Kenny Igs, from Japan, slaughtered
returning-from-injury world champ Adriano de Souza and punchy
Brazilian Jesse Mendes in the seeding round.
Open thread, Comment live: Day Two, Corona
J-Bay Open!
By Derek Rielly
Pull up to our bumper etc.
I’m not exactly sure why my impulses didn’t remind me to
kick open the Comment Live post on yesterday’s opener at
J-Bay? I was watching, though drifted off during the
slower heats into dreams of a better life, perhaps a job as a
character at Disney World.
Chas woke to the midnight push notification from the WSL on his
phone but the journey downstairs and into blackness was
unappealing.
Today we’re back and we got an elimination round featuring Ryan
Callinan, Jack Freestone, Beyrick De Vries, Seth Moniz, Adrian
Buchan, Jorgann Couzinet, Jeremy Flores, Jesse Mendes,
Frederico Morais, Willian Cardoso, Peterson Crisanto and
luckless Jadson Andre who may as well snap open a beer and enjoy
the sun.
Climb inside.
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Opinion: Sal Masekela* is the worst thing
to happen to pro surfing since non-elimination heats!
By Chas Smith
*And by Sal Masekela I mean cloying fan
boy-ness!
The J-Bay contest is very rough for every
single professional surf fan outside of South Africa. Oh, the wave
is gorgeous, a dream, perfect, iconic and the culture is
fascinating, interesting, fabulous and the history is unique, long
and important but the time… that damned time… ooooeee!
Very rough.
I somehow imagined that the Corona J-Bay Pro would get underway
before my tired eyes closed in the, admittedly, early evening. I
was wrong. I also somehow imagined that the time would be in
Australia’s wheelhouse and that Derek Rielly would get our patented
“Live Chat” feature up with ease.
I was also wrong.
South Africa exists in a timezone unto itself. Like the store in
O Brother, Where Art Thou? that serves FOP for Men but
can’t get the auto part from anywhere in a reasonable time, South
Africa is a geographical oddity.
Two weeks from anywhere.
And so I didn’t watch the contest, you didn’t watch the contest,
thankfully Longtom did watch the contest (read
here!) but as I went over the replays I experienced a
shocking bummer.
Sal Masekela in the damned booth.
Now, you may like the man’s velvety pipes as he calls the action
but there is a profound and troubling truth about Sal Masekela. A
virus that threatens to infect even Joe Turpel, ’89 World Champ
Martin Potter, Ron “Dog” Blakey and even our happy savior Barton
Lynch.
Sal is surfing’s biggest fan boy.
Biggest by far, and you can’t even imagine how many dinners I’ve
sat across from Sal as he pulled out his phone to show the audience
text messages from Kelly Slater etc., how many times I’ve heard him
derive personal value from his professional surfer “friends” but
the fan boy drive is not his alone.
Surf media, in general, suffers from wanting to be “liked” by
the professionals who dance across the waves. Wanting to be
acknowledged and accepted by the hot, now surfer demanding
attention but this instinct cuts across surf media’s very job.
Shouldn’t we be clinical, analytical, unmoved by personal
preference or desire for hunger for proximity? Shouldn’t we all be
ruthlessly immolating ourselves for the truth and for The
People™?
It’s why Longtom shines. He doesn’t want friends, he wants to do
the best job he possibly can. It’s how any sport’s
writing/commentating works when it actually works. When writers and
vocalists are free and willing to gut golden calves in order to
share what matters.
And certainly what we do is not important. Certainly we operate
in a backwater of a backwater but I think it’s time to demand a
separation of church from state, or rather bro from bro, and bring
some actual, honest critique to the booth.
Gimme Paul Evans.
Gimme Jen See.
Gimme a woman or man that has enough smarts to call it like she
sees it and enough backbone to not shirk from truth.
The action in the water has never been better but, like in O
Brother, Where Art Thou? the allure of popularity and
closeness is pulling us toward the rocks.
It’s high time we demand a fix.
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Electric, electic King of variety laid it all
down in head-high walls. The 9.10 was the highest score of the day,
the 8.5 was the better ridden wave, for mine. If you are catching
up on the heat analyzer, start there. wsl
J-Bay seeding round: “Standard day in
head-high rockrunners and Pip looking unbeatable!”
By Longtom
"There, I put the last sentence as a one sentence
summary in case you are short on time."
Covering Pro Surfing is a brutal game. It took
me a week to get over Brazil. Times zones, sleep deprivation, “jet”
lag , all that. I know you scoff.
It’s hard to think of an equivalent sport that drags on and
requires so much sustained attention over such an extended period.
Maybe test cricket if it had a two-week waiting period?
I’m not complaining: living the dream, enjoying the journey as
Filipe said today etc etc. The hourly rate is measly but there is a
side benefit. I noticed it before I turned pro, getting up to watch
Dane Reynolds. Watch enough and the body might feel stiff but the
mind opens up to technical advancement. One day with coquettish
amazement I did something on a surfboard I had no right to do. I
call it the Dane effect. One day you just surf better than you
should. Somehow the mind has absorbed a new technique and been able
to translate into action.
It really almost should be a raison d’etre for a rec surfer to
watch pro surfing.
But it’s not everyone in the top 34. In fact, it’s the very few.
Which makes the John John injury such a blow for scribes as well as
fans.
As Italo Ferriera said, “So sad about John, he’s so fucken
good.” He said that to Rosie and straight after she disappeared
from the broadcast. Co-incidence? Was she skyhooked to a secret WSL
retraining encampment? Why? It wasn’t her fault Italo dropped the
f-bomb.
So no John and a day late for the swell of the year at J-Bay.
Made a steep mountain to climb, as far as providing an entertaining
product for fans. Head high rock runners on offer. Strider
Wasilewski with attack dogs tits well sheathed in a 4/3 made the
astute comment that it’s an easy wave to run down the line on, hard
to hit the corners.
So no John and a day late for the swell of the year at J-Bay.
Made a steep mountain to climb, as far as providing an entertaining
product for fans. Head high rock runners on offer. Strider
Wasilewski with attack dogs tits well sheathed in a 4/3 made the
astute comment that it’s an easy wave to run down the line on, hard
to hit the corners.
I would have chosen a little Bonzer octafish and done just that.
Run it down the line all day long.
Gabe Medina in heat one found no difficulty squaring it up and
“hammering it shut”. It was soothing to have Turpel back in the
booth. You’d want Joe there at the end to send you off into heaven
“There he goes, closes his eyes for the last time, hammered it
shut, sends it off and the judges should like it” It would be a
nice way to go.
Medina was mechanical but in the nicest possible way. I ain’t a
watch guy but if I was I imagine there must be some aesthetic
satisfaction in contemplating the fine mechanics of an expensive
watch. Which is what I feel when I see Gabe putting head-high waves
to beddy-byes. The conventional narrative is that Gabe starts his
year at J-Bay and there was nothing in today’s performance to
counter that.
Italo was similarly sharp and tactile in heat two. A little
faceplant on the bricks after a shallow finish was the only
blemish. Soli Bailey got the best waves and showed some hints that
he might be capable of opening up and showing some repertoire.
There’s been something cramped about the way his front arm has led
through the turn this year. An unfortunate tic that has made his
surfing look nervous and forced. If he can relax and open up he
could win some heats, and that would be good.
Jordy had ultimate flow. Jorgann Couzinet had terrible flow.
Ciao had moderate flow but jiggled and bobbled too many turns to
threaten the multiple Jbay winner. That question of flow is a
strange one. Kolohe came on like a sorority gal with one too many
trips to the sangria bowl before settling down and laying down one
turn after another.
G-med gives me the Dane effect, so to Italo. Not so Filipe. Too
frenetic, too otherworldly maybe? Maybe just a goofy/natural thing.
No matter, Pip cranked up the heat of the day, which will surprise
exactly nobody. Like Gabe he rocked a green board which looked very
slick on blue walls. Despite the timing of the dropping of the WSL
edit which details the capitulation at the Box (one wave where Jack
Robbo takes a wave off Pip while he has priority: brutal) it could
have been a lifetime ago for Pip. Electric, electic King of variety
laid it all down in head-high walls. The 9.10 was the highest score
of the day, the 8.5 was the better ridden wave, for mine. If you
are catching up on the heat analyzer, start there.
Pottz was praying Michael February was surfing on a twin fin, my
preference would have been a sleek Bonzer like the one he rode in
Ghana. He looks better on alternative boards. That awkward
angularity becomes perfect flow, on the modern shortboard trying to
surf CT style it just ain’t right.
Don’t know about you, but I’ve never felt any relationship to
Kelly Slater’s surfing. But I am enjoying this year, his 27th and
possibly final year on Tour more than any other year. If the
surfing is unrelatable the guile, the presence, the trash talk is
not.
It’s all deeply engaging.
Having Slater surfing head high J-Bay with a head of steam for
the year and Sal Masekala in the booth was close to heaven. He was
off, by his own admission, after a dose of the flu. Turns a bit
janky, a bogged cutback but two fives was enough to progress, as
Pottz had predicted in the first heat of the day.
Standard day in head high J-Bay rockrunners and Pip looking
unbeatable. There, I put the last sentence as a one sentence
summary in case you are short on time.
J-Bay Men’s Seeding Round 1 Results:
Heat 1: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 12.03 DEF. Joan Duru (FRA) 10.57,
Frederico Morais (PRT) 9.00
Heat 2: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 14.43 DEF. Soli Bailey (AUS) 10.67,
Peterson Crisanto (BRA) 10.34
Heat 3: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 12.16 DEF. Adriano de Souza (BRA)
7.33, Jesse Mendes (BRA) 6.74
Heat 4: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13.77 DEF. Caio Ibelli (BRA) 9.27,
Jorgann Couzinet (FRA) 8.67
Heat 5: Kolohe Andino (USA) 11.43 DEF. Yago Dora (BRA) 9.84,
Beyrick De Vries (ZAF) 8.30
Heat 6: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 17.60 DEF. Michael February (ZAF)
12.83, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 11.77
Heat 7: Julian Wilson (AUS) 13.97 DEF. Deivid Silva (BRA) 10.60,
Jadson Andre (BRA) 10.56
Heat 8: Ezekiel Lau (HAW) 13.17 DEF. Conner Coffin (USA) 11.84,
Willian Cardoso (BRA) 5.27
Heat 9: Ricardo Christie (NZL) 10.66 DEF. Michael Rodrigues (BRA)
9.03, Ryan Callinan (AUS) 6.10
Heat 10: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 12.40 DEF. Kelly Slater (USA) 10.67,
Jeremy Flores (FRA) 9.27
Heat 11: Michel Bourez (FRA) 12.24 DEF. Owen Wright (AUS) 12.00,
Jack Freestone (AUS) 11.86
Heat 12: Wade Carmichael (AUS) 13.24 DEF. Griffin Colapinto (USA)
13.23, Seth Moniz (HAW) 10.83
J-Bay Men’s Elimination Round 2 Matchups:
Heat 1: Ryan Callinan (AUS), Jack Freestone (AUS), Beyrick De Vries
(ZAF)
Heat 2: Seth Moniz (HAW), Adrian Buchan (AUS), Jorgann Couzinet
(FRA)
Heat 3: Jeremy Flores (FRA), Jesse Mendes (BRA), Frederico Morais
(PRT)
Heat 4: Willian Cardoso (BRA), Peterson Crisanto (BRA), Jadson
Andre (BRA)
Women’s Remaining Seeding Round 1 Matchups:
Heat 4: Courtney Conlogue (USA), Brisa Hennessy (CRI), Paige Hareb
(NZL)
Heat 5: Lakey Peterson (USA), Malia Manuel (HAW), Keely Andrew
(AUS)
Heat 6: Caroline Marks (USA), Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA), Silvana
Lima (BRA)
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WSL
Preview: “Watching Gilmore at J-Bay is a
near-perfect marriage between wave and surfer!”
By Jen See
But Moore and Fitzgibbons are ready to pounce!
Before last year, Steph Gilmore had never
surfed J-Bay. That is insane to imagine. In truth, the two are made
for one another. J-Bay’s stretched canvas perfectly suits her
clean, swooping style. It’s hard to look past Gilmore to repeat
this year, especially after seeing her Instagram clip from a day or
two ago. Hi, my name is Steph, and I’m going to get barreled now.
Yes, yes you are, Steph.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzqrQqwgiof/
Do you dream of point breaks? Shaun Tomson once described
surfing J-Bay to me as being like flying. For the Californians,
imagine the best day you’ve ever seen at Rincon. Then, imagine it
better — faster and more powerful. Imagine the puff of offshore
wind that pushes you up the face, faster and still faster. Imagine
the long wall stretching out in front of you, and the burn in your
legs when finally reach the end. Sharks, cold water, whatever —
visions of J-Bay dance in my dreams.
When we last saw the women’s CT, they were in Brazil, which is
pretty much the opposite of J-Bay in every way. Sally Fitzgibbons
won in a final against Carissa Moore, and jumped up to the top of
the world rankings. Moore heads to J-Bay in second, with Gilmore
currently in third. The top three remain close in the world title
race, and they’ve begun to pull away ever so slightly from the
rest. Just over 2000 points separate Fitzgibbons from Gilmore — and
a win throws 10k points in the bucket.
Stacked up behind Gilmore are Courtney Conlogue, Lakey Peterson,
and Caroline Marks. At the start of the year, did you expect to see
Peterson and Marks tied for fifth? I did not, but here we are. If
you are playing Olympic selection bingo, the tense battle among
Conlogue, Peterson, and Marks has an extra zing. If Moore holds her
lead, the second slot will go to one of these three women. That
reality certainly adds some pressure to the game.
Last year at J-Bay, Moore went out in round three, which I had
completely forgotten until I looked again at the results. That’s a
surprise, because I’d expect J-Bay to suit her. This contest
surfing thing is a crazy old game. Caroline Marks also went out in
round three last year, which we can expect her to better this time
around. No surprise at all, that Gilmore and Peterson met in last
year’s final. Both surf right points beautifully, and the title
race was pretty much all about Peterson and Gilmore in 2018.
Fitzgibbons, Moore, Gilmore: The top three in the rankings are a
study in contrasts. Fitzgibbons has smoothed out her style, but
hasn’t lost her trademark animation. Fitzgibbons reminds me of a
gymnast after a big floor combination, all smiles and arms in the
air. I’m not sure Fitzgibbons 2.0 has moved far enough away from
her old skitters to win at J-Bay, but by leading the world
rankings, she’s making a strong case for herself.
Moore is understated, much like Florence. Big powerful, precise
turns, nothing out of place. When she throws something unique, like
the reverse at Bali, there’s no showmanship, no hey, look what I
just did. She expects the surfing to stand on its own and there is
much to respect in that approach. But this may also be why Moore
often seems underscored. When Moore loses a heat, it’s generally
because she can’t find the waves that’ll let her do the turns she
sees in her head. She can grovel, but she’ll avoid it, sometimes
until much too late in the game.
Gilmore is all style and so much of what makes her surfing stand
out is what happens between the turns. With Gilmore, it’s a wild,
joyous dance and it’s easy to miss the clean rail work that makes
all that stylish vibing possible. Watching Gilmore at J-Bay is a
near-perfect marriage between wave and surfer. I’ll be following
this one mostly on replay. Do I watch Gilmore’s heats first? Or do
I save them until last like a scrumptious dessert?
If we’ve learned anything this year, though, the top three do
not have a lock on this thing. Not at all. I like Malia Manuel to
make a run up the rankings. She finished second at Bells and if the
waves are good, her smooth arcing turns are well-matched to J-Bay.
Of the Conlogue, Peterson, Marks triad, anything could happen
there. All three have won events this year, but none has been
consistently on form. That’s Moore’s super power this year so far:
Rock solid consistency.
Last, but not least! Coco Ho is out of J-Bay, the first event
she’ll miss in her 11 years on Tour, she says. She tore her MCL
doing an air. Apparently, this breaking knees doing airs thing is
contagious. Last year, Ho made the quarters at J-Bay and she’s
currently ranked tenth, tied with Johanne Defay. Come back soon,
Coco Ho! We miss you already.
The waiting period starts tomorrow, 9 July. Let’s all dream of
point breaks together. It’ll be fun, maybe!
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Opinion: Sympathizing with the Devil (VAL)
will be our downfall!
By Ricmatic
#Resist!
It’s long been thought that encouragement makes
us better at things. However, the rash of participation awards in
kids’ sports has cured us of that belief.
Surfers are no strangers to an obstacle. Bad waves, bad boards,
crowds, rocks (get outta my way kooks!) fights, hold downs, sea
monsters and one hundred others. The people that stick with surfing
have somehow reconciled the horrors mentioned and have acquired the
survival skills necessary for longevity.
Some things in life come easily. Treat people well, work hard –
reap fruits.
But surfing is trickier than other things.
Recently, the beloved IG account “Kook of the Day” had a post
featuring a hapless girl who had her fins pointed Bethward being
interviewed. Of course weʼve all done silly, naive stuff but
imagine if the camera was rolling for your first surf, or your last
surf, or putting a knife in the toaster, or jumping off a 20ft
bridge into 4ft of water?
Surfing will haze even the most pure and innocent. We’re
mean.
Which is why it’s awesome.
Coaches, instructors, clips and edits? Nope. Surfing has to be
learnt by yourself. Try describing a top to bottom six foot wave
unloading a foot in front of you to a non surfer. Suddenly youʼre
speaking at crazy, ridiculous Armageddon*, end is nigh levels of
hyperbole. You gotta see that watery guillotine for yourself.
Remember the stories we heard before fact checking and iPhones?
The you shoulda been here yesterdayʼs, the legend this… the mystic
that… sea monsters everywhere. Bullshit ran freely and
unassailable. Read here.
And
here and here. Or just read
BeachGrit.
About ninety percent of my sessions are solo but rarely alone. I
live in a big city with consistent surf and consistent crowds. As a
perennial blow in, Iʼm usually on the receiving end of
territorialism.
Yet somehow the whole dance of localism comforts me. And itʼs
imminent demise concerns me.
Let Localism Rule. Weʼre the better for it.
(Just donʼt be a fucken dick about it. And no rock throwing you
fucken dick.)
* A vastly underrated film, Bruce Willis – sublime.
