"I was just like, ‘Filipe have a dig, you’re so talented and so good in these waves’ and he just decided ‘no I’m not going to do it.’”
The 2023 tour is a few weeks from kicking into gear, starting at Pipe, Jan 29, for the Billabong Pipeline Pro, not to be confused with the Vans Pipe Masters.
And, wetting his little feet will be the new world champion, Filipe Toledo, a small-wave specialist from Brazil who cemented his formidable rep in waves of no consequence by winning the world title at Lower Trestles, a soft wave near the Californian town of San Clemente.
Toledo, a married daddy of two who turns twenty-eight in April, shocked sports fans shortly before Finals Day when he didn’t paddle for a wave in a heat at the Outerknown Tahiti Pro against two middle-aged surfers, the wildcard Nathan Hedge and the fifty-something Kelly Slater.
As Chas Smith wrote at the time,
And that first morning heat? An exciting draw featuring an iconic relic in Nathan Hedge, the world’s greatest surfer Kelly Slater and the current number one surfer in the world Filipe Toledo.
Toledo, with reputation for not enjoying the Teahupo’o battle, would certainly spear naysayers in the throat by dropping in to infamy, no?
Apparently no.
Slater and Hedge traded waves, big and perfect, one after the other after the other with Toledo holding priority well out the back, refusing to paddle, one after the other after the other.
Slater, barreled, unable to contain smile.
Hedge, barreled, unable to contain smile or beat, smartly, boss.
Toledo, un-barreled, holding priority for fifteen-odd minutes while Slater and Hedge swapped beneath him.
In the dying seconds, the King of Saquarema swung on a baby tube then punched board in channel.
Super coach Mike Parsons later told the WSL’s media guy Dave Prodan,
“I really expected Filipe to just kind of go Rambo mode and just show everyone ‘hey I’m gonna charge no matter what, I’m gonna give it a solid dig’ and I was (here Snips pauses for emphasis) bummed that he didn’t do that in his first round heat. It was eight foot, pumping, there were some really good waves coming to him and he opted not to take off on them. And I was just like, ‘Filipe have a dig, you’re so talented and so good in these waves’ and he just decided ‘no I’m not going to do it.’”
BeachGrit’s tour correspondent JP Currie wrote last September,
Now, in sweeping changes proposed by a real nice real estate agent pal of mine down at the beach just then, both of us waiting for the onshore to kick in a little and the tide to run out and maybe the crowd to back off as its summer prettiness diminishes, tour events would be weighted according to their heaviness.
A win at Pipeline or Teahupoo, therefore, would deliver 15,000 points to the winner compared to 10,000 at Rio or Bells.
One event at Jaws offering a whopping 20,000 points.
Finals Day stays, but moves to Cloudbreak, and runs only when the swell is six-feet or bigger, a one-month waiting period takes care of any sort of worry about getting it done, as does the cut-off period.
Sorry rookies.
And happy days for Jack Robinson and John John Florence, for whom two-foot Lowers dooms both to never winning a world title within the current format.
You think, yes?
I think if there was something actually on the line at chopes last year Filipe would have had more of a dig. He was locked in for the number one spot and was probably just trying not to get injured. I reckon his motivation to win is higher than his motivation to pack big pits and prove himself. Not a good look though.
Publish it in Portugese, you cowards!!
Click bait title world title. I feel like I’ve been soft click baited. Now I’m suffocating on the floor, but instead of a last blissful taste of salty squid or Bonito, I have a mouth full of plastic.
i’d take Jon everyday over Toledo
Duh, they tried this in the early 90s. Thought a surf journalist would know this.
The ASP at that time had different rankings of all the comps. One, two and three A. The big three always had their comps (like Bells) rated 3A. Then you had the fringe companies hold some 1 and 2A events. About 1991 Billabong decided to go all in and hold a 5A event in Hawaii at the end of the year to get all the glory.
What happened?
The comp was won by Cheyne Horan (amazingly parachuting him back into the top 16) and then Nick Wood. This was not the glory Billabong were looking for. It didn’t crown a world champ even with all the extra points on offer, and the winners were not high profile so they pulled out and that was the end of it.
Look mate everyone’s been sooking about world champs not being good in heavy waves since Adam was a boy but remember possibly the greatest surfer ever, Tom Curren, only ever won one comp in Hawaii, and that was at Haleiwa.
The only world champs with genuine asterisks are PT and CJ. Well maybe Derek Ho too, but it’s frowned upon to mention that fiasco these days.
Damian Hardman was a 6 foot and under wonder too
… all true, and re: world champs in heavy waves, even Curren took serious shit for a time in the 80s for allegedly not having chops in Hawaii — although I don’t remember it ever being because he refused even to drop in. Eventually his backdoor performances drowned out the noise — or at least that’s how I remember it being covered in the surf rags back then.
Actually Tom loved surfing Sunset/Pipe/Backdoor/Haleiwa…….a lot of the time though the crowds would have him surf the marginal days because of the crowds and Hype.
I don’t think there was ever any body who questioned his big wave surfing…remember the year at margs when he rode one from the peak to the beach?
right, I’m not questioning it, I just recall from the 80s surf mags that he took some heat for never doing all that well in the triple crown, etc. But we’re talking 40 year old impressions here from my grom mag reading days…
I always loved that session he had with Wayne Lynch on the other side of Cape Otway that was in Surfer mag. Huge waves and I think he rode a single fin. Look mate I reckon Curren is probably a better surfer than Kelly, I just love watching him surf even now. But in contests guys like Elkerton and Carrol were winning most of the comps in Hawaii, that’s all i’m saying.
Tom hated the crowds in Hawaii, but loved sunset/Pipe Backdoor Haleiwa………it’s ironic you mention PT as he won a World title without winning an event that year was called the 2′ and under kid then he went and got a 3rd at Waimea……
Around the same time as what?
Hey, a worthy champion has to be able to win also at two-foot Lowers, no?
But none of these guys held back in the big stuff, they all had a crack, some better than others. World champ needs to be great in all conditions
So basically the surfers you don’t want to watch will be world champions.
Yep
John? Jackie? Gabriel? Kelly? Italo?
Well out of that bunch bar Jackie I’d watch them anytime.
Another totally legit way to crown a champ would be too give all the top 44 ten thousand T shirts each that they have to sell for $60 each.
Who ever sells out first wins the title?
yes….no offense but Lowers will never have credibility as a world title venue.decider..ask any surfer on the planet
In a few decades we will give that year’s title to Mick and move on with it
more waves in Indo or Fiji for sure – Nias cloudbreak even the maldives
super bowl format at trestles fucked
maybe deduct points if dont have a dig in heats wherever it is
Just get surfers too send in there best edit and whoever has the most instagram followers by the end of the year wins.
I really hate board punching – it’s like bopping your best friend!
Depends on the board
How about two heats at Cloudbreak and two heats at Restaurants.
Best two waves from each break.
While I think Italo’s title was way more clutch and memorable Pips will end up in same boat as ADS’s title* soon forgotten and forever with an “*”.
Nah…ADS truly earned his title.
He put in his time at Pipe in order to get better.
post title ADS was kind of amazing. He basically stopped with the dumb antics and he become one of the biggest chargers and man hackers on the tour. He was pushing turns and going for huge sections as hard as anybody.
Felipe Toledo needs the consultation of a psychologist.
There is nothing wrong with him physically, he’s a world champion FFS.
The issue is in his head, not his board or his body.
Diagnostic is in: Reef allergy.
The old format was fine, but some kook from Oklahoma decided that surfing should ape the super bowl! Let’s not be sexist and forget that our other world champion – Stephanie Gilmore also didn’t exactly cover herself in glory when the waves got interesting
Yes, this is true, but the expectation ain’t the same. And she did catch a couple at Pipe.
She didn’t surf at pipe, she had covid
Caught a couple Covid variants
Year before!
Just wondering when Dirk Ziff is going to get tired of losing money and call it quits..
Well— I guess that might be up to Misses Ziff…
I’m wondering who will give up first, him or you?
Word in the alley is it ain’t gonna end anytime soon. Twenty mill or so a year to own surfing peanuts etc.
I hope he’s getting some sort of a tax deduction – maybe the incentive is he only pays $734 in tax like Trump!
Duh
Subscription based pay-per-view ‘Dream Tour’. The best surfers in the best waves.
Reduce the number of events, extend the waiting period.
Flick the non elimination opening/seeding round and annoying overlapping heat format.
Top 22 surfers only.
Mandatory drug testing.
(Note: I’m no NAZI)
I really like the overlapping heats. No wastage of waves and Surfers in 3&4 priority have nothing to lose so get to work on waves and sections they normally wouldn’t look twice at. The heats are usually longer too, and obviously it doubles the action.
Agreed.
However, if the CT was culled to 22, no overlapping is required.
Apologies Negatron, I didn’t adequately explain my rationale.
✌🏻
I get ya, but best swell window of say 4 hours with extended heat times there’s nothing to lose with overlapping heats.
I like the overlapping for same reason you’re saying Negs, way fewer wasted waves, more action, etc. — in other words, helps kill off the worst part of watching contests, two surfers sitting in water staring at each other waiting for the one with priority to take off while perfectly serviceable (and depending on break, even all time) waves pour through underneath them
I like the overlapping too and would like to see them take it one step further and try overlapping with the chicks heats.
100% Man! fantastic idea to elevate Women’s surfing to the level it deserves.
Sam(e) Zifference…
keep praying sammie but your same flog is getting old!!
besides what we gonna joke about here
I hope Ziff chucks it in, the current format is a sham.
The QS and CS are so much more watchable, 4 man heats = more waves surfed, better commentators, more diverse surf venues and guys who will have a proper crack at it..