Master filmmaker delivers Surf Ranch edit that shatters claim Slater wavepool is “puffy and grotesque”

Shuck and jive surfing that will leave your mouth flapping mutely.

Recently, the master filmmaker Robbie Crawford was tasked with the job of photographing a marvellous cast of Mason Ho, Clay Marzo and Parker Coffin at the Kelly Slater-designed Surf Ranch in Lemoore, California, for the movie Snapt. 

Mason, thirty-six, sweet, affectionate, Clay, thirty-five, electric and super sexy and little Parker Coffin, twenty-nine, brutally ugly – no one wants to kiss freckled Parker’s eyelashes, all deliver their interpretations of the surfing act.

Their assorted idiosyncrasies, Clay’s elastic curves, Mason’s hybrid of style and charm and Parker’s exhilarating dash make for great entertainment in waves that arrive in almost identical batches.

But it’s the use of an intrusive pole hovering off the back of Crawford’s jetski that delivers the full score. In some circles the approach might be labelled an elaborate gimmick, but in filmmaking actually coalesces the experience into something very close to genius. 

And, with Surf Ranch Abu Dhabi playing a pivotal role in determining next year’s contenders for the world title showdown at Cloudbreak, a clue, perhaps, to how this particular harp should be played.