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
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
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
The cancellation of the Margaret River contest left many surf fans with a bad taste in their mouths. We lost all narrative tension regarding the contest rounds and emerging champion, we were starved of any real title race variation, our fantasy teams were all shot to pieces, the potential for a Mikey vs. Jesse heat … Read more
I have waited long enough for the WSL to move on from their wave machine experiment and get back to the core business of managing the world tour. There is still no heat draw or mention of wildcards (as of publishing), so I’ll offer what I have for now. I’ll try to update in time, … Read more
I don’t know why I’m bothering with this; the WSL is neglecting this event like an unattractive third child until the Founders Cup has spewed forth its final, mushy left. There’s not much to go by as yet… Update: we have a draw and most of the wildcard details. Also, the KS wave pool has … Read more
Image: Connor O’Leary laying down some Saquarema rail in 2015 If there’s a more challenging event to forecast this season, I’ll be amazed. We still have a much-derided Brazilian event this season, yet we have a venue that has been untested on the CT tour. Sure, there are QS stats available, as well as transferable … Read more
Here’s the latest regarding the upcoming Oi Rio Pro: Kelly Slater – OUT Kelly has pulled out at the last minute, citing an ongoing back injury as his reason. He will seek professional rehab and hopes to be back for Fiji. He’s replaced by: Bino Lopes – IN Bino surfed this event last year and … Read more
Image: Kanoa proving that Saquarema isn’t just a left-hander These projections and stats are taken from 2014-2017 WSL contest data. Some 2017 rookies include data from previous WSL events, but many do not have relevant results in significant categories. Their modelling is much less reliable and they may have skewed projections due to their averages … Read more
As the picture above implies, the tour is no longer being held at heaving West-Australian reef breaks. Our new destination – Grumari, Brazil – brings with it a new set of conditions and a fresh slate for surfers to prove themselves. We spoke to the founder of Fantasy Surfing Tips and Brazilian local Francisco Pimentel … Read more