Jordy Lawler, Narrabeen, NSW

The interesting thing about this shot other than the tweaked variety of backhand rotation on show is that it was taken at what used to be Australia’s most famous left. Sydney surfers will recognize this spot as Carpark Rights, the fickle, never-worth-surfing ugly sister of the famous Northy left. Jordy Lawler at 16 is far too young to remember when this was in fact the end section of the then world’s most famous high performance wave. His dad and grandparents would, Jordy being three generations deep on the northside. Back then the Narrabeen lagoon poured onto the beach with the force of a river, creating a vicious rip as well as a feeding ground for sharks (they called it Shark Alley and Sydney’s last recorded fatality occurred here). But then they started building mansions around the lagoon and to avoid having them flooded when the lagoon filled up with rain were forced to remove obscene amounts of sand (we’re talking 12 foot deep and the size of a football field) and dump it at the south end of the beach. Winter south swells dragged it back up creating either epic or terrible banks depending on the rub, though completely changing the Narrabeen canvas. Inevitably the sand  then finds its way back into the lagoon and the cycle is repeated at the cost of a few million to taxpayers.

Photo: Mark Onorati