Bloody hell! I actually turned my head away as the board came into view.

Lucky Zeb, could've been worse! Saw a guy get one full in the eye socket once, he kept his eye though.

Take an eye out!! Nasty!!

Brutal

Upon a few more looks, it almost looks deliberate?!? Assume it wasn't. It must of been a very early stage beginner.....

Wow just shows you how quick a good time can turn into a nightmare,no excuses for that though kook or not could have killed the guy.

Hey Rabb 68 looking at it again it does look like it was deliberate,recon your right.

Definitely deliberate... even a rookie could duck dive that board in the shoulder like he was - he's definitely flicked that board on purpose. If he is a learner, he is in the wrong place, on the wrong board.

No one likes being pointed at Zeb, it's impolite.

didn't look like a beginners board ... perhaps Shaun was down that way this morning . He definitely doesn't like people pointing anything at him . including camera's , guns , cars , tax ..... Cash on the other hand he is fond of .

Maybe that was Zebs 15th wave one after the other.......not condoning the board flick if it was indeed deliberate. Just curious.....

Does anyone know Zeb?

I've had this experience too - at Piha in New Zealand. One of a very few times I was actually locked into the green room on an 8 ft mal, and a learner paddled over the shoulder and let his short board fall back down the wave. I came rode straight into it and it smashed the rail on my board to bits. He just paddled off with a shrug.

How does that even happen? Seriously. I surfed Mays yesterday and there were so many flogs in the water, its not even worth it anymore. Kooks hassling for waves, paddling out and sitting half a meter away from you and pushing you deeper and deeper. Its a joke. Learn to surf. If your sitting out the back and your board touches my board it means you are too close to me. And the big annoyance is when hero boy paddles and he realises he's to deep and pulls back. flogs.

what a tosser!the assailant should be held accountable,charged for assault with a surfboard.

1st thing that came to mind is jealousy, same as what Rabbit said on 15waves.

on a positive this footage could be used in a"how not to surf"video.
i have 2young boy's.i'm going to make them watch this and tell them to never do this!if they do expect a slap from the tuberider n expect another from dad!

Shove that board up his arse!!

That's disgracful and does almost look deliberate

Also surfed mays yesterday, unfortunately our points only break 2 or 3 times a year and brings out all the muppets with their mothball ridden wetties especially when the water is as warm as it is now. 90% of the guys you never see anywhere else, watching them enter the water off the jump rock is hilarious. Yes zeb would have had his share plus some as do all the other crew that have earnt their stripes and can surf , but it's these fuckwits that make this place very dangerous for all. They get 1 or 2 chances from me to show that they re not wasting waves then the next time they paddle past on the snake they get faded. Hope zeb is ok

Deliberate . Although wonder how this guy was acting to deserve this?

Whoaa that could have been a whole lot worse, I've had a swallow tail through the cheek from a drop in, I have an idea how you must have felt!

And there was a bit of poor form at Outside this morning too, I had a body boarder snaking me on the inside section and another guy did the same out the back, smiling, they just seemed oblivious to their sins and they weren't beginners... (watch this guys:

Guess it's all part of surfing in the school holidays... Surf etiquette signs at the breaks with a rating system for ability? Didn't I see a sign like that on the site/ forums a while back?

I am over the Easter crowds not to mention the amount of fuckwits that don't know the basic rules of surfing ie don't drop in don't throw your board and wait your turn. I had a guy on a mal recently snake me twice to which I told him to politely fuck off and he was oblivious to what he had done. Too many summer surfers and free for all mentality in the line up. Yes I am having a winge.

I don't think the finger should be pointed at Zeb here. I saw him share waves yesterday amongst a hungry crowd.

The place he was surfing today is for experienced surfers only (not because of localism - just due to the demands of the wave itself) and generally the people surfing there know how to handle themselves and their boards.

There are options to learn the wave itself without getting in the way of others, the setup allows for this.

I wasn't there so can't comment on the incident itself, other than to reiterate - don't bail your board with other surfers about, its bad form and as evidenced can cause (at times significant) harm.

Ditto the above! Copped a wicked one to head,stitches & decent scar across left eye from a doosh beginner in decent sized swell that didnt bother to duck dive grrrrr!

Scotty12345 how did you see him share waves when you weren't there.
I don't condone the board ditch by the way .

.

Met a German girl - a very tall German girl - travelling with a nice fella from Marg's up NWWA last year that just refused to duck dive.

She would go out in just about any size waves with virtually zero fear thinking that she was killing it just by being out there as opposed to actually learning the basics first.

Nice chick , but just a serial pest that wound up injuring a couple of people. Which she held herself blameless for as she considered herself a beginner with no responsibilities .

A few people tried to kindly hint at what she was doing wrong but she basically needed it to be slapped into her as would have happened if she was a bloke yet, for better or worse there was no girl bashers in camp so she got off Scott free.

Till she got flogged into tears trying to exit the water one day.

Strange. No legrope, bit odd for a beginner. HP board. Guy appeared to look carefully before he let go of the board.

Hi alsurf,

The Hobart points were surfed on Saturday and Sunday. I surfed with and saw Zeb('s )surf yesterday - as mentioned above (Sat).

The footage above is from today (Sun) I believe. When I referenced not being there , I meant the Sunday (todays) session.

Looked like he may have made that baz too - except for the untimely board to the noggin.

Cheers

so critical you people.
Maybe the guy just fucked up at a bad time.

Surely you've had a board slip out of your hands sometime

Just wondering if any of those self appointed non kooks & flogs ever surfed waves that were beyond their ability- i'll guarantee the answer is yes.

Lads, ladys and the etc,

I was the fella making symbols at my mate zeb as he got shacked past me. There was no malice ( maybe a little jealousy, ha!) in the gesture. Zeb had not been making a pig of himself that day and had no interaction with the learner prior to getting a board in the head. I watched the inept muppet, er learner, nearly do himself a nasty injury while attempting to surf the tail end of the point, for a couple of hours before this incident. I was baffled and mildly amused to why you would do this to yourself, especially when there are at least 4 other far more suitable points in the bay for him to improve his basic skills.

It is all well and good challenging yourself, but taking too big a steps in the process can be a huge danger to yourselves or others.

Perhaps I was at fault for not kindly offering some pointers to said muppet earlier?

Although I would have been busy all morning, as there were more than a few folk out at the point that could have had a far more successful and enjoyable time if they had of chosen a more suitable challenge for themselves on the day in question.

Humility and self-awareness are the key characteristics that should be developed by all, especially surfers in crowded lineups at very shallow rock points!

Zebulon Critchlow, 2013 Parrot Invitational Champion

King of the Pandemonium!

Stu ,
I think people were a little skeptical of this film due to a number of points listed above .
May i say that for starters that the wave is obviously bigger than it looks in the video due to effects that are known from Go Pros .
Anyway in this day of internet trickery , it was a perfect storm for people to be weery of the self attracted click bait . In the old days the only images we would of seen was a selfie in the carpark afterwards of Zeb and claret running from his head . Still no word ( more so photos of injury ) [ i'm not being negative , just presenting facts to date ] .
Due to above said image distortion you can't tell exactly how close the board gets to his head ( again i'm not saying it wasn't close ) , but obviously it was bad enough for him to bail away .
Zeb himself seems to be yelling , jestering , pointing for something when he's setting up the tube , why not some board stunt . Jimmy is obviously close enough mates to Zeb to get away with flying the bird at him , so could be in on the game ?
The Board looks pretty thin / modern , if it was said tricky conditions how would such a novice that couldn't control what would easibly be a submersion and not even a duckdive actually get out the back .
Lastly if this is infact a freak occurence , THEN WHY THE FUCK WOULD ANYONE ALLOW A GUY TO STAY OUT IN THE WATER ON A " TRICKY / SOLID ( for there ) DAY ...... WITHOUT A LEGGY .... surely you would just order him in to start with ....
Still smells fishy .

The start of the duckdive looks to be from a experienced surfer......before the let go .

I want to see the unedited version zeb. The one with you giving him the talking to!!

Sheeshhlike. Do people like southy really exist? did you watch way too many episodes of the X-files? Ever heard of Occam's Razor. do you even surf? or is your "surfing" more like trolling?

point 1. It wasn't huge, just gnarly, like less than knee deep in places. (I for one have been more hurt in 3 foot waves in very little water than I have been in big surf).

point 2. The Kid in question was wearing a legrope, other wise the preceding two hours of going over the falls, at a boulder lined point, would have resulted in a hunk of fiberglass smaller than your average dinner plate.

point 3. Modern board? Flip, thanks to the vanity (stupidity?) of most young males and the prevalence of GSI-like board conglomerates, every learner seems to either have a brand new Hayden shapes or some other low volume completely inappropriate board these days.

Point 4. We are not police. perhaps we should return to the days of the 80-90s where heavy handed enforcement of breaks was the norm? The modern litigious Australian society would prevent that.

So, this brings us back to the point of view that Stu and I seem to share. Know your ability and wisely and safely choose your challenges. Humility and self-awareness. It shouldn't take two hours of beatings to understand that you may actually be in the wrong place.

Ok enough air wasted on this, wise up, do it for the kids.....

And that's the problem with a lot of beginners these days, they think they will all be Kelly Slater, go out were everyone else appears to be ripping with the latest and greatest board sold to them by other gumbies from a "surf" shop.

Yes I seem to remember learning to surf was that you paid your dues in smaller surf and worked your way up. It was all clouded in an aura of basic rules and respect otherwise you could cop a beating. There were the heavies who ruled the break and you worked your way up. So much video exposure these days makes it look all to easy. Everything is so accessible people think they can just take what they want. Same as a family from Coburg rocking up to Gunnamatta or Portsea on a big day with a howling easterly the rips going nuts and they let the toddler play in the shore break. Yeah that is going to turn out well.

I'm with meccabowl.

Zebs loves a good pony loaf and is an all round good guy

Stu , No . Just adding to the Drama . ;-)
But people above did have valid queries . ( ie fucked if I can see anything that half resembles a leggy ) , especially when some super sleuths can make out that there is a guy on the shoulder flipping the bird .
Jimmy /and Zeb ...
Fucken oath it is your responsibility to have words to people before these things happen , done the right way people will listen . ie let the person know that A: people out there don't want to be rescuiing others especially ones that have brought it upon themselves ( the learner ) and definitely not after you've previously requested that they make their own way out of the water for others safety . B: are they capable of rescuing others and themselves for that matter after they inadvertantely injure someone else ( imagine if Zeb got pitched head first on shallow water trying to avoid said board ) .
And yes I know about small surf in shallow water , 3 months on your back , and a lifetime of pain , discomfort and impaired mobility never lets you forget .
Grow up,man up and impart your knowledge before you become the victim . Simple .
And better still don't whinge about it and broadcast it to the nation , which will do far more damage to the offenders ego than a quick clip over the ear !
Memla , I'm hearing you . I felt compelled the other day to go up to a young parent to advise him . That was watching his kids ( under 5) play in the White water surging up the beach inside of sunset rock Rye main backbeach , during an incoming tide , 4-5ft swell right in front of the main RIP . Was perhaps a little unwise , as they inevitably would've been washed off their feet , it wouldn't matter if he was Kieren Perkins , he would've needed a board and possibly a second person in a rescue . I wasn't an arsehole or rude , just provided some facts and alternatively happier afternoon for his young family .
I won't even go near some of the potential evil I've dealt with non English tourists in more remote steroidal flowing beachs elsewhere .
Your right though jimmy , because I say something I must be a know all keyboard troll . !

I'll stick with Seven Mile. It was crowded enough sunday and lots of tubes and backwash to test any standard of surfer. Trouble is with leg-ropes, even the most inept surfers can jump off the rocks or paddle up the inside and take pole position in an inconsistent lineup. They may well fall off next wave but simply assume the same position in the lineup again.

I'm not advocating the banning of leg-ropes but simply stating the obvious (with well over 50 years of surfing experience) that learners no longer have to work their apprenticeship by wiping out countless times and having to retrieve their dinged boards any more. They will catch more waves in their first year of surfing than we did in the first 5 years of our surfing experience. I suspect that it's only because of the convenience and safety of leg-ropes that many learners stick with the sport. Can't believe how many people surf in Tassie.

I'm with Coxtim65, Southey is one of the better pony loafers I have come across.

Jimmy and Zeb, be like Warren G and Nate Dog and learn to "Regulate"

Look for Southey third from the left in the trench coat

Geez I opened up a can of worms with my stupid sarcastic sense of humour....

My above post was in reply to black-duck (no offense mate honest)
When you read my post its all about a duck and a bird....?

carry on you guys want some advice from your elders?.....maybe leave your cameras at home for once and start surfing for yourselves not for the best shot for you to toss over or what ever it is you do with all this footage,us elders manage to live off the buzz and memories of a session in the past.this is why the surf in tassie has been semi secret and un crowed in the past ,but in the last 10 years it has slipped out of our hands thru all you grommits trying to out do each other with exposing spots via film or camera for your own personal shit and wank.Your generation has no respect for other watermen and its giving normal true surfers the shits,sorry about the accident but harden up son,I hurt my back doing doggy style but i didn't shoot footage of it to show all my mates.Hope to never see you in the water maybe its karma.............

Does this mean Zeb is out of the Parrot Invitational 2015? I hope not, that kid rips the bag and knows chicks.

Nah, he should recover by then Zoe. He does rip the bag the..... like a cat on acid

and definitely "nose" chicks.

I even heard he had Sunny Garcia stay at his place once!

King Parrot, King of the Pandemonium

silverback makes a good point. Most of us are not doing the world any favors by encouraging others to surf and making it more crowded. Talking up point-swells on FB, Instagram, posting photos in real time so people know what's happening. It is not condoning anything that has happened by if we look at the bigger picture I can see things getting worse and not better.

For years I have taken it upon myself to educate others kindly but forcefully in the line up; "Hey, don't snake me mate, I'm up next", "Mate, if you are not going to take a wave at least let others know so they can", "Your board nearly hit me, if you can't duckdive then you should quickly learn" etc. If we all did that it would happen a lot less. And of course if we all had an Eddie Blackwell at our local it wouldn't happen at all. Not advocating gromment abuse, but rules are completely pointless if nobody enforces them.

%*&$!!! world's most annoying vid. history and the sorry tale of the human race tells us there is no solution. we're never going to stop humans from bumping into each other.

sucks.

on the bright side: imagine if we could bail out of cars with a deft stunt roll whenever we messed up in traffic. there'd be 'ghost' cars flying all over the place and insurance premiums would go through the roof.

I'm all for educating fellow surfers (as I am all for learning from my fellow surfers). The thing is nowadays you're not talking to stoked groms getting in your way (actually think stoked groms are truly inspiring) It's 40 year old pasty office warriors riding brand new mctavish mals with an attitude that makes Brazilians looks like pussies. Ever tried talking sense into them? Before you know it they will staple you to their Subaru outbacks while sipping a double shot soy latte with organic sugar!

Whatcha get for wearing a bloody camera on your block mate. Lets hope this happens again ya dill.

take a look at this longer edit where Zeb appears to drop in on someone already in the barrel.
Still feel sorry for him?
https://www.facebook.com/StugibsonPhotography/videos/806786199399017/

He wouldn't have made it mr climber