“I Have A Sneaky Suspicion That 2017 Will Be Wilko’s Year”

Safe to say that safe surfing isn’t going to win pro surf events anymore.

Filipe Toledo surfed like he was in an expression session throughout the entire Corona J-Bay Open. When guys like Mick Fanning are calling his double oop ride a “20 out of 10”, shit is changing, and changing for the better.

We aren’t talking three to four foot fun Trestles either. The performance Filipe put on at J-bay this year will go down as one of the best in the history of competitive surfing. Yep, he was the lucky one that drew the disabled Kelly in round three, and I for one would have loved to see that heat go down! But in the final the kid was taking pro surfing to a whole new level. 

My view was that Julian was going to win early on in the week, with a hole-in-one on the golf course before the event started, and with what happened the last few years with the shark final and a semi final finish last year, I felt it was his time. Jordy Smith looked like a steam roller and Frederico deserves a mention with some of the best combo carves of the event. The rookie race just heated right up with Connor O’Leary and Fred, who now sit 10th and 12th on the ratings, respectively.

Next event heads to the amazing wave of Teahupoo, where results will depend on swell. Here’s to hoping for eight to ten to sort the boys from the men! If it is big, the likes of John Florence, Owen Wright, and Gabriel Medina will be the stand outs – and I’m sure that Matt Wilkinson will be throwing himself over whatever ledge it will take to get a result.

It was the Teahupoo event that cost Wilko his fave jersey last year. Will history repeat? Either way, the race will roll into Europe. (Photo: WSL/Poullenot)

Tahiti will be a chance for one of the four title contenders to get a break on the field going into the last few events of the year. The bookies have John as a clean favourite, then Jordy, Wilko, and Owen in that order, but I have a sneaky suspicion that 2017 could be Wilko’s year. He learnt a lot from last year and now is ready to take it to anyone that stands in his way.

Remember that all four have their two throw away results for the year already and the wildcards have been known to destroy title hopes. That will be super interesting to keep an eye on. Consistency for the rest of the year will be the key to winning the 2017 title and I’m super excited to see how it plays out.