Photos: Three Fins To The Wind

The Maui crew have always known it.

So too any aerialist who's laid eyes on North Point in a sou-wester. When an onshore wind comes up and surfers begin complaining about devil wind and chop, some eye the options above the lip and start swinging into the wind.

Jack Robinson looking over his shoulder for a landing (Swilly)

The last three years have been anything but normal in south-east Queensland and northern NSW. Persistent easterly swell, rain...lots of rain in fact, and an almost complete absence of northerly winds during spring and early summer.

The period from the footy grand final till the New Year is traditionally a cursed time of year with small swell and relentless northerlies, yet that's not been the case since 2020. During the last three years, as La Nina sat at the controls, there was a near complete absence of of the seasonal seabreeze. This year, things have reverted back towards the norm, however, rather than curse the northerlies, some surfers have adapted.

"It was the perfect ramp conditions," said photographer Simon 'Swilly' Wiliams of the day these photos were taken. Three to four feet of east swell was breaking into a freshening northerly, which required a quick shift in approach. Look for a ramp, get the headwind under your board, look for a landing.

Caio Ibelli counts the hang time (Swilly)

"From where I was standing," said Swilly, "it looked like the best ramps you could imagine. Enough size in the swell to get speed, and each lump was a ramp."

"Dane Henry, Shelly [Sheldon Simkus] and Jack were just sending it. Think they even inspired Mick Fanning to have a go too." 

Though tracking in a lower orbit, Mick still managed to access the air up there (Swilly)

"When the wind came up most surfers went in," said Swilly. "In terms of Snapper crowds it was empty: the boys and maybe six others."

"Dane Henry was just popping off all over the shop," observed Swilly. "That kid is really turning into an amazing surfer. He's going to make a big name for himself."

They weren't all ankle-breakers. Here Dane Henry shows us his planshape during a more othodox fin ditch (Swilly)

"Shelly got the biggest air of the day," said Swilly.  An alley oop where he almost, but not quite, over-rotated. Despite the time aloft some whitewash on the lip cushioned him a soft landing. 

Messy surf, clean oop. Check the towers in the background for a gauge on how far Sheldon travels from takeoff to landing (Swilly)

As well as athletic, the session required some mental agility. A sudden change in expectation and approach. "Somehow Jack managed to find a stand up pit," laughed Swilly

"He won the heat," said Swilly. "What can you say? He has the ability to make the hardest air look so simple."

"With surfing like that he has to get a title soon."

Jack mixing up a stalefish on one wave...(Swilly)

...with an indy grab on another. Meanwhile, the northerly wind suspends his board and slows the rotation (Swilly)