7 Observations from Day Three, we lost Jules!

Another day, another bundle of observations for you to chew on. The waves were a bit smaller than yesterday but still kicking. The mesh of south swells currently running through California are lighting up every little nook and cranny on the coast. If you’re a resident, it’s been a hard day in the office. Day three’s come to a wrap and the upsets keep coming. We lost Jules as we lost John early in conditions Taj Burrow claims to have never felt so out of form in. The majority of dominance however was still asserted by the typicals.

Words by Damien Farhenfort

Heavy one for Seabass. 
That sucked and is probs the unluckiest way to lose. He had the heat wrapped and with five seconds to go he paddled into a wave to block Michel Bourez. Although he had priority, the problem was; Michel got up first and the heat ended before Seabass could get to his feet therefore it was Michel’s wave. They both rode it in, exchanged high fives and assumed Bass had won with his best performance of 2015. Moments later the interference was called and the hearts with much love for Seabass sunk.

No Jules, no.
He didn’t give himself enough opportunities. This has become a bit of habit for Julian at Lowers. The slow heats get him nervous and when he does finally get a wave he looks stiff and make mistakes he normally wouldn’t. This is a bummer for his world title hopes but let’s hope he finds his form coming into Europe.

Filipe, Filipe, Filipe. 
With a lesson on how to make the best of a slow heat. The 9.77 was slightly overscored but his 7.5 was underscored compared to Michel’s 7.33. The way he came out of the air reverse on the 9.77 and straight into a powerful carve was insane. Filipe is still to show he can get through heats at Lowers on the set waves. But with the surf forecasted it’s going to be hard to beat this air savvy gent.

The battle for Rookie of the Year continues.
Italo and Wiggolly have been on a tear the last few events and that tear continued today. Italo took down Wilko who had one of the best performances yesterday. Then Wiggolly took down past event champ Taj Burrow. He managed to suck Taj into his trap of hassling for first wave priority and seemed to be in Taj’s headsapce for the remainder of the heat.

Nat Young looked amazing. 
I wish the commentators would stop writing him off because he might not be as stylish as other surfers on tour. The guy turns harder than most and doesn’t claim. Two things that make him cooler than most of the surfers on tour. I’ve become a huge fan of Nat over the years and his surfing looked as sharp as ever. He’s managed to lose a few of the double pumps he used to do between turns and it’s allowed him to project into the his carves with more speed, creating sharper turns

Kelly looked good back on the Channel Islands. 
The board he previously rode didn’t look like it could hold rail as well and he his turns kept ending with a tail slide/pivot. With this board he was able to hold the rail all the way through his turns. Although his first wave sent him over the handle bars like I have never seen him do before. It’s as though Kelly rides these strange boards to challenge himself further, but with the current level of surfing on tour he should be challenged enough. While I really hope Kelly gets a win at Lowers he just doesn’t seem as consistent this year and it could ruin him with the slower forecast predicted.

It’s going to be hard for anyone other than Filipe to beat Gabs. 
And the good news is they’re on other sides of the draw so we could see a Gabs/Fil finals. Both these guys have the ability to turn closeouts into waves that will score in the excellent range. That air that Gabs did under Bede’s priority was amazing but his 7.67 is what got me really stoked. His flow, speed and combo of moves were on point with the way Mick’s been surfing. It’s bloody nice to see Gabs going this mad again and stringing together good heats.