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
So, we’re here. The new WSL season is upon us. Before we dive in for another 9 months of pro surfing across 8 countries and 770 heats (men and women), we thought it might be worth covering the various changes that 2019 will bring. Fantasy Of course we’re opening with this. If you played FSS … Read more
Sorry it’s late; I’ve been killing myself trying to get our fantasy game ready for France (see bottom). The France-into-Portugal leg is always a quick turn-around, with massive world title and qualification narratives woven between high-tide holds and lay-days. It’s the business end of the season, so you better get those fantasy teams lit: Conditions … 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
Where were we? The Trestles event was eclipsed by a wave pool, Wilko’s wheels fell off (again), Filipe dominated, while Jordy and John established their leads. Are we all caught up now? Good. Let’s set our focus to Europe. Conditions Surfline have dipped their toes in the water with a decent overview of the contest, … Read more
Kelly Slater – OUT injured That sneaky bastard managed to steal the first wave of the day at the super-hyped KSWC event, despite his 6-months-out-of-the-water foot injury. He’s still a chance for Pipe, but I wouldn’t expect to see him in Europe. Nat Young – IN as injury replacement We wrote that ‘Nat hasn’t … Read more
Sorry for the lack of a Trestles wrap-up; we’ve got some bigger things going on behind the scenes and something had to give. Watch this space though; we’ve got something pretty big on the way… All of our France projections and stats are taken from 2014-2017 WSL contest data. Some 2017 rookies include data … Read more
Congratulations are in order: Keanu Asing has taken a formidable list of more talented surfers (Medina, Florence, Slater, Buchan) and soundly beaten them through smart-if-somehwat-conservative competion surfing. It was, as he admitted himself, his first event win since his junior days (including a history of no outright wins during his QS days), so we can … Read more
Here is the updated wildcard and injury replacement info for the WSL Mens Quik Pro France 2016 (4th – 15th October) INJURIES – NONE Bede, Owen and Mick will again be OUT, with Stu Kennedy, Seabass Zietz and Dusty Payne respectively. Although there are no official (new) changes to the draw in regards to injuries, it could be … Read more
How good is the European leg? Sure, you have some of the most unpredictable conditions on offer, with 8’ kegs just as possible as Huntington-esque dribble. Sure, the time difference sucks for our US friends. Sure, the holding spells can suck the energy out of the event. But there are positives; there’s the consequences for … Read more