And under such a wet sun and dishevelled sky!
Under a wet sun and dishevelled skies, and to the violin sob of a sturdy onshore wind, Carissa Moore won this year’s Rip Curl Pro. It was her third Bells win in as many years (the first time for a woman) and is her second win in a row this season, come to think of it, her third win in a row since last year’s event in Maui.
Oh, Carissa was highly polished. Forget the hiccups between moves and jump-y half turns that sting the viewer’s eyes.
Stephanie Gilmore was even more of a thrill to watch than Carissa, each turn as beautiful as the opening of a rare flower. When will the Gold Coast shaper Darren Handley swing back into vogue? Yesterday Mick Fanning appeared to swish along the raggy waves with a destructive and ravenous ease.
Highlights? Yeah, there were some. Here, take this from the WSL press release about the final.
| “Gilmore opened up strong in the Final, posting an excellent 8.77 for typically smooth and concise surfing, linking together a series of turns and backing it up with a 4.50 for the initial lead. The Hawaiian fought back with an 8.00 of her own to turn the heat and claim the lead, holding priority through the closing minutes and taking the win with just two waves ridden.Gilmore, the reigning WSL Champion, has rung the Bell three times. First she went back-to-back in 2007 and 2008, facing Sofia Mulanovich on both occasions. The pair matched up again in the Final in 2010 and Gilmore took the win. The runner-up finish for Gilmore today, her second of the year, sees her remain in second place on the rankings.“Every single year it gets harder and harder to win these events,” Gilmore said. “It’s a real testament to all the girls on tour and just how much work and time they put out in the surf. I’m really proud to make it to the Final.”
“Carissa is always a tough one to beat,” continued Gilmore. “We have had a great battle for the world title the last few years and every single heat with her is hard. Thanks everyone for coming to watch. I love this event, I love coming down here, rugging up and trying to ring the bell.” |
Can you feel the drama?
But what do you make of it, this contest, with its two-week waiting period, that turned into such a melancholy waltz. Is it further proof that the tour must be cleaved in two again, between women and men, and that the numbers must be radically sharpened? A dozen or 16 men; six or eight women?
And is it right that Kelly Slater is forced to defend his great legacy in the worst waves the tour has since he first joined it 24 years ago? It ain’t right to watch the Champ jerking back and forth, moving his weight from one foot to the other, to try and gas a little speed on two-foot waves.
That kinda shit doesn’t do any of us any good.
Maybe if the women’s world tour was Steph Gilmore and 17 of her clones I’d be interested
nice nice agree fully on last 3 pair of graphs.
There may be 18 women on the tour but only 6 or 7 of them are worth watching. The rest offer very little, have no power in their turns whatsoever and have very very awkward styles. It’s unfortunate because they’re all clearly very committed to what they are doing – I am not questioning their commitment or resolve. But watching them surf is just a bit shit. Anyway, lets discuss the big ugly dying elephant in the room. The “judging”. Steph’s 9.5? Complete and utter comedy, like most of the scoring in the women’s event at Bells this year. Never before have I seen 9’s handed out with such reckless and gay abandon for average turns on shit waves. People I watched the event with (either live or via heats on demand) literally burst out laughing as the scores were announced. Although I suspect Courtney Conologue fails to see the humour in it. Ultimately when we can all see an average wave ridden adequately and given a 9+ it gives the sport about as much credibility as WWF Wrestling. Then again I suppose it’s hard to sell this brave new WSL world as the best show on earth when people are winning heats with a pair of 5s or 6s. The standard operational bullshit of the WSL seems to be to go as vanilla as possible, inflate the scores, get the commentators to hype the fuck out of even the most average turn (there is only so many times you can hear Pottz yell out “bang” and talk about surfing with pizazz before you want to punch him repeatedly in the brain) and make sure they are talking up conditions even when they are plainly diabolical. Hopefully Margs dishes up serious waves for a few days and we can find out who is world champ material for both genders and who are simply bum turners like the KFC spokesperson or pickle spinners like the golden midget.
I’d say 6 out of 18 is a pretty good ratio in comparison to the guys. There’s what, 6 out of 32 I’d watch? And as far as I’m concerned Stephanie could get 12s on every wave and I would not bat an eye at her being overscored.
And for that matter, Carissa too.
…that nine was wretched! All beak no jaw!