Stab Magazine | Dusty Payne, On the edge, Backdoor, Hawaii

Season finale of How Surfers Get Paid drops Thursday, 5pm PT

135 Views

Dusty Payne, On the edge, Backdoor, Hawaii

During yesterday’s Billabong Pipe Masters, Dusty Payne surfed a heat against Mick Fanning that would define how he spent 2011. If Dusty won, he’d be back on the dream tour that he’s come to know and love, on with the world’s best surf spots and on with the tour life. If he lost, it’d be […]

full frame // Mar 8, 2016
Words by Jimmy Wilson
Reading Time: < 1 minutes

During yesterday’s Billabong Pipe Masters, Dusty Payne surfed a heat against Mick Fanning that would define how he spent 2011. If Dusty won, he’d be back on the dream tour that he’s come to know and love, on with the world’s best surf spots and on with the tour life. If he lost, it’d be back on the ‘QS, slogging away to accumulate enough points for re-qualification.

This photo, shot by Jimmy Wilson, was taken moments before Dusty paddled out to take his future into his own hands.

With 10 minutes remaining, Dusty needed a combined two-wave total of 17.94 out of 20 to overtake Fanning. Dusty scratched into a bomb and raced the tunnel to earn a 9.00. Then for a while, nothing happened. With 20 seconds left, he needed a very solid score. He saw a set coming and tried to suppress all the emotions that could well lead to a mistake. Dusty’s next wave was a 9.87. And just like that, he was back on tour.

Post-heat, Dusty said: “Mick (Fanning) is not a guy you want to draw anywhere in the world. I knew whoever I had was going to be tough and that I just had to make it through the heat. I was out there thinking “this is how you’re going to lose, you’re going to get comboed at your own spot?” Then I got that 9. Then with 20 seconds left there was another one. I got so weak because I knew I had to catch that wave and make it. I was filled with emotions and thought I was off tour, then I saw that last one and knew it was a 9.”

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Take Stab’s 2023 Audience Survey, Win A 3-Board Quiver

Stab towels and Premium subscriptions also up or grabs.

Mar 21, 2023

Jessi Miley Dyer On The New Challenger Series Schedule And More

Did you know that you could miss the mid-year cut and still theoretically win the…

Mar 20, 2023

5:05

Don’t Miss The Last Wave Of The First 2023 SEOTY Entry

Jacob Willcox's ‘Into Dust’ demands your pupils.

Mar 20, 2023

Warren Smith on New Welcome Rivers Range and Buying Jaguars on Facebook Marketplace  

Now available in the Antipodes...

Mar 20, 2023

5:13

Wavegarden Spills How The Sausage Is Made

BTS of their global air wave rollout ft. Yago Dora, Dion Agius, Reef Heazlewood and…

Mar 18, 2023

Minds, Machines, And The Magic Of Hands

How modern shapers split their time between designing files and hand-finishing boards.

Mar 18, 2023

3:31

Are Hectic Lefts The Final Finless Frontier?

William Aliotti is on the right-foot-forward fringes.

Mar 17, 2023

Watch: Luke + Eddie

A mostly unknown, on-duty lifeguard won the most prestigious big-wave event in history. How Luke…

Mar 17, 2023

7:10

A Pipe Master, Ryan Burch, And Some Pickle Forks On The Eastern Seaboard

This one ticks a lot of boxes

Mar 16, 2023

Brazil Has A Talent Problem

And three other things we learned from the Rip Curl Pro Portugal.

Mar 16, 2023

2:05

Mick Fanning On A Unicorn, Bags Of Dicks, And A Shocking Script Read By Surfing’s Biggest Stars

Vaughan Blakey and Nick Pollet on their outrageous film, 'The Greatest Surf Movie In The…

Mar 15, 2023

Italo Ferreira Caught 63 Waves In An Hour

And other stats from our Stab in the Dark production.

Mar 15, 2023

3:41

Can A Freesurfer Go The Other Way? A Dakoda Walters Case Study

The 57-kilo Aussie has taken a Stab High approach to traditional contest surfing.

Mar 15, 2023

Caity Simmers And João Chianca Fulfill Respective Prophecies Under Gaze Of Portuguese President

A very good day of competitive surfing.

Mar 14, 2023

Kelly And Steph Are In Trouble

What's a GOAT gotta do to make the cut around here?

Mar 14, 2023

15:28

“I Used To Only Surf Here With One Guy…His Name’s Henry, And He’s A Seal”

A contemplation on the frigid desolation of Iceland.

Mar 14, 2023

World #1 Carissa Moore Vanquished By Front Pad Toting Wildcard, Lucky Few Get Supertubed

‘Go hard or go home, innit’ 

Mar 13, 2023

Hungover Hold-Downs, Patent Feuds, And One-In-A-Million Malfunctions Involving 11x World Champs: The Story Of Surfing’s Inflatable Vests

These things changed the game.

Mar 13, 2023
Advertisement