"It didn't have a pulse!"
I’m not sure what your feelings are about the Margaret River Pro, one of the few events on tour underwritten by a major sponsor.
I thought it was insane to drag the best surfers in the world across Australia to surf a B-grade peak, even with the promise of North Point or The Box if the gods were to gift an agreeable confluence of wind and swell.
From the pale turquoise fluff of Snapper to the wiggles and whorls of Margarets to the garbage of Bells. It wasn’t much of a way to start a tour.
But then John John got to it, snowboarding the imperfect faces on one of his Pyzel Ghosts and…yeah… maybe Margaret River was worth something. Filipe Toledo, too, impatient, salacious, beautiful to watch.
New approaches, new angles. Right surfers, right boards.
Best event on the Australian slice? Yeah it is, was.
Did you know that it was going to be axed, the Australian tour reduced to two events, Snapper and Bells? And that it was Paul Speaker leaving the WSL and the intervention of the WSL’s owner Dirk Ziff that saved the event?
THE organisers of WA’s premier surfing event have admitted the contest was to be axed from next year until a last-minute intervention from the owner of the sport’s global governing body.
Surfing WA chief executive Mark Lane revealed on Friday that the Margaret River Pro “didn’t have a pulse” last year when the event’s place on the elite world tour from 2018 came up for negotiation with the World Surf League.
But it has emerged that a change of management at the top of the WSL – billionaire owner Dirk Ziff replaced former boss Paul Speaker – spared Margaret River from the chop.
Mr Lane joined by Tourism Minister Paul Papalia on Friday to confirm the Margaret River Pro would stay on the World Championship Tour until at least 2019 after the WSL agreed to renew its contract for another two years.
Under the multimillion-dollar deal, which is being largely funded by Tourism WA, the contract for the Pro will be extended at least two years, with the option of a further extension.
Mr Lane said the agreement almost never happened after the WSL earmarked Margaret River as the event to be axed from Australia rather than the Gold Coast of Bells Beach in Victoria – both longstanding events.
“It didn’t actually have a pulse at all,” Mr Lane said.
I’m thrilled, and florid faced over the news.
Et toi?
**late comment** If you go back and have another look at “View From A Blue Moon”, JJF is doing those same turns ‘way back’ in, what, 2015? I think it was as much the particular characteristics of this year’s conditions that allowed him to unleash his carving rail turn as much as new boards etc. Usually it’s a bit smaller, bumpier and generally wonkier. I hope we get good big France again this year, and we’ll hopefully get to see more of his A-game.
It’s not about the best wave , to call Bells Garbage , it’s a bit like J-bay , this year we all saw it like never before, even though it seems to get average over 6′ , so we have seen a lot of Bells very average , like Winki this year for the comp , its get a lot better than that …..especially over 6′ , and then there’s the low tide Rincon inside Bells , if you haven’t made waves from there , you haven’t surfed Bells!!
“Under the multimillion-dollar deal, which is being largely funded by Tourism WA,”
I’d say this, and not the largesse of Ziff, is what saved `margies from the guillotine. None of us will live long enough to see professional surfing walk away from suckling on the taxpayers milky bosom.
Not worried about the how and whys, it’s good the contest is saved as WA kids need something to look forward to in surfing rather than thinking about when the next shark attack is.
take your word for it mate, my mates in Margs can’t wait to see the back of it every year.
But it’s better having 36 surfers et al, than the hundred or so QS warriors et al ++, that would otherwise be there at the same time. Harm minimisation.
Exactly harrydean, and 80 of those 144 QS warriors are Brazzos.
longtom – My mates down there and hates it also, but he is just another vocal local that blew into town 20 years ago. There are a hell of a lot of other crew down that way that need the comp as it brings a lot of money into the economy whether its accommodation, food, booze, infrastructure set ups and employment etc. If the odd local can’t handle 2 weeks of a comp out of 52 weeks then they need to chill.
The few times I’ve been in the water with one of the CT guys [and even the QS guys], has been positive. They are better to surf with than some of the locals/ “locals”. And I have no problem being out again on a sunny day at nice sized Supertubes with 3 or so of the top girls, all of whom were being schooled by Claire Bevilaqua, I must say.
Which supertubes???
..near Yallingup, 35 mind North of Margarets .
Too many Supertubes in this world… well not nearly enough but to many homonyms.
this is true, and the money is real also.
All due respect longtom but If your mates are those 50-60 year old somethings that ride 8ft plus boards in 4ft waves frequently talk up how big it was yesterday then fall off in front of 9 year old then maybe it’s time they moved back east anyway.
If it’s not them then they should just go to black point for the week and let the kids have the point.
most of ’em seem to survive ok, is true. most of ’em competent surfers or better, born and bred sandgropers.
Instead of occasionally moving the comp to north point, they should move the whole shebang to Jakes point, Kalbarri. The locals there are so accomodating, they’d love it!
ha!
what about , “the Right?”
It’s actually a left, we just flip it in editing
wouldn’t you like to see the CT tour paddling “the left?”
Better yet, at the end of the tour you take the top 10 guys for that year out to the Right (Left), and whoever successfully paddles one is the champ for that year. Anyone that bitches out gets towed into a deep one by Lewy Finnegan.
Does this Katie Holmes / Ziff pic feed anything into possible Scientology connections?
Garbage of Bells , derek , now there’s an interesting comment , how would a fucken hipster , whiner , ex stab ,now a SoCal wanker of the lowest order even know , I wanted to make a comment about you and Sam Mac , have a surf off at Ours , and see who is real , so fucken glad we don’t have to take you serious on any level , keep stirring the shit though ,as it might make you a bitter rich man!
ease up on the commas there champ
SAKe comma syndrome!
I actually think this is a stroke of genius from Mr Ziff. Oh, my spell check just corrected Ziff to Zinfandel. My iPad must be a former wine shop assistant. Strange days indeed.
She is just below Sarah Jessica Parker as the most over-rated beauty in Hollywood!
Yeah yeah, im shallow, Just sayin….
Well….horses for courses.
not even that hot, flat as a board
katie holmes lived down the street from me ten years ago. she was a full on babe before she got with tom cruise
Oh. Thanks.