The fun’s just beginning for the kid called Chippo.

It’s been quite the year already for Margaret River’s Jacob Willcox, but today could be the sweetest of them all. You see, as you read this, Jacob is sitting his final exam on his final day of his final year of school…ever!

“It’s a bit hard to believe but, yep, that’ll be it and I’m pretty stoked,’’ says the 17-year-old. “Today is human biology and that’s it, I’m done with school.”

And while the rest of his peers set their sights on schoolies week and beyond, Willcox is busy scheduling a trip up the road to the Australian Junior Surfing Titles at Yallingup before a trip to Hawaii and a ringside seat for the WCT showdown in Hawaii.

“I’ve got to work all that out this afternoon, but I’d say I’ll be in Hawaii for a couple weeks then hopefully be home for Chrissy,” he says. “Either way, it’s all good.”

All good, indeed.

Willcox, you will recall, first caused a stir when he ousted Kelly Slater from the Rip Curl event in Portugal last year and followed it up with a string of solid results and a world title win on the junior series. Rip Curl again gifted him a wild card into the Portugal event this year, an event that almost went into meltdown with the weight of expectation and world title scenarios surrounding it.

But there was to be no repeat of last year’s result for Willcox, quite the opposite in fact. A third in round one behind Gabriel Medina and a solid loss to Mick Fanning in round two.

“I had a shocker for sure, actually to be honest he (Fanning) flogged me pretty good” he says. “He pretty much got two nines before I even got out the back and then the waves just stopped. We were just looking at each other and almost laughing, there were just no waves. But, I guess that’s surfing in a way…bit of luck involved I suppose.”

Despite the drubbing, Willcox says he’s better for the experience and was glad to be on hand for such a pivotal moment in this year’s championship.

“There were a few tense moments and it was interesting to see it all go down,” he says. “Especially the whole scenario when Gabriel left the water before the end of his heat and how Mick turned it all around and now he’s in with a good shot at the title. I’m pretty thankful for the exposure to situations like that.”

The lacklustre form continued with a second round elimination at the next event, the ASP World Pro Junior titles, also in Portugal. Bummed out? For sure, but mixed with a pragmatic outlook towards the bigger picture, once again, it’s all good.

“I kind of had a shocker at the Pro Juniors as well,” he says. “Portugal wasn’t the best result-wise, to be honest, I guess the ocean wasn’t really liking me there in a way. But, what do you do? It’s what you get being a grommet sometimes.”

But all was forgotten as soon as he set foot back in his sleepy little hometown that just happened to turn it on for the kid’s return.

“I could see it was going to pump on the weekend so I did as much study as I could and just held out for Sunday,” he says of the day the accompanying photos were also taken. “Nothing beats coming home to waves like that.”

Still, the world, and a couple years of slogging it out on the WQS await the kid called “Chippo”. And how does he think he’ll cope with the relentless travel, competition and average waves so far from home?

“I can’t wait to tell you the truth. Travel, surfing, and competing. Sounds like fun to me.” //ANTHONY PANCIA

(Photos Gordon Becker Photography)