Noa Deane + Moana Jones Wong Take Out Rip Curl Padang Padang Cup
A bad night to be a beer.
The temptation of draining IPAs would’ve been hard to suppress for Padang Cup competitors today. There were several delays owing to a dawdling swell. By the time they pulled the trigger it was past midday, a more than socially acceptable time to crack a tin in the Island of Gods.
With a fairly lackluster ocean, the leaderboard remained unchanged between day one and two. That meant Mason Ho, Joel Parkinson, Noa Deane and Made ‘Bol’ Adi Putra made the men’s final on the merit of their scores banked in the opener.
Noz peaked when it mattered, picking off a couple long cylinders in an otherwise sleepy ocean. 2012 World Champ Joel Parkinson finished runner-up, but peeled off to delete cocktails before he could receive his award.
A huge week for the Horse star, who will be premiering his new film around Oz starting Friday.
On the women’s side, the Queen of Pipeline, Moana Jones Wong emerged victorious, making it 2/2 for the Volcom crew.
Who said stones don’t emit magical frequencies?
But let’s call a spade a spade. Conditions were mediocre at best. Cross-shore, lully and pinching if they threw – which was a rarity.
According to an inside source, the real reason the event ran was due to a fast-approaching deadline on the event permit at the end of the month. With the additional run time of the new women’s division, there were further constraints on holding the event in ideal conditions, at a fickle reef that is highly tide and wind sensitive.
Given they had already run one round of the mens, not finishing the event would’ve unfairly discredited scores earned on day one. The sunk-cost fallacy prevailed.
Perhaps RC should stick with the mixed divs or consider reducing the number of mens heats if they are to live up to the events catchphrase, ‘It’s On When It’s On’ in the future.
Such is the nature of running surf contests in the ocean — which is merciless and don’t give a single fuck about a brand’s political positioning.
The highlight of the event in the end, was the fire in the booth produced by Swellians, Vaughan Blakey + Jed Smith. They had a big job to do with little action to hold the audience captive — and they delivered swimmingly.
Oh and 16-YO World Junior Champion Ziggy Mckenzie’s Bruce Irons-inspired snap to tube. It was an incredible setup, but as one clever commenter remarked, “Ziggy should’ve zagged” when it came to her line through the tube.
The beer drone, which dangled Island Brewing tins over the lineup, was a fine addition too.
Catch all the highlights over here.
