Trainspotters may have noticed that I didn’t manage to throw up a post-Bells wrap. I owe all 16 of my regular readers an apology; I just got snowed under and let it slip. I hope my abbreviated version below will suffice (to those uninterested on my Bells musings, just scroll a little down the page … Read more
Contest Wash-Up The Bali Pro was a bit of a slow-burner; it started off with maxed-out morning sessions followed by onshore breezes and delayed rounds. Meanwhile, Cloudbreak was gaining the surfing world’s full and undivided attention while crazy people rode liquid death-traps. To be honest, it was hard to get excited. Even guys like Albee … Read more
Contest Wash-Up The lead-up to Rio was a little undercooked, to put it mildly. The Founders Cup had just finished, and the surfing world was almost universally under-whelmed with pool wave contests. It turns out that most surfers actually wanted the unpredictable imperfection of the contests about which we so often complained. We were happy … Read more
Contest Wash-Up Julian who? The Gold Coast seems like a lifetime ago. Maybe time went so slowly because the first few rounds were so pedestrian. I was growing weary of the 2-hits-out-the-back, 3-cutbacks-through-the-trough, safety-tag-the-end-section Bells bowl monotony. Nobody seemed inspired enough to take the contest by the balls. It was almost as if everyone … Read more
Contest Wash-Up I’ve learned a lot about myself at this event and through this injury and the birth of my baby girl Olivia. Honestly, watching the birth of my first child gave me unbelievable strength to just suck it up, come down here and do what I needed to do. – Julian Wilson Julian Wilson … Read more
Preamble In case you haven’t read the past few articles, Surf-stats will soon merge to become a part of a larger fantasy surfing site, fantasy surf sessions. All of our stats and analysis will be there, as well as the best fantasy game available. We’re in the process of building the site right now, but … Read more
There’s this pervasive philosophy within pro surfing right now that, to win a world title, it’s necessary to ‘surf at 70%’, but I call bullshit. John John buried that approach at Margaret River. Filipe delivered the eulogy in South Africa. Guys like Josh Kerr, Julian Wilson and Jack Freestone have each been mesmerised by the … Read more
“All the crumbs make a loaf of bread” – J. Smith, 2017 Rant Is there a more entertaining individual in pro surfing right now than Jordy Smith? I think not. He’s an incredible surfer, yes, but he’s also a world-class claim choreographer, a heart-on-your-sleeve emotional roller-coaster, a universal icon for hair stylists everywhere. And now, … Read more
“That’s the best conditions I’ve ever seen” – Kelly Slater consoling Conner Coffin after his re-surf loss to Jordy Smith. Rant *I sincerely apologise for the lateness in publishing this piece; my bastard internet providers have some sort of infrastructure issue and are making me wait a week before sending out a technician. This … Read more
Rant The purpose of the first few pages in a story is to get the reader hooked. Australia served that purpose well in 2017 with its (mostly) good waves and excellent surfing. Usually the next part of the narrative arc requires some background or character development; a context through which the mounting tension can be … Read more