Tick Tock.

Things may have changed, lightly, over the past year since Kelly Slater has been on a media tear, winning the illustrious Pro Pipeline, turning 50, releasing his Lost Tapes, etc. but I think if you polled the mainstream and asked “who is the world’s greatest surfer?” the action would be split between the aforementioned and on Laird Hamilton.

Even though stock price for his eponymous Superfood is touching junk level, Hamilton has captivated the general public with his Poseidon-like bone structure and general je ne sais quoi but also progressive theories on shark attacks. The two don’t compete against each other, professionally, of course but Dot from down the street doesn’t know that and swoons at both though probably at Hamilton slightly more.

Who wouldn’t?

Well, students of the game know that Slater just released a new environmentally sound watch with Swiss luxury brand Breitling (read here, here and here).

Hamilton, though, not to be outdone, has just released his own luxury watch but his one even more environmentally sound with British manufacturer Bremont. All proceeds going to the Bimini Biological Field Station Foundation as opposed to Slater’s watch band being made from ocean junk.

Per HypeBeast:

Bremont has now tapped American surfer Laird Hamilton for a limited-edition Waterman Apex dive watch. Developed together to draw awareness to ocean and sealife conservation, the new timepiece utilizes the British luxury watch brand’s “Trip-Tick” case measuring a hefty 43mm wide, paired with a uni-directional GMT bezel.

To keep things running smoothly for athletes and divers, the modified caliber 11 1/2” BE-92-AV automatic movement is housed within Bremont’s signature anti-shock mount, and boasts a 42-hour power reserve. As an added touch, the custom rotor is also adorned with patterns of ocean waves and a shark fin, a design that draws inspiration from Bimini Shark Lab.

The piece costs $5,095. Slater’s Superocean swings in at a comparable $4,900.

So are you Team Laird or Team Kelly?

Team Laird features a blue colorway. Team Kelly an orange.

Order and Progress.

Filipe Toledo is utterly destroying this 2022 edition of the World Surf League championship tour, 10,000 points ahead of second place Jack Robinson heading into J-Bay but it is no surprise. Toledo, as you know, is Brazilian and Brazilians have been our masters since Gabriel Medina’s win nearly one decade ago, now. Brazilians have hoisted the end-of-year cup in 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021 and will hoist it in 2022 and probably 2023 too ad infinitum.

It is one thing for us surfers to recognize this power, this ultimate subjugation/domination (depending on if you, dear reader, are Brazilian or not), but quite another for the mainstream to cast its busy eyes our direction and take in the changed landscape. Today, the entire globe is aware that Brazil is no. 1 as the Tempestade Brasileira gets lovingly profiled in The New York Times.

The Gray Lady begins its piece at the just-wrapped Oi Rio Pro (won by Toledo é claro) with the lithe 27-year-old being carried through the throng that so thrilled World Surf League CEO Erik Logan before turning back a decade, examining Toledo’s brunette ambition:

Toledo first announced his intention to become a professional surfer when he was 6. He dreamed not only of making the elite tour, but also of being alongside the likes of renowned world champions like the American Kelly Slater, an 11-time world champion, and the Australian Mick Fanning, a three-time champion. That Toledo — who is known for his ability to launch above the lips of waves, rotate and land seemingly with ease — had such outsize ambition was a stretch. The idea that a Brazilian could not only qualify for the tour, but actually win the tour — to beat out Californians, Australians and Hawaiians, who had dominated for decades — seemed far-fetched.

Yes, the young surfer was talented. Like his peers, he began competing in the regional contests that helped the current generation hone their skills and push one another to new heights. He also had the benefit of being coached and counseled by his father, Ricardo, a former national surf champion. And he was winning, a lot. But the distance between winning on home turf against other up-and-comers and consistently winning against the Slaters and Fannings of the world was still untraversed.

Professional Brazilian surfers just “didn’t have that much information or support,” Filipe Toledo said. “They were like, ‘What do I do now? Should I just train or should I get the money that I won in that event and spend it, doing a huge party, or invest it going on trips?’”

Stretching back further, Brazil’s history is discussed, from dictatorship to burgeoning middle class, and its professional surf pioneers like Pepe Lopez, Corlos Burle, Fabio Gouveia, Flavio and Neco Padaratz. The role Oakley played in finding and developing talent, the aforementioned dominance all leading back to Toledo who declares:

“We understand the formula now.”

That formula — the alchemy of economics, opportunity, work ethic and expectations — has been the driving force not only behind Toledo’s professional success so far, but of what he believes is still possible. Considering the rest of his season, there are just two goals he has in mind.

“Enjoy the process,” he said. “And win the world title.”

It is a fine read and good for us so to do and also learn Portuguese.

Dessa forma, podemos fazer parte do futuro brilhante e maravilhoso do surf, em vez de pedaços maçantes jogados ao lado da ordem e do progresso.

Or maybe gimlets.

Ok, ok, ok, I really, really don’t want to worry you, here, but J-Bay is basically 24-hours away, maybe less by the time you read this. It is the first World Surf League Championship Tour event with a promising swell forecast in the last I don’t even know how many, Surfline bullishness notwithstanding.

There is only one problem and I really, really don’t want to cause stress but… World Surf League’s Senior Vice President of Tours, Head of Competition, Jessi Miley-Dyer is still not there.

Breathe.

Delighting surf fans yesterday, Miley-Dyer posted a selfie sitting poolside enjoying much deserved “me time.” Those same fans, though, were slightly troubled by her caption reading, “Still here Rio. I’m never leaving Brazil.”

She, theoretically, still had enough time to hop a flight and arrive in South Africa in time for the opening hooter and, possibly, the “never leaving Brazil” was metaphorical. A reference to emotionally never leaving Brazil, holding the country’s charms in her heart and taking them with her.

Anxiousness has turned into sheer panic today, however, as it appears that Miley-Dyer is still poolside in Rio, via her Instagram Stories (above), this time drinking a lemon drop.

Maybe a gimlet.

Bespoke caipirinha?

If she is not on J-Bay’s sand, holding a finger to the winds, sussing conditions, taking professional surfer temperatures as to its contestability and/or relative scariness then delivering “It’s on” or “It’s off” direct to camera, the contest will not be able to run.

I do not want to rule out the possibility that she has access to a private flight but… am white knuckling here.

Breathing into a paper bag.

More as the story develops.