Filipe just sent us to 2024!
Peter Mel, bless his once-drug-addled heart, is the anti-Turpel.
Where Joe hops on the sled and resets, Pete screams like a little girl. Where Joe has a little moment in the water, Pete calks his neoprene.
And that’s a wonderful thing. Surf commentary, like all aspects of life, thrives on diversity. Need more evidence?
Where Joe Turpel teeters on kookhood, Pete Mel has the fifth best drop wallet on Tour. Where Joe uses Pantene Smooth & Sleek, Pete’s pelt survives on salt and sand.
Which is why, in my opinion, we are so lucky that Pete Mel was the one to call Filipe’s Super-Ten. Here are a few Pete quotes:
“One of the most athletic things I’ve ever seen!”
“A perfect heat on one wave!”
“Fuck off Filipe!”
Admittedly that last one was me. Due to a completely irrelevant golf achievement, I switched Filipe for Julian on my Fantasy team and found myself in a momentary state of regret. That quickly subsided when I realized that professional surfing, and hence my meager livelihood, would be much better off for Filipe’s extravagant display. That my Fantasy woes were, in the long term, meaningless.
So. Filipe’s ten.
What is there to say? He completed two airs, back-to-back, that were almost definitely better than any punt Mick Fanning, a three-time world champ, has done in his 36 years.
Don’t believe? Just watch:
And are you convinced? Convinced that Filipe is, by all lofty standards, the most futuristic surfer on tour? In the world?
Was this the best wave you’ve ever seen?
To be fair, it’ll take some time and perspective to give credence to those claims. I watched the wave live (online), which, for lack of a superior descriptor, was fucking insane. Stand up off the couch, screaming into the void at 11:30 PM insane. Dog looks at me like I’m crazy insane. Film the screen and post it directly to Instagram insane.
Here’s Filipe’s description:
“The wind is really good for airs right now. It’s hard to put your rail in the water, so I went to the air, and it worked out, thanks God!”
In his eyes, a classic cause and effect scenario.
The waves are a tad bumpy, so I’ll just jump over them.
Twice.
Fuck off Filipe!
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NO IS NOT!
Nothing new there.
Probably the first ten at J-Bay that didn’t include a barrel.
Don’t call me bro, Buck. Even Longtom thinks it was the greatest wave ever caught in competition. He’s certainly not part of the narrative. What the fuck is going on?
“calks his neoprene” Inability to spell aside, that’s a beautiful image.
For fuck sake people!
Just enjoy OK?
Pete or many guys screams, like me, in the heat of the moment!
It’s insane.
Just like Andy did at Mexico at final with Taylor Knox.
Or his tube ridding vs Kelly at Pipe.
And whats the matter?
People screams like girls when Kelly did the Hail Mary at Bell’s? Basically a single one maneuver, and at Bell’s!
So what’s the problem, guys? To admire the whole maneuver and wave?
It’s because it’s Filipe? It’s because he is a brazilian? It’s because it’s J-bay a point break?
At this moment that wave it’s no all open for rail game, and for it, one more point to Filipe’s wave analysis.
Accelerate, did the airs and continued to maneuver, strong and with power, with rail game to end.
Enjoy, pure and simple, without complaints.
Even it is not the most admirable wave of all time…
But was!!!!
|;-)
The 5 best drop wallets on tour
John Florence
Jordy Smith
Michel Bourez
Matt Wilkinson
Peter Mel
He was just getting further away from the sea life.
Here’s the part I don’t get: what if Fili paddles right back out and does the same two airs but on a set wave, then what do the judges score? By simple logic, doesn’t a “perfect” score have to be on a set wave for that day?
They’d give him another 10!
Pete Mel would go all bukake
That was pretty impressive, but to call it the best wave you’ve ever seen is bordering on fucking insanity. Didn’t Mel surf Mavericks for 20 years? Surely the crazy shit those meth heads were pulling off out there puts Filepe’s wave in serious shade.
Agreed. Tricks are for kids.
Just a couple of into the wind chop hops, with good rotation. He couldn’t hold a rail the day before.
His full rotor the wave before was mindless, way higher degree of difficulty.
Have at me fanbois…
Yessss, the previous wave. Like holy shit, boyfriend’s up there.
But after the ten, I was like, oh hey, yeah, just give the boy the heat, already. He’s killing this thing.
I’ll take Filipe hucking over meth heads going straight any day.
I’ll take Filipe going straight after experimenting with his alternative lifestyle/hairstyle.
That was really good what he did but he’s a good trickster. Best surfer is Albee Layer.
You think Albee is the best surfer in the world?
According to wsl/Toledo judging criteria Albee is.
I’d love to see Albee do that in a heat. Seriously, I don’t think he could.
Ummmm, go to about 0:05 of his latest clip. I think he does 3 full rotor air reverses or oops on the first wave?
That’s what it says in the comment no?
Meanwhile, Pottz and Ronnie The Nazi just can’t stop licking JJF balls all the time….
Calling someone a Nazi over something as trivial as surfing is a bit silly Jimbob.
Ça va, mon pote? Ça fait longtemps, comment vas tu?
i saw it live too. that wave was fast and he handled via the air and in a weird way made the following carves from the other surfers look flacid. Don’t disagree as you’ll just look bad in the future.
That boat was out of hand.
That fucking hard bottom zodiac was sooooooo………… https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Blakeys commentary on the Zodiac “would have liked to see him float the bricks section”
That was Champagne comedy
gnar gnar