Stuart Nettle October 20, 2009

Before I begin: this letter is about pro surfing. It also contains half-baked, tenuously-linked ideas that fit loosely into a theory that took me two minutes to construct yet will fight for hours to defend. You have been warned... Dear Generation Y, My birthdate lands me plum in the centre of the category that social researchers call Generation X. Gloomy and pessimistic are the traits the clever researchers pin on us Gen X mob. By contrast the Generation Y crew - all of you aged betweeen 19 and 27 - undid our hard-won apathy and are overly-optimistic, brash and don't like waiting. Or so the researchers say. Now, in the interests of 'knowing thyself' I have spent much time in self-reflection and believe I have risen above the socially cultivated qualities that would cloud my judgement, much as they have mired my Gen X compatriots. The view up here is great! And not only does it allow me to see myself clearly but it also allows an unobstructed view of others. In short, I know you too. The advantage of my position is that if you have spent any time thinking about the recent developments in pro surfing then I reckon I know where you're coming from. You see, it's not an argument about ASP vs Rebel Tour at all. It's about Generation X vs Generation Y. If not the actual ages then the qualities that define the two categories. Gen X'ers, those who know the ASP needed a kick up the bum but are mostly old enough to remember a time before the Dream Tour. Who remember when images of perfect waves were a novel thing and so understood the lottery of good surf - you lose more than you win. And Gen Y'ers, mixing undefiled optimism with a million videos of perfect waves who see no reason why any comp should run in less than stellar perfection. Raised in an age of cheap air travel, long-range forecasts and all-pervasive internet, the idea of surgical strikes across the globe seems the only viable way forward. And now the ASP has made changes. Changes that I personally think are good but that many of you young'uns feel don't go far enough. I've read your words of discontent on blogs and comments sections worldwide: 'Keramas broke perfectly while Mundaka was flat', 'hold the comps in Puerto one week, G'land the next - fly in, fly out', 'Dane and Jordy were robbed' etc etc etc... Before I get too far into this I should say that I find your unbridled idealism endearing...but also potentially destructive. It aims high but ignores all obstacles. Sure 'ignoring obstacles' sounds good, especially if you're the type to hang motivational posters on your wall and frequent seminars held by Anthony Robbins. But the risk is that thirty years of work will go down the tube with an ill-conceived project taking its place. Many obstacles are realities no matter what the motivational speakers say. Judging issues aside, the common complaint is about competitions being run in bad surf. Admittedly Mundaka was terrible (and should be dropped), but the notion of locking in long waiting periods and jetting pros off on the forecasters call is, at this stage, fanciful. And this for a number of reasons: 1) At any time of the day we can switch on the internet and view any swell and see exactly where in the world is going off. Those clever social researchers say that access to instant media has altered our perceptions of time and space. Yet the reality is: the world is still a fucking big place and there's only so many flights you can book at short notice. The ASP would need a fleet of Fokkers to get a couple hundred surfers, managers, coaches, photogs, groupies, journos, webcast team and caterers from all corners of the globe to Spot-X on time. 2) Long-range forecasting will only get you so far. If the comp is set for a west-facing coastline you can usually tell a swell is coming from a week out. What the local winds will do is another issue and can completely ruin good surf. If you only get one shot at it three days is a better bet to make that call. And if you are on a coast that has more erratic swell patterns, then three days is the absolute max to make a good call and mobilise everyone. Better trade in those Fokkers for Lear Jets and cross your fingers that everyone in the operation can make it. You can write-off warm-up surfs. 3) Then there is gaining permission to surfspots. Already many waves in developed countries have access restrictions slapped on them (Trestles, and maybe soon Bells) or blocked outright (Lennox, Gnaraloo, Raglan) and this trend will continue. Waves cannot be locked away for long waiting periods only to have the pros waltz in on the day of the season. This isn't as much of a problem in less developed countries as sponsors can play the 'helps the economy' hand. But that brings me to... 4) Webcasting. If you've ever tried to send photos from an internet cafe in Bali you'd appreciate how hard it is to get decent bandwidth in less developed countries. Webcasting in the Mentawai's? Not yet...you can't have both remote perfection and perfect connection. And if punters can't access the webcast, well, what is the point of companies putting money in? OK...I fear I'm getting carried away and risk losing my mantle as objective commentator so I'll wind it up. A common cry after the J-Bay comp, which got perfect waves, was that the ASP 'got it right'. Yet the fact was the ASP didn't do anything different. They got swell, that's all. They could've just as easily had it locked in for Keramas and copped a flat spell, thereby causing anonymous Gen Y bloggers everywhere to cry: 'they should've had it at J-Bay'. So to you Generation Y mob who think every single comp has to be run in perfection, understand this: you can't be physically everywhere, you do have to wait, and you can't control nature. And one last thing, I'm right. Yours (fairly) Sincerely Stuart Nettle PS: Mundaka will be 8 foot tomorrow. Seriously.