Why is the WSL running two of three Australian events at glorified longboard waves?
There’s good surf in Australia, right? A lot of them look to be Malibu level crowd clusterfucks, but I guess that’s to be expected in an island nation where only the coastal areas are habitable. Everyone “surfs,” what constitutes surfing being a matter of perspective.
So why the hell is the WSL running two of three events at glorified longboard waves?
Bad luck they don’t get Snapper at its best, but that’s surfing for you. Can’t dictate mother nature. Margs and Bells, hell, search and search and search, I can’t find evidence that they get any better.
It’s the venues, right? The ability to cart down a shitload of people, plenty of businesses nearby to help suck money into the local economies. I’m assuming sweetheart deals from local councils, or whatever they call them. Lots of chance to grab at cash, “help” the community. Make people aware of drugs. I’m aware of drugs. Aware they’re awesome.
It looks like I’m gonna need my fair share, maybe more than, to make it through this event. Eight hours of uninspired battles. Top turn, cutback, top turn, cutback. Wow, look at that finishing maneuver. Oh no, there’s rocks right there! Whatever will they do?
At least the ladies are looking good. Surf-wise, I mean.
The fairer side of the WSL has come a long way in recent years. Top level is straight killing it. Full commitment, trying their damnedest. Flashes of brilliance that’d’ve been unimaginable not too long ago.
Sure, the talent pool’s still too shallow to stack the entire roster with killers, but that’ll get better with time. Has improved, will continue to. I’m okay with waiting. Tons of little girls getting inspired, the next gen’s gonna be full of murderers.
The men though, jeez… Is everyone just surfing for sevens? Has it really come to this? I thought wave size and length of ride were taken out of the judging criteria. Is there a secret set of rules to which I’m not privy?
The girls are giving 110%. Which is what I want to see. Throwing buckets, hitting steep sections. Trying to win, instead of trying to not lose.
The guys, not so much. Standard fare, mac and cheese with hot dog chunks. I want steak and lobster, damn it!
Let’s compare a wave from different sides of the event. Weston-Webbs’s 7.93 and Igarashi 6.67.
First up is Kanoa, a kid I’ve been riding so hard I’m starting to feel bad about it.
Really? That’s what you got, that’s what they gave? A 6.67 is enough to win a lot of heats, tossing it out for speed checks and lip bonks is bogus.
Now watch Tatiana.
Committed surfing, a high risk first turn. Igarashi ain’t in the same league.
A 1.26 point difference between the two, nowhere near enough. Tatiana’s score was right on target, judging’s on a sliding scale. A near eight point ride on the women’s side should sit around a six on the men’s. I can handle that.
Kanoa’s wave was a 3. Boring, totally uncritical, the type of shit you see when the judges allow a play it safe mindset. And Kanoa nearly won his heat! What the fuck? Thank goodness Italo grabbed two before the buzzer, shut him down.
But there are countless other timelines where Italian Ferrari didn’t get the score, where a bobble on the face slowed him down a hair, where he was just a little too far outside to get into it.
And that fucking sucks. I don’t care what dimension we’re in, surfing at a level fit for an NSSA explorers event shouldn’t be winning heats. It shouldn’t even be coming close.
Highly entertaining stuff.
This all seems so simple. We just want to see better waves. This is what every corporate wsl meeting should be about. Longer waiting periods, add better locations, remove shitty ones, and whatever else and the money will follow.
No mention of the author’s wife in this article? WTF
Mainbreak reminds me a lot of Popoyo reef. It’s fun but without all the other waves around that area you wouldn’t fly there just for that spot.
Kanoa half-turning his way out the CT. He is literally a boy amongst men.
Haven’t been to Margs and a lot of waves at Mainbreak def look a bit burger-y, but brah! JJF says he likes Mainbreak and he’s lighting it up!… Can’t be too too bad a wave eh? That said I like the comp more when the Box is involved as well
Lakeys is chaos anyway these days, lets comp it up and see good surf. Maybe periscopes will pump
I get if for Bells, but for Margie I don’t… Especially in the light of last year’s event, held in big & hollow rights, very spectacular.
You need to understand that Parker is a real charging surfer. He would ride his Longboard for fun at Main Break rights and hold his high performances for super charged wave – Parker’s on a different level.
I would have agreed with you in the past when I was going there regularly. But now that i’m not… It would be the most epic wave for a WSL comp. And the back up venue!!
They should drop either Bells or Margies and bring back Indonesia. G-Land would be my choice, but Lakeys or Lances would be great. Even Nias. Why is there no comp in Indo?
I think the rest of the locations give money to the WSL for the “privilege” to host a event. Indonesia would be the complete opposite. To many backhanders and palms to grease for a business trying its best to be legit.
What about rio?
Drop that too. If they must have a South American stop at least put it on the Pacific side.
It’s becoming clear that the people who are hardest on pro surfing are the people who have the most unrealistic expectations of it as a sport.
this is as good as it gets. this is as good as it will ever get. 2-week waiting periods. marquee waves. near-perfect webcasts. watch on your TV, your laptop, your phone. if this isn’t fun for you, why watch?
i should add — i don’t really care that much for comp surfing myself.
Did you not watch the event last year? Giant righthand barrels at Main Break.
Ok so did you not watch North Point fucking firing in the bay right next to main break during the same event ? Rory’s right, there’s a problem with Bells and Margs (it’s like saying we’re gonna have a CT in Canggu, but holding it at Oldmans instead of Rivermouth…), and I will ad to that Rio, Peniche which pretty shitty too
Calm down Chancho. The point is that Main Break ain’t exactly a mushy a longboard wave if guys are getting big barrels.
And if they’re not, like this year ? B.O.R.I.N.G
Actually, north point is a 30min drive from mainbreak
Who fucking cares, you got the idea…and 30 minutes is nothing when you’ve travelled several hours
You must be a real charger Parker. Margaret River rights is for Longboards in your world hey. If conditions allow them they’ll run at Box and Nth Point as well – regardless, chargers like parker need more gnarly waves.
Good Points Rory, but the utter reality is that the event is funded by state governmental bodies (Tourism/ Health) and thus would require KPI’s related to increasing local tourism. Also there is no single spot on that coast that you could drive ?16 semi-trailers of infrastructure up to with better surf. Working on day to day mobility of the event would be optimal but not feasible as that coast is bisected by 2 councils [?counties in American] and dual permits would be needed to allow spectators to get to the contest site through ‘fragile environments’ as well as to have appropriate evacuation plans in the most Nanny of Nanny states.. I suppose that could be done, but why would you bother if you were the organizers, a zillion hours of extra work without any discernible benefit as far as the State Gov’t would be concerned
So it is what it is, just a pity there looks to be no chance of a few sessions at the Box or North. [ps, I’m that thrilled with watching the comp at the moment that I’ve flipped over to BG].
Thank you for the local insight. Makes more sense that they’d choose that venue, and of course it’s funded by gov bodies.
North point is still within the Augusta – Margaret River shire council. I think the main issue is how inconsistently it actually breaks. With the current forecast, there’s no way that they will, or could have run any heats out there this year
Janice and Gayleen are gonna be pissed, these are supposedly the USA’s best surfers. and how can you call the WA Windansea a “longboard wave”? this is the WA Tourmaline St. goddammit!
Comparing 2 scores from different heats 4 hours apart seems a bit tough.
Some good heats this morning. JJF carving. Margs does a pretty good job of providing 5 days worth of multiple manoeuvre walls with a punchy lip in all tides for both the men and women. When you are stuck to one designated spot, for legal as well as practical reasons, there are not oodles of breaks that could do better, year in and year out.
Hey WSL nobody cares if a boring surfer ‘nails’ his last turn. most of the time it’s knee-high by the end of the wave. judging style would be nice too.
Surfing that could fit in nicely with the average at your local beach break should not be rewarded with heat wins…
Also, maybe the Tour can get a permit to put on a contest at Tourmaline…
whoa, hadn’t even read this. spooky.
Nailed it.
While I would tend to agree, moments ago Slater just pulled into a gaping tube at Main Break for his first wave (didn’t make it; got a 1.50)…