Jules Wilson, fin-flash at Backdoor, Hawaii

“Julian was fresh off the plane and straight into sticking plenty of these fin-throws at backdoor,” says photog Ryan Miller of the session you see above. Worn down by three months straight on the road, Julian Wilson opted to do only the Billabong Pro, Pipeline and the Vans World Cup of Surfing, Sunset (not the entire Triple Crown). Instead of chasing the coveted trifecta, kid headed home to Coolum on the Sunshine Coast for 10 glorious, relaxing days. During that time, Stab spoke with Julian about coming into his stride halfway through his rookie year. He had this to say about it: “The thing this year was trying to figure out what worked best as far as a support crew is concerned, and what would get me in the best frame of mind to compete. I think it just took a few events to figure out what worked, and what didn’t. I think the turning point was going to Portugal solo, just to do the event (a Quiksilver Prime, in June). And I won that event and it kinda just showed that I’ve gotta put in the work on my own and just have one or two people for support, like my brothers. At the start of the year I think I had too many distractions and a fair bit of pressure on myself. So I learnt from all those mistakes I was making at the start of the year and turned it around for the second half.”

And it showed in the kid’s results and overall performance. So, what’ve we got to look forward to from Hawaii in the coming days? “The first good, big swell of the winter is on its way and everyone’s buzzing,” says Ryan. “Lots of groms out at backdoor today getting their last waves in before they’re regulated to the sidelines.” And y’can bet Jules’ll be right in the mix. Hold onto yer slacks.