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Kai Otton the hunter, and his catch, Portugal

Sitting around at an event all day, waiting for an hourly call to find out whether or not heats will run, can be torturous. Such has been the case at the Rip Curl Pro, Portugal for the last few days, with a patchy swell and tides that really tweak the set-up. But yesterday, the call was made straight-up, early, that it would be a lay day. No afternoon call, just flat-out called off for 24 hours. And like a jailbreak, hire cars carrying the 34 shot off in different directions, down and up the coast, to hunt for waves. Like a deer-filled forest, there’s plenty of swell around, you’ve just gotta know how to track it.

As well as being an incredible surfer and one of the tour’s most powerful, Kai Otton, pictured here, is an excellent hunter, and the South-Coaster tracked down a petite goldmine, which you see him lighting up here. Reckon it felt good to loosen the fins after a coupla stagnant days? Kai surfed the best heat of the event at last year’s Rip Curl Pro, Portugal with Julian Wilson. And he’s matched against Owen Wright in round three, which may or may not roll in a few hours. The thrill of it all is almost too much to bear.

Photographer profile

Ryan Miller

Ryan Miller, 33 years old, does not know how to write a bad email. Your pals at Stab have learnt to live vicariously through Miller’s red wine-fuelled letters from the road. His travels take him to some dreamy locales and, in those places, he scores all-time photos: “My favourite photo I’ve shot was of Benny Bourgeois in the Caribbean, with a fisheye. Often I just take photos, but rarely do I get to make one.” In an age of tail-highs and released fins, Ryan still most likes to shoot someone who can lay-down a big backside turn. Namely: Jordy Smith, Dane Reynolds, Gabe Kling, Kekoa Bacalso, Damien Hobgood and Peter Mendia. Like most photogs, Miller misses Scott Aichner’s work. But, as far as contemporary inspiration? “Trying to see things through my daughter’s eyes. It’s wild to think about someone experiencing something totally new on almost a daily basis when, as adults, we rarely get to experience something truly new.”

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