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Mirror Gabriel Medina Donald Trump snaps top “most striking images of 2024” list!

By Chas Smith

1 month ago

Surfing has arrived.

It is not Christmas, yet, but as things go, the mainstream media is already churning out “best of ’24” content like New Year’s Day is but a few second hand jives away. Spotify wrapped came out weeks ago, Time Magazine’s Person of the Year was dropped right around that time and the august BBC just released its highly-anticipated “12 of the most striking images of 2024” list.

Can you believe our Gabriel Medina’s Olympic kickout made the cut?

The now-iconic image, which mirrors Donald Trump’s “fight, fight, fight” snap, which, as it happens, also made the bigs.

You know that one, too, and i

Now, I have heard some harsh opinions about the Medina image from many in this our surf community. Surf folk entirely unimpressed with an aerial wave ejection as it is one of the few things any surfer can do. Heard rage, in fact, at “dumb people who like dumb photos.”

It is an arresting image, though, mostly because Medina is in his “model handsome” years, his control and command impeccable, his panache clearly on display. If I am not mistaken, the Brazilian bad boy is the most popular surfer on social media and rightly so. He is not, however, a Pipe Master like Kelly Slater, Jamie O’Brien and now Nathan Florence.

That aside, I’m projecting big things for Medina this year. John John gonna be off tour, Pip’s li’l tail still between his legs and Erin Brooks is on the other side of the draw.

World title number three in grasp?

David Lee Scales and I almost discussed surfing today but ran smack dab into the middle of a conundrum tossed out by a ten-year-old listener. Is the phone-wallet acceptable?

You know the sort, an iPhone or Samsung case which can also hold credit cards. I said absolutely not and set the young man on the right path of keys, wallet and, later, spectacles all being essential elements for the xy set.

Prove me wrong.

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Gamechanging Canadian teen Erin Brooks, new queen of Pipe. Courtesy Vans/Brent Bielmann

Nathan Florence hailed as saviour of low-budget, no-livestream Vans Pipe Masters

By Derek Rielly

1 month ago

“Nathan Florence WAS the contest. Double duty streaming with epic commentary, and winning the event. Unbelievable.”

The slip-on shoe giant Vans’ own YouTube channel has been carpet bombed by furious surf fans after it was left to team rider Nathan Florence to rescue the Vans Pipe Masters, which wasn’t officially broadcast, with a pirate livestream.

Florence, the reigning waterman and surfer of the year who is better known for stuffing his burn-out rod into mysto cold-water waves, set up his filmer Zoard Janko inside a little tent on the beach, which also served as a commentary booth.

A cavalcade of Pipeline’s best surfers including Jamie O’Brien, Koa Rothman and Nathan’s brother, John John Florence, all took turns calling the event. Even mammy John John, Alex Florence, had a spell calling waves.

The highlight of the pirate stream was Zoard running down the beach with his laptop to film winner Nathan being carted up the beach.

Surf fans weren’t shy to let their feelings known on Vans’ YouTube channel.

A real small sample.

I hope this is the last time VANS sponsors this event. no live stream and late updates, we didn’t even know the finals was on! congrats to nathan florence for winning both in the water and online.

Double up the prizemoney for Nathan for doing the livestream. without that, the pipe masters would have not even happened for everybody who wasn‘t there!!! And honestly, this livestream was waaay better than any official livestream i‘ve ever seen. it was like listening to a 8 hour podcast while watching pipe going crazy. best guests on the stream and didn‘t feel like the guests on the official broadcasts who have to to their sponsor duties.

If not for Nate we never would have seen most of the action. Great surfer doing great things!

This was the nail in the coffin for big brand surfing.

“The greatest show on earth” and yet you had no broadcast and barely functioning live updates. Shame on you.

Talk is cheap. Their actions spoke VOLUMES!!! From trying to keep JOB out of the contest, to reducing the greatest show on earth to an 11 minute jumbled highlight reel. So much better coverage by locals that CARE!!!

Nate and the Florence family won this event. From the live stream to the surfing they absolutely killed it. Vans, not so much.

Nathan Florence WAS the contest. Double duty streaming with epic commentary, and winning the event. Unbelievable. The beach commentary was so much more engaging and entertaining than a regular WSL event. Just bros hanging out and holding back the heckles. Dead space was fine. It was just like every group of guys hanging out. And the camera angle was surprisingly perfect. WSL should take notes. Congratulations to Nathan for not only providing an all around great contest experience for us, but also a great fucking year of content. Aloha.

What kind of kooks get shown up by a vlogger when it comes to coverage? Why even own the rights if you can’t even provide coverage? I’ll take the Florence coverage honestly. It was a real peak in to the North Shore community as well as the event.

Am unsubscribing … Nathan Florence & team is the only channel worth following anymore.

Where does the below-the-line jockey stand? I was a late convert and felt Nathan and Blak Bear’s pirate streams added to the thrill of the event and were, overall, superior to the slicker offering of the WSL.

Anything that mutes Joe Turpel can’t be bad, yeah?

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Conner Lyons, surf coach and WSL surfer, charged with 29 counts of child sexual abuse.

WSL surfer Connor Lyons back behind bars after allegedly deleting child exploitation material while on bail

By Derek Rielly

1 month ago

"He has admitted to not only abusing these children, but filming that abuse against these innocent and vulnerable children.”

It’s gonna be a tough Christmas for WSL surfer and surf coach Connor Lyons after he was arrested for the second time in a week and imprisoned, again, on child sex abuse charges.

Lyons, twenty-six, was first arrested on Sunday and charged with 12 counts of indecent treatment of two kids over a fourteen-month period on both the Sunny and Gold Coasts. Despite police citing Lyons as posing an unacceptable risk to the community, he was granted bail with strict conditions

Yeah, well.

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The cops scooped Lyons up on Wednesday and charged him with another fourteen offences including making child exploitation material, grooming, and damaging evidence with intent.

Cops claim that after Lyons got bail, he accessed and deleted child exploitation material from a device at his Mum’s house on the Sunshine Coast.

They also say he admitted deleting the material and that he was involved in other crimes.

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Lyons now carries 29 charges linked to four alleged child victims, with the heaviest charge carrying a possible 20-year sentence.

Lyons’ lawyer Bradford Hill argued for bail for a second time and said that tough conditions could keep the risk he poses to the community at a manageable level.

Hill emphasised that his client needed “treatment” which would be tougher to get while in jail.

“It would benefit him to start some kind of treatment before sentencing … while on bail,” Hill said.

Police prosecutor Tegan Smith told the court Lyons confessed to looking at child pornography online for over ten years and that he first messed with kids back in 2018.

Smith said Lyons posed a “major risk to children. It doesn’t matter where he lives … he admits he can’t stop this behavior. The bail conditions to stay away from kids don’t do anything to lessen the risks of his sexual misconduct and predatory actions. He’s admitted not just to abusing these kids, but to filming that abuse of these innocent, vulnerable children…

“He’s confessed to watching that footage again and again, getting off on it … and then, after being given bail, he went and destroyed that evidence of the videos.”

Magistrate Rodney Madsen told Lyons, “there’s absolutely no way you’re getting bail. There’s probably nothing any magistrate could do to make you less of a risk to kids.The only way to keep the community safe from you is to keep you locked up.”

The case was postponed until March next year.

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The Eddie a possible go this Sunday as “extremely dangerous and life-threatening” surf expected

By Chas Smith

1 month ago

Yellow alert!

Christmas might come early for surf fans with reports of “extremely dangerous and life-threatening” surf arriving to Oahu’s fabled North Shore over the next several days. Of course that guarantees some amusing social media footage of tourists getting swept rocks but also, and more importantly, might just might lead to a Surfing Super Bowl Sunday

Yes, organizers of the famed Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational have issued a yellow alert with the seventh day of the week, or first if one abides by the traditional order, being circled on calendars as possible go time.

Kohl Christensen, Koa Rothman, Kai Lenny and Kelly Slater each pulling rhino chasers from atop under-house beams and waxing with steely gazes toward the horizon.

While the brave invitees prepare, officials are warning unexperienced surf fans to exercise caution. Lt. John Hoogsteden of Honolulu Ocean Safety told Hawaii News Now, “The waves are life-threatening. This is serious surf that we are having. It looks like we are going to have the largest series of swells. I’m just asking people to stay away from the water. Stay away from the ocean and don’t go onto the sand.”

Amy Purdy, a visitor from Colorado, went to the famed Waimea Bay to see the arena herself but told the outlet, “You do have to be careful. We are standing out there and you don’t realize it’s (the wave) going to come over the berm where you are standing and then suddenly it does. I’m a scaredy cat so I ran off.”

“It’s kind of a bummer because we came all the way out from Waikiki to snorkel,” Alex Tao coming from San Francisco added. “I know nature is nature. I was hoping the waves would be way, way out over there and we could be over here where it’s a lot calmer.”

Well, sorry about it, Alex Tao.

The Bay Calls the Day.

Back to Slater, though. Do you think he has named his son yet or is elephant gun waxing getting in the way?

More as the story develops.

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Erin Brooks and Nathan Florence, Vans Pipe Masters.

Canadian teen Erin Brooks officially world’s best female tuberider after winning epic Vans Pipe Masters!

By Derek Rielly

1 month ago

And Nathan Florence, new king of Pipeline in the Florence house! Regicide!

Four months after competing in, and winning, her first-ever CT event at Fiji, and eight months after redefining backside tuberiding for women at Snapper, Erin Brooks has won the Vans Pipe Masters.

Erin, who is seventeen, won easy, real easy, beating the so-called Queen of Pipe, Moana Jones Wong, Bettylou Sakura-Johnson and Caity Simmers.

In a sharp break from WSL judging, Erin Brooks swung on an eight-foot closeout but was awarded sixteen points out of thirty, setting up her victory with one of the best waves of the contest.

After her Fiji win, Richie Lovett, former tour surfer and commentator, correctly prophecised,

“Erin Brooks is on a pathway to destiny. She was ruthless.”

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As fifteen-foot sets stacked and shifted on the horizon and a devil wind tore it to hell, Nathan Florence, a harassed looking wisp of a man, cooly picked a couple of insiders and then wrapped it all up in a near-perfect first-reefer to win.

And win, like Erin Brooks, easy.

After the final, which was beautifully live-streamed by Nathan Florence’s YouTube channel and which featured John John Florence, Alex Florence and Eli Olsen and Jamie O’Brien on commentary, Makua Rothman asked:

Nathan, you’re the best surfer in the world right now. Most time in the water, most energy and best connection at Pipe. It didn’t open for anyone but you.

Nathan Florence aw-shucked a little from that amphibian mouth, gave a juvenile chortle, and said he watched John John paddle out last year in the final as the onshore came up, but still refused to be cucked.

“I saw him do it. And you now what, I said, make it happen. Bad Pipe, good Pipe, just make it happen.”

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Eat beach grit spam!