The Top 9 Things From The Quik Pro Today (day four)

Story by Craig Jarvis

Finally, after what seems like years of waiting, and countless highly contestable waves chugging down one of the best sand bottom points in the world, we’re rolling again. It’s Monday, it’s a little bit quieter around the contest area, but there’s a whole bolt of excitement about the place already. A few of the second round losers have escaped their tethers and have headed down the coast already, but there’s much ado round the Snapper hood.

Photo: Grant Davis

1. There be waves: As mentioned, there have been waves throughout the last few days of waiting, and there have been a couple of conspiracy theories as to why the ASP didn’t run and what their sinister plan was. There was the theory that the surfers had decided to hold out as a result of their irritation of having the ASP send the girls out during the best waves of the contest so far. There was a much-spoken about theory about marketing and webcast views and numbers and such, and there was also a very simple theory that the powers were holding out for the best surf. Checking the line-up today, and the next two day’s charts, the good-surf theory really holds the most weight.

Photo: Andy Potts

2. Taj and his board. While he beat the young and fit Travis Logie in the first heat of the day, has multiple podium results, and is always one of the real stand-outs at Snapper, one couldn’t help but think that he might have been better off on a slightly longer board out there this morning. His lacerations were on point, but on some of the bigger sets on the outside, he might have looked a little sketchy off the bottom. The waves were pretty powerful out there however, and were pushing back. We went to the source, tracking down Matt Biolos. The injured Biolos, who usually spends his time at contests in the water, had to agree. “I think I would have liked to have seen Taj on a slightly longer board,” said Matt. “Maybe one inch longer. He was surfing well, but he was sketching a bit out the back and then only really opened up on the inside.” When pushed about what he thought Taj’s performance percentage was, Matt slowly said, “Seventy. Five. Percent.” So plenty of room to peak then…

Photo: Andy Potts

3. Dane and Jordy and boards and… A couple of Dane’s boards were buckled and broken from wafts into the east wind over the last few days, and by the time the event rolled around, he had one board left that didn’t have much life left in it. To compound his problems, a couple of new boards arrived from Channel Islands that weren’t suitable for Dane or the conditions. What to do, what to do? It happens that while Jordy and Dane might be of different heights, (Jordy is six three, and Dane is six foot) they have a similar penchant for volumed boards, and after testing one of Jordy’s rides, he claimed ownership of the big bru’s equipment. The proof of the pudding in such a case is in a heat win pulled off by outrageous airs, and in heat six Dane flashed some brilliance, but despite showing enough desire to win and obviously enjoying the Manbearpig’s boards, was eclipsed by the current world champ.

Photo: Grant Davis

4. I got you, babe. There are all sorts of media laws in place of taking a photo and publishing that photo, whether in print or online, without the permission of the photographic subject. On other words, if you take a photo of a pretty girl on the beach you need to ask her nicely if you want to run it. There was even a case where the mom of a sunbathing daughter sued a surf magazine for running a photo of the daughter without her permission. She won the case, but the amount of money they eventually traded hands was about the equivalent of a slab of beer, and we’re willing to take our chances a slab of beer to run this shot of a wonderful lady watching the action.

Photo: Grant Davis

5. Steph in the tube: Well the girls have been waiting for the contest to restart as well, and have been watching all those fun waves peeling down the point. There has been much talk that whoever wins the first semi, between Steph and Carissa, is going to win the Roxy Pro. In preparation for this heat, which has a good chance of running first thing tomorrow morning, Steph was in the water at first light this morning, doing what she does best at Greenmount, riding the tube as few girls can do.

Photo: Andy Potts

6. Dane and Mick and the paddle battle. Some say that he’s on the cheeseburgers, others say that it’s just the beers, while those more sympathetic type say that it could just be honest genetics. Either way, the best surfer in the world has picked up a bit of weight. Not that it makes any difference, as he’s gone from an average build to a powerful build. He smashed his heat, and went big on the waves that he got against Mick, but he didn’t win the heat and he didn’t the paddle battle. Hell, he didn’t even partake. Dane was on the inside after a ride, and as he clambered on his board Mick came pounding past, ready for the paddle battle of the heat. Dane false started, did two fast paddles and then changed his mind, stopped paddling and just lay there floating and staring at Mick as he stormed past with his usual animal-like determination and seriousness.

Photo: Andy Potts

7. Kelly and the power of positivity. The new ASP has lurched forward with much whirring from the start-up of new machinery, a little bit of smoke from congealed gears and pistons, and a steady improvement each day into this new world of pro surfing. KS has seen the difference already. “It’s a much better experience at the event for us surfers,” reckons Kelly of the new deal, “Even if that’s a bit of a selfish reason. It’s really nice to have a good area and space for each of us, you know? Still, for the public there’s no confusion with different dot coms, and there is a central unified product which I think is much better.”

Yet, have we lost anything in this new business process? “Well… I guess it can threaten individuality and uniqueness from each event, which is a key part of the freedom of surfing,” reckons Kelly. “But pro surfing is just one aspect of this surfing thing. This new tour is only half an event in, and I hear way more positives than negatives. It’ll find its feet and it’ll find its individuality.”

Photo: Grant Davis

8. Gravity. There are many ways to launch at Snapper. The stock standard shoot out the gully, which might lead to a few on the head, the ultra sneaky Froggies paddle around, that Joel did last year a few times in the run-up to the final day, and the jump off the front rock. To the uninitiated, this jump is the most sketchy, with only a few people worrying with it. The rocks are sharp, if the tide is too low you have to step onto a lower rock, and in all the time that it takes to hack it, other surfers are shooting out of the gully and beating you out there. Julian Wilson is one surfer who chooses to jump every time

Photo: Andy Potts

9. The Kelly phenomenon. After a fairly slow start to the day on the sand, the beach started filling up for the Mick vs Dane heat. Then it got really busy for the Kelly vs Tiago heat, and it looked about as busy as a weekend afternoon, with people pouring down the stairs and onto the beach. After the heat, the beach emptied out to about half, or maybe even less than half. It went pretty quiet, except for those on the balcony at the SLC. They remained boisterous. Dane Reynolds and Kelly Slater. That’s who they want to see.