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Preview: Billabong Pipe Masters

A surfer dropping into a Pipe bomb

Hawaii has already served up some hefty drama this week, what with Tyler’s stunning comeback, Steph’s 5th Honolua win, Carissa’s 4th title, and Lakey’s fall at the final hurdle, it was a massive end to the women’s season. Not to be outdone, Sunset brought the men’s QS picture into focus with some quality conditions on … Read more

Preview: Meo Rip Curl Pro

Julian Wilson threading a Supertubos barrel

While Pipe may be the ‘Superbowl of surfing’, Portugal certainly punches above its weight when it comes to world title speculation. Throw in the race for Olympic qualifications and a decent forecast, and we have plenty to get psyched about for Portugal. Medina, Seabass, Filipe, and Jordy et al. may have ensured that most fantasy … Read more

Preview: QuikPro France

Multiple winner Gabriel Medina alley-ooping above the french beachbreaks

France is always interesting to watch, but it has felt even more exciting since the pool event was added to the tour. The Freshwater Pro undoubtedly has its flaws, but the WSL hardly help themselves by juxtaposing it against the Tahiti and France events. Tahiti, with its fear factor and raw power, makes the pool … Read more

Event Preview: Freshwater Pro

The Wave The event will be held at the KS Wave Ranch, located amongst the rural countryside of Lemoore, California. The man-made wave is manufactured in a 600m (2000′) long and 150m (500′) wide lake originally built for water skiing. It is created when under-water hydrofoils run down a track at around 30 kilometres per … Read more

Event Preview: J-Bay

How are you travelling at the all-but-halfway point in the season? Fantasy wise, that is. I don’t mean that hollow sensation growing deep within your soul that reminds you that you’re nearly 40 and still dedicating far too much time to fantasy sports. No? Just me? Anyway, how is your team looking? Were you riding … Read more

Event Preview – Rio Pro

I know, I know; my post-event articles have disappeared like Julian’s title aspirations. Sorry. Life’s been getting in the way. If, for some masochistic reason, you crave more surf-stats content, then my old-man social accounts on Facebook or Twitter give readers more regular intel, such as FSS leaderboard shout-outs, last-minute injury news, and random stats. … Read more

Event Preview – Margaret River

Bali Wash-Up With such a tight turn-around, this was always going to be a squeeze. We’ll drop some Bali knowledge once our Margies stuff is set. Watch this space. Margaret River Conditions The WSL have plenty of venue guides, such as here, or the Ben Mondy overview of the place here. There’s also a detailed … Read more

Event Preview – Bali Pro

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

Event Preview: Bells Beach

If it wasn’t for the last day, I’d have said that the DBah Pro was a roaring success. The we’re-going-to-snapper-wait-we’re-just-going-to-hold-off-until-the-swell-dies postponement of the finals was a bit iffy, and there were some less-than-ideal judging calls, but let’s not split hairs; it was fun to watch, it ran quickly through the waiting period, and we had … Read more

Event Preview: Gold Coast

I say it every year, but how good is it to have the new season upon us? In 2019, John John and Kelly have more questions than answers over their heads, Julian, Italo and Filipe are looking to break through for a maiden championship, rookies are looking for validation or glory, return surfers seeking retribution, … Read more