Noa Deane, Stradbroke Island, Australia

Why aren’t we running a shot from Bells Beach, you ask? Sure, the event period for the Rip Curl Pro starts today. Sure, the whole top 32 are down there. And then some. But, there’s no waves. At least not waves that’ve been deemed contestable enough for the world’s best. So competitors’ve gone to do their own thing for the day – out to lunch, off to a training session or in search of a secret spot.

So what we have instead, is an extremely good Stradbroke Island set-up, housing 17-year-old Noa Deane in a sand pit. Noa said this was the best he’s ever seen Straddie and compared it to a really, really good day at Snapper. Looking at this sequence, that’s hardly surprising.

Noa, who’s from Coolangatta, threaded this barrel like a seasoned veteran. The trip across the channel to Straddie was definitely worth his while – especially after being blown outta this sandy runner. Noah doesn’t get rattled by the paddle across the sharky-looking channel anymore, even when fishing trawlers are cruising through when he jumps in, like there was this day.

Y’might notice that Noa’s rocking a steamer, despite warm weather on the Gold Coast at the moment. In the morning, when Noa was getting ready, it was early enough that the sun hadn’t fully risen and the wind was chilly – not the most desirable conditions for a set of trunks. A coupla hours later, he was cursing his decision and sweating it out in his full-suit on what’s clearly a warm, sunny day.