"One of the hardest trophies to get your name on."
The old adage, they don’t make ’em like they used to, can be best applied to the former world champion Mark Occhilupo.
The story hardly needs to be retold, but let’s recap in one sentence: Eighties surf prodigy explodes onto tour, finds drugs, gets fat and goes, briefly, mad, resurrects, wins a title, and becomes surfing’s most beloved icon. A walking paradox of naiveté and complexity.
Occ’s surfing at Bells in 1997 has yet to be bettered.
A few years ago, Mick Fanning said: “To this day I’ve never seen someone dominate an event like Occy did the Skins. He didn’t have one dud heat. His surfing was so much faster and bigger than anyone else out there and all the top pros were in it, including Kelly. I definitely haven’t seen a backhand as strong at Bells since. Occ’s waves in the Skins would still be getting near-perfect scores in World Tour heats today and it was 17 years ago.”
Occ, who turns sixty years old in June, marking more than four decades since his breakout Pipe Masters win, has been married thrice, I think, maybe two of ‘em are common-law marriages, and father to three sons –Jay, Jonah and Jasper – and stepfather to, again I think, seven kids.
One of this three bio sons is Jay Luciano Occhilupo, a surf prodigy who was signed to Billabong at just eleven year old, is a Queensland Junior Champion and who, just recently, was crowned the open champion at the wildly competitive Snapper Rocks Boardriders Club, something even Daddy Mark couldn’t do.
Occ writes:
So proud of you @jayocchilupo_ one of the hardest trophy’s to get your name on. Never got there myself but Jay boy has put the family name on there now and I couldn’t be more proud.
A roll call of the world’s best surfers and personalities within the game were all there below the line, from Tom Carroll to Makua Rothman to Jamie Brisick to Matt Biolos to Barton Lynch and so on, congratulating Jay and Daddy Mark.
Now: who’s got sons out there? You thrill when their achievements surpass your own or does it feel like another foot towards, first irrelevance and incontinence, then the grave?
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For context the Snapper Rocks boardriders club championship is a one off event unlike every other boardriders club in Australia that have a similar format to the old school world tour with up to 10 competitions with a ratings ladder to decide the champion. 22 year old Jay beat 41 year old twin fin riding Josh Kerr with 2x 5 point rides in lacklustre surf. Sheldon Simkus who came 6th in the final had a total of 1.67 which give you an idea on how bad the surf was. Jay is an excellent surfer but is unlikely to storm his way onto the World Tour anytime soon even with his dad talking him up. Jay is currently 15th on the Australasian QS ratings and at his last QS at Newcastle he finished in equal 33rd position.
Prodigy? Yeah…..nah
Edit…. Occy…. denim jacket….Gold Coast summer?
You missed my point and it doesn’t matter cuz your comment will be gone tomorrow
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no, you’re not new
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This fuckhead replied to me one day and immediately deleted it too. Softcock!
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Thanks man I’m a bit smashed and can read it in the morning
Go to jail?
you fucked around again.
now find out.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Cmon man you’re smart enough to know of reverse engineering. Once it’s up its up. Doesn’t matter if ya delete it. And saying that…I’m truly fucked.
Hahahahah exactly brother
Telling you what to would be UnAustralian but I’m not doing that. I am simply telling you in basic (Negs will love that) English that I don’t agree with what you’re doing so won’t be responding anymore.
I don’t agree with what a lot of what Otto and JSC for example say but fuck I love and respect them cuz they have the balls and belief to state their beliefs and stand by them despite the barrage of abuse. All you do is come out with thoughts and then delete them before most cunts have a chance to reply. Its an even bigger pussy act than Fearlip saying he couldn’t surf fun sized Pipe cuz he had food poisoning
Blowin, Gila or none I am really sorry man but I just ain’t responding anymore to ya. You make some points I agree with and some I don’t but deleting everything you put up on here to me is cowardly and worst of all to me its UnAustralian
I post some utter wank on here after few cold ones that I read the next day and think what the fuck was I thinking? Never deleted a single thing though and just own it, apologise if necessary and move on which to me is the “manly” thing to do. You appear an intelligent fella and I wish ya all the best but I ain’t going to waste my time responding to some cunt who is too pussy to stand by what he says
Yeah, imagine when I decide to run for the seat of Wannon. Bumhole Lit scrubbing.
Xox
I don’t bowl.
I have. Numerous times. Not a lot. That’s not my point.
My point is, every fucking time I have bowled, I’ve thrown at least one strike. The very best frame of bowling excellence. The perfect throw. And I was always drinking heavily, yet still pulled off one PERFECT frame.
Bowling just isn’t a sport.
Its not like I could step up into the batter’s box at an MLB field and face an MLB pitcher, chucking 100mph fastballs my way for, let’s say, a hundred pitches, and expect to even once, once, rip one back out over the centerfield wall for a perfect at-bat.
But bowling, well shit, anyone could be a perfect bowler for one frame, drunk off their ass, even you. Me too.
Ahhhh Occy, the enigma wrapped in the riddle or whatever that saying is. Absolute fucking legend on dry land but put him in salt water water and he becomes the biggest dick head, absolute cunt of a human you will ever come across, besides Tom Carrol of course. Bit of a drama that when your job is being a pro surfer hahaha
100% Tom Carroll
LOLOLOLOL
Occy failed in the Curren era and failed in the Ke11y era. Lucky he stuck around long enough for both to retire and Andy Mick Joel too young.
I have some wonderful Occ and Tom stories, so maybe I will share a couple of my favourites later hahaha
Alright Bashar, while the seppos are all rimming each other on the other thread here is my story of the day I lost all respect for occy.
Now as most already know The Superbank is a lawless, free for all but some don’t realise that behind the rock is completely different and has a definite hierarchy and pecking order. Its run by locals and it takes YEARS of continual work to get on the pecking order.
So this day maybe 10 years or so ago Snapper is as good as it gets and it’s at the end of a long swell so everyone has had their share and the vibe is epic. I get a pretty good one and kick out down around little Marley and see a young sparky I know taking off on an absolute bomb, probably the best wave I have seen the whole swell.
He makes the drop, handles the backwash and is just fangin through this absolute drainer. He comes over the foam ball, the thing is just about to spit that hard and he is just about to come out when from nowhere Occy just burns the poor cunt. I see him pop up, his board in two pieces just looking that fucking angry and devo.
Now heaps of things popped into my head at that moment cuz I knew him cuz the company he worked for did most of our electrical work. I knew he was a fucking sick, little cunt who surfed amazing and was from a single family so that snapped board, especially being from a single parent upbringing was going to sting. But most of all I just thought that was going to be the best wave you probably ever get here and some absolute fuckwit from the same board riders club as you, and someone you probably view as a legend has just fucked it.
Like I said mate at that point I just lost every ounce of respect for him. All those insane waves around the world at Bongs expense couldn’t stop him burning some young, local fella on the wave of his life at his home break. The guy is a fucking cunt who has lost any possible links to reality through being nursed through life by bong and having to never take a shred of responsibility for his actions his entire life
First surf at the Greenmount ever he paddled under me like 5 times. Obviously I’m a fucking blow-in but… man what the actual fuck? Joel and Steph surf leagues better and they were really chill whenever I had a surf run-in with them when it came to right-of-way, even just letting one go, at the fucking SUPERBANK no less!
Still love Occy’s surfing at Bells, especially in Litmus to that “Green Hornet” song or however it goes…
Can we talk about DBah when they all herd there?
I mean it does have breaking waves 350 days of the year…of some sort.
No leashes, no care.
Board in my skull, and another through my new Rusty
Had to walk to NSW hospital, and wait for 8 hours, The Clubbies were too busy out the back. They had to grind the fibreglass out of my mastoid bone and clean it all up.
I love Snapper, Greenmount and Kirra. Can’t to go back.
Where else can you see cunts having a meltdown over a fuckn wave?
It is like surfing in a soup of human SpaghettiOs with sharpened fibreglass weapons of destruction.
Fuck thats carnage! Hopefully just a flesh wound..
Love Dbah though.. my go to when visiting the Goldy.. Always waves and handles crowds so well, enough waves for everyone there. Reminds me of Jan Juc in Vic.
Does get tense though.. copped a few sprays there..
Fuck me the poor bloke! Those memorable days can be few and far between, special waves like that stay with you.. Fucks me off Occy stole that.. What a dog cunt!
Like you said he gets to travel the world, skip the 9-5, all paid for by regular surfers who buy the products he pushes.. no reason to behave like that.
But fuck does he get a pass cos he surfs that good being a world champ and all, and is a cracking lad on land? I really wanna say fuck the bloke.. but then again I pride myself on exercising good surf etiquette, being friendly.. but can be behave like a bit of a twat when I’m driving my ute hahah
he was a bit of a dick on dry land too if half the stuff in his biography is to be believed.
If you have enough kids surely one of them will win something
Like monkeys and typewriters….
Nothing brings a tear full of pride to my eyes more than smelling my daughter’s farts. She’s a bloody little ripper who I can’t compete with.
Get ready, we’re about to systematically kill every government official loyalist to Maduro. And it’s all worth doing.
Your going to run out of cum socks.
Otherwise known as wankerchiefs down here
haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahaha
You know what I’m talking about ay bruz, never leave home without one haha
never heard that before in my life. magic.
There’s always my own gun range in MT with painted Barrelled steel plate targets.
I bet it works will with your Red Rider BB gun and cosplay army fatigues.
that’s like, the entire government and all of the military right now
Understand, they take that success to produce their argument to Congress once it convenes
Don will have the Venezuelan military rounding up Hezbollah militants by the end of the week.
He has no idea how hard this is going to be to manage and we’ll fail the 4th straight time.
That’s why you don’t do it.
Not that you can’t.
Good excuse to send in the boys in red, white and blue?
Trump told them to get onboard, otherwise….
If they haven’t figured out yet that he means what he says, well, then that’s on them.
How do you believe Sleepy Don?
Donroe Doctrine
You are fun, sir.
geez, that might be the nicest snide comment about me you’ve ever made. Thx Hip
lol … if the anonymous masks ever came off, would be pretty wild indeed to see the real humans behind the avatars …
Hey you said that to me the other day and I thought you were being nice, were taking the piss? haha
I enjoy the characters here man. I would drink a pint with you for sure.
Traveling teaches you to listen, be agile and embrace that which isn’t necessarily natural. Come out on the other end more balanced or diversified.
I agree with you very often. Our disagreements keep this fun. Peace brother
Otto would tip a beer with us and we’d all laugh, 100 %
I lived with “Otto’s” and they are good dudes, just different.
If the world was all hippy’s they would call it Stepford.
work with a bunch of actual politicians on both ends of spectrum, get along pretty well, regardless of persuasion … some actual assholes in both parties , neither side has a lock on that.
You know I was joking mate haha
Dozing Don?
yeah, but they’re all speaking and behaving rather defiantly right now.
what should be happening is getting a plan to get Gonzalez/Machado to take over, while first getting the majority of generals to back a new regime operated by the rightful winners of the 2024 election.
Maduro’s cronies are never going to willingly go along with anything that would put them in jeopardy of losing power in any type of snap election, because they know the Chavismos would lose big time, and they know they would be prosecuted and convicted thereafter.
Cronies are going to have to take a slow(the fast ones mysteriously blow up) boat to Cuba.
then why did Trump decide to work with Maduro’s vice president (who is still publically defying the USA) instead of Machado/Gonzalez, whose party overwhelmingly won the 2024 election?
Even Bolton just went on record saying that there was a plan to potentially do this back on 2019 during Trump’s first admin that involved replacing the Maduros and the Chavismos with the far more popular opposition.
This move is not about restoration of democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela.
I’m guessing for legal reasons. Since this was a law enforcement exercise, not regime change.
which international law was enacted on by the US?
I figure the talks are pushing keeping consistent with the Venezuelan Constitution in the interim with new election to be announced to be conducted next November. Would line up nicely with our own midterm
oh, it’s actually sooner than that—it needs to happen within 30 days.
The problem is that the Maduro-appointed Supreme Court just said it needs to “examine” that issue, which means they will try to punt this while all the Chavismos try to play for time and hope against hopes that either Russia and/or China will somehow come to their rescue (which they will not).
Reckon we’re about to bear witness to the Art of the Deal on steroids.
As ill-advised as this kidnapping was, we are in a “you break it, you bought it” scenario.
This is one of those instances that I hope Trump admin succeeds, as the geopolitical consequences of a Venezuela that falls into chaos (which was the result of every recent U.S.war game trying to game out what might happen if Maduro was taken out) are going to be pretty grim.
yep, this
U.S. is invincible when it comes to third tier banana republics. We dominated Grenada, Panama and Venezuela. But if we ever got into a real fight we’d get butt fucked so hard. We’ve already lost to North Korea (really China), Vietnam (also China), Iraq twice and the taliban. Fortunately we’re too pussy to start a fight with Russia, Iran, China, India, or Pakistan.
TACO
So are you going to stop doing coke to help your country? Pffft.
Xox
After the watching a clip of Trump and Lindsey Graham on Air Force one this morning saying he wants to control everything in Venezuela, I’ve realized Trump needs to be removed from office ASAP. He’s worse than the neocons ever were.
He should be in jail for twenty years for what happened on January 6 as well. He’s a greasy New York criminal using threats and extortion to help his billionaire golf buddies.
Not sure how you MAGA’s are on board with any of this.
How many years for Waltz and the somali chick?
Always pride 💯
I don’t know what the point of having kids is, if not to want the best for them. & best you, if that fits.
Congrats Occ clan.
Occ speech at surfest, win vs Curren. Basically told him to fuck off, that he was gunning for him. Classic. (I think Tom had last laugh of that era though)
“Occ’s surfing at Bells in 1997 has yet to be bettered”
This is not true!
Occ’s surfing at The Skins in 97 and in general is over hyped.
Mick’s opinion means nothing when Choc’s around!
The skins surfing by Occ in 97’ was only surpassed by the soundtrack to it ( “any day” by violetine ) on the occumentary.
Replayed that hundreds of times ( to this day )
Ive never once beaten grom at fortnite.
Hahahahaha
Gran turismo, i kick his butt
Cracked up watching that scene in Occumentary where fat Occy walks out onto the jetty, proceeding to huck big foam boulders. Figure someone ribbed him about trying out to be a rock jetty if he was just gonna be that huge.
Faaark.
’97 feels like yesterday.
But then it really ain’t, is it?
/oldcunt
Rip some Hong Kong’s and cash a dole check! Bang!
Xox