Kelly Slater says, "For sure Tahiti is more in my wheelhouse than many other events."
I think, pray and hope that professional surfing is back today. The countdown clock on the World Surf League’s patented timer is ticking all the way to zero over at “The End of the Road” but I have to get in the car and drive north on “The Endless Road” before it actually reaches zero.
What’s a surf journalist to do?
If it runs and there is no “Comment Live” feed up and running, shame will haunt me for multiple hours.
If it doesn’t run and there is a “Comment Live” feed up and running, shame will haunt me until I can delete.
I’m opting for the later!
Kelly Slater says, “For sure Tahiti is more in my wheelhouse than many other events. I do have a lot of confidence there, but that doesn’t detract from needing to get out there and figure out the lineup and take note of how your competitors are looking and getting yourself on the good waves. The confidence goes up for sure though and I focus a lot more on my performance and what I can control than my competition.”
Hmmmm.
Also…
Tahiti Pro Teahupo’o pres. by Hurley Seeding Round (Round 1) Match-Ups:
Heat 1: Gabriel Medina (BRA), Peterson Cristanto (BRA), Soli Bailey (AUS)
Heat 2: Jordy Smith (ZAF), Adrian Buchan (AUS), Jadson Andre (BRA)
Heat 3: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN), Caio Ibelli (BRA), Adriano de Souza (BRA)
Heat 4: Italo Ferreira (BRA), Sebastian Zietz (HAW), Kauli Vaast (FRA)
Heat 5: Filipe Toledo (BRA), Joan Duru (FRA), Tyler Newtown (HAW)
Heat 6: Kolohe Andino (USA), Yago Dora (BRA), Matahi Drollet (PYF)
Heat 7: Kelly Slater (USA), Deivid Silva (BRA), Francisco Morais (PRT)
Heat 8: Ryan Callinan (AUS), Willian Cardoso (BRA), Ricardo Christie (NZL)
Heat 9: Julian Wilson (AUS), Michael Rodrigues (BRA), Ezekiel Lau (HAW)
Heat 10: Michel Bourez (PYF), Jeremy Flores (FRA), Griffin Colapinto (USA)
Heat 11: Owen Wright (AUS), Wade Carmichael (AUS), Jesse Mendes (BRA)
Heat 12: Conner Coffin (USA), Seth Moniz (HAW), Jack Freestone (AUS)
Striders back! Where’d he go? What’s the story?
Music is from a hip-hop band named IAM. Nothing to do with this. The lyrics are not related to the issue mentioned at all. The Guys look like their playing music in a festival, not protesting. But well it sells to mention aggressive Frenchie’s and anti wavepools .
Tyler Newtown and Francisco Marais. Nice touch WSL
The “!” after capitalized HURLEY seems very douchey. Is that a demand from ELO ? And how is it PRESENTED? On a silver platter ? On a spit? On a pike?
Magic Seaweed says 12-18 feet by 6pm, for Newy.
Merewether was big and beautiful this morning. A little too straight for everywhere else. Lots of anticipation round town for this arvo though it’s the wrong direction for anywhere other than wayyyyy outside third reef or Dudley bluff.
I haven’t surfed in months anyway.
Not about to start again this avo.
there is also one other place…….you just need to walk
Even it was washed out by the afternoon. Bluff looked triple XL from merewether with binoculars. would have been great to watch from up above it
Sadly in Brisbane working this week so missing all the action…..I imagine that walk in spot would have been epic this morning. I have been crying my eyes out all week knowing I was missing it. Hopefully I will get some water time around LTs local the next few days
It was massive at Dud’s on dusk.. Don’t reckon Stocko will have a beach left by dawn
Yeah how far out was it breaking! Just saying there’s been 14m waves recorded off Batemans and it’s on its way up here overnight
On route for sure ! Enjoy. Maybe you need to dodge some ships tomorrow
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Went for a look this morning, it’s backed off pretty fast but the sand told the story from over night. A lot seemed to be heading directly north and bypassing town.
Yes tomorrow morn will be interesting to see the state of the banks. Still considering a quick harbour session today but it’s frustrating with the crowd
i believe the locals refer to it as The Point. only townies call it Dudley Bluff
https://m.youtube.com/watch…
Felipe or Adriano… who finishes higher?
It’s a tie – 5’5”.
Surfing and horse jockeying- 2 safe havens for the vertically challenged
That thing Hippy posted re BG sale ain’t really true is it?
I’m so exhausted that my brain cells are not up to the level of discernment required.
In office til late, now back to grindstone.
Have fun with The Po’o.
Dude, Taylor Swift wrote a song about the sale…. check the South Hampton thread.
You didn’t know she was dating Derek, did you?
Oh yeah of course.
Yeah yeah.
La la la.
Fuck I’m tired.
Are you sure you’re ready for the comp? I’m just putting the finishing touches on an article about the addictive qualities of writing half-baked pseudo-intellectual surf philosophy if you’d prefer?
Anything roughly related to the sudden absence of swell as soon as the circus hits town from a half-baked pseudo-intellectual Surf philosopher , like yourself , would @surfadsum colour to our fading , absurd , meaningless lives and announce your presence in Latin …..adsum .
Caveat emptor, pal
Let the buyer beware the lama spits …. and he was ….
I am a big fan of the local wildcards and the trials , but come on WSL , Frederico M , who I like, and like even more on right hand point breaks etc and who is next in line finishing 23rd last year , has done nothing at his last 2 attempts at the Tahiti Pro , in comparison to Wilko , the next in line who charged when it was big a few years back and then Connor O’Leary who dropped 8s and 9s the last 2 years , going down to Medina in 2017 , and then Italo , (who busted out 2 airs in the last minute ) after putting Michel Bourez in Combo in round 3 , and he doesn’t even get an invite to the trials ?
A wildcard is their to Upset the Apple Cart ? or to give local talent a chance , create local interest , grease palms and $10 ,000 ….. just for turning up ?
Well said. I am a fan of 4 wild cards per event. Especially here and at Pipe. Although Pipe could have 16 with the talent pool available.
A couple of interesting heats to look forward to today. H3, 6, 10 and 12. A lottery in every sense. Could make up for some exciting eliminations. Its just a shame we need to wait so long to send 4 home.
If it’s big heat 4 , Italo , Seabass , Vaast could be the show stopper ……Slater probably ,on paper , got the easiest heat of the round ?
Man, I want to see the likes of Jack Robbo/Nathan Florence or any of the local chargers out there, not Petersen Crisanto and Jesse fucken Snowball …
There must be pressure on title contender, Kanoa , to step it up this year perhaps even more so than Felipe ….. ?
For sure …. only in a “prove yerself” sense, tho.
He’s pretty well golden coz of the Olympics …
I think its fair to say Kanoa has over achieved / exceeded expectations well and truely this year – so even a miss at Tahiti will not change that. He has been Mr consistent like Kolohe.
As for Felipe – well lets be honest – he has never stepped it up there. And time is running out for that to be forgotten. I think all the pressure is on Felipe to be honest. A shame the swell does not like its going to be too big sadly.
Felipe should have already won a title or two with talent. He is in danger of doing a Taj if he is not careful.
So profound JW…. accurate comparison.
Disagree JW….. there should be no wild cards. If you can’t qualify for the tour, you don’t deserve a spot even at your home break. Go qualify.
Few years ago, Gavin Valliere took out a title contender only to re disappear…. should not happen on a legit tour.
You don’t interrupt game 3 of the NBA finals to replace one team with a team that didn’t win a playoff game to get there and they decide the outcome.
Sorry, old age…. Evan Valliere at Pipe decided the years tour. Evan Valliere???
Gavin Gillette took down Parko in 2009 to give Fanning Title 2…
Should not happen James.
Well there are usually only two , which I suppose made sense in the old ASP days so Quik , Bong and Rip and later on Hurley and Volcom could stick their surfer in to an event to advertise more product of their own at their own event ….. but perhaps , your right , it is so hard to qualify now , and this would open up 2 more spots ?
Legit sports require qualification. Simple as pie, fuck the corpos stuffing events with up and comers or has beens.
As for Pipe, it can be argued in street cred terms that the Volcom contest is the surfers contest. Gillette can try to win that one. Better contest window, better talent at that break, tougher draw…. go for it.
Throw a bone to the QS warriors next in line, give em a shot at making an impression before the enter the big leagues. They put in the hard yards, it’s their time.
Lots of events used to have trials for entry to the main event. Bells always had the Quiksilver trials where the locals and hopefuls could slog it out.
Sponsors always demand their pound of flesh; at Bells it’s always highest ranked Victorian for parochial reasons, and the other spot almost always a Rip Curl team surfer.
Both Kilauea boyz!!
Bicko, so tell me the truth as a former competitor… how much does luck play in the Pipemasters. I mean for sure, guys like Kelly who lived for pipe and spent countless hours understanding the wave and knowing the “good” ones is an asset for sure. but if you have priority and you need a 9 an that one comes in that is throaty and no one else is out there ….. I know that goes with every contest.. but it always feels to me that with barrels in general the ocean is one big part of it, and your ability to manufacturer (of which I have none) is another at that upper levels. Therefore a wildcard at Pipe or Tahiti has a far better chance of putting the screws to a top level CT guy. ??? Adriano training for it and winning his Title after that…
From what I have seen in recent years , the tube riding events are more of a chess match and wave choice ( along with the balls , board and technical ability ) and priority , at the right time , whether through time management or luck , seems to win most heats ……. And you are right ….. it’s much more likely that a wildcard will get a 9 for a tube than for 5 big turns , up against the firepower of the CT surfers .
Great point Bicko. Absolutely right. The tube equalizes the field.
I hear what you are saying but I respectively disagree with you. The tennis grand slams have trials winners / sponsors picks / wild cards. And that organisation is a lot more professional than surfing. If you want to be the best then you should be able to beat anyone irrelevant of where they are from – be that an up and coming QS surfer or a local hero. Surfing is a little different to tennis – its a changed playing surface. Let the big boys come against the local talent – and if they can not win its their own fault. Surfing has a history of supporting the trials winner – eg Nicky Wood, Parko & MF to name just a few.
Tennis has a set foundation, the court does not change nor are you judged. Pretty straight forward and the reason despite all my training, I never found the passion though I had the technique on lock. Can’t compare the two which is why I never liked the concept of Sophie running the show.
The randomness of heat surfing is ripe for upsets, my distaste comes from the momentum developed over a season being disrupted without an athletic confrontation between the two front runners.
But your points are well made and it’s not a perfect world although as a sport, I think you should strive to be perfect and accept where you land.
In Gillette’s case, he decided a title. Why bother paying attention all season if someone who crawls out from under a rock changes the result? Should Parko have smashed him, yes. But Bicko’s point about tubes equalizing the field come into play, at Pipe, it just takes one wave to ruin a title chase.
That said, the ASP fucked it up anyway awarding Mick the title when Yadin out surfed him and lost. Mick roll in mini shampoos were rewarded more than Yadin falling out of the sky connecting and pulling under the hood. Love the Mick, but that was awful.
To be fair, Mick was robbed in the aftermath of the Shark incident. That cost him a title.
The worse is the requalifying via the WQS crap. If you’re out, you should grind THE NEXT YEAR in order to qualify. Also, guys who are on the WQS and get sporadic entries into the CT (sometimes having to forfeit WQS to do so) should be able to add those points to their WQS campaign. Rant over!
Opting for the later or latter Chas?
Clearly for the later since I haven’t found time to delete yet…
Some generous odds on offer.
he’s back!!
Calihan ftw!
WSL needs Ross so badly in the booth…..
I broke my glasses the other day , and read Rosy instead of Ross ….and was pondering the WSL’s bad desire for Rosy in the booth …..
Rosy is a ridiculously attractive woman. Ice cream cone, lick lick.
She is also a composed announcer… maybe too vanilla, but steady pro. And I love that in interviews she is a head taller than the male competitors…. lovelovelove
Yes I like big tall strong blonde girls so much that I married one .
They “fit” so well. I’m 6’1″ and the first wife was a gymnast, 5’4″…. wasn’t the reason it went south, but once I held the next tall girl, I knew.
I have been with two women more of my stature, and both were levels of crazy above acceptable/fun. Married a more standard heighted lady, who is coming up to 20 years of good times with. Horses for courses eh?
Interesting Lemon…. you’re equating height with personality….hmmm…..
Well you started it. What with your talk of gymnasts.
All girls are beautiful ….. some just more than others in the eye of the beholder …
Some girls are bigger than others, some girls are bigger than others, some girls are bigger than other girls… mothers….
I fall in and out of loving the Smith’s…. song by song, but the lyrics are always good.
https://youtu.be/Mg0jS6F4M10
sounds like they already picked gabe to win, so no point covering the contest
I’m pretty sure the commentary team aren’t judging the contest.
obviously they read the script
Exactly. It ensures that they never question the judges.
I hope one day they include a song and dance scene into the script.
South Pacific the musical . Check it out
Speaking of musicals.
What does a gay horse eat?
Haaaaaaaaay!
Hay is great if you ain’t got dames …. ?
https://m.youtube.com/watch…
Well that was anticlimactic.
What to do with all my stored up snark …. ?
Hmmm, I was looking at the field above and I have to say it’s really looking shitty.
Across the board – too many qs level surfers in there.
Surely you are not suggesting they cull the field and in doing so reduce the number of heats so it can be run in two days of epic swell? That is surely too sensible.
Heh, yea. I was looking at Windy – so they might get some grovelly S/SE swell over the weekend, but maybe not.
If they can’t run then the next proper SW won’t get to them til Tahiti Tuesday and they have to try and jam it all into three days. Stupid.