In 2009, Joel Parkinson Never Lost A Heat On The ‘Golden Child’, 2x SSOTY Jai Glindeman Validates The Outline 15 Years On
Out of the rafters, into the racetrack.
2009 was so, so close to being Joel Parkinson’s year.
Kicking things off with a win on home turf at Snapper, Parko went on to win two more CTs at Bells and JBay, then the Triple Crown in Hawaii. His 74% heat win percentage was the highest of any year during his 20-year tour tenure, in which he also managed to bank five 10-point rides.
In spite of all that, Mick Fanning nicked the World Title off him after Gavin Gillete spelled an end to his Pipe campaign in the early rounds. Taj Burrow would go on to clinch his first and only Pipe Masters title (on a Firewire, no less), and the final rankings would list four Australians: Mick, Joel, Bede and Taj in respective order.
In 2012, Joel’s World Title year, the design specs of the Golden Child remained largely unchanged, reiterating a timeless maxim ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.
In the following clip, Jason and Joel discuss the origin story of the HP shortie, and how new Tractor team rider, Jai Glindeman – a 2x SSOTY, fell in love with it riding it at home on the points (which I had the pleasure of watching in the flesh!).
The Golden Child reboot is based on the original 2009 file, but with a cutting edge influence from 2024 on the deck roll and rails. It’s ridden approximately 1-2 inches longer than your regular everyday shortboard, and either the same width or 1/8” narrower.
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