The Occy And Kelly Slater Tapes

Kelly Slater’s white hot. Like 2010, white wetsuit hot! And, for years now, we haven’t been able to stop posting about the man. From Eco-friendly tail pads, Outerknown, his surfboard co to his wavepool and Golden Tickets (and that’s all just in the last year) the conversation involving Kelly is rarely cynical. He’s surfing’s Willy Wonka, let’s get that man a purple sports coat with a tail! 

But if there’s been one negative conversation held around Mr Slater, it’s his slow start to the season. His lack of motivation in heats. His saying: Nah, screw Rio, I’m gonna surf Lemoore–which saw more applause than boos. His losing out in multiple second rounds. People are, and have been, asking: when the hell is the King going to relinquish his throne? 

But, that’s the thing, when you’ve won 11 world titles, 55 CT events and have an ongoing list of extra-curricular endeavors, surfing meager Snapper, wonky Bells, and polluted Rio no longer excites. But now, the conversations shifted. Kelly’s finished third, fifth and first in the last three events, prompting Worldsurfleague.com to release an article titled: Could Kelly Do The Unthinkable In 2016? And if the waves are good for the remainder of the season, the unthinkable is just barely possible. He’s sitting at eighth in the rankings, but he’ll have to swing some unbelievable heats to knock John John Florence, Gabriel Medina or Matty Wilko out of contention. The type of heats that tally up nines, heats that are perfect, heats like he just proved to the world, at the tender age of 44, he can still surf. 

For Mark Occhilupo’s second episode of the Occ-Cast, Occy and Kelly sat down and discuss what’s been discussed: the 2020 Olympics, the wavepool, diets and staying motivated. However, it’s a convo between the Raging Bull and the King, and it’s chock full of championed knowledge.