Tinkle Bells

After a dead start to the year (Snapper had an 11-day flat spell during the contest period) Bells managed to chime mildly with a small swell, and the best surfers in the world did their best to express the talent they possess. All sorts of direness has been forecast and predicted for the Australian leg, and it played out at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast.

Purveying gloom is a mug’s game when the swell is amiss. The challenge is to rise up and to do your best when the conditions are abysmal. It is, after all, the same for everyone. Many people claimed the fact that Filepe Toledo only weighs in at a child’s weight of 60kgs after breakfast as the main reason why he won Snapper, but there were surfers of bulkier frame who could have won it had they ridden the best waves.

For example, Jordy, weighing in at 86kg, took to the smaller waves on the opening day of Bells with typical abundance, smashing his first round heat from Keanu Asing (Haw) and Ace Buchan (Aus). With his two scoring waves of a 7.9 and a 6.43, Jordy came in comfortably, with Keanu in second and Ace trailing, and thus leapfrogs into the third round.

“Keanu was in control for the first half of the heat,” said Jordy afterwards, stoked on his win. “He got the better waves and I was kind of taking off on all of the smaller waves, and in the second half of the heat I got two good scores. At that stage of the heat you’ve only got to take off on waves if you know you’re going to better your scores. There are not too many waves out there so you’ve got to wait for the good ones and ride them out.”

There was a lot of attention on Kelly Slater as well, with the news of his buy-in of the Firewire brand the second most talked about subject around the event http://www.worldsurfleague.com/posts/107373/kelly-slater-firewire-tomo

He beat Hawaiian Sebastien Ziets into second and rookie Ricardo Christie (NZ) into third place. What was the most talked about subject, I hear you ask. Well, that would be the fact that Slater has bought the film and TV rights to Thai Stick, and is set to make a documentary about the 70’s marijuana trade. http://stabmag.com/kelly-slater-is-making-a-documentary-about-70s-marijuana-trade/

The book was written by Michael Ritter and Peter Maguire, and from all accounts work has already started on Slater’s movie. That should be challenging on so many levels, with many people involved still alive, but should end up as a good view. We hope. Slater seems to either kill it or bomb out on his business ventures, with nothing in between. It’s either the Midas Touch or the Fecal Touch, so let’s hope this one turns into gold.  

John John was another surfer who was on the boil, beating Italo Ferreira (Bra) into second and CJ Hobgood (USA) into third.   

“Rincon has always been a challenging wave since I’ve ben coming here the last couple of years,” reckoned Florence of his heat. “It has those kind of steep sections and then it goes fat, and steep fat steep fat, and by the time you get to the inside your legs are burning and its kind of the best section of the whole wave.”

“Every year I come down and would really like to win the event,” continued Florence, ”and the trophy is probably the best trophy on tour.”

Unfortunately, the forecast doesn’t look good at all, and there is always the chance that the event could move down to Johanna Beach, which picks up all the swell but is usually a rippy, washy kind of set-up where a whole lot of luck comes into the game. Still, no one really complaining after the let-down that was the Quiksilver Pro Snapper, with the cyclone just prior to the contest window sucking all the energy out of the ocean for the waiting period. It rolls like that, we are at the mercy of the weather, and for an agnostic, no one controls the weather.

One massive surprise, that pleased so many people at the event, was the very unlikely first round victory of wildcard Mason Ho (Haw) over defending event champion and three times world champ Mick Fanning (Aus) and Freddy Patacchia (Haw). Mason is the most recent signing to event sponsor Rip Curl, and many thought it an unusual marriage, and even more of an unusual wildcard selection (Mason lives in Hawaii and doesn’t need a wetsuit that much, and free surfs a lot and doesn’t enter too many events) but he went large, and gave it to the man (Mick, to be precise).

Let’s hope for that bump on the horizon to turn into a decent little swell for the rest of the event, and for our boy Jordy to kick in.  

For the full event page and to watch the webcast go here http://www.worldsurfleague.com/events/2015/mct/1222/rip-curl-pro-bells-beach

For the first round heat wave for wave recap go here http://www.worldsurfleague.com/posts/108402/rip-curl-pro-bells-beach-wave-by-wave-recap