Yeeew! Arrive in Fiji on 9th June for a week long boat charter to Lau island group. Better pack a big board or two.

Awesome, should be an epic return to the Fiji contest by the sound of things. Will be nice to see a few decent barrels too, a nice change after the beachies of Rio

Tim / Frother ....

Maybe you might want to change either your swellnet photo of Status Photo on FB . hehehehhe

Yes , solid swell and perhaps Rotten Kramps and Steve will debate the webcast numbers !!! ?

I hope Ben gets on the blower , and sends over a couple of underground guys like Camel etc .

Sounds like the waves are gonna play ball, hopefully the webcast will too. Will be awesome to watch if it's in the 8-10ft range. Heaps of contenders for the title this year, will be interesting to see who shines.

And Southey...... why did you call me Tim?

This could be the contest of the year fellas..?!


@Stu @Ben

I'm still available to cover the contest for you at very Reasonable Rates

@Stu @Ben

Great WOD Image today by Fredo btw

You gonna be over there Joe? Half your luck, the swell forecast is looking great. As for coverage: we're already sorted at this end, thanks anyway. Let me know where you put the shots though and I'll link to the page.

Bit of a head wreck today's image is. Can't say I was a big fan when I first laid eyes on it, but like prescription meds it's slowly getting a hold of me.

Thanks Stu will do...

My eyes are still recovering Fredo

Frother ,

Sorry . I've seen someone going by the first name Tim with your avatar photo as his Facebook Picture icon comment on a few Photo's . So given thats its not a Photo I've seen anywhere else i thought you may have been him ?

As for impending Contest /swell and possible winds with an N in them come the peak of the Swell . Could we start looking at the Fittest surfer to come into play . I know they will probably use Ski assist . But Surely even they have their limits at the Cloudbreak lineup at SOLID size ?
In saying this , I'm presuming that Restaurants doesn't like any Nth in the wind , and Cloudbreak will handle it better ?
Regardless , given John John perhaps hasn't ridden as much size when it comes to Long Point break type waves / reef passes , and the fact he's younger . This will probably answer whether pure youth can match , older cunning , guile , experience & fully mature /strong / fit adult bodies .
So the possibilities are endless . Look forward to this one .....I reckon G'Land and Cloudbreak both are the best locations for a contest ( for internet viewing ) .Unfortunately due to lulls in these locations , watchers might need a side project . Either that or the webcast team show freesurfing at the non contest venue in between sets ?

Ha, no worries Southey. I got the photo off google mate, so I hope some poor bloke called Tim doesn't have a delusional bunny standing outside his bathroom.

http://funpages.funmunch.com/funpage-65.html

Love the idea of broadcasting freesurfing at the non-contested wave during lulls, gets a bit tedious when no waves are caught for long periods.

It's simple southey just add Kate Upton's 'Cat Daddy' dance when there's a lull!

It's no gimme at maximum size that's for sure and Slater's free-surf last year showed his mini-boards just don't cut it once it's past 10 feet.
They should run over-lapping heats to make use of lulls and ten wave sets, like they did at Pipe.

Dunno if overlapping heats would work at a long wave like Cloudbreak or Restaurants. I can see drop ins or interferences if surfers in the priority heat want to take off on a wave halfway down the reef. Don't think it'd be a common scenario but toward the end of tight heats when a surfer needs a low score quickly then it's likely.

Yeah, guess so. Would take some kind of balls to drop in on someone in a ten foot shack.
Better get used to watching hall of fame surf peel off unridden during man on man heats.

No unfortunately not Craig . ( Don't mention the War...../ if i'm not there it isn't happening )....

It's okay , I have to catch up on work since i got behind with the Birth of my second son . I'm not that upset about the waves , would have been okay this morning , but definitely not as good as the Thursday arvo before Good Friday ( best in 20 years , I'm calling ).

The real crying shame is mates south of Portland snaring Torpedo's .

Looks like the problem will be a surfeit of swell now,.......what do you think of the latest frontal progression just post the ECL Craig?

"Looks like the problem will be a surfeit of swell"

"Que" says the bald Spanish man, "Please explain" the red-headed bogan.

And they weren't asking about the word surfeit. They know what that means.

Sorry Patty, the front poised to "enter the Tasman" just after the passage of the ECL looks pretty juicy and I was hoping to get Craig's professional opinion on the latest model runs.

Feck me, the Southern Ocean/Southern Tasman Sea storm track is like a conveyor built in the long range models. Solid storm fetch after solid storm fetch. Fiji could go down as one of the best comps in years......and with most of the pros already there, and the way the forecast is shaping up, one would think they'll all hang around long after the comp is finished. Question for the organisers is will they run this coming Sunday/Monday with 6-8ft or have some balls and wait for the juicer back to back swell trains!!!

How longs the waiting Period . ???
I reckon they'll go for the easiest option. 6-8 Ft CloudBreak . and then 4-6 Restraunts . The Pro's will cry poor that they don't have the Boards to ride it Bigger ........

And with that , there goes the Internet Viewing Numbers ( Downward ) ..... Too many wash thru's for some of the softer Pro's , when its at that in between size 8Ft till 12ft ... 12+ Then its Rhino Chaser territory . As proven by Laurie last year when he got toasted on a 7'6 board ?!

@ Southy, how good would it be to see Laurie in the comp if it was macking! I reckon he would leave 99% of them for dead, he is frickin mad... Which of the pros would go harder??

Kieren Perrow , or has he left the Tour ???

Yeah or maybe dusty or jjf? Not too many more

G,
Dusty's out injured ........
Oh and don't forget The Hobgoods ( can't remember which one has won here before in size ) and Teahupoo !!!

Owen's a good chance , although he hasn't really surfed it much . I know if its big , that Joel and Mick have been known to be found Lacking . This is such a shame 'coz they are both such top blokes ...... but neither have convinced me of their dizzy heights in lefts , compared to their performance in rights . ( first hand analysis . )

I think the ECL's latest forecast location may stuff up the contunuity and even the possible peak to the swell later in the week . Could mess up the wave period of all the above aswell .

I always figured Cloudbreak was a long reefbreak, but I was surprised at how short the rides were today, with the end section a bit like Chopes.....closing out on very shallow reef? Is it always like this or was the swell direction a little different to normal today?

Restaurants is longer yeah?

Bout the same....ish

The more west in it, the further down the reef you sit. If its a south east windswell you can sit way up from where you usually would in a solid SW groundswell. The inside corner (shish kebabs) is downright nasty if you're caught inside.

Same goes with "drain pipe"

(Insert American accent) "oh my god, look at that drain pipe"

Chris Cote is my new favourite least liked commentator and Blakey appears so far out of his comfort zone.

Blakey needs to go on the Clive Palmer diet plan and Cote needs to go to the Marcel Marceau acting school.

Pretty impressed with the webcast stream quality of this event. We had it on a full screen monitor here in the office (via internet, not Fuel TV) and it looked as every bit as good as a TV broadcast.

They're using the RedBullTV satelite link. We all know RedBull don't do anything by halves. Yes, the webcast is seamless. I assume it is broadcasting in HD? Appears to be no other low-feed options available?

Actually these days they stream via "adaptive bit-rate" - this means the player checks your internet speed and delivers the highest quality stream your connection can handle. If your internet speed drops for some reason (ie if you begin simultaneously downloading a large file from another website), then it'll seamlessly swap to a lower stream rate.

This technology has been around for a little while but this is the first event where it's worked perfectly at my end.

appears this event is so "shitty" , all that's left to whine about is the commentators.

looks mighty fine to me .

"appears this event is so "shitty" , all that's left to whine about is the commentators."

And how few people are watching it.

why would anyone want to watch the sic bazzas online from Fiji when you could be headbutting your hollywoood handbag on twatter ?

I'm having all sorts of problems with the website on my iPad.
Seems like every time I type in volcomfijipro.com I get a different home page.
Current problem is it keeps automatically opening up the live feed, even though the contest is finished

TD, that would make you 1 of the "non-viewers" .

Downloaded the app and that doesn't even open, keeps saying that I need an active Internet connection even though I have one.
And by the way genius, I love pro surfing, and the reason why I agree with Rottmouth on some points is that, like him, I think the ASP are a hopeless bunch of jokes and that sycophantic surf journalists only make the problem worse.
The coverage I saw on Fuel yesterday was great

What app did you download Tyler? I wasn't aware that the ASP had an iPad app (online an iPhone app).

As for your comment "it keeps automatically opening up the live feed, even though the contest is finished" - that's something they've probably configured it to do, that way there's always something to watch when you log in (rather than having a blank screen saying "come back tomorrow"). I think they probably need some way of acknowledging that it's an archive feed but it's a reasonable compromise.

The volcomfijipro.com website gave me the option of downloading the volcom app, which I did. This is the one that doesn't open.
When I try to get into that volcomfijipro.com via the Internet it automatically transfers me to the live feed, with no way of getting back to the home page, so I can't even watch the heats on demand etc. But it has been variable throughout the day. Sometimes I was taken to a regular looking site which said I needed an adobe player to watch it live. For a brief minute there during Wilkos heat I somehow managed to watch it live (for about 5 minutes), without ever downloading the player. Next time I opened it up I was back at the download adobe player site. Now stuck on the blank live feed site

I can't see on the Volcom Fiji Pro website where to download the app.. which URL is it?

URL??? Mate, I can barely turn a computer on!
All I did was type in volcom pro into google which then found volcomfijipro.com.
When I went to open the website up popped a flyer giving me the option to download the app or proceed to the regular website. All of this was done on my ipad2.
If you go to the app store and search for the volcom app you'll be able to find it there

Sid...make that 2 non viewers. I had to hit the refresh icon every 10 seconds. So I flagged it and went surfing instead. Actually...don't feel like I missed a thing now that I come to think of it. Who won?

Did anyone see 'brother' go postal in his heat? If I knew how to post a picture here I would post some of the screen-shots of Kolohe( the spawn of Dino my nemesis) I took as he completely demolished a perfectly good surfboard and threw away about 2 feet of the nose.
He's actually quite good at it.
I'm sure Nike/Target/Red Bull are proud!?!?

Nah, didn't see it Z-man but heard about it. Didn't realise it was that dramatic though. Demolished his board? The surfers' equivalent of smashing up a television. How rocks star!

@stunet - pete townshend - the who

I've been watching this swell with interest but am more of a casual observer than expert... so, just to confirm, are you saying the ECL will have limited effect on the swell set in motion deep in the Tasman under NZ? It appears that as it develops there is is a strong band of wind on it's E and SE flank that would be blowing against that swell. As the low drift ENE this becomes more of a booster on the W side. Certainly an interesting setup playing out....

Also, some models show forerunners in the 23secs range for Thursday for Tavarua - what's the max recorded for a significant swell?

OffShore , This is what I was banging on about the other day . Craig instills in me that it won't affect it .

I 'm of teh opinion that it will redirect alot of the Focus of the early part of the Swell to Head more Due Nth and up to the Solomons .
And like you said the Secondary western Flank will combine to maintain the Strength of the Initial Grnd Swell . Either way they'll get waves . But it might even make for the middle of the Swell to be closer to WSW direction as opposed to SSW . Good for Restaurants , Dangerous for the Now over hyped SHish ka BOBS . ?!!!

I presume that this is where my " unlearned Knowledge " is lacking .

Would have sworn that a Swell will be remanipulated , beaten down or redirected by surface winds as it travels . If not then my understanding of how Swell travels through open water is obviously lacking . The prime examples i see of it for my own understanding is the Equatorial waters often see more Southerly or Northerly and even throw innsome east as original SW/NW swells pass through the Trade Belts . This is essentuated more where land masses or even Shoals /Islands effect Atmospherics . ( Prime Example , NWA STrong offshores from the Top of the Winter High's swinging an original SW swell all the way back to an ESE by the time it reaches the Maldives . And places like Pohnpei in the Nth Hem. where the Marshall / Micronesian Nthn Chain / Shoals have similar effect on Ocean Currents and Hence surface ATmospherics . ??? Alas , I'm Wrong ... And as for swells other influences , I think your Forgetting Tidal Flow and Surface Currents ?
Maybe its time i went to School again , perhaps all the Signwave Harmonics study ( ELectrical ) has rewired my brain , askew .

On another note .

Was watching the early Second Round yesterday . And at some stage they showed a Clip of Interviews where most Pro's discussed who was their favourite / the best people to watch at CB . Many for obvious reasons spoke of AI and the lines he drew . ANd then i nearly choked my toast when i think it was Jon Roseman ? that singled out Lorne Winch as a " maniac " in solid conditions . I for one being a Victorian do not for a Minute under value Wayne's surfing , very much in contrast . Was a massive pat on the back from ( if i'm correct , Roseman ) "the Man" who's probably seen it all in those waters .
I'm not surprised considering I've attempted one or two of the Heavy Lefts that WL's pioneered in this neck of the woods . Obviously he'd done a fair bit of "Training" for CB @ ........... , its cold water twin .

Just want to say cheers guys for how much I've learnt on this site about every thing to do with swell, forecasting, weather and everything else. If I learnt this much in school I'd be a brain surgeon instead of digging holes! Good to see Wayne lynch getting some recognition being a fellow Victorian. Ripping surfer but a grumpy bastard... Been getting wet Southey?

Thanks for the reply Craig. Interesting in terms of redirection and imparting/removing energy on existing groundswell. I don't think people pipe up enough in appreciation of the time and expertise you guys willingly share - so thanks! Enjoy frothing over this ECL :)

Ya not wrong about those lefts being good training for CLoudbreak either southy!! It's certainly an "experience" surfing those joints

GF ,

Mate , I've been getting wet ( milk and baby Spew ) ..... Go easy on Lynchy' , he's just gettin used to the fact that there aren't as many secrets goin' round as there was 20 yrs ago . In that regard , I don't blame him . I'm quite partial to surfing alone aswell ...... Surprised "others" were havin ' a dig at aforementioned spot . Must be checkin' it at different times ay' .! Still haven't seen anyone else " paddle " it lately . Although i beleive Rhino may have been barrelled nearby recently , when indigenous viistors crowded up an adjacent spot .

Southy, if were talking bout the same place there is a few guys from down here that have had the odd crack at it.. If that's who you meant by "others"? I can only imagine some of the sessions W.L has had by himself in years gone by... Lucky bugger. But things change and It makes those sessions you do get to yourself all the more special

Rigga's the only bloke that I've seen around those parts from MP ( not counting Gerard and Russ ) . Although i must say i'm not about as often as i used to be . That and being in WA for the best part of 5 yrs , up until 2007 . Noticed , since i returned from the west , that crowds had doubled in said region .

So the big question is now, will they run the event on Friday/Saturday at Cloudbreak or Restaurants? If Restaurants is a more mechanical and technically perfect wave, then I'd advocate to relocate the comp there, even it is smaller thasn Cloudbreak, cause to date, I haven't been impressed with the wave quality and consistency of quality, or length of ride at Cloudbreak from what I've seen.

Almost all the pros are saying that Restaurants is the best wave they have ever surfed. Haven't seen any of them saying that about Cloudbreak.

I hope they get to run it at huge cloudbreak. I cant wait to see the drama unfold. Sure every wave isnt going to be perfect but there will be a few amazing waves ridden, some massive beatdowns and it will be cool to see who stands up in those conditions and starts throwing themselves over the ledge.
A barrell like Hippo's or Scard's in an ASP comp, I would like to see that.

of course the average pro will enjoy perfect 4-6' restaurants more than 10' + cloudbreak. Just like every other surfer on the planet they have a comfort zone and 10' cloudbreak probably is outside of that zone for the majority. However there would be a fair chance of them rating a barrell like hippos bomb as the best wave they've ever caught should they make it.

Who cares if they want too or not or what there comfort zone is. I just want to see giant cloud break freight trains mowing down who ever is left in the comp and see who runs for cover and who turns around and swings in. Surely at the top level all of those boys should have to have a dig? They've got enough people there to pull them out of trouble. I pray they don't shift it to restaurants, seen enough footage of pros threading perfect barrels all over the world, lets see some full on carnage and courage.

Reecen , could not agree more .....

I reckon character is to be judged on when and how people react when they are well out of their depth ..... 90% of talk from years gone past from momentus times in contest is talk of 81' Bells and 76 ? Smirnoff , Pipe in 84 ? ....
And its not whoever tearing the conditions to pieces ( but that too is spoken of ) , more importantly its the guys who stepped up and took it on .... Or in contrast failed either Heroically / Horrendously ....

But we are both forgetting one major change to Society , and more so magnified by the Americans' love of Litigious actions . SO when a Comp is run by an American Company from an American resort , then you can Sure as hell bet they'll be taking the Safe Restaurants Option .....

Maybe now that the Yanks have handed back the rights to both Cloudbreak and Restaurants to the Local Chiefs / Elders / Tribes get to say where they hold it . And hopefully their Warrior Instinct comes out and they force Pampered Princes ' hands ......
Oh Yeah , @ Sunbay . Ask Bruce Irons & Ryan Hipwood where they would rather Surf . You never know until ya GO !!!!!!

OR Hughie could just put a Spanner in THEIR works . And the Wind have some N in it over 5kts for the entire peak of the Swell !!!! Argh but alas there is another Pulse due late Sunday/Monday ........

They spent yesterday setting up contest infrastructure at Restaurants if that tells you anything.

I doubt they'll turn down 6 ft + perfection at Restaurants but if CB stays perfect they might. Any N in the wind hoses CB also so they're definitely not going to send them out in unruly onshore conditions when it's maxing.

Bring it on.

Looks like friday CB,glassy increasing swell all day.....hope they hold it at CB,big glassy barrells all day...and looks like sat is the windy day,swell peaks in the morning and restaraunts should be perfect for the finals.....

I was in Fiji ,when Laird was there for the Globe.....swell doesn't look as big?? or is it just a soggy memory??

I think the problem with Cloudbreak is there's two swell trains heading toward Fiji: a long period one formed south of Tassie and a shorter period one from the recent ECL off Australia's East Coast. The shorter period swell will pollute the clean, long period stuff and for that reason I don't think it'll be as perfect as the June 2011 or September 2010 (the Scardy swell!).

I imagine it'll be sectiony and have a bit of wonk. My bet is Restaurants.

damm.....I think as a specatacle,increasing cloudbreak in big glassy conditions and having to hunt the right one...is...entertaining at least.....but I see ya point ....pardon the pun......

First off, Volcom is now a well funded French company run by Seppos. So, welcome yourself to the world of global trade, Southy.

Secondly, "The Hollywood Handbag"... has to be the most alltime handle laid upon a parking lot dorknob... evah!

Here we come, folks... A top shelf surfing test match consisting of a three day weekend of ten foot Fiji....

Best thing is, it WIIL be,... first class content broadcast on an ever increasing platform of devices of your choice......

FOR FREE!

Who fucking cares if Volcom is a french funded company this is a surfing competition. Noones talking about business but you. Piss off.

I don't think any of the surfers left in the comp will hold back or be out of their comfort zones, the Code Red day in Tahiti last year was a much heavier swell and in the comp they had serious waves, so I think the boys will put ona fantastic show. Can't wait for the comp to resume.

@ttmygy - see Southey's comments, above, re Roller's biz reference.

@Whaat,

I stand by my comments. He's a repeat, repeat offender, bloke has to learn to expand his repertoire.

Agreed things.

Throw in 'BOOYAH!' and the endless bitching on and on about BR-well,
its a bit tiresome roller, old boy.

Ask BR

Apparently he Blocked the Roller from his Blog

Okay point taken Roller .... Not that it matters if they are ran by Americans .
I'm with brutus , maybe its a Victorian thing . As for this thread , it was happily BR free . Pls let this be the last time he was mentioned .
And back to Topic . What about this Swell . Who's thinking , who will do well .... try to pick before tomorrows heats continue ..... Any chance a smokey ???? Owen ?

Surfjoe, the hollywood handbag blocked those who disagreed with him. also those who were up in the comment section predicting his failure as a blogger, mostly on a count that all he ever did was channel/copy what Lewis Samuels had done previously.... narcissists roll like that.

As to who takes the Volcom Fiji crown, i'll go with the oddsmakers, BKS, Double J, or Wrighty... with a side order of the funky HOT Medina.

Whoever takes and makes The Juicy Ones.

Interestingly, all bets are nil if Slater does not surf....

http://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/surfing/volcom-fiji-pro

First up, Southy (and Don and Craig), thanks for the heads up in the forcast you gave me back in early May.

I realy hope that if CB is solid and clean they go with it. Don't get me wrong, Restaurants is a awesome wave, but CB has power.

As for Tav no longer having CB rights, its hard to determine if its a good or bad thing. Now called 'Crowdbreak', the drop-ins etc are horrendous and the yanks are the worst offenders. They are generally pretty bad in the water everywhere in Fiji from my recent experiences.

In saying that, I still had a great time and scored heaps of good and sometimes uncrowded waves (5 of us at perfect Restaurants one morning).

As for who is going to do well, Ol Baldy is always going to be a threat there, Hobgoods also, I'd love to see Mitch upset them all and he has a real chance if its kept at solid CB. But after last years performances at chopes, it's a bloody hard call.

8am (FJT) call at Restaurants................

Been funny reading the Twitter parade from the last hour, everyone hanging major shit on the ASP for not running at Cloudbreak today. Only to have the ASP announce that they're running at Cloudbreak today! This is the second time Volcom has leveraged the twitter twats to their advantage. First they got them to spread rumours about the event being cancelled. Now they got them in a lather about not running about Cloudbreak. Funny stuff!

Whatever it takes to make it happen!! Bring on Cloudbreak. I'd like to know where a majority of the pro's want to surf.

Twitter. Like the Volcom/ASP live feeder webcast itself,... it's free... And part of every corporations business plan.

All mod cons!

As to the top shelf test match/comp, let's roll.

No mater where it's held.... It's going to be SIIIIICK!.

and cloudbreak it is.....40 min heats.....looks 10-12'.......wind bit into the tube...exciting stuff.....Jon Jon will be interesting to watch,as he's on a roll,and treats waves like this ,as a fun beachy...

alright the winds backed off a little , should keep doing so . The freesurfers have had their chance . Roll on Round 3 ....... Lets do it already ....still owen ...although there is nothing Double Juan can't do so special mention also .

SOFT COCKS. Called it off right after someone got a ten second tube ......

what a crock!!! saying that the conditions are too dangerous and not good enough, while the live feed is showing blokes pulling into back to back barrels... WTF?!?!?!

Yeah, a bit of disgrace given that every wave caught in the free surf has been successfully ridden.
What a joke!
Anyway, telecast of the free surf is more entertaining

how can they seriously justify calling it off??!?

there are some incredible waves coming through and blokes are getting shacked off there tits!

the pussification of the ASP continues...

yea sure dudes. hope you didn't miss it live. all the folks at Volcom just put on an awesome show. did what a few are complaining about, streamed free surf in solid conditions. !surfing and isurfing all in one packet.

so, what's the next whingeing point?

I'm cheesed cos I'm workin' for the man today.

Heats on Demand would have been real nice later tonight.
So now I missed everything.

In the words of Kelly "it probably is not good for the tour".
Could have been the best day of competitive surfing in history.
Still, better to watch that than the actual contest, at least there were continual waves being ridden.
Funny how when the contest director came on and said the comp is being cancelled basically every wave ridden from then in the surfer successfully flicked off the shoulder after an awesome barrel.
I don't think he'll be getting another gig

I think a better explanation is that most of those peanuts on tour didn't bring the right boards for that size.

It was pushing 4 X overhead.

Here's a hypothetical.

Lets say the comp was up to the Quarter Finals; surely they would have ran the final day in the conditions we witnessed this afternoon?

At the very least they should have held dual-heats today once that wind dropped out after the last heat.

"I think a better explanation is that most of those peanuts on tour didn't bring the right boards for that size."

Yeah this swell caught every one by surprise!!!! ;)

For feck's sake, every one in the world knew this swell was coming so how hard is to pack the right quiver!!!

I'm with you Don. They all knew and should have packed accordingly.

ASP or who ever is responsible for not running today have better have a water tight explination. It's unexplainable in MO.

absolute disgrace ASP,take your dream tour to the beachies of japan, leave cloudbreak to the real punters such as hippo, scardy,towner , the camel ,real surfers that wanna have a go..........

Sid? Roller? Surfer Joe? Any insights?

http://vimeo.com/43653245

Lawdy.

Cmon Roller, after that link where is your defence...?????

They should have run for sure, but it was pretty awesome that most waves were ridden because it was a free surf. That was a full blown spectacle. Amazing and so lucky volcom and red bull where there to beam it into our homes.

A sad day for the ASP, but a great day for surfing in general.

Possible reasons why they did not run the comp today:
1. A monumental error of judgement by the contest director. The conditions at the end of the Otton/Montiero heat were pretty shit but they were better an hour or so later when the comp was called off for the day. In fact, while Matt Wilson was explaining the decision Ryan Hipwood scored an amazing barrel and from then on the conditions only got better. A few boards were snapped and some leg ropes broken but nobody was injured and the vast majority of waves were successfully ridden. So I think poor old Matt is resigned to being the contest director for the Saturday morning comps of the Queenscliff boardriders and no better
2. There were a lot of Hawaiians and other big wave surfers out in the line up. All of these guys would have been kicked out of the water, maybe this had something to do with the decision
3. Volcom realized there was more to be gained by running the telecast of the free surf than the comp, given that there would have been way less action during 2 or 4 man heats than the free surf
4. The conditions were made to look safe by the guys who surfed it but would not have been safe for the comp surfers given that they are less accustomed to those type of conditions. A few select guys who were left in the comp were out there, but there were a couple of notable absentees...D'Souza, Mendina. If this was the reason then really that is a disgrace. If Parko, Mick, John John, Josh Kerr, the Hopgoods and the Gudauskas brothers can all get waves then fuck the rest, game on
I sincerely hope it was reason 1, but either way it reflects very badly on Richie Porte, Renato Hickel and Matt Wilson, given that nobody was injured or came to harm. And anyway, who cares if they did? It's surfing, you can get killed or paralysed in any conditions. This concept of "it's not safe" really just makes no logical sense, especially when for the hour before and 3 hours after not one single free surfer came to harm.
It was great to watch, and good on Volcom for showing it, but unfortunately the ASP missed out on an opportunity to run a comp in the some of the greatest conditions of all time

Renato Hickel said one of the factors they didn't run was they needed everyone off the tower by 4pm for safety reasons (need all staff back on land by dark). The comp was officially called off at 2pm, so if they gave it the green light then they wouldn't have started till 2:20 which means they would've only got two heats done for the afternoon. I guess they'd say that's not an ideal start to Round 3.

Hickel's answer kinda flies in the face of what Matt Wilson said on camera but then I imagine there's many factors that go into their decision. Also, Volcom had no say in the decision, it was made by the contest director, head judge and surfers rep only.

Personally I think they should've given the green light at either 1 or 1:30 as the wind was noticeably better then. Still not dead offshore but very surfable, and, most importantly it was monumental stuff. They should've been looking for reasons to run it - once-in-lifetime-surf, massive media coverage, gladiatorial drama - rather than the reasons not to.

As it is a moment has passed that they won't ever get back.

ASP world tour surfing lost a lot of credibility i believe. Worlds best surfers - worlds best waves?? Fair enough if it wasn't surfable by paddling like Chopes last year, but it was today. And it wasn't inco either, there were plenty of waves.

When did Hickel say that? I recorded the telecast and watched his interview just then and he didn't mention anything about 4pm.
The commentators said that they had to get the camera equipment off by 4 but could run the comp until 5.
That makes at least 3.5 hours surf time, which is 7 thirty minute heats, maybe up to 12 with the overlapping format.
Even if it had to be finished by 4, with 30 minute heats and the overlapping format they could have run 6 heats between 2 and 4pm.
Can you guarantee that Volcom had no influence over Hickel and Wilson?

3 Words...WHAT THE FUCK?? Tomorrow may be smoking, clean and going off. But today was, as Stuart said "Gladiatorial stuff". I saw some epic pits and heart in your mouth type surfing.

Hats off to the free surfing telecast. But I honestly thought that pro surfing was about surfing in any conditions. I don't give a stuff what happens over the next coupla' days...the waves were big,raw, challenging and surfable - as the free surfers proved...WAVE AFTER WAVE!!! I'll say it again - WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK!!!

I wanna go on record and apologise to Mick and Joel . For this comment

"Owen's a good chance , although he hasn't really surfed it much . I know if its big , that Joel and Mick have been known to be found Lacking . This is such a shame 'coz they are both such top blokes ...... but neither have convinced me of their dizzy heights in lefts , compared to their performance in rights . ( first hand analysis . ) "

Today they showed massive Figs and composure to really push their Limits . Very proud to Have them as Aussies . They didn't just put in a Token effort they had a Fair Dinkum Dig .... Multiple Rides that I saw .
And Mick Got Balls deep on one that Bucked him off .... I hope if they or their close friends read this thread that they didn't take offence . And if they did , maybe /hopefully they will see what we've all carrying on about as an Incentive / encouragement ......

But enough of the Fluffy Stuff .... The ASP still made a big mistake . Fancy Looking a Gift Horse ( EPIC conditions ) in the Mouth ( Gaping Keg's ) . And complain about a bit of Ruffage on the Surface . It should be about all conditions , and hence they then deserve their Title of " The Best of the Best " . I know there's punters out there given the Opportunity would give their Left Nut ..... to be there let alone , have a crack ...... V Disapointed , and worry that I'm starting to sound like some other negative people who have filled these threads .

Take 2 tommorrow ? Time for Redemption !!!!!!?

TD,
I sent an email to Renato about the decision and that was his reply. Also, they were running 40 min heats not 30 and I don't think they can just activate overlapping heats that simply as they need extra webcast and scoring functionality.

As for Volcom: don't think they'd care about the decision one way or another. An incredible spectacle happened on their watch and I imagine they're thrilled.

Why have things changed? Is it an insurance/liability thing?

The ASP (or governing body at the time) had no hesitation in sending out competitors in the 1985 Billabong Pro at maxing Wiamea with no jetski patrol. Yet these days all the safety precautions are accounted for to an exceedingly high standard but no-one has the balls to give the nod in a contest situation.

I bet if Perrow was still in the event he would have wanted the contest to go ahead as surfers rep.

Eddie would go!

Fair enough Stu, but as a worse case scenario they still could have run 4 thirty minute heats no probs, well worth doing.
And I do think Volcom care...if there is more to be gained from running a free surf and televising it as opposed to the comp then they certainly may have influenced the decision.
After all, supposedly the most watched live surfing event in history was not actually a comp but the Teahupoo free surfing session on the big day

Got the viewing numbers on the webcast Stu or am I opening up a can of worms?

Not sure why everyone is losing there shit over this and hurling crap at ASP/contest directors. In my humble opinion the best outcome possible for purely watching and enjoying this significant swell event played out today. The frequency and make rates on those bombs was incredible. We got a ring side seat to the best big wave guys doing their thing - enjoy it for what it is - your "they should have ran the comp blah, blah, blah" is taking away from the sheer balls and skills those stand outs showed.

Does everyone here have a death wish for the top 40? They're skilled as it gets but are you going to tell me Taj was going to pack one near as good as Reef, Romano, Healey etc? Not to mention the waste of watching 9 out of 10 perfect waves go ridden . The top 40 would have ridden with a preservation mentality - next rounds, conserve boards (many which were borrowed) etc, etc Instead we got balls to the wall charging. yes, it would have redefined ASP competitive surfing limits but at the end of the day I like surfing and watching surfing. The best possible surfing in fact and especially when it's free and on the limits of rideable.

It was an incredible day. The contest did not run. Who fucking cares.

^^^^ applause ^^^^

Being a recent transplant to Europe and currently unemployed, as well as having been in Fiji for 14 days during the last half of May, I had strapped in for a sleepless night of watching keg fest 2012.

What I got was Drawbridge doing a few nice turns, Mellington Steele struggling for any form of control, Otto lucking into a quarter wave pit, and some Brazilian fellow on an oil tanker getting cut in half by half the Pacific on the inside corner after a pit that may have, according to calculations, scored 13.97.

The only regret I have, besides coming here to live of course, is that I didn't stay up to watch the free surfing. Whilst watching the heats was fun waiting for the inevitable beating, it was SLOOOOOW viewing.

The above two comments explain why the comp didn't run: it was a better spectacle for Volcom not to run it.
The issue of a surfer getting injured and subsequently suing the ASP for damages is just simply bullshit

Slip on 'yer "watchman urinal", 'ya whingers....

after hearing from the complainers forever that contest surfing is horse, and that all that really counts is the "free surf", all who chose to had the chance to watch LIVE a pretty ultimate "free" surf in solid conditions. the kind of stuff that would have these constant complainers soiling their britches.

which proves once again positively... complainers will find something to complain about no matter what.

it's too bad complainers don't get paid.... if they were either smart or serious, they would shop around for corporate sponsorship paying professional pussies complaining in the comment sections.

i'm thinking Kimberley Clark Worldwide, maker of Kleenex. as well as Depends adult diapers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adult_diapers

would be a perfect fit!

Epic.

Ya got nuthin Roller.

You're just a youtube troll.

What is with the judging??

JJ, late drop, threaded difficult sectioning barrel, critical lip hit and recovers the fall to another quick barrel, critical lip hit and falls. In complete ride. 9.80

JK, long fast barrel holding his line, 3 big lip hits, 2 that are pretty critical. Completed ride. 7.33.

WTF. Am I missing something here???

Is that all you've got, fitzie be boy? After those who went on and on with the neggie whingeing about yesterday's free streaming for hours and hours of an ultimate "free" surf in 2X 3X conditions, it's now back to complaining about the judging?

Pfffft, dude. you got doughnuts.

I think you will find I was asking for others opinions and their views with judging be subjective. If you have taken that as whinging/complainig that is entirely your problem.

As always, you got nuthing Roller. Go back to all day trolling of youtube. I'm going for a surf.

And I can't see any complaining above about the free streamimg of the free surf in quality waves. Once again fool, you have totally missed the point.

hey yo, fitzie, i am not referring to you whatsoever, but one can always tell a complete neggo douchenozzle, as they are up in the surf comment sections, as well as on twittie, complaining about perfect Fiji streaming live for free!

Rest forever, Bob Welch.

I'm not complaining about the free streaming, I loved it.
But tell me Roller why did they call off yesterday's competition?
From the end of the Otton heat there were guys out free surfing. The line up stayed busy until they officially called it off, then it was packed.
Prior to the call nobody ran into trouble, and while Matt Wilson was speaking Ryan Hipwood got an awesome barrel.
Surely if there are guys free surfing in the comp area safely then it's game on.
There is a distinct possibility that Volcom influenced this call in order to increase the spectacle, as described by a few guys above.
Either way, a shocker by the ASP for not running the comp

guys,relax,and enjoy some of the greatest waves and surfing yet seen on the planet.

what an exceptional day of surfing in its purest form...guys who trained their whole lives ,actually got a chance to test equipment,size of gonads,and have the biggest best waves of their lives,and we are/were lucky enough to see it live, record it,rewatch it,nearly every set wave was ridden,and the live coverage was insane.

If they held the comp,there would have been a huge waste of waves,there would have been heats where barely a wave was made...because this day was beyond the majotity of WT surfers,as they didn't have the equipment,and most would never have seen anything like what was dished up....

but guess what, us the spectators were the ones who saw the most entertaining expression session ever.....I recorded the first heats and then went to work and came back and watched the replay,was doing back flips of the walls watching da boys go off...

don't forget to stop and smell the roses......

parko's thoughts on yesterday joel parko.com.

parko's thoughts on yesterday joel parko.com.

Yes Brutus, we were lucky to see what we saw...and the Volcom symbol over and over again.
Lucky Volcom!

I was stoked to see free-surfing in the big stuff yesterday, there was barely a wave went by unridden. It also allowed for risk taking where there would usually be hesitation due to loss of priority for a not so perfect wave..... and yes, not all the waves were perfect as I saw plenty of floggings in between the good one's.

Very stoked to see the comp at restaurants today. That wave is so mechanical. Getting to see 4 barrels and a couple of hacks on one wave is pretty bloody awesome, as are 6 second plus barrels. I think the right decision was made yesterday as it made for awesome viewing yesterday and today, and it sounds like there's still some solid stuff to come.

go to redbull.tv and the whole 6 hour broadcast from yesterday is available on-demand.

Fast forward to the exact point they call off the event for the day and that's when the fun starts.
I would be bummed if I was that guy.

Interesting to see the pretty much all the 'hi-fi' new generation absent from all-time CB. with the exception of Juan Juan of course.

Mick, Hob-bads and Joel paddling into some un-sane freaks of nature. While the cameras showed multiple shots of the Brazilians lounging by the pool.

ASP missed out on the best press ever, but I'm glad red bull/volcom pressed play and some real bombs were made into bitches by Ramon Navarro and some random boat operator.

and today was gnarly too. 3 perfect tens that made Gabby Medina's ten from the early round look like puss. Kelly could have had a 20 point heat in round 4. Owen and Hob-bads threw down as the numero uno Goofy's.

Hats off to Medina for scraping through, again. But a chop hop on a shoulder-high inside wave to take down gnarly Parkinson is not winning anyone's respect. Sorry little dude.

once again, the ASP shown up as absolute donkeys for neglecting surf fans for 4 years.
This swell was so bad-ass I can almost excuse Volcom for employing three nasally American bros to call this for 6 hours straight. thank christ for Vaughan Blakey and Bemrose.

kill me now

I wonder what CB was like today and who was surfing it?

I reckon the wind would have made it too unruly . For anyone ...... Too much sth . So would of affected swell quality . let alone crumbling .
And by the looks of what i saw . Healey & Co . were all chilling by the Pool Drinking well earnt Frosty FB's ....
Strange how Kelly got a double Barrel ( both mid sized , and pretty deep ) and not much else " 10 " . Then Owen does a Huge air drop into a much bigger wave so much so , he almost disappears below sea level triple Barrel , and two critical hack s . " 9.4 " . The Barrels ( two of the Three were almost comparative to Slats ) .... But again the " Slater " factor takes over ....

t-durd,

how is it that you find the negaitive in everything?

have you ever been to Fiji and or Tavarua? have you ever surfed macking Thundercloud reef when the winds are variable? Or any of the surrounding locations that go off in these conditions. where most of the rest of the guys were killing it off live the cam?

hey now. there's a huge op for someone who wants to start a parking lot surfer surf company. design product marketable to neggies.

Thanks for that Roller, no Fiji but 10 trips to Indo, plus various other parts of the world. If Ryan Hipwood and an anonymous boat driver can score epic barrels and flick out safely on the shoulder game on!
The free surf was a great result for Volcom, not so good for the ASP. I wonder whether Volcom influenced the decision?
And I again, I loved it...and it proves a point I have made before: 2 man heats are boring to watch. At least Brutus and I agree on that!

right on, Durd. indonesia is not quite the same as Fiji. and as you know well, conditions can turn on of off in minutes. or less.

and if this comp proves anything, this bad ass Volcom sponno'd top shelf free streaming event consisting of free as well as "judged" surfing,... can and will hammer the death nail to the noggin of all of those who are locked as complete negative parking lot barnolds. looking for the end of competitive surfing as we know it.

ten more years! here we come!

Did you enjoy the free surf session? Would you have enjoyed the comp more?
Are you calling Indo soft? Parts can be just as heavy as Fiji and you know it.

"swellnet....wats up stu....sponsers got ya tongue?"

Long weekend. You work on your days off do you?

durdy, did i call Indo soft? nope. have i been enjoying the FULL webcast? damn straight. who hasn't? it's farking FREE!

as to who's calling who a puss, let's here from Old Baldy. BKS.

Roller, Kelly himself said they it was not good for the tour that they didn't run the comp. Joel Parko said they should have run it, as did Nick Carroll.
In the ten minutes prior to the call, the telecast showed a couple if waves being ridden successfully and while Wilson was talking Hipwood scored an awesome one.
After that it got better.
Everyone was rescued safely, and the boat driver who is not a pro surfer or a well known big wave charger managed to get 3 barrels on one wave then flick off safely.
So basically it was a major error of judgement not to run the contest.
Either that or Volcom influenced the ASP to not run the contest because they knew they would get higher ratings by televising the free surf.
Which one to you think it was?

TD, I agree with many of your points however I'm not sold on your suggestion that "Volcom influenced the ASP to not run the contest because they knew they would get higher ratings by televising the free surf".

Surely everyone who was going to tune into the webcast had already done so by that stage?

What you're suggesting is either (1) a large number of people already watching the webcast would have turned it off if the event had continued (instead of the freesurfing), or (2) a large number of people only interested in live freesurf webcasts (which don't actually exist) and who are also not interested in live competition webcasts, would have somehow been alerted to this development and tuned in over the next two hours.

Look, I love a conspiracy theory as much as the next guy, but as far as traffic to Volcom's website was concerned, Friday was always going to be a win-win for Volcom.

The only possible scenario where that wouldn't have been the case would have been in the ASP had elected to run at Restaurants in the morning, in which case all of the cameras would have been at Tavarua and not on the reef scaffolding at Cloudbreak - so we therefore wouldn't have been able to watch any of that session in real time (however I'm sure if this had transpired, there would have been someone out there filming, of which that vision would have eventually made the light of day by now).

So basically, you agree that it was a major error if judgement from the ASP and contest director.
A couple of other points to consider are that multiple people on hear, including Brutus, have said that the free surf provided a much greater spectacle than if they had of run a comp.
Secondly, the code red day at Teahupoo rated higher than any other in the history of live surfing telecasts.
So for those two reasons, I think it is entirely reasonable that Volcom thought the ratings would be higher

Yes, I agree that it was an error of judgment not to continue the comp on Friday.

But, I know first hand what goes into making these decisions and it's not easy. Winds in the tropics are very flukey and whilst they swung favourably in the afternoon, there was an equal possibility that they could have swung even more unfavourably cross shore than they were when they called off competition. Them's the breaks. Maybe they should have made the decision to stay on hold all afternoon just in case? Hindsight is always 20/20, especially from the office cubicle.

Anyway, I just don't buy your suggestion that more people watched the webcast Friday afternoon just because there was free surfing. They watched because the surf was big - didn't matter if it was free surfing or an ASP comp - everyone who could have possibly tuned in did so.

Your second example above is comparing the web traffic on the Code Red Tahiti day to other days when the surf was smaller. Not comparing the merits of running the comp or not running the comp on the same day.

If anything, Friday's freesurf webcast actually cost Volcom a packet more money in bandwidth than they would have anticipated: they would have budgeted for X number of heats for the whole event, therefore X number of hours of satellite accessibility and web streaming data - all of which is NOT cheap. This is extra bandwidth/satellite hire, which therefore is an additional cost at their end. But I doubt they'll be complaining - they received incredible coverage as a result.

Fair points Ben, but remember the camera crew and commentators were already out there so really the only additional cost was bandwidth.
The conditions were better when they finally called it off than at the start of the Melling/Durbidge heat.
So when you are looking at conditions that are better than when you previously decided to run the comp, why cancel it?
If they ran the comp, as Brutus and others have pointed out, you would have seen far less action and long periods without a wave being caught. Surely this would have resulted in a certain percentage of viewers turning off and waiting for the highlights package.
I'm not saying it happened but you have to admit that the above is enough to suggest it is feasible that Volcom got involved and influenced the decision to cancel the comp for the day.

No, I think you're making something from nothing. You're suggesting Volcom influenced the ASP to cancel the comp because it'd get more eyeballs to the webcast and Fuel TV stream. I am pretty certain that they didn't receive "more" viewers for the two hour free surf than what they would have if the comp would have run.

A slightly more plausible argument would be that all of the free surfers (all of whom paid their own way to Fiji to exclusively surf that one-day swell) chipped in and convinced the ASP to call off the contest so they could surf Cloudbreak. The free surfers had much more at stake than Volcom: if the contest ran all day Friday, then they wouldn't have been able to surf at all (which'd have made their trip very expensive).

Volcom were going to win no matter who was in the water.

Where did you learn to debate Tyler, the Cardinal George Pell School of Logic? Let go of the dogma, which in your case is a rampant belief in conspiracies, and understand that a dinosaur fossil is a dinosaur fossil.

24 hours, eh? And yet here you are talking about it 48 hours later. Amazing!

Also, I don't need a wikipedia link to tell me what the 24 hour news cycle is, only underqualified dishpigs like yourself wouldn't have heard of it before.

Keep up the great work Tim.

Ben ,
" But, I know first hand what goes into making these decisions and it's not easy. Winds in the tropics are very flukey and whilst they swung favourably in the afternoon, there was an equal possibility that they could have swung even more unfavourably cross shore than they were when they called off competition. Them's the breaks. Maybe they should have made the decision to stay on hold all afternoon just in case? Hindsight is always 20/20, especially from the office cubicle. " .

Surely it was a Monty to back off and get a little more East . The wind had looked to back off a little or even turned a few degrees to the east around 30 mins prior to the call . If the Sea breeze /trade was going to have an affect , it would of glassed off earlier , so by 11 oclock if the wind hadn't eased . Then you could almost certainly say that it wasn't going to get blown out from the Trades that day .
The models forecast was pretty sure of the wind having a North Aspect , and then it was always going to swing more East and transition to nothing before the next days sth .

And it is pretty easy from an office , I called it was going to turn on on this very site about 15 mins before they called it off ..... All from video footage . Surely Surfline should come under some Pressure . maybe you guys should be championing this fact to make sure a more local compay i taken on in these neck of teh woods to forecast for teh comp . ??!!!!
Cheers
Pete .

It was a troughy pattern Pete, so there was never any certainty in the wind forecast - anything was possible Friday afternoon (sea breezes don't really occur at Tavarua either).

Apparently they'd also experienced torrential downpours with thunderstorm activity the previous day/night (according to the webcast commentators). Thunderstorms are generally more prevalent in the afternoons, and they usually bring funky winds with them. So maybe that was playing on their minds.

I have no idea what factors contributed to the decision to not run the comp on Friday, but I do know that the onsite reality at each event is often a lot different to what appears on the webcast.

have I missed something ?

just got home from 4 days smoking Bungas at Mimosa.

What's all the bru ha ha ?

sid ,

love Bournda down that way . unless you missed a flight to fiji Thursday . You didn't miss much unless you like to listen to thick American Accents overcalling exceptional freesurfing , in Comic Book conditions .

Ben , Tav , doesn't get a Sea Breeze . But Fiji as a whole ( since its a largish land mass Island ) does have specific influences on the Trade . That Southern Side seems to heighten / fasten the sea breeze effect , and hence they very rarely get still days .... But you know that .... It was still a little overcast and clearing . The clouds were starting to break . So also , some models had it NNE - ESE for the Peak of the Swell near to ten days prior . And i think I'd said as much all along .... All from 0.5 - 1.5 hrs of spare time a day i look at this stuff ...... I think my second post 11 dys ago summed it up .

Pete, the models can't accurately resolve the precise wind trends at such a small scale in the tropics under troughy patterns. Not at one day nor eleven days out. I'm not sure what data source you're using for Fiji, but I've gone through the hindcast charts for Friday (as per Thursday evening's run), and there were a range of possible wind outcomes within about 100km2 of Tavarua.

Turns out contest directing is much like surf forecasting. No-one remembers when you get it right, but everyone remembers when you get it wrong.

yeah , i saw the high range of different winds within close proximity a day or two days before it . I'm pretty sure it WW3 or wat eva wetsand uses was showing a reasonably large area of 10-15kts SSE winds close to 100k's south of CB .

With all the talk of Dream Tour , it seems it was just talk . There is not a god mix of differing talent within the 44 . If there was , then there would of been atleast half of em' screamin' at whoever made the decision to call it on . Mechanical waves , lend to mechanical copies of athletes . And if they didn't know/ confident that there was more waves coming later in the week . They would have been runnin' it in anything that moved . But i spose we are all to blame in that respect , of over analysis .

I don't think you even needed to look at the forecasts...the conditions were better when they called it off than when they started and then stopped the event on Friday.
Ben, like you I am just speculating.
Was it purely safety that they called the event off?
Everybody stood to gain by calling it off.
Firstly, none of the Hawaiians or other pro's had to be kicked out of the line up.
The top 32 guys didn't have to go out there and potentially embarrass themselves, or possibly get injured.
Volcom got to telecast an action packed free surf as opposed to in all likelihood a comp with very few waves ridden.

When Matt Wilson made the announcement I remember thinking by his demeanor that he's lying, he doesn't really believe what he is saying.
Within about 10 minutes of the decision to call it off, the commentators announce that the telecast is continuing, so obviously the producers considered it worthwhile to keep televising, even though as Ben says it was incredibly expensive.
So overall, it is certainly is feasable that it was a collaborative decision to call the event off.
Good for Volcom, good for us viewers but a bit sad for the ASP

Hey Ben. Much respect to a bloke that has a website that give the opportunity for sad people like me to comment. But Holy poo-ski's! Did you suggest in one of your previous posts that maybe...just maybe, free surfers who PAID THEIR OWN way my have (potentially) had some influence over Friday's decision?? In what other professional sport would this possibly occur?? Let's assume that you may be remotely correct. If that could POTENTIALLY be the case, then that would be quite an amazing assumption to make.

Think of the scenario..."Nah, big swell forecast, heavy big wave free surfers coming...let's bow to the FREE SURFERS". That would surely never happen in any professional sporting arena??

Wow..just a thought reflecting on your comments Ben. By the way, you're probably not far off the mark.

If they had run on Friday, the comp would've been finished in flawless Restaurants yesterday, instead of what we saw today(and still didn't finish it). It's actually all quite comical...about as comical as Stuart not working on long weekends, but still replying to posts!! He..he..he.. Stuart must be on double bubble!

I wonder if Kelly didn't wanna finish today because he was slightly cheesed at not running Friday?

The few times he spoke his mind he was being diplomatic but you could tell he REALLY would have loved to run in all-time CB. For the spectacle and history alone I think. It would have been the best possible press for the tour and he knows it..

Imagine the whole surfing world being able to finally compare the supposed 'world's best surfers' with the undisputed heavy wave kings (Alex Gray, Healy, Navarro et al.)

Kelly would love that to have gone down and I think he sees the wasted opportunity. Running the comp in those waves was a WIN/WIN for the tour. There is no feasible way the ASP could have lost out.

Anyway, I think sportsfans were the REAL WINNERS on Friday. Cancelling the event in order to see Ramon Navarros perfect 20 point ride is the best thing that could have happened really.

yewsome.

good to see Mick getting a solid win today. title contender no doubt.

jesus, what a handbag bitch slap shit fight.

methinks volcom/ASP has played y'all like a fiddle, you wouldn't have seen bugger all if volcom wasn't there.

for fucks' sake, it's only a fucken surf conny.

option A/ enjoy.

option B/ switch off.

hope everyone who got away over the long weekend scored. Mine was epic with no phones or t'internet, instead campfires and corduroy.

Nothing is guaranteed..... If the comp would have been held that huge day, most guys in the test match would not have even caught a wave in a 30 or 40 minute heat. Hells bells, has anyone here ever surfed anywhere when the size is measured in 15 to 20 ft Hawaiian? You'd be very lucky to get a single wave in a 3 hour session.

We can whinge on for days about the decisions this week. Shoots, gurans ball bearins some will be whingeing on forever. Maybe surfing should change the rules and be like say pro footy? You know, if the Grand Final ends up in a tie, no over time. We come back the next weekend and play the whole thing over!.... heh.

OK, back to NOT a sure thing. surfing. and wagering on it.

Kelly beats Julian. CJ gets one over on Adriano. And Der Fanning loses by a slim margin to the Funky Cold kid.

and come finals time, old BKS takes the whole bar of wax.

http://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/surfing/volcom-fiji-pro

yea. sure.

Head To Head

Monday 11/06/2012

Kelly Slater v Julian Wilson

Kelly Slater
1.36
Julian Wilson
3.10

Adriano de Souza v CJ Hobgood

CJ Hobgood
1.40
Adriano de Souza
2.90

Mick Fanning v Gabriel Medina Semi Final 1

Gabriel Medina
1.85
Mick Fanning
1.95

Mens Winner
Monday 11/06/2012
Volcom Fiji Pro - Mens Outright Winner 2012

Kelly Slater
2.65
Gabriel Medina
4.00
CJ Hobgood
4.50
Mick Fanning
6.00
Julian Wilson
13.00
Adriano De Souza
15.00

All comes down to who the judges overscore !!

Or is that being too negative/whinging !!!

fitzie, it's just the nature of the beast .

Has been since day dot.

Yeah I know Sid. It's just the lack of consistancy and other factors that are frustrating.

our nightmare just came true. Volcom Fiji live feed goes down right at the start of the second semi.

what were the odds of that?... let the whingeing begin.

Volcom tweeted that the streaming problems are related to the storms in Sydney (it's pissing down here). They must be bouncing their satellite feed directly to Sydney, before transcoding it to a web stream.

It's almost like a dubstep highlight reel.

well being away camping I missed all the bally hoo.

But from what I've seen, volcon/ASP/whoever made the **RIGHT** decision to shelve the conny and let as many of those waves be ridden, by whoever wanted to take 'em, for all to see .

there was a fair bit of talk last year about some big-wave riders' use of coke and meth or whatever and then news that the asp would be bringing in drug testing at wct events. i just wonder whether say if coke and meth were considered acceptable for competitors to consume before heats we might have seen the event go ahead on the big day and all of them charging.

dig-vic... what, like make meth compulsory before heats ?

yeah, why the fuck not ?

i think making it compulsory would be going a bit too far. but what if it were an acceptable option, just that.

as per Hitler and the SS. ??

ve have vays of making you zurf ?

@dig-vic...sounds like you been sniffing around! The truth is out there mate. Just ask some..er...competitive surfers prior to their heats at Pipe.

What are the odds of that Roller?

i haven't been sniffing around anything, just thinking about what it takes to surf the way some of us, or some of them, do. like andy, he was high for much of the time. is it okay to say that now? about my favorite surfer. barrel rides, build an empire, an atlas. but what if he hadn't been high? coke and meth helped, i think, or did they do the opposite? i don't know, never met the guy. but surfing, family, work, life - some of us think about a balance. others think fuck just go for it, charge, whatever it takes. and then you get into a habit, a home. leaving home's scary isn't it. fuck who wants to sit on the corner crying, momma's gonna come and bring you home for ice cream. and ice cream's full of shit, you get what i'm saying?

You like chocolate chip ice cream?

I'm intrigued to know what Roller, Sid and Surfer Joe think. Do you think they should have run the comp instead of the free surf on the big day?
Simple question, yes or no

NO.

TD, see 8 posts above ...

---volcon/ASP/whoever made the **RIGHT** decision to shelve the conny and let as many of those waves be ridden, by whoever wanted to take 'em, for all to see .---

have to agree with sidtherfish, T-durd. it is what is is. or was. Uncertainty Principle... Embrace the Horror. and all that.

think of this fact. if the test match would have ran in those perfecto 30 ft face conditions the neggers would be complaining that the comp shut out all the sponno'ed big wave "free" surfers from digging into almost every set wave.

and since the three pronged decision makers consisting of ASP surfers, ASP mgmt, and possibly the folks of the event sponsor, collectively voted as they did, what do the negatrons call the top shelf ASP pros?... "pussies".

the neggers would play their neggie game no matter what decision was made.

in my meaningless opine, the Volcom's Fiji Pro was the best event ever.

the bar for future events has been set high.

high as fuck.

strategically, for volcon, it was a brilliant move.

the pro's and cons of the decision for the ASP ... let the hand bags fly.

neither of the above have anything to do with the price of fish, so no concern of mine.

Funnily enough, all 3 of you agree with Rottmouth on this one.
Maybe you have more in common with him than you think

that's what drives BR nuts.

lots of people probably agree with some of his "issues", but no one really cares or could be fucked joining him on his phsyco-obsessional witch hunt.

often, he's screaming at us what we already have known for years, recognised it as small fry, moved on and gone surfing.

there are NO earth shattering revelations. most the time he's just a crack pot on a street corner selling hate no one wants to buy.

loser.

Only people joining him on the psych-obsessive witch hunt are you three

ya reckon TD. ?

you're the one with his cock in your mouth.

Sid, you are truly a genius

Hey Sid

Did you catch the clash of the Titans Today on Twitter? BR v SS...
havent seen that since Oct/Nov last year...
BR pulled out all the Rabbits in his hat an illusion... smoke and Mirrors etc.... but amusing all the same..

How about free Meth and Coke before tomorrow nights game...Queenslander!!

joe, that's your territory.

no doubt another bitch slap chick fight on Twatter.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

nothing new from that pile of useless negatrons... doomsayers tend to do a brisk business. which is odd considering how seldom they are correct.

all i got to say is more snipers. and more cowbell. 'cause what ever it is these little miss bunny eared douchenozzles are rehashing has been done many times before.

my favorite artful rendition of said neggies in this link is the one about a HOLLYWOOD HANDBAG attempting to SELL a script....

and the antique shop owner.

http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/t/the_end_is_near.asp

if the enemies of surfing in all of it's forms are down for the cause, they should be down for the effect as well.

who knows where surfing will be in ten yrs. let alone the next twenty.

whether it's old school, new style. or anything in between. all i know is i'm stone cold frothing over what the next twenty five has to offer!

get 'ya some.

Oh come on Roller, you said that you preferred to watch the free surf over the comp and you acknowledged the possible (if not likely) influence of the sponsors commercial interests overruling that of the ASP...points Rottmouth made long ago!

got news for you TD.

pro surfing is rigged, the banking system is rigged, taxation is rigged, health care is rigged, food supply is rigged, price of oil is rigged, price of gold is rigged, illicit drug supply is rigged, casinos are rigged.... THE WORLD IS RIGGED.

everyone enjoyed the epic CloudBreak freesurf, including you and me.

the conny got a result.

EXACTLY WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT ?

stop whining like a desperate housewife.

Sid my boy,try this one: take a deep breath and say out loud "Sorry Rottmouth, you were right about this one"...trust me, you'll feel a whole lot better

give it up TD.

you and the like are surfings online equivalents of shiatsu dogs.

yap,yap,yap.

wouldn't matter which decision was made last week, you'd still be...

yap,yap,yap.

Me feel better? You're the one whinging, I saw little, but what I saw looked epic.

Fiji delivered premium Class A surfing ***LIVE***, and all you can do is whine.

handbags, housewives... suck it up losers... you'd never be happy regardless.

east coast has been pumping, yeah.

Ah Sid, the irony of some of your statements...
My advice is to channel your anger into something meaningful, maybe swing by the driving range and whack some golf balls. Whatever you do, don't go home and kick the cat or worse still smack around the wife, you'll regret it

guys how about taking into consideration that none of the pros had boards big enough to surf the set waves.....my info is that none had 9;0:+ s/bds...

so there was no real chance that any set waves would have been caught,unless one of the big wave chargers lent them bds...........would it have been fair if one guy in a heat had borrowed a 9 6 ,but his opponent could only manage a 7 6?????

we were entertained to the max.....if the comp had been held imagine only a handful of waves being caught,its done...it was one of the greatest days in surfing history...and we saw it like it should have been....limits being pushed ,surfers like Ian walsh,reef etc ..all called it the day of their lives....imagine if they had to sit in the channel all day watching most of the waves going unridden....then there would be whingers complaining about how soft the tour is....no 9'0+ s/bd...no take off...and thats a fact!!!

exactly Brutus, it was all good.

TD, me angry ? good one mate, you're the one doing the long winded whinge.

Can I personally apologise for the frustration the flawed concept of pro surfing has obviously caused to your personal wellbeing. ?

There better ? nah, didn't think so. suck it up loser.

When are you going to write an article about the contest Stunet? On the weekend you insinuated one was coming but the week is half over and nothing has been written. Gag order by the sponsors???

@Derra,

TBH I don't think I will write an article now. I still have strong feelings about the no surf decision but my opinion is much similar to the 101 other people that have written about it - so why bother? The first person to get an article up was Jed Smith, he was so quick he must've written it while the paddle session was happening. Me, I watched the paddle session and enjoyed it immensely.

After Jed no-one had anything new to say, save Cori Schumacher who took a line I didn't wholly agree with but at least had an original view on the matter.

I heard rumours about friction in the ASP camp regarding the decision but have yet to get anything substantiated. I've spoken to four officials and two surfers. None are forthcoming about the decision so anything I say would be speculation and my opinion, which, as I said, isn't much different to everyone elses. So again, why bother?

Channel that anger Sid, and as much as it hurts, while you are at the driving range repeat out loud "Sorry Rottmouth, you were right on this one" with each swing...you'll feel better

Got two questions for you Stu: who was the surfers rep involved in the decision to call the contest off?
And also, was Taj Burrow annoyed that he didn't get to surf those waves with only one other guy out?
He was in the next heat, and loves big waves.
By the way Brutus, Parko was riding a 6'8", and he got a couple of pretty good ones

Aaarrggh!!! I'll hate myself for this...but here goes.

To the gentlemen above, blind Freddy could see the swell coming a week out. To not bring rhino chasers is typical of pro surfers who - compared to us mere mortals, are always undergunned.

Every year at Margies, the Pro's are running around borrowing big boards. Why?

Also, to have to imagine free surfers sitting in a channel and feel sorry for them whilst A PRO SURFING EVENT WAS TAKING PLACE is a little bit of an odd statement. So gents...who runs the show - the ASP, or the freesurfers? I reckon that Ben wasn't too far off with his "suggestion" that these free surfers may have (potentially) wielded some influence (see Ben's previous comments).

However, I do agree with you gentlemen about the spectacle. But regardless of how many waves would've been ridden or not, wouldn't ya have loved to have seen what the top pro's are capable of? Now that would'a been a spectacle.

Rail2rail took the words right out of my mouth. Wrong equipment is worst excuse ever. Awesome spectacle but they should have run the comp seeing as they had the best opportunity to showcase the worlds best in some of the best waves we are likely to see in a competition waiting period for a while. Would have changed the outcome of the comp and would have avoided thousands of words wasted whining about it on the net. Bummer they didn't run it but awesome to see Ramon navaros bomb.
If the worlds best can't come prepared to a comp that is a massive problem.

MC ,

I have to take the others opinion on this . It's like a Status symbol of all the Pros' [exempting the ones who weigh in excess of 80 KG's] (one or two) that they all try to out do each other in the Smallest board comp.

Many of the Aussies and Hawaiin's don't have much of an excuse as they could of / would left from home in short enough time before the Event to know that it was gonna get big. I understand how hard it can be to lug around SOLID boards over an extended time ( as i was once lugged 3 boards , (two with glass in fins- 6'10 & 7'6 ) through Indo for 3 Mths. All " budget " travel too ...... BUT in saying that we were targeting the big stuff ( big for Indo anyway ) and my shorty barely got a show in ......

But back to the point , yes it can be an inconvenience but a well rounded Quiver should be part of a well rounded Pro surfer . One that can tackle ALL conditions . I'm pretty sure the Pro's that did surf were on Boards under 8ft !!! Obviously the Hawaiin/Chilean/Aust Big Wave Free surfers were busting out the 9ft + guns . But i reckon there were some Large waves ridden on Boards starting with a 7' or 8' .... I reckon Scardy's wave last year ? was ridden on something in the high 7's or low 8's .... No disrespect to Scardy , but he will admit he wouldn't be as fit as the young Pro's .....
Laurie Towner proved ( last year in Strong offshores ) that the Biggest ones couldn't be tackled on a 7'6" , but i reckon Dan Gudaskis? took " that drop " on something in the low to mid 7's . I also would have thought that Double J and Makua's board wouldn't have been massive either .

And the last point / question ? Why couldn't they have both . I'm sure ( as Steve mentioned at the start ) that you would think that a Drop would see that person not get waves at many places around the world afterwards . It all looked pretty orderly . With the exception of Kala , but who's gonna argue ... I know in a certain Board riders club in the West , that we ran comps with Freesurfers in the water , on the Proviso that the Competitors had Right of way , and in CB's case that the Competitors had the first option to the usage of the " Ski's ". SO that may have thinned the Pack a little also .
Another thing is if Kelly did surf late in the Arvo , is there any Footage ? Coz from what i saw on the net ' for the Friday . Double J won , CJ 2nd , Mick 3rd , Joel 4th , Kerrsy 5th , Mitch 6th ..............and were any of the Free surfers registered surfers for the WQS ?

My apologies, Parko was riding a 6'10".
In agreement with the above three posts, if Parko can get a few decent ones on this length board then surely it is game on.

T-durd. is wrong AGAIN!... Even the best, most heavily sponsored big wave hunters that day caught only one wave in three or four hours. Proving that if the comp was held, most competitors at that point still in the running would have got donuts in a 30 or 40 minute heat.

For this event, the folks at Volcom and Redbull worked their arses off. and got lucky.

Live streamed ALL facets of the goods that went down that week. All for free!

Ten More Years!

Whinge on!

bottom line you got a better spectacle with the free surf, you got more waves ridden. all streamed live for free. then also got a result for the conny. end of story.

arguing boards and decisions is purely academic now, especially amongst air chair critics.

furthermore, if dickheads like TD want to take case up to the next level, which is basically ---the ASP/the companies are all corrupt and evil, and pro surfing is a hoax. blah blah mantra--- and yeah TD you had your snout in the evil trough as much as any one, as no doubt did your guru.

then stop and recognise that had the 'evil "industry" funded pro surfing flawed apparatus' NOT been there, nobody would have seen ANYTHING, because the required infrastructure to deliver such a epic arvo of surfing LIVE would not be in place. and TD/BR et al would be whining about something else as per usual.

and it was epic.

guess what I'm saying is... the beer was excellent, the beer was free. It's really fucken hypocritical to have the great big drink and now wanna nail the brewery to the cross.

cheers volcon. :)

(some cunts are never happy...losers.)

Are you sure about that Roller? I recorded the free surf on the big day...Parko and Mick Fanning caught 3 waves each in less than an hour, and that's with at least 30 other people in the line up.
Imagine how many they would have caught if there were only 2 out!

the evil ale of pro surfing tastes pretty good , eh TD.?

especially when it's free.

worth bottling, err recording even ?

Sid and Roller, I'll give you a summary, as you both seem to make a career out of missing the point.
I enjoyed the free surf and think it provided more entertainment than a comp would of.
This is a point Rottmouth made long ago, and one you have now finally acknowledged.
But as diehard fans of competitive surfing, wouldn't you guys have preferred to watch the comp?
At least, as diehard fans, you must be perplexed by the decision not to run it.
Brutus has suggested maybe it was because they didn't pack big boards, but Joel Parkinson caught a few on a 6'10" so I don't think that is much of a reason.
So why didn't they run it?
Simply just an error of judgement by the ASP?
Or were they influenced by Volcom and/or the free surfers to not run it?
Either way, it reflects very badly on the organisation you love to defend, the ASP.
It seems that when both of you are in a position where you are struggling to defend your point, all you do is get vitriolic.
Any success yet Stu working out who was the surfers rep involved in making the decision?
Any idea whether Taj and the other surfers who would have gone out there were annoyed at the decision...or relieved?

TD, I reckon you're making some assumptions. That is, that everyone is a "diehard fan of competitive surfing".

I don't think that's the case. I just think everyone's stoked that we can watch some high level surfing live on the web. Doesn't matter if it's a comp or not; if the waves are good and the talent is high then it's worth watching.

There have been plenty of WQS events with great surfers in great waves over the last few years that have done poor web stats. There have also been great surfers in poor waves, with similar results (I know, because I've webcast 'em).

I can also attest to being completely shit-bored during many "expression sessions" webcast during ASP World Tour comps. Most of the time the best rides are missed because there are so many guys in the water (and only a couple of camera guys), and usually the surfers - even the best in the world - go for ridiculous airs that they never land - all because there's no competitive pressure on them at that point in time.

Perhaps other people feel differently than me but the "expression session" is usually my cue to go and grab lunch.

That being said, I do think that there's merit in webcasting freesurf sessions. But, there needs to be some form of order otherwise it's just random noise.

However using last week's events in Fiji as an example to justify the merits of webcasting freesurf sessions is pointless. The logistics of getting a quality webcast team to a location like Cloudbreak at the same time as a one-in-five-year-swell, along with a guarantee that your favourite free surfers will be there, is something hard to put a dollar value against.

Because at the end of the day, that's what has to happen. Someone's gotta pay for it.

And somehow I don't think that the general surfing public is too keen on the idea of pay-per-view.

Sorry for not making myself clear Ben.
The Roller ans sidthefish are the only two who I was referring to as diehard competitive surfing fans, which from their many and varied posts, they clearly are.
Otherwise I agree with your points.
Still I, like many others, wonder why they would not run a comp in some of the best conditions of all time.
Hopefully Stu can enlighten us

Sid's right TD, how can you whinge about that comp? We got to see the best surfers on the planet in big conditions live. What else do you want? to snicker at someone out of their comfort zone out there from the saftey of your basement. Yeah that's great telly. '"oh look he's shitting himself" ho hum. Leave it to blokes who know what they're doing and guys who choose to go out and have a dig. Far better spectacle. Liked the brewery analogy Sid.

TD,

Just spent the last 3 hours surfing a bommie near where you and I live. Twas off the hook mate. Unlike the Fiji pros I had the right board and scored a bag limit of beauties. Shame there was no webcast...

Gotta catch up on a few things and I'll address your questions from yesterday arvo.

Same again Mack, I loved it and would not have liked to seen the comp held.
Staunch advocates of competitive surfing and serial defenders of the ASP such as Sid and The Roller would probably disagree however. Although it appears on this occasion they have changed their tune.
Still I reckon Taj Burrow must have been pissed off, he was in the next heat and would have got to surf it with only one guy out.

Thanks Stu, I'll look forward it. About to pop out for a quick surf now, but a little bit further up the coast though.
Will check back in in a couple of hours and see how you've gone

I find it quite ammusing that Surfing SA (under the banner of Surfing Australia) in 2009 held the Intense Wave tow contest for some of Australasia's best junior surfers at the time. Some of these "kids" had never ridden anything over 10ft before but were expected to let go of the rope in waves starting at a solid 15ft and topping out at a gaping 20ft. Yet, the ASP or Volcom Contest Director cans a WCT event in ideal 12-15ft conditions at probably one of the most readable waves in the world. So, will the ASP/Contest Director put heats on hold at a perfect 12ft+ day at Pipeline? Kudos to Bede, Melling and Co for having a crack in those first two heats. It certainly beat watching an onshore closeout that the WCT has become accustomed to in recent times.

Apologist for the industry of surfing? That's laughable.

Like the folks lining up at the local Costco sample kiosks, i'm just a bloke who digs that top shelf free streaming swag.

TD - "diehard fan of competitive surfing".

me ? moi ?

bahahahahaha. TD you turkey, I am anything but .

I watched about 15 mins of that freesurf & conny, all replays. Wasn't anywhere near a computer or phone reception all weekend.

That and a bit of Snapper has been my -"diehard fan of competitive surfing".- quota all year.

meanwhile, you drunk ya'sef under the table on the evil ale, and are demanding a Spainish inquisition on the brewing process.

I also reckon Volcon played all youz social media handbags and housewives like a fiddle with the on/off/on/off yes/no game, then nailed the conny AND one of the all time free surf arvo's.

hilarious TD. give yourself another uppercut, or at least go change your tampon.

stu , get cracking...

TD is demanding answers to justify his hypocrisy and homage to his guru.

I wager a free slab of evil pro surfing ale that the answers don't adequately drench the whine.

Interesting Comments re Filthy Fridays Fiji Comp ASP Capitulation from...

Kong

"Mate if that was in my time we all would have been out there charging and with out jetskis can only imagine what we would of done if we had jetskis, The 2 guys that won the heats that day truly surf like champions well done and hats off to those boys great stuff."

Horan

"yes..air masters get heaps of small days the big wave masters get it called off...bad decision...they dont have to take off if the dont want to...personally I say GO"

Nick Carroll

"Tom and BL were spewing. I reckon you had to have suffered the 80s shorebreak events to really understand what that day could have meant to the sport."

Jeff Moore

"Maybe the ASP should consider that it's pioneers would have loved a shot at a dream tour and that no gift from the ocean should be passed up."

Oh fuck man, I'm struggling. My head is still a kay out to sea and I've got sea snot positively pouring out my nose. I snapped a 7'10", a board that had served me really bloody well over the years, and had to swim in and through the beach. In short, I'm fucked.

Scuse the French all you francophiles...

Right then, TD. I spoke to Kieren Perrow and he wasn't party to the decision that was made. Not sure if the surfers rep role is shared but he def wasn't the rep at Fiji. As far as the decision is concerned he thinks it was a wise one. He didn't elaborate why which was frustrating, but it's also his prerogative. It should be noted that KP was out of the comp so had nothing to gain either way if the comp ran.

Another person I spoke to was Kai Otton who had a bloody good dig in his Round 2 heat and got through. You'd think that both he and Bede (winners of the two heats that ran) might've pushed hard for the comp to run considering both had nutted up in the big stuff and prevailed. But no, Kai was understanding of the decision.

Not sure about TB but I imagine that he would've had a fair dig if he had the opportunity. Pure speculation, of course. Parko is the only one I've heard or read who is adamant they should've run. In his words a golden opportunity was missed. One part of me agrees with him.

However, when I was snooping around and asking questions I felt a bit churlish because like Sid, Maurice and others have said the freesurf session was some of the best surfing any of us are likely to see. I feel privileged to have watched it. I agree that the decision not to run does 'say something' about the ASP. You know, what does it mean to be the best surfer in the world? It's a very pertinent question now, but the flipside is that we saw that amazing session.

As for Volcom influencing the decision: I'm not even going to entertain it. No proof exists so arguing that would be like arguing the existence of God with a believer. If you're wired to believe in conspiracy theories then you'll believe it happened, if you're not then you won't. Nothing will be resolved so what's the point?

PS: Excellent point Ryder. A great parallel to draw.

and the beat of the social media handbags beats on...

I repeat, played like a fiddle,

youz all got vol-conned.

bahahahahahahaaaaaa .

no wonder volcon is the most profitable co. by a country mile.

too funny.

If you're a student of the black art of marketing I reckon you could do worse than watch how the whole Volcom event was played out. From the first 'anonymous' call that it had been cancelled through to us still talking about it.

I won't say it's all been orchestrated but any event organiser wanting max return on their investment should take notes.

You didnt mention Kellys comments live on Air Stu

"some of the guys arent up to it" is what he said... (ASP & the 34 Bitches) and he said he would have liked to run but ASP wise in deciding Discretion better part of Valour"

and I loved Nick Carrolls and Kongs comments on fb today but Jeff Moore summed it up

"Maybe the ASP should consider that it's pioneers would have loved a shot at a dream tour and that no gift from the ocean should be passed up."

ASP missed its best shot at credibility and shooting down the doubters in its history

Hey Joe,

Where you going with that gun in you hand?

Didn't mention it cos I figured everyone had heard it. I thought it only worth sharing the info I'd found out. Unfortunately it doesn't answer anything and I get to feeling that nothing will be resolved now.

Also, Tom Carroll left some pretty exasperated comments on our FB page last Friday. You didn't have to read between the lines to know what he thought of it all.

stu, very valid point you just made...

many people already had the ASP ("the decision") hung, drawn and quartered if that was/is their original prejudicial disposition. some of the extremist will never have their thirst for blood satisfied, no matter how much free beer they drink from the cup of hypocrisy.

the rest of us said ... oh lordy, what a show.

personally, give me epic over hate any day.

All good points. Maybe the ASP will get a chance for redemption at Chopes in August. What's the long distance forecast, Ben?

PS. Spare a thought for those amongst us who missed the free surf web/telecast.

"PS. Spare a thought for those amongst us who missed the free surf web/telecast."

Ha ha...I just had a hearty chuckle when I read that, Whaat. It wasn't malicious. Really.

Why are people so unkind?

Haven't you poked Karma enough for one day, Stu?

What? You mean that humblebrag about scoring 8 foot offshore bombs with one other guy out?

Whoops, there I go again...

Wonder how ol' TD is faring wave-wise?

Still trying to get out through the shorey?

@Sid

Subtitles please... I'm only a Dumb Surfer Suffering after S.O.O. Shocker..

@ Stu

Yes, I did,
I shot her
You know I caught her messin' 'round with another man

Well I think Surferjoe and I are finally on the same page.
Thanks for that Stu.
Quite a few posts ago you said that the decision was made by the contest director, head judge and surfers rep only.
I am guessing those three won't be receiving Christmas cards from Taj Burtow and Bede Durbidge. After all, if it had have been called on at 2.00pm it probabably would have been one of them in Ryan Hipwoods barrel instead.
Sid and Roller, you really have lost all credibility now.
You have been waging war with Rottmouth on here repeatedly. Him saying how shit the ASP and competitive surfing is, you guys defending it.
Everybody has read it, are you now going to say all that did not happen?
Got some nice waves today...solid. At a place a bit up the road from our home break Stu.
Don't you think it is funny how in Manly if you live there long enough the "locals" come and go?

The "free" surf guys are compensated by the same companies who pay the contest surfers. So it's really not that much of a shocker to see what the collective decision was when the goods came rolling thru that epic day.

Turdy, this one's for you, mate.

"The moment a person forms a theory his imagination sees in every object only the traits which favor that theory".

T. Jefferson

TD - only been waging a war against hypocrisy.

And as a stinker, your right up there.

If competitive surfing and the ASP product is so shit for you, switch it off and shut the fuck up. Same goes for your guru.

It's that simple.

But that won't happen will it, cos you're both hooked and frothing for the next instalment.

Hypocrisy 101.

Well thanks for finally acknowledging that you are advocates of the ASP and competitive surfing in it's current format...it seemed like a couple of posts back you were denying it.
And for the record, I have been a big fan of competitive surfing for a long time, but do not like the way it has gone in the last 5 years and think that the management by the ASP is atrocious. I have been pretty consistent on those exact points so I don't think I have been hypocritical at all.
I remember reading on here after the Pipe contest that John John won, many people were saying how awesome a spectacle it was, the tension! the excitement! and how well the competition format stood up even though the waves were heavy and perhaps better suited to free surfers.
Those same people now seem to be saying that they much preferred to watch the free surf at Fiji than the contest.

Anyway Stu, are you saying there was no surfers rep on Tavarua when the contest was called off. I know Kieran Perrow was unsure, what did Renato Hiickel have to say?
And where did you get that thing about the contest director, head judge and surfers rep only making the decision? The ASP rule book?

no probs TD.

If you have trouble again finding the correct URL:// for the next ASP event, let me know.

I'm here to help .

Wouldn't want you to miss the next session smoking the poison pipe and watch you whine and suffer .

All FREE , of course, courtesy of BIG EVIL SURF Inc.

your welcome. :)

Worth a Read

ASP "Dream"* Tour Best Surfers Best Waves*

http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/the-day-they-didnt-go-volcom-fiji-pro_...

* This "Tour" Turns Tail and Retreats when its too big for the ASP and its 34 Bitches, excepting Fanning and Pat Gudang who surfed it... Kelly Paddled Out and decided it was too big and dangerous to surf

The "Dream" Tour turns to "Nightmare" at Cloudbreak

Ahhhh hindsight.

Anyone here had the job of sending others out into 20ft barrels with 3ft chop..?

Thought not.

s-joe, an well balanced article.

interesting the correlation and analogy of the evolution of comps at chowpoo.

I remember around 12 years ago, during a early chopes contest, they called it off due to size and ferocity.

whilst conny directors were deliberating the call to GO or to NO,

TRay told 'em "if you call this off, I'm straight out there."

they said NO, and Tray went GO.

he scored a SURFING usa cover out of a sequence of one of his waves.

but that's guy who has come 2nd twice in Eddie, 2nd at Todos, and 3rd at Mavericks.

like Slater said, different sport.

Sid, you're obviously a surfing savant, but the question on no one's lips is....

Where was Mark Visser?

Good question zenagain! Actually, I came across this article last weekend, which was published the evening following the Cloudbreak swell.

As per usual, it's another article about not very much (lots of ambiguous quotes such as "I can't say too much more about it but the operation involved ocean, air and land"). Uses the same promo video from this time last year too.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/adrenalin-junkie-gets-his-fix/story-e6frfq...

As for your question: "He said his injuries had required intense physiotherapy, but medical staff had given him the all clear to return to the US on Monday to resume filming."

I wonder if it's coincidental that this article appeared within 12 hours of the Cloudbreak session receiving massive publicity?

And more Importantly where was Bruce Irons . Would have loved to see him again , since he dominated there last year . ?

Funny Southey but I actually discussed this with my Cali mate pre-surf this morning.

Volcom's number one rider conspicuously absent?

He said in a low voice- 'rehab'.

Hmmmmmm.........

And Ben, just to clarify, is his new doco called 'Nine Lives'? or 'Nine Lies'?

Kudos to him though, he probably makes more money than me.

Apparently Bruce was there, see the last line

http://www.coastalwatch.com/news/article.aspx?articleId=10550&cateId=3

Interesting comments from John John in this article. He was one of the guys who would have had a heat out there if they called the comp on, and he said that he would have loved to have those waves with only one other out.

Good, article Joe. Well balanced and on reading it a second time I'm not really sure whether it was for or against calling the comp off.

What I am really intrigued to know was how the decision was reached.
Kieran Perrow wasn't the surfs rep in Fiji? Even though he is for the rest of the year?
And he didn't even know who was doing it during the contest, even though it is his regular job??
Was that because he had already left Fiji?
Or do they rotate it?
What an odd system!

As Stu said, the 3 people making the decision to run the contest consist of the contest director, head judge and surfers rep, yet nobody knows who the surfers rep was.
Maybe the decision last Friday was made without a surfers rep, or possibly even without asking the surfers.
John John definitely wanted it to run, as per his comments above.
I'm pretty sure D Hopgood would have liked it to run. He was out there longer than anybody and I'm sure his reasons would be the same as JJ's.
Likewise Josh Kerr and Adrian Buchanan, who also paddled out and got a couple.
So that's 4 out of 6. Stu tells us that Renato Hickel has confirmed they could only run three 40 minute heats up to 4 o'clock in the allowable time.
Therefore by my reckoning, that makes 4/6, a majority, quite comfortably.
And I bet Taj and Bede would have paddled out no probs if it was called on...Bede already did that morning.

So were they even asked, and if so were they overruled?
If the surfers wanted the comp to run, and free surfers are out there surfing it, what a disgraceful decision by the remaining two members of the panel to call it off.
My guess is the surfers, with the possible exception of Taj and Bede, were not even asked.

If they were asked and the majority of them chose not to run the comp, then that might explain something and certainly is worthwhile to investigate given it would shift the responsibility for the decision off the head judge and contest director.
However, 4 out of the 6 of them paddled out anyway, so maybe it was just Taj and Bede who didn't want to run it.
So maybe the anger of Kong, TC and Cheyne Horan should be directed just at Taj and Bede.

So therefore, I would be very interested to hear what Taj had to say, otherwise he is the focus of some of the anger from those surfing legends and various other parts of the media.
My bet is he wasn't even asked, or if he was he said "yeah sure, if you call it on, I'm out there"

Maybe it was just safety that the ASP called it off, and nothing else.
But until we hear from Taj and Bede, those two will always be a little bit tainted as contributors to the decision.

And if they were all for it, then the overrule by Hickel and Wilson is a disgrace, and in my opinion career ending.

The fact is, the top shelf tour is now in that annual two month vacation section. So, what could be better for business than a bankable "controversy"?

Keeps it all in the main stream news. As well as up on the mod con of news and marketing platforms,.. Twittie and FB discussions

Keep up the good work, neggers. The surf companies are taking it straight up to the bank. As are all of the various sponno'ed pros!

On a second note, 'ya just know the complete barnolds. The fake haters of contested surfing are some of the biggest closet viewers of ASP events out there!

No different than these kookmeyer religious nutters who are mind bent on telling others what to do. And how to "do it"....

All the while, among the other piles of shite in their stash,... hoarding the "fairly extensive" cache of modern, electronically recorded" pornography".

http://gawker.com/5801667/osama-bin-laden-had-a-porn-stash-for-masturbat...

BOOYAH!

Fair Surmization TD...

and I neglected to acknowledge CJ Kerr & Buchan were out there

Having chatted to Kong (who trains Bede) .. he was very upset the called it off... and upset for Bede and I believe Bede was pissed too... as you said Bede had surfed it aleady that morning and handled it well... Bede probably had his best chance of beating Taj in those waves which suited Bedes style... he's always looked and performed best in Hawaii... likes a bit of size and power... its my guess he would have wanted it to run.

Thanks Joe, I was virtually certain Bede would have wanted to run, for the reasons you pointed out.
So maybe Taj was the lone voice not wanting it to run?
By the way Roller, my last post has nothing to do with a controversy or conspiracy theory.
The basis for all of my points are comments made by Stu Nettle, nothing else.
I notice he has been pretty quiet on here lately

Whilst most are keeping up with the so called "controversy",.. these same folks who obviously viewed the live webcast. Heats on Demand. And all the other various platforms for replays. May have missed the fact that Gabriel Medina not only killed in at medium sized Clouds. But did so in perfecto 'Strants. As well as the Fiji "free" surf swell of the century.

Mr Medina. Becoming by far. The biggest mover and shaker in the ratings. Up a full 16 places in the rankings!

For those non players who "stand aside and watch"... Press play in the link below.

And just as it is with this contestable surfing thing. Or the FIJI "FREE" surf. You don't have to pay. You can listen to the track for free.

Clap your hands for the future....

Gabriel.

http://mrtzcmp3.net/L?cvcmcaccaucccecucecaczaubvnibzcuaucznzcnnvcacxncnc...

Roller, the fact that Kieran Perrow wasn't the surfers rep for the Fiji contest is a story in itself.
I mean, how did they break it to him?
"Sorry Kieran, I think you can sit this one out"
I think that in itself needs a bit of explanation from Stu

TD, why do you look for a conspiracy in everything? Surely you can agree that it's possible that someone simply made a mistake not to keep the event on hold. We're all human, remember. And we all make errors.

Thanks for that Ben.
So are saying Stu is simply not going to explain why Kieran Perrow was not the surfers rep in Fiji?
Mate, Stu is a surf journalist and that is quite a big story right there

Nah, it's not a big story. You're just telling us it's a big story (and there's a difference between the two).

My understanding is that there are a couple of people who can act as Surfers Rep, depending on the circumstances. But Kieran is the first port of call.

For example, Kieran was out of the event at that point in time. Does that mean he's got to be shackled to the contest director 8 hours a day for the rest of the event just in case a possible scenario crops up where a decision has to be made? Remember, they're sitting out at sea on a flotilla of boats, and mobile phone connectivity isn't an option. So maybe they couldn't get hold of him.

I wasn't there so I don't know - but I presume Kieran might have assisted with the morning call, and then stayed on Tavarua for the rest of the day to free surf at Restaurants. If something happened and a decision had to be made then there were plenty of other qualified surfers at Cloudbreak to make a decision on behalf of the surfers. Kelly was on the webcast shortly after the contest was called off, and he essentially agreed that it was the right decision.

I don't know - I wasn't there. But I really don't think it's a big deal.

By the way "Stu is a surf journalist and that is quite a big story right there".

Actually, Stu is the Editor of Swellnet. His job is to coordinate content on the site: writing articles is a small percentage of his work.

Not only did this event happen just prior to a long weekend (yes, public holidays are also for Swellnet staff too), we had two East Coast Lows develop in the Tasman Sea within a week so we consequently had a shitload of other work to do, and contributors to work with.

As soon as the Cloudbreak session went down (the Friday before the long weekend), Stu and I both spent time following various leads about the contest, but as we couldn't get anything substantiated he decided not to write a story. He said so above:

"I've spoken to four officials and two surfers. None are forthcoming about the decision so anything I say would be speculation and my opinion, which, as I said, isn't much different to everyone elses."

Just because we research something, or because we think a story might exist somewhere, it doesn't mean it'll be published. You'd be amazed at the amount of work that goes behind the scenes at Swellnet, for articles our viewers will never read or for things they'd never otherwise be aware of. That's just the way it goes when you're a small publisher I suppose.

Tyler, just outa of curiosity,

do you have any larger underlying life issues that are being imprinted on ASP/Pro Surfing. ?

events seem to have caused disproportionate personal disturbance.

And be careful what Sjoe feeds you,

you know he's a player and an enabler.

Returning to a vastly more interesting and important subject ... Mark Visser.

After checking out at the article that Ben cited, as well as MV's own website, there are a number of possible causes of injury.

a) A big-wave wipeout,
b) Jumping out of a chopper straight onto his board,
c) A mishap getting his jetski back onto its trailer, or
d) Falling off an exercise ball in the gym.

Hmmmm.

Whatever the cause, I'm thinking I badly need a surf. It's been so bloody quiet here for weeks now that I'm reduced to idle speculation about MV.

Kill me now....

OK Ben, we'll forget the conspiracy theory stuff and just stick to what your editor, Stu Nettle wrote.
Firstly, he said Kieran Perrow was not the surfers rep for that event. Ie the entire event.
Secondly, he said that the surfers rep was one of three people involved in calling the event on or off for the day, the other two being the head judge and contest director. He made a point of saying that these were the only people involved in making the call.
Therefore, he only needs to speak to these three people in order to work the rationale behind not running the comp on the big day.
They are Renato Hickel, Matt Wilson and the surfers rep.
Now correct me if I am wrong here, but my understanding is that the surfers rep canvasses opinions from the surfers who are due to surf in the comp and gets a summary position from them. He then goes to the head judge and contest director with a consensus opinion from the surfers as to whether they want to run the comp or not.
No rocket science so far.

So therefore, who was the surfers rep in Fiji last Friday? What was the consensus opinion of the 6 surfers who potentially had to surf?
Was the opinion of the surfers overruled by Hickel and Wilson?
Did the surfers elect not to run the comp?

Again, no conspiracy theory here, just a legitimate enquiry that many people eg Gary Elkerton, Cheyne Horan, Tom Carroll etc want to know.

If there is no conspiracy theory, the ASP should be more than happy to provide answers to those questions.

Now I know Stu Nettle is an editor but he puts his name to original stories, makes many contribution to this website and conducts interviews with various people in the surf industry....so he certainly acts like a surf journalist at times.
He seems to have connections to all the relevant people and therefore is in a perfect position to answer all of the above questions.
So go on, get him to give it a go, I think it would make fascinating reading and provide your website additional credibility.

TD, for fuck's sake.

just slash your wrists.

"He seems to have connections to all the relevant people and therefore is in a perfect position to answer all of the above questions. "

I don't know any of the people I spoke to Tyler. Never met them, had a beer with them, or even spoken to them before. I got their contacts either off the ASP website of by doing a bit of digging around. Kai Otton I saw in the carpark at Manly and walked up and introduced myself.

Now, I ain't your private jukebox. If you want to dance then go and do what I did. Find out the answers for yourself. Truly I couldn't give a fuck anymore.

Sid,

To answer your question above: Tyler has been cuckolded by the ASP. He devised a system that he claims was similar to the current competition (two rounds of three man, no knockout heats). Tyler feels that the ASP stole it and aren't giving him his due. He's a jilted lover.

Explains a lot, doesn't it?

Well Stu, you have already had email exchanges with Renato Hickel and Kieran Perrow, so that is a good start.
Are you absolutely sure you are correct in what you are saying about me? And if so, what is the basis for your certainty?
Either way, it doesn't change the legitimacy of my current enquiry.
And by the way, I am not having a go at you. Those questions to the ASP would make a very good story for you and this website

Yes I am. I used Realsurf when you posted there as Local Bogan, plus you've already admitted it on Swellnet. Unless you deleted it, which you did for many of the offending posts on Realsurf. Cat was out of the bag though.

Well, unless you know my real name on realsurf and my real name on here, I would be very careful about crediting me with anything.
I know for a fact that you do not know my real name either on this website or realsurf.
Do you care to retract that statement?
And I presume you are not going to contact Renato Hickel again and go through those questions?

Why would I retract the statement?

I linked the anonymous person on Realsurf to the anonymous person on Swellnet.

That isn't a crime. The statement stays.

Before you get too excited Stu, a quick quote from your boss in regards to who knows my true identity

"No, I am the only person who does - even Stu doesn't. In fact I don't even know what your Swellnet username is (I could look it up, but I have no reason to)."

Jeez mate, I don't care about your identity. Could care less if you're John, Juan or Jesus. But I do know that you're the same guy that purported to devise a new system and claim the ASP ripped you off.

That is the vested interest you're avoiding answering.

TD, here, knock yourself out....

http://www.aspworldtour.com/about-asp/contact-us/

go fight your own battles.

Keep making assumptions like that Stu and you will run into trouble one day...maybe sooner than you think.
Sure you don't want to retract your statement?
And again, I am presuming you will not contact Renato Hickel again and go through those questions, correct?

OK Tyler, you tell me: Are you not the guy that posted as Local Bogan?
Did you not devise the new system and submit it to the ASP?

TD, again - you're creating another conspiracy theory. And, you're also jumping to conclusions.

FWIW, it's relatively easy to spot people who use multiple aliases on different forums. You don't have to be a forensic scientist to identify distinctive traits in their written style.

As for your post above - you've just reprinted word-for-word a reply that I sent to *someone* who emailed Swellnet via our standard web form (which has no reference back to any Swellnet userrname).

As such, at the time (around 6 months ago) I had no idea which username was related to the person who wrote the email.

But now that you've just posted the exact words from the email, it is feasible that I now know who you are (by looking up the email I sent). Although, the email was from a generic source (like Hotmail/Yahoo), so the *person* who sent it could be an alias.

But, until 30 mins ago, I had no way of knowing who you were - apart from your email address and IP.

And really, at the end of the day I don't care.

sounds like a threat TD. ? wanna get heavy ?

let your balls develop a tad more, you could even man up enough to confront ASP yourself.

TD - you've taken a passive/aggressive approach to the same assault on the Swellnet boys as championed by your cult leader.

faceless and gutless as per cult doctrine guidelines.

be honest, the fiji situation is just a distraction from what is really festering within you.

Ben, I have no trouble with you knowing my real name. I have nothing against you or for that matter Stu.
However, Stu sounds a bit angry and we both live in the same suburb, so I would request that under no circumstances to you reveal my real name to him.
He certainly has made a couple of assumptions, and like I said I think he should be cautious about doing that in future.
And I maintain that my enquiries are born out of genuine interest, with no intention of bringing down Stu or this website.
In my opinion, Stu's comments about the role of the surfers rep and the decision to run the contest potentially open up a can of worms.

You still didn't answer the questions Tyler.

Stu, you haven't answered plenty of mine. Maybe if you ask Hickel those questions then I will

Tyler, it would make NO difference what answers you got.

your baggage would sink a small ship.

I'm likin' d)

A lot ...

Things are beginning to sound dire, Whaaat. Hope you get some waves real soon.

Hope? Waddya mean hope?!

Aren't you in charge of everything?

Or at least on close personal terms with those who are?

Stu and Ben, for starters I do not think you have any right to be angry or even annoyed at me, all I am doing is holding Stu to account for his statements.

This statement:

"I spoke to Kieren Perrow and he wasn't party to the decision that was made. Not sure if the surfers rep role is shared but he def wasn't the rep at Fiji."

Seems to be at odds with this article:

http://www.redbullusa.com/cs/Satellite/en_US/Article/Volcom-Fiji-Pro-201...

and this article:

http://espn.go.com/action/surfing/story/_/id/8003426/2012-volcom-fiji-pr...

So somebody has got their wires crossed, as it appears that at some point during the contest, Kieran Perrow was the surfers representative.

As for the big day?
An unnamed surfers rep made the call.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/surfes-divided-over-big-wave-oppor...

I wonder who that was?
And did they include John John and Bede in the voting process?

"I was not involved in that call, but it is always a 3 way decision between Head Judge, Contest Director and Surfer/surfers."

KP as said to SN.

TD is the new BR

My god I have just read the above, and you gentleman have truely lost the plot. If you invested this much energy into something worthy then we may have solved the riddle of life or come up with a cure for cancer... Hats off to Volcom for an awesome spectacle, can't wait for Tahiti...
Procrasturbating Urban Word of the Day
Using masturbation to otherwise occupy yourself while pressing matters await.
I had a paper due today, but I spent all night procrasturbating.

@Sid

Player and enabler?... I wish...

ASP tour manager Renato Hickel said the two heats that were held that morning, before the decision to cancel, were dangerous enough. One of the four surfers to compete that morning, Brazilian Raoni Monteiro, injured a knee ligament in a heavy wipeout and may be out for the rest of the year.

“I know the fan perspective,” he said. “I had guys contacting me, saying, ‘What the f*** are you doing, put those guys out there!’ But you’ve got to be here to really grasp it. Just imagine if somebody got seriously injured or killed. People would say where is your duty of care?”

Australian Kai Otton, who was in the heat with Monteiro, said the waves were the heaviest he’d encountered in a contest.

“That was the next level,” he said, adding that he needed to be rescued by the jetski after a “nasty hold-down” and a climb up his legrope to the surface.

“I haven’t had to hold my breath like that before, and by the end of the day, the wave that got me was a nothing wave. The waves at the end of the day were huge. There were 20 guys out there, and they were the best big-wave surfers in the world.

“There’s been a thousand arguments about whether we should have gone out there. Do people want to sit there and watch someone drown just for their enjoyment?”

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/surfes-divided-over-big-wave-oppor...

wonder if 'ol Fredo will still have a gig when the axe falls at Murdoch Press tomoz. ?

hey Fredo, feeling lucky punk ? (nah, didn't think so.)

Predictions of 1000+ jobs being cut at News Ltd tomorrow. Wonder if there'll be any dirt spilled by those who get sacked. Wikileaks still got their whistleblower inbox going?

Yet another article appears in the Oz about the Fiji brewhaha. This one very poorly researchedt: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/kelly-slater-backs-separate-big-wa...

No mention of the big wave world tour which has been running for three years. Past champs Jamie Sterling and Peter Mel. It's not mentioned in the article leading me to think Fred isn't even aware of it.

Maybe, although he didn't say the Big Wave World Tour didn't exist, just didn't mention it. Also, it was a minor part of the article, the Decision (as it shall hereforth be known) being the bulk of the content.

Surely Kelly knows about the BWWT? It's not like it's only just been launched. Pete Mel was last year's winner.

Kelly also said: "It actually brings up a more interesting question about the Association of Surfing Professionals backing a big-wave world tour or events in a specialty way as they happen. These (big-wave) guys and these swells need a good platform that supports what they're already doing and someone to really document the whole lifestyle and help these guys out more."

What benefit would the BWWT tour have by receiving the ASP stamp-of-approval?

Fred Pawle DOESNT KNOW there's a big wave world tour. Here's the proof from his Twitter account..."As BREW suggested, CF, a big-wave tour would attract big bucks. Conceivably more than the World Tour." Proving he is ignorant of the fact that one already exists.

It's a bad oversight then.

Fred does know about the BWWT. The article was more about Kelly's suggestion that the ASP do it for them.

of course Fredo knows about bwwt, but acknowledgement of it wouldn't fit the narrative of the handbag bitch slap format that is the Murdoch Press.

notice how Fredo only sticks his head up in controversy, that's his real angle. a mono-angle.

and surprise surprise, look at the quality of anonymous tools who are egging him on in the twattersphere.

Strange bedfellows... Self appointed Knights of Troof and the Murdoch Press. (read - Troof is what we tell you. Couldn't manage to tell you any Troof about the Iraq War, but here, have some Troof about surfing.)

"Fred does know about the BWWT."

How can you say what Fred does and doesn't know??

@Sid

As you'd know Sid, from your Close Monitoring of Your Pet Hate... Twatter (apart from News Ltd, Freddo, & TD)
Freddo is a bit of a cult figure among the Surf Media Trolls and their Sycophantic Parroting Personas... and yes it does make you laugh their support by proxy of said Murdoch Press and the Blind Faith Following Of Fearless Freddo who has been uncovered as Obviously Lacking in Knowledge of Basic Subject Matter and Research ... BR Worships the Ground Fred Farts on and Praises Endlessly his Journalistic Bravado and Skills... yet Mercilessly Marauds the Efforts of one SS... who himself has been seen of late gracing the Twattersphere with Deserved Derision of our Friends, the Yankee Yodellers

It looks to me like Fred has botched the story. Probably wasn't the first time and I doubt it will be the last. Put your opinion out there as journalists must and you're bound to get it wrong on occasion.

Sjoe, you are most poetic today :)

@Sid

Hahaha

Words just roll of the tongue, my Scaly Snapper...

Helps take the Mind off the Daily Grind...

Excuse me.. Locking Horns with the Wascally Wabbit as we speak..

@ TTBB I know because Fred is a close friend (in real life) as I have stated on here before.

@ Sid. Yes Fred does seem to report on controversial issues around surfing but you sure as hell ain't gonna read about any of it from the mainstream surf media. He is and always has been a counterweight to the fluff we get fed elsewhere and I for one take comfort in that fact.

Fred would be the first to admit that it was an oversight not to mention the current BWWT but as I said above that wasn't the point of the article.

Interesting comment by Taj:
"I'm pretty sure the surfers felt like we just didn't have big enough boards. It was just this really weird, unorganised moment. In the meantime, the big-wave guys were out there going nuts and a lot of us felt we'd just watch them."

Well obviously JJF, Damian Hopgood, Adrian Buchan and Josh Kerr all had big enough boards, they were out there free surfing.
Maybe that comment should have been "I didn't have a big enough board".
Was Damian Hopgood asked? He was out there free surfing before and after the announcement was made.

And I think the other thing you can take from that article is at KELLY SLATER is not aware of the BWWT.
Maybe Fred is also not aware of it as well, but it seems as if he is simply quoting Kelly directly

FredoP, used convenient KS sound bites to fit the Murdoch Press smut dribble formulae'.

I'm astonished that so many are consumed by the neggie prism of such a beautiful pastime as the art of riding waves.

I really think they missing the zen and living on the dark side.

Sid, the only way you would know if Fred used convenient sound bites is if you had read the entire transcript.
Have you done this and if so could you put it on here so we can all read it?
You've been guilty of as much anger and vitriol as anybody, so I think you need to follow your own advice.
Your credibility on this topic has been shot down long ago, why make it worse for yourself?

I only get angry at the incessant whinging from spiritual suckholes like YOU, td.

Why do bother asking questions ? you can't get no satisfaction, regardless .

terminal housewife syndrome.

Here it is

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/kelly-slater-backs-separate-big-wa...

Sjoe, are you gunna break the Noos to the sandy vaginas on twatttersphere that FredoP as of tomoz is likely to be...

Surf Journalist for [Resume' Attached].

??

Great case study contribution for their PhD on Organisations in Decline, and to think you could decline further than sewer rats is something in itself.