How boozed y'think Michel Bourez got post Pipe
Masters?
Watch: #TourNotes does Pipe Masters!
By Derek Rielly
Come watch the season finale! It's feel-good!
I’ll be the first to admit I love the cheap immediacy of
#TourNotes, forgiving whatever technical flaws it might
have. Gimme candour, a moment, a window into a
life over the tedium of slow-motion RED footage any
day.
Yeah, I know, it ain’t quite the same since it became a
WSL-branded item. Maybe Peter King lost a little interest in
the game. If he has, who can blame him? It ain’t easy to make a
living sticking your iPhone into pro surfers’ faces, in which case
the decline is forgivable.
Or has there been a deliberate change in the narrative arc from
doing laughs to doing inspiration?
From the WSL:
Join us as we jump through a few Pipeline yard parties to
celebrate the feel-good moments from the final event of the 2016
Championship Tour.
In this episode, which mostly follows Zeke Lau on the finals day
at Pipe, we see Zeke’s happiness at qualifying for the WCT
(“I’m going to buy Kanoa a kimono,” he says, cleverly evoking the
little man’s Japanese heritage), there’s a small window where
Michel Bourez has won the Pipe Masters, he’s walked back to his
beachfront rental, beer is poured over his head and we get…what
do we get? Michel looks into the camera and says his wife will
kill him if he doesn’t get back to Tahiti soon.
Yesterday morning I woke early, as is my
pattern, and jumped on the machine in order to serve you piping hot
Nazare news. Jamie Mitchell had just won and bravo and very brave
etc. I had missed most of the event and was too early even for the
World Surf League to have a recap on its own website but Speaker
and co. had a small video on Instagram which I used on my own
personal account to drive traffic to the story.
It took maybe an hour for my little post to be ripped down,
replaced by a nasty letter from the social media site.
We’ve removed or disabled access to the following content
you posted on Instagram because we received a notice from a third
party that the content infringes their copyright(s)…
And I became genuinely frustrated! What in hell is wrong
with our World Surf League?
I don’t imagine the Big Wave World Tour a giant money
maker. I know it doesn’t get millions and millions of views. It is
a fringe corner of a fringe activity and you would think, I would
think, that building the audience is of prime importance.
But no.
WSL CEO Paul Speaker has enough time on his hands to, and would
rather, scroll through Instagram feeds and then call the Instagram
police and tattle.
Which is my general and overall problem with the bastard. He
seems to regularly choose to be petty rather than great or even
good.
Fuck that guy.
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"Desperate to check the morning surf as the sunrise
streams through your huge, eastward-facing window? No need to even
get out of the king-size bed: you can see both beach and reef
without rising from the pillow."
Twenty-two luxury villas for Keramas!
By Derek Rielly
It's the supreme experience!
The wheels of progress move fast in
Bali. The Australian Financial Reviewrevealed today that Kommune, the
resort at Keramas on Bali’s east coast made infamous with its
shoey-sculling Mad Huey’s WQS event, was adding twenty-two fabulous
new villas.
How fabulous? Let’s read.
Essentially Komune was pitched at hard-core surfers. This
was most obvious when it came to the original 56 rooms. They’re
pleasant enough, but tucked away from the beach and the pool –
designed for people anxious to spend every hour they can in the
surf.
However, this summer Komune has been transformed with the
unveiling of 22 luxurious ocean-view suites perched discretely on a
steep artificial hill and each with a breathtaking panorama through
a fringe of coconut trees across the Lombok strait.
Desperate to check the morning surf as the sunrise streams
through your huge, eastward-facing window? No need to even get out
of the king-size bed: you can see both beach and reef without
rising from the pillow.
Want a little quiet time away from the other guests? Each
suite has a large sundeck with its own section of refreshing splash
pool – perfect for reading a book or sipping a sundowner.
These handsome, spacious suites add immeasurably to Komune’s
wider appeal. But the new “Health Hub”, a secluded adults-only
enclave hidden behind a lush curtain of tropical plants, is an
equally important part of the resort’s reinvention.
The supreme experience of the urban man… on
the beach.
Shall we examine the speed of change?
Eleven years ago the photographer Dustin Humphrey had to
draw a map for me and my pal Sam to find the east coast righthander
we’d heard about.
Humphrey, then a star photographer and not Bali’s Imperial King
of Motorcycles, which he is now, drew a pencil diagram of the rice
paddies we had to find and the exact rock track we had to turn down
to get to the beach. We left at five am one cool morning and it
took us almost six hours to find the wave that had suddenly started
appearing in editorials and advertising shoots.
There were a few other surfers kicking around, a little warung
on the beach, and black sand that absorbed so much heat even the
fifty metres from water to warung was too much to bear. When the
dry-season trades kicked in around midday, the few surfers left. We
didn’t mind the light onshore and cooked ourselves for five hours
surfing the joint by ourselves.
And then!
That anonymity ended in 2007 when a surfing magazine
published helicopter shots of this “secret”, world-class surf
break. Australian developer and keen surfer Tony Cannon read the
article, flew to Bali, saw Keramas for himself, and dared to
dream.
Health and fitness
entrepreneur, Tony de Leede, with a background in gyms and
Queensland’s Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat, became Cannon’s partner.
They bought several acres of beachside rice paddies, negotiated a
deal with the villagers (most of the resort staff are locals and a
percentage of the profits goes back to the local community), and,
$10 million later, opened Hotel Komune.
From the beginning, Cannon and de Leede realised Komune
needed other facilities to keep non-surfers content while their
partners were in the ocean. Apart from the elegant Beach Club
restaurant and horizon pool, they arranged some yoga classes,
massage facilities and horse-riding on the beach.
Billabong's former CEO heads to jail... but for
what exactly?
Oh hubris is a great and wild burden. So are
below the knee boardshorts. And ex-Billabong CEO Matthew Perrin was
found guilty of both yesterday morning in Sydney. Let us read from
Australia’s ABC news.
After a day-and-a-half of deliberation, the jury found
Perrin, 44, forged his then-wife’s signature on mortgage documents
to get more than $13 million finance from the Commonwealth
Bank.
He admitted signing his wife’s name, but claimed he had her
permission.
The former multi-millionaire surf wear boss committed the
offences in 2008, after a series of failed investments left him
facing financial ruin.
Perrin did not say anything when the verdict was delivered,
but kissed his partner Belinda Otton, who was sobbing.
He was remanded in custody and is likely to be sentenced in
the new year.
And what do you reckon the sentence for fraud is? Four years?
Six years? But what about for knowingly manufacturing below the
knee boardshorts? Fifteen years? Life?
Stay tuned!
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Halfway through the Final, Jamie Mitchell (AUS)
committed to an incredibly late drop on a lefthander, grabbing the
rail of his board to engage into a bottom turn before being eaten
by the mountain of white water behind him. Mitchell later surfaced
with his equipment and was rewarded an excellent 8.67 for his
effort, stealing the lead from Burle. The Australian quickly put a
second score on the board to cement his lead and hold throughout
the remainder of the Final. The Australian walked away with his
maiden Big Wave Tour victory at the Nazaré Challenge, a result
earning 12,500 ranking points and rocketing him from 13th to 5th on
the tour rankings. “I got into a good rhythm at other events but
lost it at some point, but this one I managed to keep it and it
feels amazing,” he continued. “I’m going to be here until Friday
and it looks like there will be more giant waves coming, so I might
just take a day to recover from today and try my luck again out
there.”
Big Wave Tour: Jamie Mitchell wins
Nazare!
By Chas Smith
And the jaws were left on the floor!
What a 24 hours of professional surfing!
Pipeline wowed up until the
final few heats wherein announcer Ron Blakey said it “fizzed.”
Still. A new Pipeline Master was gifted the world and he looked the
part, strong and bronze.
Zeke Lau jumped onto next year’s main card and Kanoa Igarashi
showed that he will someday win it all.
Across the Pacific, continental USA, Atlantic Nazare picked up
the juice that the North Shore left behind and ooolala! Can you
imagine paddling out in those waves? I cannot but I can imagine
Jamie Mitchell doing it! Remember when I spent some minutes on a
boat with him in Tahiti? He changed my mind about SUPs! That’s how
impressive he is.
And Jamie did it so well that he smashed the entire field! Beat
everyone to a pulp!
Let’s examine the press release:
Today’s Final opened with an exciting first exchange
between tour veteran Carlos Burle
(BRA) and newcomer Pedro Calado
(BRA), Burle taking the nod and an early lead with a clean
lefthander on his backhand and a 6.50.
Nic Lamb (USA) followed in dramatic
fashion with two of the most horrific wipeouts seen all all season.
Local wildcard Joao De Macedo
(PRT) struggled as well, air-dropping
unsuccessfully into a monstrous set wave.
Halfway through the Final, Jamie Mitchell
(AUS) committed to an incredibly late drop on
a lefthander, grabbing the rail of his board to engage into a
bottom turn before being eaten by the mountain of white water
behind him. Mitchell later surfaced with his equipment and was
rewarded an excellent 8.67 for his effort, stealing the lead from
Burle. The Australian quickly put a second score on the board
to cement his lead and hold throughout the remainder of the
Final.
The Australian walked away with his maiden Big Wave Tour victory
at the Nazaré Challenge, a result earning 12,500 ranking
points and rocketing him from 13th to 5th on the tour rankings.
“I got into a good rhythm at other events but lost it
at some point, but this one I managed to keep it and it feels
amazing,” he continued. “I’m going to be here until Friday and it
looks like there will be more giant waves coming, so I might just
take a day to recover from today and try my luck again out
there.”
Long-time competitor and 2009 Big Wave Tour
Champion Carlos Burle (BRA) placed
Runner-Up in this inaugural Nazare Challenge, courtesy of his early
efforts in the final this afternoon. Burle managed to fence off
numerous assaults from the new guard on his way to the final and
will flew the Brazilian flag high in Portugal.
“I’m super proud of my body, it was a tough event
all-around in this cold weather, dropping huge waves and getting
pounded all-day long,” an emotional Burle said. “I made the final
and came close to winning, against the best guys in the world. This
is my last season as a competitor but I will keep this great memory
and hopefully leave a legacy for the next generation, and I hope
they will do their best like I did every day of my life. Nazare is
an amazing wave and it was just a matter of time before people
recognized that. I’m super happy to have been part of this event as
I feel there will be much more to come.”
Making waves among the big wave community were local
wildcards today, with Portugal’s Joao De
Macedo and Antonio
Silva reaching the final in Nazare. De Macedo was the
giant killer of this event, eliminating reigning Big Wave Tour
Champion Greg Long (USA) in the first round, as well as current BWT
leader Grant Baker (ZAF) and Aaron Gold (HAW) in the semis. De
Macedo’s amazing run culminated with a third place in the
final.
“It feels amazing, just the camaraderie in the water
and the way all of us were really pushing our limits today,” De
Macedo explained. “The amount of preparation that goes into
paddling and surfing this size out there is huge, I’ve been
training for months and it feels great. I hope everyone’s really
stoked about this event and that we keep coming back, the
performance levels were really inspiring. Those were some of the
biggest waves that have been paddled into here I think, and to do a
contest in those conditions is great. The water patrol guys are so
great, they make us feel so confident and allow us push ourselves
further.”
Recent winner of the Pe’ahi
Challenge, Billy Kemper (HAW) suffered a
shock elimination in the opening round of competition, narrowly
defeated by local wildcard Silva in a tight battle for third place
alongside Kai Lenny (HAW).
Watch the semis here!
And the final here!
Nazaré Challenge 2016 |
1. Jamie Mitchell (AUS), 23.94
2. Carlos Burle (BRA), 13.00
3. Joao de Macedo (POR), 10.84
4. Pedro Calado (POR), 9,34
5. Nic Lamb (USA), 3.00
6. António Silva (POR), 0.20
