Pro surfers go “mad” on lay-day!

Do they play ping-pong? Do they grapple with tiger sharks?

I can’t help but wonder, what exactly do people do to stay busy on Tavarua during lay days? The place is packed to capacity, and sharing a lineup with the entire top 44, plus assorted wildcards and hangers on, doesn’t do much to stoke my fancy, regardless of the quality of the waves.

But Fiji’s got some killer fishing. Remember when Parko blew off a round one heat in 2013 because the bite was on? If I were there, and a full blown island wide orgy was out of the question, I’d be kicking around, holding my breath, trying to kill as many giant beautiful ocean denizens as possible.

In that vein, here’s two dudes fighting off a tiger shark that wants to eat their freshly speared ulua.

Load Comments

Top ten film sections of all time!

We need your help!

The section is so understandable in our surf world (and skate and snowboard too) that one action-sporter can say to another, “Did you see ________’s section? It was sick.” and he or she will be totally understood. The section makes the film, as they say, but what is the best section of all time? What is the 2-3 minute bite, put to song, that really knocked your socks off? Was it the above in Transworld’s death mask “Let’s Surf Seriously” (so good btw)? Was it Dane Reynolds in Young Guns 3?

Was it Andy Irons in Still Filthy (so overlooked)?

Was it?

Gimme yours!

Load Comments

Just in: Massive yacht attacks Tavarua!

Is it the first wave of a Google invasion?

If you ever stroll past Google’s Venice, California office you are let known that the computer people inside get their fucking shred on. WaveStorm after WaveStorm after yellowed 8 footer after Xanadu from 1994 after WaveStorm line the outside wall, each screaming, “BARRELS, BITCH!”

Apparently, the computer people are getting their direction from Google founder Larry Page. I don’t know if Larry surfs but his 193 foot super yacht is parked outside Tavarua at this very moment, ready to take in some live World Surf League action.

The yacht cost him 45 million dollars and is named Senses. It has a helipad, gym, multi-level sundeck, ten luxurious suites, a crew of 14 and interiors designed by Philippe Starck.

If you are in Tavarua right now either surfing professionally, taking pictures, making sure the live feed goes off uninterrupted, are Joe Turpel you should, most definitely, paddle up and stow away. It will be time better spent.

The master bedroom
The master bedroom
The dining room
The dining room
Elkerton_pinball_McLeod
Pinball galley
Load Comments

Were 1980s professional surfers really better?

It is high time we stage events in order to find out.

Remember yesterday when Julian Wilson said “…the boys go mad on it” regarding the Fijian pre-event kava ceremony? BeachGrit fav commenter and overall friendly man Negatron sure does. He responded, “…I would love to see the current generation of pro-surfers versus the 80’s pro-surfers in a game of “the boys go mad on it…”

And Negs brings up a wonderful point. If there was a real game called “The Boys Go Mad On It” who would, in fact, win?

Let us posit that the 1980s “The Boys Go Mad On It” team would be:

-Gary “Kong” Elkerton

-Martin “Pottz” Potter

-Derek Ho

-Mike Lambresi

-Michael Tomson

And let us say the 2010s “The Boys Go Mad On It” team would be:

-John John Florence

-Jordy Smith

-Felipe Toledo

-Mason Ho

-Glenn “Micro” Hall

Next we would have to decide what both “Go Mad” and “On It” reference. But let us actually not. Let’s leave them both completely subjective. “Go Mad” could mean anything from getting very angry to staying up all night to consuming a lot of…broccoli. “On It” could mean anything from kava to non-alcoholic beer to…broccoli. So, if there were no actual confines, if “The Boys Go Mad On It” could mean anything, anywhere, anyhow…sort of like The Amazing Race minus the race…which team would you pick? Where would you plant your flag?

Load Comments

Josh Kerr talks about…everything!

He has been a BeachGrit fav since...forever! And now he's number 4 in the world!

Since midway through 2011 til, like, right now, Josh Kerr has become BeachGrit’s must-watch man on WT webcasts. Why? ‘Cause he throws caution (and tail!) to the wind with panache and is one of the few competitors who has Kelly Slater shaking in his booties. Josh is the perfect balance of Australian modesty and grit (he’s from the Gold Coast) with Cali jib steeze (where he lives now). Though, those aren’t the only elements of a dazzling surfer. Read on for the other ingredients that make Josh’s surfing so great.

Wavepark: Pitstops, Lakey Peak, Macaroni’s or Keramas. Just ’cause you’ve got time to set up for your manoeuvre and you know where the section’s coming so it gives you time to prepare and gives you time to think through what you’re gonna try. It’s better for tech stuff to surf something more mechanical like a reef, rather than a beachie.

Barrel spot: Shipsterns and Pipe or Tahiti. At Pipe I’ve had my best ones during freesurfs. I never get through a heat there so I don’t get to surf it much during a contest (laughs). At Shipsterns, once you get over the ledge, it’s such an enjoyable barrel. That’s what I always tell everyone. No one really knows how enjoyable that wave is. I think it looks more intimidating in photos because of what’s going on behind you. You just gotta get over the ledge, pull up, put your hands above your head and have a hell time.

Grab: It varies but, if I’m doing a straight air it’s still just a big frontside grab. You have more control and you can really huck it higher. For an air-reverse, I’ve been frothing on stalefishes. I still do frontside grab air-revs during freesurfs, but definitely a lot less than I would have before. When you’re freesurfing, you wanna push yourself to do grabs that you wouldn’t usually do. You wanna get consistent at those grabs so you can bring them into the contest. The judges do recognise the difference in difficulty of certain grabs, but it’s more the section you’re doing the air off, the height of it and difficulty of landing. They don’t really care that much what grab it is. You don’t have to grab to get a 10 so long as it’s real lofty.

Rotation: I’d have to say on my frontside, a full-rotation alley oop with a heelside grab is my favourite rotation.

Flip: I’m gonna start trying whatever those flips that Matt Meola’s been doing are. I froth on those – the grab helps your rotation. I’m excited to start trying them.

Rail turn: The Tyler Wright turn. Two hands back, Tyler Wright hook-down carve. That’s my favourite at the moment. You dig your two arms behind then wrap the back arm around. You’ve probably seen me doing them in contests, I’m either doing airs or doing those turns (laughs).

Combo: I’d need three sections for the perfect combo. I’d have to do a full-roter, heelside grab alleyoop, straight into a little Tyler Wright hack into a stalefish air-reverse.

All-round Sled: A 5’8″ pushed-in shortboard. It used to be a 5’10” or 5’11” but now it’s shorter. Round tail. Sorta similar to what Kelly rides but a bit less volume ’cause he’s got way thicker legs than me and can push with more power.

Travel quiver: It’d be a 5’5″ Magic Thumb, a 5’8″ Kerr model and a 5’9″ Slacker. All the Rusty models. The Slacker’s kind of a round, square version of the Joker, but has a bit more drive. It’s sick. You can grovel on it or get drive out of it.

Fins: I rock Future Fins. The Captain Fin ones, at the moment. The Reynolds model, they’re good.

Wax: Not really. Everyone on tour has their rituals, like they take their wax off and re-wax before every heat, but I’m just scrounging around for whatever wax I can find. Maybe some that the beach marshall has. I’m so unprepared.

Trunks: I’m just on and above the knee. Not mega-short but I’m not over the knee. I used to be. I used to be such a punk kid, always wearing baggy, over-the-knee shorts. But now I’ve jumped on the short era and I’m the kinda guy I used to bag out five or 10 years ago. Trending with the times.

Traction: Pro-Lite. Always with an arch, always a three-piece.

Summer ensemble: Trunks, generally with no shirt. Just bronze the rig up and I’m happy.

Winter ensemble: Well in Cali I’m in a 4/3 fullsuit with booties, gloves and hood. I’d like to be on the Goldy in just a 2/2 fullsuit.

Inspiration: I should watch snow and skate vids more. I do a bit and it definitely inspires me. But I just like watching other surfers and what they’re doing. Like, on little web clips, I love watching those.

Contest: Tahiti when we get waves, but if there’s no waves, then Trestles, because it’s pretty much always rippable.

Opponent: Oh, Kelly is f’sure my favourite guy to surf against. I get beaten most the time but it’s fun knowing that you have heaps of eyes on you, watching. It’s funny, everyone’s got your back, everyone wants you to beat that guy (laughs). It’s fun to go against the top guys and know that, no matter what, if you get beaten by them it’s not that big of a deal because you’re getting beaten by one of the best surfers in the world.

Heat strategy against Kelly Slater: No strategy, I just go for it. That’s the attitude I have to have when I surf against those guys.

Surfer: My all-time favourite would have to be Kelly. But I have so many guys that I enjoy watching right now. I enjoy it all. From Chippa (Chris Wilson) to Dane (Reynolds), all those guys are insane. I froth on the technical side but also the raw power of people, y’know?

Session time: I don’t mind, but I don’t like doing airs in the morning. I like getting barrelled in the morning, then doing airs in the afternoon.

Big waves: I really wanna surf The Right in WA. I’d love to whip-in there. It looks like there’s so many things going on at once, it looks fun. And, not every wave’s the same, which is always fun. You’re always negotiating new lines.

Load Comments