Tahiti Pro 2024: Finals Day
Tahiti Pro 2024: Finals Day
Epic, epic Finals day wrapped in Tahiti, defined as much by ruthless near-misses as heroic makes at 6-10 foot Teahupoo.
There were slow periods, like yesterday, but the peak sets today were of a different order of magnitude - touching at times the limit of what could be successfully paddled into.
Hectic wipeouts framed a brutal equation where the vanquished surfer got dragged into and across the shallowest part of the reef, usually surfacing with a water view of their opponent on a perfect bomb behind.
At times through the day, the wave stole the spotlight so that the crowd, including the competing surfers, were forced to sit back and marvel at it (WSL/Dunbar)
John John Florence wears yellow, leading the tour into the second half, but leaves his fourth Finals Day appearance at Teahupoo yet again unable to take the win after falling short to Italo Ferreira. John went into the Final after an intense showing against Medina as red-hot favourite but fell on a crucial opening ride and could not make up the difference as Italo speared two spectacular back to back bombs.
Italo wasn't the best surfer of the event, not even the best surfer on the day - that distinction belonged to Gabe Medina. If you take all of Gabe's waves as a body of work, it's a staggering achievement and you're left wondering: How the fuck didn't he win?
That came down to two incredibly close near-misses in the Semi with John which we'll get to in a moment. His Round of 16 heat with Jake Marshall was close to perfection with a 10 and a 9.83 (shoulda been two 10's, for posterity's sake), driving from so deep and pumping over the foamball, coming out behind the spit. His Quarter with Ryan Callinan was only a bee's dick behind (9.23 and 9.73), again the cobalt blue board always coming from deep behind.
The colour co-ordination only added to Gabs' other-worldly performance - one that will be defined by the waves he didn't make (WSL/Sloane)
Was it an aesthetic impediment which hindered him in the Semi-Final with John? As the sun started to dip low, the cobalt blue board no longer seemed to glow with an inner energy which appeared to help him make the unmakeable. Call it Mana, connection, some intangible feeling which is required to slice open the fabric and navigate through the deepest pits that Chopes throws up. Whatever it was, it deserted Gabe in the Semi. After restrained tactical openings to his previous heats, he played positioning games with John and paddled too deep up the reef. A bomb set went unridden and judges were perhaps over-generous in awarding a re-start. Although we all wanted to see it.
John and Gabby head to head in pumping pits is the most tantalising prospect the sport has to offer. We did not want it cut short by willy-waving games. The occasion is too rare. Both John and Gabe came on tour after the then mid season cut in 2011. It seemed like a long and abundant rivalry was ahead for surf fans.
Not to be.
In the thirteen ensuing years, with five world titles between them they have matched up a paltry 14 times.
Compare that with Gilmore and Moore who by 2016 had matched up 17 times, and by 2021 26 times. It seems to not make sense on a cosmic level that a sport can't get its two best guys head to head more than once a year in a ten-event season.
Back to the opening exchange...
Once upon a time just making the drop was enough at Teahupoo, yet Gabriel Medina has pushed the cutting edge to the other side of the foamball (WSL/Dunbar)
Gabe paddled in first from the still-too deep position. He pumped and rode so deep for so long it felt almost like a different wave. A shockwave sent him into a one-legged wheelie, he actually came out of the tube into subdued daylight before getting bucked off and sent over the falls for a trip to the reef. Camera panned up to a thick, unridden unicorn bomb. Where the fuck was John..?
John was repositioning for the wave after and backdoored one of the thickest waves of the day. That was a high 9. Could have been a 10. Gabe's wave, if he made it, was a millenium ride.
But he didn't make it. And he backed it up with another super-deep non-make. Those two waves were the heat winners – a 10 and a high 9 - and in failing to execute, the magic Gabe had been running on, ran out.
This contest, John faced obstacles every heat he surfed: sometimes out position, sometimes a slow ocean, but he rose above them all until he didn't. Still, he got the yellow jersey and a bag limit of mesmeric vision (WSL/Sloane)
It also seemed to herald the end of the magic for John. If the head to head match-ups with Gabe are thin on the ground they are practically non-existent with Italo. Three times they have met in the almost-decade Italo has been on tour. The last one in 2019. Two-to-one towards John. How can that be? World champs only meeting three times in a decade? Crazy.
This time it was John's turn to suffer on an opening ride that could have been a heat-winner. Like his opening ride of the day he over-balanced on an opening pump, fell into an awkward layback position and lost valuable forward momentum into the cavern. He almost turned the mistake into a triumph but footage into the tube showed the new dad tumbled upside down and sent to the bottom by a raging foamball that wanted no part of a dramatic exit.
Judges allowed room for John to come back after Italo's perfect execution on two bombs which should have been 9's only registered 8's. In the end though, John couldn't recover from the mistake despite getting the best wave of the Final. He needed two.
Where other goofys used the double-arm drag to to slow down and stay covered, Italo positioned himself deep and drove without brakes (WSL/Dunbar)
In the end, the wave itself dictated results as much as the surfers riding it. The shockwaves and vortexes could only be tamed by human beings to a limited extent. The intangible and inscrutable aspects of surfing Teahupoo ruled the day. John came up from one trip to the bottom in his heat with Mihimana Braye spitting blood. He fell on first waves, was out of position for bomb sets and had to manufacture scores on sugary waves with stalled entries and bum-drags. He also threaded deep pits with no-hands backside weaving to take out Rio Waida. If we take John at his word, the winning and losing doesn't mean as much to him as the overall performance. In which case he would hopefully concur with Matahi Drollet's perspective that there is so much more room for progression in paddle-in surfing there at max size.
More than making up numbers, Kelly rode the day's first great wave - a 9.73 (WSL/Dunbar)
We can't wrap without mentioning Kelly's wildcard showing. A genius escape from a tight squeeze with Ethan Ewing to start the day when the GOAT slipped off the sled with minutes to go and found a high-4 as the clock ticked down for the win. He looked great against Ramzi Boukhiam, controlling the heat for the majority of the time with a beautiful pair of rides (8.83 and 7.83) and a huge non-make. It looked like a magic Slater run to the Finals was in the offing. Fitting then, that the guy he squeezed out with his injury wildcard, Ramzi Boukhiam, rode one of the waves of the day for a 9.80 and the W.
In the post-heat presser Ramzi shared a moment of poetic banter with Slater when he paddled back to the lineup and told Slater “there's no way that's not a 10!” That had to burn. Unlike John, Slater will stew on that loss. Every 3am nappy change (Kelly will change a nappy won't he?) he'll hear those words ringing in his ears. Luckily for him, it's only scant months until his next wildcard at Cloudbreak where he will have a chance to even the ledger.
Ramzi, along with Gabs and John John, constantly flirted with the foamball and the judges awarded his audacity (WSL/Sloane)
“We go deep and we go hard,” said Ramzi Boukhiam. That they did.
“A pretty good day," said JJF, adding “ten out of ten." That it was.
Gabe was effusive in saying how amazing the vision was in his 10-point ride. When I close my eyes, I see that cobalt blue board, minutes to midnight, driving, pumping through section after section, pushing the envelope of what tuberiding can achieve. Impossibly deep, sometimes making it, sometimes not.
A little more restrained and Gabe would've won the event, but the attempts wouldn't have been so memorable.
You can't ask for more than that as a live spectacle.
//STEVE SHEARER
SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro Presented by Outerknown Men’s Final Results:
1 - Italo Ferreira (BRA) 17.70
2 - John John Florence (HAW) 17.16
SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro Presented by Outerknown Men’s Semifinal Results:
HEAT 1: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 13.27 DEF. Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 8.50
HEAT 2: John John Florence (HAW) 18.00 DEF. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 14.00
SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro Presented by Outerknown Men’s Quarterfinal Results:
HEAT 1: Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 17.13 DEF. Kelly Slater (USA) 16.66
HEAT 2: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 17.83 DEF. Yago Dora (BRA) 15.87
HEAT 3: John John Florence (HAW) 18.33 DEF. Rio Waida (INA) 13.97
HEAT 4: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 18.96 DEF. Ryan Callinan (AUS) 15.94
SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro Presented by Outerknown Men’s Round of 16 Results:
HEAT 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 14.46 DEF. Ethan Ewing (AUS) 14.17
HEAT 2: Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 13.67 DEF. Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 0.93
HEAT 3: Yago Dora (BRA) 14.50 DEF. Jordy Smith (RSA) 8.17
HEAT 4: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 16.60 DEF. Cole Houshmand (USA) 15.77
HEAT 5: John John Florence (HAW) 15.77 DEF. Mihimana Braye (PYF) 15.63
HEAT 6: Rio Waida (INA) 9.33 DEF. Crosby Colapinto (USA) 9.00
HEAT 7: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 19.83 DEF. Jake Marshall (USA) 15.23
HEAT 8: Ryan Callinan (AUS) 16.80 DEF. Barron Mamiya (HAW) 8.74
Comments
Epic event indeed. Best surfer didn't win, and some of the best in the field tanked but still so fun to watch. If we could just stop thanking God though, that'd be cool. Great write up as always Steve and thanks for the banter on the thread guys, yeeeew!
Not sure why it matters who people wish to thank.
Agree, another great synopsis FR. Thank you.
The real winners of this event are the WSL and the fans .......fantastic event and well done to all competitors, men and women for pushing the boundaries and showing us mere mortals what can be achieved.
Great observations and analysis Steve, as ever. Looking forward to seeing what this same swell delivers in El Salvador next week. It is so good when challenging and/or perfect waves determine the outcomes. And that we, as spectators and fans, can sit back and truly enjoy watching the "world's best surfers in the world's best waves". More of this please WSL. Am really hoping now that Fiji delivers more of the same. Another big win for us all. PS - Those pro surfers who regularly like to thank Jesus Christ for their lifestyles and victories etc, could also express some gratitude to Dirk Ziff for allowing it all to happen. Yeah, the WSL is still a work in progress, but at least the viewing remains free. Cheers to that.
Just want to thank god for these great write ups.
Amazing day and event. Bar the girls elim being sent out in slop.
Wonderful work steve!
Ha ha, Darcy wit noted.
Busy day at work so only caught glimpses. Epic write up Steve, made me want to watch it all, and having the house to myself tonight, will spend the evening watching the replays on the big screen. With beers!
Great words again Steve! Hats off to all surfers, male and female... just wish every event could conjure up waves of this quality and consequences. On Kelly, like him or not, he is remarkable considering his age, looking forward to epic big Cloudbreak for him.
Excellent surf journalism- high nines, just shy of a perfect ten.
Great contest, great camera work and production, sick waves and fun online banter.
Amazing photos above- those WSL photogs send it:)
Haha, almost a 10, he got best surfer of the day wrong. JJF is just so beyond everyone with the small technicalities in heavy water, incredibly underappreciated, I think most people miss it.
(Fantastic stuff Steve as always.)
Agree Sprout... JJF is the man in waves of consequences.
Agree. Only surfer to win an Eddie and world title in the same yr. As runner up last yr he wasn’t even on the radar. He’s so casual and comfortable in heavy water. Unfortunately I don’t see how he wins a title at 3 ft trestles.
Absolutely Sprout.
That wave he got after Medinas, to me that's up there with the greatest waves ever ridden at Chopes. I reckon it needs to be slowed down frame by frame to appreciate how late that drop was, how deep he was, where the lip was coming down in relation to his bottom turn and how the heck did he go from that bottom turn, straight into a reverse shocky from the lip like an aquaman suicide bomber running straight into the shockwave exploding in front of him, get engulfed by it, somehow end up high over the shocky in one smooth motion and then get drained and come out. It was one of the gutsiest and most skilled rides i've ever seen. No one else could have done that that was surfing in the comp.
And thanks FR. Ripper reads all throughout the comp.
Goodnight!
There's been bigger and heavier paddle days at chopes than today with the wildest of foam ball rides.
JJs today was amazing, no doubt, and I regard him as well and truly the best surfer in the world for many years.
Start with John's brother's ride of the year entry from 2016 to put into perspective what you're saying. (wave i have in mind was May 28, 2015).
Yeah for sure LD and i know that wave well. And yeah it's a bigger wave and a triple black diamond run of the highest order....but i can't recall anyone coming from behind the shocky on the takeoff like that, ever. Is there one that you can think of? I'm sure someones done it but i can't think of one. Worth watching in slowmo to see how far behind the landing lip he is as hes still dropping into it and how deep he is at that point. Anyway, they're all legends. The A.I wave is still a standout too and some of the ones the local boys have been charging are nuts. But he literally is head down as that whole section folds over him as he's dropping down it. Imagine dropping into a wave of that size and knowing the lip is folding 15m either side of you over sharp coral reef and you've somehow gotta pull yourself up and into the tube without the lip sending you headfirst into the reef. Not to mention that bloody shockwave exploding as he sets his rail under the lip. It's nuts!
Yep, that one was of a higher order.
Not saying John's is near the best wave ever ridden, but Nate basically bottom turned, went high and dropped back down in the spray. You could argue he didn't even touch the shocky (you couldn't really see). Absolutely insane wave, but what John did was way more technical.
Also have to agree Sprout. The Gabe lovers will be Gabe lovers, but JJF does things that Gabe can only dream of.
Nearly all of Gabe’s ‘wrestling with the foam ball’ waves were actually taking a high line around the foam ball. Well timed sure, but not actually risky. Only the one he fell on in the final was a real foamball battle.
Ramzi and JJF actually surfed through the foamball a number of times, and JJF’s backdoor effort in the final (or was it the semi?) was ridiculous.
But it’s ok to love Gabe.
To paraphrase on of the Colapinto's (I think maybe another young gun?)
You don't have to be the best surfer in the world (in the event) - you only have to be the best surfer in the (final) 40 minutes
So true. Otherwise griff would have won bells over Cole and JJ would have won margs over Jack. But that’s competitive surfing for you. Also hats off to ryan callinan who was a machine out there and very unlucky to meet medina on one of his best heats today.
Yes, thanks Steve, another great wrap, that contest certainly made up for some of the shit ones, and I thought the coverage and production was first rate, the range of camera angles was superb and I thought Cote did a great job on the glass and really improved the watchability of those interviews.
Some amazing performances from both the men and the women and watching that contest made me think the sport is in a good place. I do think props should also go out to the Ziffs for backing it all, in spite of some of the issues we are all familiar with, I shudder to think what the tour would be like if the Ziffs weren't involved and it was being run by the ISA.
Those 3am starts were brutal though, lucky I was off work this week.
Christ almighy, what a great write up and event!
Gabriel Medina was looking unbeatable - until he wasn't.
Kelly doing well for someone that is 52 and should be holding a microphone in the channel.
They’re on a roll aren’t they the Woz? Chopes really is a phenomenon.
So John is my favourite surfer. It hasn’t been mentioned here or on the production that this is John’s 3rd final this year, he’s on fire………but he hasn’t won any of them!
The man’s in yellow, topping the chart - but in the current iteration of the world tour does it really matter?
The best surfer didn’t win today and there’s a high chance that will be the case with the world title this year.
I’ll just enjoy each comp for what they are now, and this year they are pretty good.
Thanks for the online giggles the past few bleary eyed mornings.
As always cheers for the wrap Steve.
Q - the wsl plays around but the olympics not so much. How do they get Italo in? Whatever will Filipe do?
Ain't no way Slater will be changing nappies :)
I’m a bit slow given women's was yesterday but given Brissa’s consistency all year, improved barrel riding and knowledge of Fiji’s cloudbreak she has to be a favourite to final there and carry the yellow all the way to trestles.
The best thing about Kelly today is i didn’t here him make two many excuses - no ‘i didn’t sleep well, the hip, the ankle, waves didn’t come my way etc’. Then again didn’t here him say Ramzi surfed well either. God help when that baby arrives…..
That's as close to a compliment as you've ever given him @lost!! haha
Ha ha my closet love for the goat will come pouring out when he defies me and wins Cloudy.
My thanks will come when gives the spot light back to the other surfers
He's spent ten years living off his legacy
That's enough.....
Yes was fitting that ramzi kicked him off comp yesterday.
Groundbreaking day for the mixed division too. The combination of Turpel and Hennessy exceeded all expectations. High as they were.
No slow periods. No need for a restart. The synchronised assault was relentless.
Two performers at peak power, riffing off each other, in perfect harmony. Taking their art to a new dimension, a hitherto unimagined pinnacle of progression, a place of their own, a good place, a place of… oh, I don’t know. Just make it stop! Get it out of my head!
Thank you, Huey.
And FR.
Epic waves, epic surfing.
Well worth the wait and anticipation.
Surprised the new CEO wasn't invited for a meet and greet though.
great write up as always,
was kinda hoping cole housman got a bit further through ,
he looks like the yanks next title contender to me , with a little more composure and experience.
Would be good to see a solid sized lad go all the way
Great write up great comp...
Had to stop watching live at QF, but got ho.e deliberately did not find out results, and watched semi's to final. Great stuff.
Great win for Italo, but to me JJF is the best out there. Probably natural foot bias but there ya go...
Today proves JJF not the best tube rider. Gabe is his equal if not better. In some waves Gabe is better. Gabe in Tahiti. JJF at Pipe. They may be equal in waves in Fiji and other locations…..all depending on who wanted it more.
@Roadkill
You are comparing apples and oranges. They are both great but quite different.
I can't see how one can compare a goofy and natural footer at the same wave, anyway. One is surfing frontside and the other backside.
To be a little bias, I feel backside tube riding is much harder, so one could argue that JJF is better as he is surfing backside.
...but again it's comparing apples and oranges.
Idk Gabe's tubes at backdoor in 2018/19 (or 17, one of them) were pretty next level. He's epic on the backside too
Good call... a 10 pointer in there somewhere that would lay a claim to being up there with the JJF shaman
Also of note is the gap between the best and the others….is closing. The best are still getting better but the others are getting better faster. The gap is closing fast.
Gabe is way better out there now than the year he won.
Agreed.
In fact, the year he won was not unlike Italo's slipstream to the dais today. He's done far better surfing and under more pressure too.
Later tonight, and in ode to Flick and also to Gabe, I'm gonna have a Sliding Doors moment where I sit back, close my eyes and imagine Gabe made that wave.
Big wave surfers may have their 'unridden realm' but that was the slab surfer's equivalent.
now that is pro surfing.
Thanks Steve, Swellnet and WSL.
Best open barrels of the year; fantastic surfing today.
Wish Caity and Molly were given equal opportunities....
Only thing today bigger than the quality of surfing was flicks obvious admiration for the spartan in the com box and that’s keeping it pc.
I mean...
I get it. Surfing prowess, accent and physique. Got me interested haha. Great day for surfing.
Haha, "I mean" three or four times a sentence - she's got to get a handle on that, it's horrendous!
And 100%. Hard to stomach. Where’s Ronnie?
Yeah. No offense Flick, but you need to practice and refine your craft. You almost made me turn it off a couple of times.
"I mean...(followed by a deep sigh because she can't find words to describe)
Absolutely! Best comments of the day were about Michel in the box rocking the guns in the muscle T and flick responding by setting the puppies loose. Fantastic stuff!!
Gabe was phenomenal, that non make against jjf had he pulled it was just un-fucking-believable
I’m not a sports nut but I was screaming at the screen, mind melting stuff
unpopular opinion - if you come out of the barrel in any way shape or form, that counts as a make. even if its without your board. if i was judge, im paying gabe's first wave in his semi and giving it a higher score than jjf's first wave. it was a deeper longer barrel with more travel time.
which would you say is harder to do out of the two??
;);)
https://m.
Thank you Sir.....That's gold.
That's dude is fucking awesome.
that just won the internet!
thanks Steve for an intense wrap up of a memorable day of surfing. The waves were the heroes today.
thanks to the surfers and local tahitians for providing great days of surf competition
I can’t remember another contest (probably because there’s been so few opportunities in waves like this) where the men’s barrel riding was at such a high level.
It wasn’t just JJF, Slater or Gabe who danced with the foamball. Nearly every heat had some maddog who’d come flying through, ride the bronco and emerge to acclaim or head down to Davy Jones.
This made the heat strategies all the more interesting, particularly in such lully conditions: very few opportunities so they had to push it to the absolute limit e.g. Gabe against JJF.
Sick
Yeah spot on jim, imagine that going down in a real life free surf, I'd be in the channel in awe.
“Italo wasn't the best surfer of the event, not even the best surfer on the day - that distinction belonged to Gabe Medina”
That problem can be solved, it’s not that hard.
The format change takes a paradigm shift in thinking but is also mathematically sound.
In the current format it’s about being 0.01 ahead of your competitor at the end of your heat, not necessarily being the best surfer you can be
We should respect all (well, most) beliefs, but the God subject has been really a headline in interviews with the Brazilians on Tour in the last decade. It feels like half of the country's evangelists is a pro-surfer on Tour. Maybe that is part of His plans to help spreading the good word through WSL-post-heat-high-audience interviews, who knows...
Jesus goes where he's needed. The NFL and country music awards are his bread and butter though.
Is it just me, or did JJF have his chance in the final with that bomb but go the safe option? (if that exists on those massive slabs!) It was a beast, and as they said in commentary would’ve been hard to get deeper due to the foamball, but I reckon with his skill he could’ve gone for broke and would’ve got a ten. His attempt to sell it to the judges was very unlike him and I felt indicated he knew he’d blown it.
What we SEE on the screen is not what the reality is. It's easy for us arm-chair athletes watching on TV to pass judgement, but the camera shows things quite differently to how they look in real life with ones own eyes.
I feel that's why the people think the judging is often so different/wrong.
The judges are looking with their own eyes in the real-world, which is a vastly different to what we all see on camera.
It’s a fair comment surf.rat, but I think the judges watch all the camera angles before giving the scores, so on that score, you’re probably not right.
Yeah totally agree. But with JJFs enormous ability, that wave he got the 9.33 on had potential for a 10 and the lead/win.
Yep, the camera's very obviously distort wave size at times, must look for size of bomb blast and be sure to measure surfers height vs the wave face.
Salient point, surf.rat.
On screen it is hard to determine wave size comparisons in particular, compared with being there. Thought swell had peaked late Rnd of 16, early QF's ...but on rewatch, pulsed again in final and very heavy. Deserved win for Italo ...his two barrels eclipsed GM's near perfect Rnd16 heat score (despite only registering 8+). Fair call judges set the scale lower.
Too many great performances to innumerate (men & women), but for what it's worth:
Best style and reverse cutties: Robbo and Kelly (though Kelly's composure/balance is lagging as old father time catches up);
Best foamball-wrangling: Ramzi and JJF. Gabe used speed to overtake it and made his share, but hit a big rib (first wave of set) at the crucial moment on the crucial wave and lost front foot/balance ...goooone;
Best late-drops: JJF;
Best manufacturing scores and use of speed (slow/fast): Medina;
Best claims and board colour contrast: Medina's "just give it to me hands-ups" /cobalt blue speed run combos worked a treat;
Best/biggest barrels: Italo ..got lucky when it counted (God was stoke-ed).
Best commentators: Ross/Jesse/Michel ..only ones who could maintain some rational sense in view of the insane barrels on offer.
WZL scored (again): thankful they separated the mens/womens final days.
Epic few days of surfing and so good to see the women pushing the limits and dominating in waves of consequence. I am however baffled that only one wave in the mens rounds was considered a perfect 10 (Medina) despite the epic conditions. In my opinion there were multiple rides I felt were worthy of a perfect 10 (Cole, Ramzi, JJF). It would be great to get the WSL's perspective on why such waves were not deemed perfect 10's
And that 10 probably wasn’t a 10. Gabe’s later wave was more critical and better but they went 9.8.
Mostly the scale was set too high though, leaving insufficient difference for the really good ones.
Anyone happen to notice they drew the first round heats for the Olympics yesterday? Some of this events high performers get a much easier route through to the round of 16 than others.... particularly on the women's side.
Biggest news from it all is that Picklum, Simmers and Weston-Webb were all drawn in the same heat. Be a shame if once again any of those three don't make it through to the rounds that count.
Just had a look. Wow. That heat is stacked! How does that happen? Every other heat, except heat 5, has two surfers I've never heard of.
Excellent write up FR total on par with the days surfing cheers.
Absolutely epic comp. Always the best and most memorable when they score solid pumping pits. It was awesome to see many step up to the job, but yet again the old masters really led the way for me. I wish we could have waves like that for every CT comp! I had tuned right out recently with watching the events live but this one had me back loving it again.
What a legendary day's surfing in incredible waves. Find myself thinking more of the pantheon of Greek gods and massive forces of fate determining the lives of mortals, though.
Following the runs of Gabe, Ramzi, Cole, JJF, Italo, KS and wondering where the intertwining fate will lead - who will the wave let get through. The tuberiding is on another level and they must have some ability to slow their perception of time while in there. The Greek tragedy of Jack (and Caity for yesterday's waves) knocked out in the mush round.
Also cobalt boards are so good, so bright, but they are demons on wax and keeping it from melting in the sun.
Props to the comedians and entertainers in the Swellnet comments, Stu is Punlord for this day!
VJ, was going to write this at the end, but you’ve given me the perfect step-off.
Those thanking their sweet lord for their wins are completely on the wrong track. Totally and empirically.
The Greeks had it right (think the Romans were much the same). The true gods, the ones they really should be thanking are the lesser immortals, The Fates, and Chance.
People, and men particularly, are quick to ascribe their successes to their own hard work, their genius, their fortitude and their God, usually in that order and often without the last one.
The Fates, and Chance. These are the biggies. Italo rode Chance to his win, rode him like a mofo. But forgot to thank him.
I live for the day when any pro athlete who wins acknowledges and thanks the true lords of the universe, The Fates and Chance.
And so ends the sermon.
That's unreal Batfink! Thank you for teaching me more about the Fates and Chance. So much of life is that luck of the draw, maybe good luck health and financially come one's way, maybe the reverse. The Dow did a mad 578 point round trip rebound overnight, who could have scripted that kind of shit?
Also of note in the comp was Vahine thanking Teaupoo, and the concept of mana. Both sit well here.
Imagine Italo thanking Chance, and imagine if our society had the unwavering belief of the Roman Legions...
I’m grateful to have watched Gabe’s mastery on finals day. Unbelievable skills and verve.
JJF and Medina are the best surfers ever. Impossible to split them, both do the impossible on the reg. Medina has more 'talent' possibly, JJF is more accomplished in heavy water but both are without equal imo. Their heat was a joy to watch and had me rewinding it over and over so I could comprehend wtf I was watching.
The fact that they both don't win over and over is an indictment against pro surfing. Can't wait for the showdown at trestles (said no one ever)!
Great write up again FR, agree on all points.
Ramzi’s 9.8 was pure karmic mana from the gods for Kelly. He’s definitely still got it in the juice, but I would have rather seen one of the Tahitian young guns get the start, Matahi, Kauli or Eimeo. Imagine the show they would’ve put on in these conditions.
With regards to the dad duties on the horizon, 52 years of living the Peter Pan life is coming to an end for Kelly, will be a shock to the system for the old man.
bang on article. this is why we used to buy magazines .. how come the wsl can fk the comm's and image of surfing up so much when there is quality like this?
Thanks for the write up Steve.
Was particularly taken with one of your insights from the previous day. To wit, how to fairly score a wave perfectly ridden with no slip ups (and consequently less risk) versus one where they take the wrong line or have a slight slip up but recover and end up riding through a foam ball for a dramatic exit. Your comments yesterday were particularly about Jack Robbo, who did ride flawlessly and was beaten.
Ramzi had a couple of very high scores where he didn’t take the right line or didn’t time his pumps and came through thick foam balls to exit. He was rightly scored very high. JJF took off on one, missed the perfect line on his take off, pumped but was caught behind. If he came out, a 10 for sure, but it wouldn’t have been perfectly ridden.
It’s a philosophical question. Do you reward the good son, or the prodigal son?
I have no answer to it, but Jack Robbo was desperately unlucky. The Fates, and Chance, weren’t with him. Would have loved to see him up against Gabby and JJF.
Sorry, but can’t agree with your Gabe-love, but that’s about all that we differ on. Cheers
Interested to know the viewing numbers-
considering this contest would be close to up there as the pinnacle of surfing events. Also with a Brazillian and Hawaiian/American in the finale to attract a broad audience.
How do the viewer numbers compare to the Trestles Final event.
Though wasn't held during weekend prime time.
No idea, it's foggy though
Each round uploads connects each time to maybe bolster viewer numbers
I couldn't even find it live on you tube yesterday. Usually I click right on it yet I had to go to the woz.
On YouTube during the finals it was +/- 23K on the English feed and less than a K on both Spanish and Portuguese.
So approx. 25K during the finals.
Americans couldn't watch it on YT after the Quarters though.
cheers Stu
Guess who's phone decided to die at 6am Thursday morning? Not the most convenient timeslot either, got a lot of catch-up to do. Firstly went straight to Ethan vs the goat. Ethan gets my vote for most improved tube rider. He's looking increasingly comfortable in heavy lefts its great to see, thought he had the win too but that deadly shockwave from the razor lip splitting the surface tension got him while he was trying to ride out clean . Kelly had the same issue but has the skill and experience to straighten out for a make. Better luck next time Etho.
Thx to you Steve, for capturing the excitement
Rumours are that Toledo was at home thanking god for giving him a year off after watching the finals.
This god fella everyone keeps thanking works in mysterious ways.
After watching the Womens, Fil is now praying for an injury.......
Surely his god will grant the wish. It's the least he could do with all the praise he gets.
Wow, what an amazing effort by all, with most freely admitting to some sort of terror before their first wave of the day. So entertaining :-)
I found "that was so technical" my new pet hate, each "technical" situation could probably be judged and pulled apart on its own merits, rather than generalised by that term....i.e note how the surfer has started to spring up and get pressure on the back foot already, angling the nose away from the wall and engaging the fins first, or whatever, just not more technical.
Also, a hell yeah for the god botherers (no pun intended) freely expressing their gratitude, I think it's cute and more power to them, woot...I am an agnostic atheist by the way :-)
Hedging your bets Daltz?
Fence sitter from way back :-)
Do they still give the AI Award to the best charger. Should go to Tatiana.
Because she's female? there was far superior performances than tati. but you go woke boy. keep it up. Southernraw will be proud of you
Fuckhead, Always punching down on women.
Burleigh you really are a lowlife. In the town i grew up in people like you used to get bashed. Simple really. You couldn't just hide behind a keyboard. Wanna explain why you had to make this comment about gender? And belittle the poor fella in the process?? It was a more than reasonable comment. Do you even understand what the AI award is about? If not Tatiana, who should have got it?? Nup. Couldn't do that, had to demonstrate your little man syndrome and take the opportunity to express your insecurities and inadequacies about women. You really are threatened by them arent you. Got a wife that nags you so you come here to take it out? Got teenage daughters whos friends laugh at the joke that you are? Must be a reason you come to a surf website and continually punchdown on women and express that they constantly need to prove themselves to you....the 4 foot pointbreak pussy. That's really it isn't it. The chicks are charging and you're not. You're a kitten. Bring back the biff.
Talks about me hiding behind a keyboard while threading that I should be bashed while hiding behind a keyboard. Great stuff southernwoke. You’re really showing how to be a stand up bloke.
Back to my comment. Yes, some girls did good, but the way some of you guys blow smoke up their ass is like they cured cancer.
Medina, jjf blew minds the way they rode those waves. Much more deserving of the AI award.
It should go to the biggest Hellman/hellwoman and that wasn’t Tati.
But keep going on your gender equality path champ, just don’t get confused when it’s all equal.
Is the AI award for the biggest Hellman/Hellwoman? Or is there more to it than that?
Yeah hardest charging competitor.
You sure know how to wind up the troops and push their buttons. Award for arguing the opposite despite intense pressure goes to...... Burleigh! I was very impressed by the ladies they surfed it way better than I thought they could. Of course they're not as good as the blokes at the moment but their progression has been remarkable.
Or Medina for he's total disregard of consequences and confidence negotiating those caverns, ala AI :-)
Woot, it was inspiring
Agree, even though I'm not a fan of Gabbs, he was (to me) a standout performer.
Liam O'Brien stepped up I reckon.
Gabs for sure but he's a known quantity out there.
What about Kanoa?
That sandal-wearing goldfish tender?
Yeah, he went alright.
I'm hard pressed to name someone who didn't have a go.
I was very much kidding zen. He dodged a barrel hard and scored less than 1 in his R16. Appeared petrified.
Yep what about Kanoa? Everyone has a go at Filipe but Kanoa looked the same to me
The 10 was a cracker wave. Surprised me. The rest of the comp Tati looked to be racing for the shoulder. Vahine was a cut above. Great she got the win. Molly seems to have lost her way after a big start in Hawaii. Looked very avg at margs too.
Vahine got flogged that many times on women’s finals day and kept going back for more and won the day.
I dunno if the wsl will have noticed as its only a very small detail…. But running an event in A1 waves in a cauldron of consequence rates very highly with all and sundry!!! Asleep at the wheel if its not as obvious as the wsl nose on the wsl face.
Definitely so spooky. Just makes complete sense that they should finish at pipe. Surely the surfers themselves would value a title won there rather than at trestles. Include trestles as a stop, sure. But the genuine excitement that this comp delivered just illustrates the point more.
Just went back and watched that 3.33 Medina got against JJF.
That was one of the most intense tube rides i reckon I've ever seen, absolute madness.
For me, the best wave I've ever seen on WSL. Hard to believe how he fell off. He is going so fast, with those perfect pumps. It seems when he came over the final foam he kind of pumped again, like he was on auto-pilot, rather than turned downwards on the face.
Gabe, Jack, Kelly, JJF & LOB were almost doing turns (pumps) in the barrel... minute position and speed adjustments to get as deep as possible and stay in the tube as long as possible. next level.
JJF's drops were pretty handy, too.
he won no doubt, but Italo was almost too fast, outrunning the deeper parts of barrels and only had that one supersonic speed.
Yes Nick, it was all about the takeoff. A neat takeoff sets up the barrel, the rest is pretty straightforward for a pro surfer
Loved the comp and the coverage. The drone footage was fantastic. I always thought it would be awesome sitting in the channel (and it would be) but it only just occurred to me it is probably noisey and smelly with all those boats and jet skis.
After watching many times Gabriel's first wave against John, its so hard to get that wave out of my mind. It was like one of those Shaun Tomson waves at Off The Wall in the 1970s but at so much more speed & intensity. His squat is so powerful, intensive, pivotal & fast, like young Cheyne Horan at hyper speed on a four foot wave; but its 8 to 10 feet Chopes. How did Gabriel fall off? Imagine if he simply made it? It would have been the total rave. The biggest baddest 10 ever. But unlike John, who has been extensively & intensively surfing Pipe & Chopes all his life, it appears Gabriel rarely surfs waves like this. Each year, he simply turns up a few days before the comps at Pipe & Chopes. Videos from Indo and elsewhere are rarely seen on Gabriel's Instagram. Mostly, his IG just has Gabe surfing his home break beach tubes. He can't practice for the type of waves he rode & type of surfing he did. The guy is a freak. Gabe is still the leader of the pack. So athletic. So fast. So amazing. The Greatest. A Voodoo Child. Miles Beyond.
The Greatest
?si=e5-RoN6gX6iL3jbqMiles Beyond. A Bird Of Fire
?si=hAgmwLV6GoYazYz-Lament that wave.
?si=WHdsDV4c1e2mTEgGhahahaha
lol
?si=a-OFeeV7coLb1WyGW T F?
Wild blue angel, dressed in blue, riding blue board. Voodoo child.
?si=f7S1ULxaJu5DP23iBarb’s going to explode
But yes I agree he is incredible
Definitely not leader of the pack though.
That’s Jonny’s title until Gabe wins an Eddie
na.... Gabe lead the pack of WCT newbies, including John . The Eddie is irrelevant
Barb you left out SRV!
Life without Gabe - pretty boring
?si=ZSjoTD8ghKXmVwjNHaha the eddie ‘irrelevant’. I’m confident both John and slater would happily give back a title to retain their Eddie win. Medina will never know.
I like the comment about Gabe's 'body of work' over the entire event Steve. An interesting take on it. They ain't lying about the dude being an athlete.
His fall in the semi was pretty epic, something about a near make followed by an uncontrolled beating that just speaks to us all surely. Despite severity of beating Gabe was back in seal/Bali pool mode pretty quick. Someone from the event could have thrown him a few fish or served him a cocktail off the back of of a ski the way he was carrying on. Just flopping around in the lineup with so much time and so few fucks to give in the world. Livin the dream and putting the A in alpha.
Great event. Still that old issue with the afternoon light in the front on camera shot but I thought that zoomed in side angle (they used most effectively in round one from memory) well it really captured the tension and body English.
Good to see stoked Italo and not sad mopey bitchy Italo. He does stoke so well.
Final five really looking less certain now.
Chopes is going off right now
I have warmed to the new Medina. (Post Charlie ?) He seems less apex cyborg although he still ( less and less) has the occasional survival poo stance in the aerial department.
Isn’t Charlie back on the scene now? Never been a Medina fan. I was gunning for John. You can’t doubt him though. No one was generating the speed through those barrels like he was. Incredible.
Couple of days from El Sal and not much hype.
Very low on my radar, however, looks like they’ll be getting swell.
Might see how that poor step cousin of Lennox goes this year
If Gabe made that wave he would be surfing's Gigachad. Maybe he actually is.
Big, clean Teahupoo, and an hour long final Gabe vs Matahi Drollet, please. Or make that a whole day.
Those two have something special, and their surfing in those waves is like good art to me - transcendent.
Others obviously have different tastes, and there's no denying JJF. His backhand surfing just doesn't excite me. Big Haleiwa is a different story.
I'd have JJF,. Gabe, Matahi and Eimeo in a 4 man Final.
Love it. That’s our version of a heritage/special heat out at Chopes.
Any forecast for El Salvador forthcoming?