Two years ago, BeachGrit's tour reporter
Longtom wrote, "John John Florence's surfing alone justifies
Margaret River as a CT tour stop. It almost justifies the whole
tour." WSL
Open thread: Comment live, Day One,
Margaret River Pro!
By Derek Rielly
John John Florence's surfing justifies Margaret
River as a tour event says BeachGrit's tour reporter. And, guess
who's opening the seeding round? Post your comments here…
Yesterday, I was in Margaret River examining the
machinations surrounding the tour event there, as well as
spending a day with Italo Ferreira who has returned to Western
Australia despite reservations regarding the wisdom of holding an
event within the habitat of the Great White shark.
I can report that the waves have been very good,
four-to-six-foot and brushed by that rarest of phenomenon in the
west, the offshore, and that the Box just across the bay there, was
open for biz.
It’s a little smaller today, I believe, and the women will mow
through their seeding round, which comprises six heats, before John
John opens the men’s in roughly three hours.
Joining John will be the steamrolling Kelly Slater and perennial
underdog Jadson Andre.
Margaret River Pro Women’s Seeding Round (Round 1)
Matchups:
Heat 1: Caroline Marks (USA) vs. Johanne Defay (FRA) vs. Paige
Hareb (NZL)
Heat 2: Carissa Moore (HAW) vs. Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) vs. Keely
Andrew (AUS)
Heat 3: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) vs. Coco Ho (HAW) vs. Mia McCarthy
(AUS)
Heat 4: Courtney Conlogue (USA) vs. Brisa Hennessy (CRI) vs. Macy
Callaghan (AUS)
Heat 5: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) vs. Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) vs.
Silvana Lima (BRA)
Heat 6: Malia Manuel (HAW) vs. Lakey Peterson (USA) vs. Bronte
Macaulay (AUS)
Margaret River Pro Men’s Seeding Round (Round 1)
Matchups:
Heat 1: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Jadson
Andre (BRA)
Heat 2: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) vs. Yago Dora (BRA) vs. Soli Bailey
(AUS)
Heat 3: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Peterson Crisanto (BRA) vs. Caio
Ibelli (BRA)
Heat 4: Italo Ferreira (BRA) vs. Joan Duru (FRA) vs. Frederico
Morais (PRT)
Heat 5: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Deivid Silva (BRA), Jacob Willcox
(AUS)
Heat 6: Filipe Toledo (BRA) vs. Sebastian Zietz (HAW), Jack
Robinson (AUS)
Heat 7: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Ricardo
Christie (NZL)
Heat 8: Kolohe Andino (USA) vs. Seth Moniz (HAW) vs. Jack Freestone
(AUS)
Heat 9: Conner Coffin (USA) vs. Ryan Callinan (AUS) vs. Leonardo
Fioravanti (ITA)
Heat 10: Wade Carmichael (AUS) vs. Michael Rodrigues (BRA) vs.
Ezekiel Lau (HAW)
Heat 11: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Willian Cardoso (BRA) vs. Jesse
Mendes (BRA)
Heat 12: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Michel Bourez (FRA) vs. Griffin
Colapinto (USA)
Loading comments...
Load Comments
0
Exotic: Go surf Hawaii and catch the most
horrifically named disease since “brain eating amoeba!”
By Chas Smith
I triple-dog dare you.
Brain eating amoeba, once allegedly featured in
the Waco, Texas BSR wave pool, is a very scary name. Amoeba is bad
enough. Once, I contracted amoebic dysentery in either Egypt or
Jordan, likely from trying to develop a cast iron stomach by
drinking tap water. Anyhow, there I was in Aqaba on the Red Sea
feeling fabulous, going to sleep then waking up a few hours later
with diarrhea.
“Classic.” I thought, went to the bathroom then went back to
bed. An hour later I was back. Then 30 minutes. 15 minutes after
that I was both diarrhea-ing and puking and that continued until my
two great friends rolled me into a hospital. I was so delirious
that I don’t remember much. The doctor told me that the amoebas has
started eating through my intestinal walls and I stayed in that
hospital, hooked to an IV, for seven days.
Maybe they got to my brain too. We’ll never know but I digress.
Guess what just popped up on the Big Island?
Rat Lungworm disease.
Have you ever read anything so terrifyingly disgusting? And
let’s learn all about it. Let’s head straight to the respected
medical journal The New York
Post for the most up to date information.
Health officials have now confirmed a total of three cases
of rat lungworm disease in travelers who spent time in Hawaii. A
report from the Hawaii Department of Health confirms the cases,
which are believed to be unrelated to one another.
The disease, which is officially known as angiostrongyliasis
but is also called “rat lungworm disease,” is caused by a parasitic
infection. The parasite is known to target rats, hence the name,
but its life cycle can bring it into contact with humans as well.
The severity of the infection can vary from person to person, but
the disease can be deadly in some cases.
The parasite in question, a rat lungworm, has a habit of
infecting rodents which can spread the parasite through feces. The
parasite is known for hitching a ride on slugs and, when a rat
finds one of the slimy critters to feast on, the rodent becomes
infected and the life cycle begins anew.
In humans, the parasite can wreak havoc on the nervous
system. Late last year a man died after eating a slug on a dare
resulted in a rat lungworm infection that left him paralyzed. He
remained in a compromised state for eight full years before he
died. One of the three infections confirmed by Hawaii health
officials appears to have happened in a similar way.
“One of the individuals visited East Hawai‘i in December
2018 and became infected by purposely eating a slug on a dare,” the
state Department of Health explains in a statement. “The individual
became ill in late December and was not hospitalized for their
symptoms.”
Would you eat a slug on a dare?
I don’t think I would.
Loading comments...
Load Comments
0
Cinema: Kelly Slater plays “hardboiled
cop,” Gabe Medina the “damsel in distress” in WSL epic “Margaret
River!”
By Chas Smith
What is your favorite archetype?
The waiting period for the fourth stop on tour
opens today and how thrilled are you that Margaret River is still
on tour? How over the moon? It is a perfect place for the world’s
best surfers to come ply their trade as it has everything from
scenic backdrops, hearty locals, multiple waves ranging from scary
good to scarier better and terror below.
Margaret River is as close as the World Surf League has to a
blockbuster film, like Avengers: Endgame, and it’s difficult to
imagine it getting pulled out of multiplexes but it almost was and
just last year.
Who could forget the multiple shark sightings and attacks that
led to the cancellation of the event, its moving to Uluwatu and
possibly never screening in Western Australia again?
Well, magic was made behind the scenes to keep the show going on
until 2021 and this year’s cast is the best ever. Reluctant leading
man John John Florence is back and sitting atop the Jeep Yellow
Jersey Sand Dune Aerial Leaderboard. “Ingénue” Kanoa Igarashi
nipping at his heels. “Bad boy with a heart of gold” Jeremy Flores
is in the top ten and “hard-luck heartthrob” Julian Wilson needs a
result just to keep from being let go.
And two great stars have been recast in wonderful new roles.
Gabriel Medina as the “damsel in distress” and Kelly Slater as the
“hardboiled cop.” Let’s turn to the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation to listen as they get into
character.
The Margaret River Pro, held in the south-west of Western
Australia, was abandoned mid competition last year after two
non-fatal shark attacks occurred on the same day.
The two recreational surfers had taken to the waves in
Gracetown, 15 kilometres north from where the competition was being
held, when they were bitten.
It prompted Brazilian’s Gabriel Medina and Italo Ferreira to
take to social media with claims they did not feel safe surfing in
the area. Despite his safety concerns last year, Medina has returned to
Margaret River.
The reigning world champion said the extra safety measures
announced for this year’s competition helped to lure him
back.
“Last year was a tough one, everywhere we were surfing, we
were seeing sharks,” he said.
“This year, they’ve put in place more security — jet skis,
drones and planes.
“I feel much more confident.”
Justin Majeks from Surfing WA, which has helped to organise
the competition, said this year a drone would take to the skies to
protect surfers.
“It’s a dedicated drone that will essentially fly all
competition day, pretty much from first light,” he said.
He said there would also be a fleet of jet skis and trained
water patrol staff on duty.
Surfing legend Kelly Slater is on his final year of the pro
circuit and said he felt comfortable in the Margaret River
water.
“I’ve never really had much of a fear of sharks,” he
said.
Oh I just love it. I absolutely just love it and will be on the
edge of my seat, munching popcorn and cheering on the bad boy.
Always my favorite archetype but what’s yours?
Who are you hoping will steal the show?
Loading comments...
Load Comments
0
What would you give up to ride a high
performance shortboard? I gave up drinking, pretty much, getting on
the end of one with my pals, again: pretty much. Embraced russian
kettlebells, deadlifts, chins (hundreds of them), superfoods, clean
eating, Laird Hamilton videos on Yootoob. Embarrassing. How I will
survive the inevitable and inescapable meeting with Chas Smith I do
not know. A night at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino going
whiskey for whiskey with D. Rielly would destroy me. Billy
Lee-Pope
Board review: Longtom on the Sharp Eye HT
2.5 “Something special happens when you lay this board into a tight
turn!”
By Longtom
But run a mile from this board if you are injured,
fat, old, slow or any combination thereof.
One of the greatest myths in the whole of surf is the
applicability of the pro surfer whip to the non-paid rec
surfer.
Joel Tudor, the great alterna-board master from San Diego,
emphasised the same point in a Stab in the Dark movie
featuring Dane Reynolds surfing non high-performance boards in
Mexico. Dane is the one percent, he said, or the one percent of the
one percent, I forget exactly which, and thus there is no point
trying to extrapolate from his skill level to the experiences of
the other 99.99%.
Obviously true, right?
So, that’s Dane. A freak but a freak with a Dad bod and a few
screaming kids who reckons he struggles to get his go outs.
How much more freakish then and unrelatable is Filipe Toledo
and, via extension, his equipment, to the average Joe?
Don’t answer, it’s a rhetorical question.
There is no less relatable surfer on the planet than Filipe
Toledo.
Which means you can understand the trepidation running deep when
waxing up and paddling out at the home point on his HT2.5 model for
the first time. It’s a pro model according to the Sharp Eye
website.
It’s pitched as a high-performance board oriented towards
smaller waves, more ordinary conditions.
Right before paddling out I got a text from BG biz guy Jazzy P.
He said the rocker was insane and “threw you onto the back foot”.
That did not reassure. The initial paddle out took place on the day
Kelly was robbed at D-bah.
Three foot of surf at my local Pointbreak, lightly attended.
Pretty much perfect.
Under the arm all the elements of the board are subtle: no
radical shifts in rocker or distinctive curves like a Pyzel
Ghost, slight single concave under the front foot and
a deeper concave with slight doubles between the fins.
Straight away you can feel this is a board that works in two
halves.
The forward rocker feels more pronounced paddling, it’s not a
good paddler, you need to get up and over it to catch waves. On a
wave the board sits down into the aft rocker curve. Initiate a turn
and it slams you back onto the back foot.
That has interesting and exciting results for the non-pro. It
carves a very tight arc with an engaged back foot. Through a
vertical backhand turn I loosed the fins out the back, nose picked
halfway through and finished the turn with more speed than I went
in with. A very invigorating opening session.
To compensate for the poor paddleability, to generate the
necessary rider input. I gave up drinking, pretty much, getting on
the end of one with my pals, again: pretty much. Embraced Russian
kettlebells, deadlifts, chins (hundreds of them), superfoods, clean
eating, Laird Hamilton videos on Yootoob. Embarrassing.
What would you give up to ride a high-performance
shortboard?
To compensate for the poor paddleability, to generate the
necessary rider input. I gave up drinking, pretty much, getting on
the end of one with my pals, again: pretty much. Embraced Russian
kettlebells, deadlifts, chins (hundreds of them), superfoods, clean
eating, Laird Hamilton videos on Yootoob. Embarrassing. How I will
survive the inevitable and inescapable meeting with Chas Smith I do
not know. A night at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino going
whiskey for whiskey with D. Rielly would destroy me.
So the driver has to be on. Run a mile from this board if you
struggle for go-outs, are injured, fat, old, slow or any
combination thereof. The vehicle, as we have established, is tuned
for high performance. The track needs some steepness. It’s a
small-wave board, but a good small-wave board. It needs a wave with
some cup. Lots and lots of Australian beachbreaks and reefbreaks
and Pointbreaks fit the bill. It’s obvious how good it goes in
small Indonesian reefbreaks. It might be more of a daily driver in
Californian surf. French beachbreaks would be a stellar match.
It’s not a groveller. Remember that pre-season video of John
John at small, weak Snapper and how mediocre he looked? I saw him
saw him surf equally weak shapeless surf during the Quik Pro and he
looked less impressive than the local kids. He’s tuned his
equipment for better waves. I use as an example of how the HT2.5,
even allowing for the quite generous tail block planing area needs
some steepness and shape to carve against.
In truth, I did not find this board difficult to ride. And that
surprised me. Almost shocked me. If you’ve got some game and
regular go-outs at your disposal I would have to swallow my initial
posit and say there is something in this for the 99 per center. I
rode mine at 6’0” just under 30 litres and that felt spot on.
Marcio Zouvi has something going on with his shapes right now.
That’s obvious from the
quantum leap from Igarashi Kanoa after jumping on the swords pre
J-Bay and how good he looked at Keramas. I’m tempted
to write them off as an aesthetic afterthought but I believe there
is something going on with the sexy little tail channels that cut
into that curvy swallow-tail. Zouvi claims they give speed, bite
and drive and despite wanting to rebel against the vagueness of
those terms that is the case. Something special happens when you
lay this board into a tight turn.
In truth, I did not find this board difficult to ride. And that
surprised me. Almost shocked me. If you’ve got some game and
regular go-outs at your disposal I would have to swallow my initial
posit and say there is something in this for the 99 per center. I
rode mine at 6’0” just under 30 litres and that felt spot on.
I whacked some AM2 honeycomb fins, quite large, straight in and
they also felt perfect. The AM2 is the basic reference point fin
for any slightly wide tail block. You’ll see that distinctive
yellow and black fin adorning the rump of many pro boards.
Controls a board beautifully with it’s moderate rake and stiff
flex pattern. Even a mad old fin bitch like me felt no desire to
change them up. You could tweak the boards range if you did.
I know that fin talk makes people angry so I conclude the review
here.
Any questions?
Loading comments...
Load Comments
0
Question: Would you trade your grumpy local
status for the life of a rich VAL?
By Chas Smith
Is the grass always greener?
Now this is a serious question. Would you?
Imagine how many hours you’ve spent in the water, perfecting the
little things like balancing your board when paddling so its nose
neither points straight to heaven nor dives beneath the brine. Or
popping up sans nobs and also without a hitchy knee nor hobbled
stutter.
Duck diving.
The hours upon hours pushing first with hitchy knee in middle
then graduating to foot on tail, gliding underneath the most
menacing white wash barriers.
I could go on and on all day here without even arriving at
actual surfing. Actually standing on a wave and gliding upon its
surface.
It’s the little things that make surfing so difficult to master
and the bigger things too.
So would you trade it all, the hours, the pain, but also the
elation, the singular glories to be like the Moroccan/New York
rapper French Montana if you could live like him too?