He will be gouging J-Bay! Can you believe it? Can you?
Can you believe it? Can you even believe it? I can’t. I was driving north on the 101 to visit my wife’s father in quaint Cayucos. She is next to me and the children are in back watching The Incredibles and Vampire Diaries respectively.
We were through Oxnard, California almost to Ventura, California when my partner, Derek Rielly, texted me the news. “Oh Chas!” he began “I’m at a school concert and Dane just got the J-Bay wildcard. Do you have a mo to sling online?”
No because I was driving but then I thought about those gorgeous turns he strings together and thought about him almost conquering Fiji and thought about him using his earnings to feed a new baby at home and thought, “The people at home need to know!” I quickly swerved off the road, trying desperately to find a Starbucks to milk its wifi. And I found one….but realized that it was in a Vons grocery store and those damned ones don’t have wifi. Crushed. Until I saw a McDonald’s! Beacon of America! They have wifi, don’t they?
I scrambled inside, opened my laptop and……I’m online!
So guess what? Dane Reynolds is the wildcard surfer in South Africa! The WSL Commissioner Kieren Perrow “cited the Californian’s incredible talent, ability to lift the event’s performance level and recent surfing in Fiji as reasons for his selection.
Did you know Dane’s ninth in Fiji puts him at #34, ahead of full-time competitors CJ Hobgood (surprise!) and Brett Simpson (maybe not so surprise!). And if he scoops up another good result at J-Bay, and maybe slides into a few more events as a wildcard, he could qualify for the CT, finishing 22nd or better.
Dane’ll surf against Mick Fanning and Kai Otton in round one.
So! You get to watch his gorgeous turns! His baby gets to eat! Can you believe it? We all win! And if I can convince the family to get off the road in Venture Dane and I can celebrate together.
This is Dane at J-Bay in 2010 and, below, his last drop on Marine Layer Productions. I think, better now…
The tour is gaining some serious credibility of late…
That J-Bay contest footage is better than most of the video parts I’ve seen in a while.
Chas, that’s some serious commitment – feeding your children that crap to bring us the humble reader a scoop. Well done.
Do you think he will feel sorry for Ads if he beats him again?
…I believe Dane Reynolds has endless potential on a slightly amended World Tour. But will he find it, like last time, too weirdly claustrophobic? Who remembers that Dane actually finished 2010 rated number four?
And I nearly died when I saw precious Hemingway with McDonalds in her pale little hands! What a reporter Chas is! To hell with everything!
Chas, don’t forget to hit the Brown Butter Cookie place in Cayucos. It’s the only way to celebrate!