good points and I agree with them, however, it still misses my main problem with Flippy. Every previous world champ at least has a dig at the hairy spots as they are seen as the all round the best - he didn't even try (he obviously doesn't respond to ridicule), plus I don't consider trestles a world class wave it is a soft sort of point way worse than Bells which cops its fair share of flack. Funny how when he moved from Brasil he relocated to the WSL decider spot.
"Every previous world champ at least has a dig at the hairy spots"
How far back you wanna go?
Two-time champ Damien Hardman was terrible in big waves.
Yeah he was and that was an era of terrible waves and questionable champs because of that. Can you think of any others - Shaun, Bugs, MR, Tom Carrol, Tom Curren, Barton, Potter, Slater Ho, Garcia, Hobgood, Andy, Mick, Joel, Medina, Adriano, Italo, John John - all would try even if they were rubbish - Flippy didn't because he was frightened, he didn't go for it which is a cardinal sin, particularly for a supposed world champ. The asterisk in my opinion it massive next to his name and the WSL.
No, but like everything, history will hide his faults and he'll only be referred to as the "two-time world champ", and in the minds of his many fans and most importantly, his own, that's all that matters.
He's the best small and mid-wave surfer in the world, and by a large margin. He reframed how we saw J-Bay in a similar way JJF reframed Margs, and now, even at 28, he surfs with absolute blinding speed and commitment. Hugely entertaining to watch, and he seems a genuinely nice guy.
Sure, it would be better if he was more well-rounded, but I reckon the can't-surf-big-waves thing is overdone.
Not Fils fault that the wsl has designed the format around him i suppose but if they bring back the 'old' tour of cloud break,chopes and pipe im sure we would have a different champ but its up to Fil to up his game and go spend time in heavy lefts......same with Steph........if they want real respect of the what the title is all about or used to be about.....hopefully change will come but its all crickets from the wsl....as usual.
Yes I would reframe it as the most consistent, high performance surfer not by a large margin - I think Ethan and Jack can match him and have, but not as consistently - Ethan only lost by a bees dick and Jack beat him in Gland. I like my champs to take on man waves and commit with comments like 'geez did you see that what a beast' rather 'gee he can turn sharp at speed and is flexible, great timing'. Most of all I wish he would do it for himself, put the time in and get good - he has the money and the time - then we can all agree a worthy champ.
I think surfers would appreciate the World Title race going down in waves of consequence rather than a 3 foot Trestles. I loved watching the world title being decided at the end of the year at Pipe, so sad what it has turned into.
Would love to see some stats on how many times it actually was decided at Pipe though. IN my memory, it was often decided beforehand at Portugal or somewhere like that.
Don't get me wrong though, i'm all for bringing back Pipe as the final venue and scrapping the current finals day bullshit.
Hmmm my memory was that it was pretty rare for the winner to be decided pre-Pipe
There was often amazing scenarios at Pipe and Honoloa. 2,3,4 and sometimes 5 surfers vying for the title in really challenging surf. On the other end you had the back markers having to charge Pipe for survival from the bottom 10 cut. Whilst all that was playing out you had the next Gen fighting it out at spots like Haleiwa and Sunset to book a spot in the big leagues. They had the drama without even trying. Now they 'create' it.
Yeah there was always something of interest, and the lowest prize available to anyone at the start of the comp was to be Pipe Master.
It definitely feels like they're killing the goose that laid the golden egg with all the format changes.
Spot on
I don't like the Trestles finish and think it should be at Pipe.
However I'd bet if you go back to any previous format from any previous year and give Pip a last place on a missing heavy water comp, he still wins... he was 10,000 points ahead this year and he'd just throw away results and probably end up further ahead! The fact he won today, should be justice for the new finals day haters. Carissa is the opposite story.
True. And conversely, after leading convincingly for practically all year, how would he feel being runner up in the last event.
Someone recently put forward their version of a tour format- starting at Pipe and bookending it at Chopes. I reckon that would inject a little lead into the flaccid little pencil we've been served up the last couple of years.
It would still suck for Carissa but i think the women's is a bit different as there was only about 2,600 points between them two and only 400+ between Carrisa and Tyler, if the comp was a standard comp Caroline could still take out the tittle with a win.
But Toledo had a 10,000 point lead so if it was another standard comp only Griffin could have beaten him by winning if Toledo bombed out with a 17th (so unlikely scenario)
Fk if he lost todays final but with a 10,000 point lead that would suck so hard.
True he was miles ahead, but consider that pretty much every comp finished up in 2 foot onshore waves.
Don't think your hypothesis works if the WSL scores firing conditions at every venue. That would far more likely see a Medina/JJF type up top.
' 35 year old hog wrestling fans from Tallahassee..?'
nice
haha yeah, I thought so too.
But I believe folks around dem parts call it hog 'rassling'.
100% with indo's last paragraph, 1 day in pumping barrels and 1 day in high performance waves = champion
Ethan surfed the best I've seen him surf. Impeccable wave choice & great timing (I didn't notice any bottom turn multiple wiggles). Trestles suits him. Ethan reminded me of Gary Elkerton with his lines & power. Carissa & her coach had no idea. Stephanie destroyed her last year & Marks this year. Carissa was simply surfing too horizontally & relying on her old school power. Instead, Carissa needed to fade into a bottom turn more & then go more vertical; as Stephanie did last year.
Great write up Steve. Tyler’s boards looked terrible - was she ripping? I was pulling for her but damn, thought her board looked so bad. Not sure if im missing something (probs).
Rightly covered the action, but the recovery from Ethan was nuts. Would love to hear more. He was nails today.
Ah the format really is cooked. The old format accommodated Huey’s ups and downs - we need the tally, the throwaways. A bummer for Riss - that was hard to watch.
Ethan,
From underwhelming to insane!
Massive turnaround.
Stay strong mate.
Underwhelming when? On his first year when he was still a teenager?
I remember watching him on that first year and thinking he looked really little. He grew up big time in that year or two off tour.
Great write up. It is interesting to think that if it had remained the best surfer over the season for the last two years, Carissa would have seven world titles. This would mean that Layne, Stephanie, and Carissa would all have seven titles. Carissa would then have had the opportunity to become the most successful woman's surfer in history. Instead she has five world titles and Stephanie has eight. How exactly does she come back from that? If the finals are at Trestles next year, will she? Sad to see professional surfing's legacy dismantled as if by a two year old with an expensive lego set.
Not only comes down to the finals format but also tour locations. How many additional titles does Carissa pick up (or Steph lose) if the women have their fair share of lefts?
Thanks for all your work this year FR, made this farcical shite entertaining. So here we are now with a two-asterisk **world champ, one who even his own dad admits is a soft cock, beating the clear best surfer on the day. Let's face it, his first air, as "lofted" as it was, went down on a 1' mushy shit burger...EE finishing two after a broken back is the best comeback story since Owen, well done legend. Go to the air next year along with the mad rail game and you will easily have him
The wozzle has one more season to get it together or they are dead to me.
Calling this an anti-climax is being generous.
I’m with you tubeshooter. Let’s keep each other honest either way next season!
Admittedly I only watched while busy at work, but I found it so depressing. What an arse of a year for pro surfing.
But thank you Steve for your fine effort.
Ok so what are us middle aged used to be good in our day wanna be waxheads going to focus our vitriol on now
Is there a summer comp being mismanaged somewhere we can throw our collective shit at ?????
There’s this elite level tour going on, the Challanger series. Most haven’t heard of it.
Oooh that’s right… elite level tour … coming to an average Brazilian beach break next month…. What could possibly go wrong.
At least the Challenger Series has some actual drama. Rooting for someone to make the tour is fun. Rooting for them not to fall off it less so.
Rooting...
Any set up where you can score 2 tens in every final of the year, then another perfect heat in the first World Title heat but fall, be concussed and have to forfeit the World Title to your competitor with walkovers in the two remaining heats... well, as unlikely as that is, shouldn't even be possible, yet is.
Joke of an organization.
Just stretch and surf
Bustard.
It is what it is!
Will be interesting to see how the WSL spins the Finals viewership (noting the 36K peak in concurrent YouTube viewers).
Shop Eat Surf had an IV with Rip Curl a few days ago:
"Attendance projections for the surf competition are upbeat so far. Rip Curl North America Director of Marketing & E-Commerce PJ Connell said about 7,000 people are expected to attend the competition on the beach, which would be up from the roughly 5,000 in attendance in prior years. Online viewership estimates are currently at over 9 million viewers, up from last year’s 8.9 million."
https://shop-eat-surf.com/2023/09/rip-curl-wsl-finals-larger-crowds-expe...
Did I read that right - actual viewers 36k vs. projected 9m?
Two different kinds of stats, the second of which is unable to be independently verified. WSL will only use one of 'em. Guess which?
Thanks for the clarification as I had thought "statistics" meant they could be independently verified; clearly an old-school idea vs. the modern opaque froth of brand development.
At the end of the day, viewership numbers are used to attract advertising partners and sponsors.. all of whom (at the top end of town) understand what these numbers represent. Major companies with multi-million dollar marketing budgets won't partner up unless they have confidence in the data.
I actually watch on Seven plus & when the WSL go to ad breaks, 7+ just streams a visual of the beach meaning no ads, quite pleasant really, not sure how they count those viewership figures.
The 'visual of the beach' is where the broadcaster - in this case Channel 7 (via 7+) - is meant to insert their own ads, the revenue from which covers the cost of licensing the live stream in the first place.
The fact that they weren't running ads suggests that they weren't doing enough traffic to be able to sell anything, so they just ran a clean stream instead.
Which isn't a viable business proposition for either party.
= they are running at a massive loss. How long before the great benefactor in the New York pulls the pin. Fun fact, he is a massive collector of guitars and amps - has some nice ones at Kellys tub.
Youtube premium does the same.
No ads.
As a YouTube publisher, the WSL will consequently receive a slither of commission revenue from your subscription payment.
Kayo.. no adds..
On Nth Straddie for the week & cheering on Ethan big time.
Also had a Lay day Gold Pass > Land locked (Up above the SEQ Dams)
Morning after the Daughter's Wedding...never gave it any thought.
Sunday morning wake in the Esk Grand Hotel...flick on the Telly...
Without changing stations there was the WSL Wrap!
Sure was a surprise to see fellow injured Qldurr up for the Title Bout.
Pretty sure tbb counts as a 0.15 WSL breaky telly-promptee.
Be interesting having a dig into how YouTube get their viewing stats. Those numbers cannot be right. Must be vastly higher. Even for the worlds slowest sport run but the worlds lamest association.
Keep in mind those are 'concurrent' viewers - the number of people watching at any one time - not total viewers, nor unique viewers.
If everyone watched from start to finish, without refreshing their stream or playing it on another device, then yes, that number would reflect the total. As we know though, people dip in and out and some have a number of devices, so it's not an accurate reflection, more a guide.
Shortly, the Woz will come out with their number of viewers on Finals Day which will gather everything together, the stats from every stream and TV channel, plus the sum of all digital touchpoints, and they'll call that the day's viewing total.
That number will be far higher yet it has to be taken with an enormous grain of salt. For one, single viewers get counted multiple times - i.e if you tune into the stream four times through the day you aren't four different viewers, but the Woz stats say you are - or they're total bollocks stats such as social media (FB, Tik Tok, Snap Chat, YT, Instagram) stories autoplaying videos from the day, and then calling each autoplay a 'viewer'.
Lies, damn lies, and Wozzle statistics.
Thanks for the insight Stu!
Don't necessarily agree with that. If I watch four heats at different times of the day (for example to coincide with Aussie heats), then I'm happy to be counted four times. There's not many shows that run for nine straight hours, and its no different to watching four episodes of a TV show.
No idea about the social media stuff though.
Yeah but it has to be seen through the advertising prism - that's the only reason they talk about those numbers.
Company X might pay a rate to advertise because they've been told they'll reach a certain number of people, however that number is a lie.
But presumably one person seeing an ad multiple times is as beneficial as multiple people seeing it once (this may be way off the mark).
Yes its misleading in the sense that the average person probably only watches a quarter of the day, but by the end of the day you see each ad a tonne of times.
Given the devil wind and long lulls a random thought was all 5 out for an hour or so early top 2 make the final.
Women top 5 out, guy's have time to freshen up the legs then out.. and obviously with a little more consistent swell.
didn’t watch it and haven’t seen any of it yet, but will watch ee’s run through the day when i get a chance
…. i think the shoot out is a shit system….but if ee had nailed it i’d be singing it’s praises.
the toledo haters around here annoy the hell out of me- i’m not a huge fan myself- but he won it on points before the shoot out- and was ( by the sound of it) a deserving winner on the day - this ongoing crap that he’s somehow an inferior champ because ‘allegedly’ in the minds of some, he’s gutless is way off the mark.
great write up’s all year steve, thx
I think you're right. He's a deserving champion this year.
? Did you see his efforts at the box or Chopes?? He has to at least try to catch a wave at those venues to be considered a claytons champion (the champ you have when you don't consider him a champ)
I had thoughts along those lines as well.
Could be a 2 hour, 4 man heat and priority stays in the order they finished the year. They’d have to get the ski round a buoy to get back in the mix after a wave to avoid silly drop ins,
Or maybe I just got up too early this morning… .
If anyone is interested the english tube views are 165K at the 12hrs ago mark.
Thanks for your write ups this season Steve, you are a machine. Thanks to swellnet crew for the forecasts and entertainment.
Congrats to Fillip and Caroline. Also Ethan for a remarkable appearance and outright style and Molly for charging when its on.
My heart goes out to Carissa. An outright season champ should not lose her title in this way. Brain fade or no brain fade.
*May the final 5 to decide a world champ concept be dropped next season please.
Both Fil and Carissa had most points and would be world champs in a "normal" format. But then...
*many people are frustrated with Carissa and the format because Carissa lost.
*many people are frustrated with Fil and the format because Fil won.
In summary, many people are always frustrated. Go figure... :D
Thankfully today wasn't the worst swell of the year.
That crown went to pipe, women's quarters.
Same as it ever was...
https://beachgrit.com/2023/09/surf-great-kelly-slater-kelly-slaters-wsl-...
For me, the champ has to be a stand out in heavy conditions and the tour should be organised to reflect that.
Yeah I agree, who’s gives a shit that the world champ is the best small wave surfer in the world.
When I think of world champs I instantly think of Andy, JJF, Kelly, Gabe. People who will have a go at anything.
It’s almost embarrassing watching all the celebrations with Fil.
i think it needs to be a mixture of performance and heavy - but the surfers can only row with the oars they’ve got- this year as it turned out, the heavy waves fell short of expectations and fil has surfed the best in the conditions that were on offer- how can he be undeserving???
Because it's a terrible format to decide the champ.
Just happens to suit FT.
The fact he has frozen on the North Shore when a chance for a title probably emphasises that.
A sincere thanks for your year of writing Steve. I have been fairly disconnected from the wsl for the first time in years. Your writing has kept me entertained, inspired, informed and hopeful. I’m extremely grateful for your intellect and space here on Swellnet.
A good mix of conditions. Big slabs and small performance waves should decide the worlds best surfer.
The tour can provide this with pipe, and chopes. I would like to see cloudbreak and a big heavy right. But they need to figure out a way to run in proper swell.
Add snapper, and trestles and another left (Peru maybe) then you’ll have a real world champ and it won’t be Toledo.
I didn't watch all of it but pretty sure I saw Carissa go for an air in her first heat of the final. Landed it but not enough projection to ride out with the wave. Close though. I was surprised she did not go for another. Would have been a fine point of difference to Caz's backhand power (which I found a little repetitive).
I feel very sorry for Carissa but really this problem is all her own. This is definitely a break and a format where she can dominate, even winning from lower in the draw if it went that way. They have not taken the final to a wave which is completely different to the breaks where she accrued all her points. She has good strategists in her corner too. So I suspect it's all north of the shoulders atm.
Yeah Carissa did go for an air against Caz Marks. Unlucky to not ride out of it.
Finish it correctly.
Finish it in Hawaii.
Finish it with the Triple Crown.
Haliewa, Sunset Beach, Pipeline.
In that order.
In January.
Or February.
Or both.
So much better than finishing the year/final in Hawaii……said no one ever.
all the wave pool guys get together convince billion $ guy to make the mega pool, hence the proper 10ft wave, with sections and wedge bowls and double up shelfy grinder only to end in a triple over head close out..air drop to shorey that will clean out every body orifice part there is and then you will have the gold buttons
Whoever wins in this format and at waves like this will forever have an *asterisk next to their name in my humble opinion…..You can’t tell me that any competitor past or present believes in this concept?
Flip & Robbo need to swap dads for the off season. Trev can yell until Flip crying with fear of two things pushes over the ledge and “Dickie” can give Robbo that final piece of the zen puzzle to not give a fuck and just shred.
Trestles looks like a big wave venue compared to Manly beach, which was the venue for numerous Aussie world champs...just to give it some perspective
The 'Final 5' is the best fuckin' thing to happen to surfing and top it off by having 2 blokes bob up n down for 20 mins in shitty surf to decide the 'world champ' at peak broadcast hour is absolute genius ...
No rush from the mainstream to take up surfing.
No rush to buy 'surf shirts' in fuck nowhere mall style surf shops.
No rush to the 'cool' ...
So, less crowds, less money going to sponsor the pony show ...
HUGE fucking win for recreational surfers!
Haha, I wish it were true.
Except recreational surfing gets busier and busier, and the types of people starting don’t appear to be WSL followers. So there are clearly other drivers besides professional surfing.
Covid and surf cams mate.Thats a few reasons I reckon.....
Covid for sure but I’m talking about the whole mid length/mal/ hipster thing where you’re inspired to take up surfing by say Torren Martyn rather than Felipe.
Look, I'm into Trestles. I'm actually jealous of that crew Lanky Dean so candidly captured conducting a smooze-fest in flip flops. Hollywood A-listers and all. It's so Cali forn ia - the home of cool.
But it doesn't test the world's best.
Jack Robinson was owning the yellow jersey when he got cruelly injured. He can't get hard over the break and even if he'd stayed in yellow all season Fil would likely win the final such is his dominance there. His precision surfing is electrifying but the format is an abomination.
If you really want our respect, win the Eddie. Jack, Gabe or John could.
That's where the surf season ends. Ask the locals, the ocean people of Hawaii, they know how the seasons roll, long before any corporation tried to own surfing, the season ends when the winter swells finish, in Hawaii. Those are Huey's terms, work it out however you want but that's the real world scenario and on an ocean planet Huey is your boss so just get used to it.
I bet JBay out-rated every other event by miles, pumping waves = eyeballs
Thanks for all your work Steve, always a very entertaining read
Ethan Ewing - my hero
Did not even it was on until I checked the cams a few minutes and saw the article link, and even more sadly I realise I don't care. Maybe next year will be better waves finished off with 3 foot beachies.
Watched the condensed heats and it was all done and dusted in about 30 minutes. Ridiculous format and an average (but fun) wave. EE outstanding, FT shaded him in the final but aesthetically the former wins hands down.
Thanks for your write-ups this year FR.
Once I realised that the “World Champion” doesn’t mean best or most well rounded surfer in the world, the pill became easier to swallow.
I couldn’t believe the surfing Ethan was doing after his injury,!
Refreshing to see a goofy win the women’s world title too
World champion he may be but he wouldn’t last a minute in waves of consequence.
The WSL is dead
Missed it all as was off grid.
No disappointment missing it, enjoyed write up, thanks.
Congrats to wsl champs.
Unreal that EE could make such a comeback....
Yep I'm with the asterisk opinion.
Wasn't Damo Hardman labelled the best small wave surfer in the world at the time? Dual world champ and I think he may have even clean swept a season winning six or seven comps in a row. Never really did well in Hawaii and I think he even refused to paddle out at 6-8ft Pipe.
Should an asterisk go next to his titles too?
I reckon Fillipe is a deserving WC and he has proven that he will go at Chopes. He's not of the same calibre as say Jack Robbo in heavy waves but he's definitely the most rounded surfer who surfs to the criteria. As for style? I love the way he surfs. Lightning fast with razor precision.
Get your point, and maybe yes add an asterisk.
Saying that, he was world champ before Rab's Dream Tour when we actually got to see surfers in pretty much consistent pumping surf (maybe memory gone, but that is how I remember it, G-land etc). Back then it was a grovel fest most of the tour except Hawaii. Still remember heat where he took off behind Rob Bain to win I think a Narrabeen comp, but I digress.
Think a lot of the frustration is that there are surfer such as JJF, Robo who can charge in any style of surf and the format is screwing them over. Cannot see Fil taking off on outer island bombies like JJF, Robo at the Box or getting shacked at Chopes ala Gabe. Yep those points again. ;)
Easy to be key board warrior, but if the WSL champ is meant to be best surfer in the world, they should be able to be competitive in any surf, not just high-performance softer style waves.
Congrats to Fil, well deserved win in the context of what the competition is presently. My main gripe is with WSL and the format. I want to see the world's best surfers in pumping surf, some comps heavy water some comps performance.
The tour has de-evolved back to 80's style round of slop fest.
That's my 2 cents.
Hard to disagree with anything you're saying Andy. I suppose it just comes down how you perceive what a world champ should be.
Btw- it was Tommy Carrol he dogged in the Narra comp. Within the rules but not very sportsmanlike.
Sure it's not Kong at Manly in '87?
"The one before that was even harder, with Damien [Hardman]. I love Damien, but that was the year [1987] they decided to finish the world title at Manly. I left Hawaii in the number-one position. I’d won events back to back. I should’ve been world champion. I shouldn’t have had to go to Manly to compete in minute waves. The funny thing about it, the priority rule at that stage was if the guy who had priority caught the wave, even if he couldn’t get around that section, you couldn’t catch that wave. So I was paddling back out and needed a three-point-something, and this right came and Damien was way deeper. And he took off and went straight in the whitewater. So I couldn’t catch it or I would’ve been called for an interference. If it wasn’t for that rule, I would’ve got the three-point-five. And I would’ve won the world title right there. They changed the rule two weeks later. I was like, “What the fuck?” That world title should’ve been won in Hawaii. The second one, with Curren in 1990, there were a couple of weird calls in that one. But that third one, with Derek, was the gut-wrencher. But listen, I know what should’ve happened in my heart. I had an amazing career. I wouldn’t change anything. Well, I’d change those rules."
Def TC at Narra.. but was Kong at Manly another occurrence?
Yep Kong and Cheyne, two surfers who probably should have had a title.
Guess Dane could be added as well.
Tried to find a clip on YouTube of mentioned incident, could not and have to get back to work.
Good memory!! :)
Dooma hired Simon Anderson to coach him surfing in Hawaii from memory (didnt help) , he lost world title showdown to Barton in one of the the best pipeline masters / world title deciders of all time (1989?) he claimed a barrel too early and got lipped coming out . Check out Bonythongs Gripping Stuff movie, its all captured in that
The surfing in the finals became to repetitive. The surfers got Treseld.
Shift Pipe back to last as its a real test of ability, plus it looks dynamic on the evening news. Much better for attracting sponsors.
Shift Chowpoo to mid year or the start, so surfers have to go for it.
The contests should be like Tennis, National events..The U.S. Open, The Australian Open, French Open etc... Would mean more Govt funding and would attract better sponsors.
I think WSL needs to rethink the way it does it's contests.
Maybe look at the IWT - the newly formed wave sailing tour - after years of being of being a split comp in crap conditions, its now unified and having some amazing comps in the GOOD locations and in the great conditions (right time of the year)
So far they have had Almost perfect Chile, Perfect Fiji, Kilometre rides in Peru and their "Final's" will be in Hawaii!
https://internationalwindsurfingtour.com/iwt-wave-tour/
They didn't go for mainstream - as the sport isn't.. just went for the best locations and are doing it on a shoestring budget
Dane surfing above the lip, and with more power and variety than Filipe below the lip. And in a heat.
How far has surfing progressed?
I think that is a legit argument.
We didn't really see anything that progressed the Dane Reynolds attack from over a decade ago.
Speed?
Felipe is 90s Slater compared to Dane's 80s Occy.
Double.
Yes, Filipe has the speed for sure.
Dane had to really work the board to make the sections (which was impressive in itself).
Yep, definitely a speed difference, and EE progressed the rail turns.
Holy shit!
Geez that was good.
Cheers LD
That was nuts!
Where is the ASP when you need it...?
Some interesting analysis of finals day surfing from the GOAT.
Great video, at about 35 minutes in Kelly talks about injuries and airs, i was thinking about this the other day, i think Filipe has made a very conscious decision to minimise airs to only when really needed to reduce risk of injury.
As realistically that window between 20 to 30 is when they have the best chance of winning titles, if you can keep injury free you have a much better chance.
Take JJF for instance, he seemed like he could have been the next Kelly, amazing surfing in every way, no weakness but sadly injuries have prevented him from what could have been.
He is now 30 with only 2 world titles he has 5 years to get more and even then from now in every year would be a little harder with age.
Would we be saying “ Ethan’s air game is too weak for him to be world champ” if he won? Don’t get me wrong, I would love Ethan to be world champ. For me, there is only 3 that tick all boxes at the elite level; JJF, Gaby & Jack. Unless one of those 3 win then you can pick the rest to pieces.
Yago and Chianca both have everything if they can get it all together too.
Maybe so. In my opinion both still have a bit to prove at slabs like chopes & box on big days.
I reckon you could throw Griff into that mix too.
Definitely got the kahunas in the big heavy stuff.
Yeh, he has the complete package too.
Agree. Would love to see amongst the next proper chopes or cloudbreak swell. I think then I’ll be fully convinced.
Agree. Would love to see amongst the next proper chopes or cloudbreak swell. I think then I’ll be fully convinced.
Chianca was a standout at solid Pipe.
Definitely. That was an incredible heat against JJF.
Missing the point. Not saying others like Chianca don’t charge, obviously everyone on the tour does. Filipe narrowly lost his quarters at Pipe. The point is that you wouldn’t have an article written like this one about Filipe if one of those 3 won the title. Not many of the tour want anything to do with Chopes when its just paddle-able, those 3 do.
Huh!?
If we get airs like this in comp i can get behind them.
Last contest of the year should be Pipe with all surfers involved not this crappy format.
there is every chance Toledo will kill it in hollow waves next year ..
What makes you think anything will change now?
WSL due to release 2024 schedule tomorrow.
Inside scoop is that Ziffy has a stiffy for Trestles. J bay also under threat.
Could this be the year half the core viewership switch off?
If anyone is wondering what may have gone wrong with Griffin Cola’s world title attempt this clip goes a long way to explaining.
It’s actually quite incredible how he spent his time prior to the finals.
Warning, the Colas + San Clemente go full seppo.
https://m.
&pp=ygUZZ3JpZmZpbiBjb2xhcGludG8gc3VyZmluZw%3D%3D