Tim Taplin, South Narrabeen, Sydney

What’s this? A deviation from Rio? Yup. Look at that thing. It’s on Sydney’s north side, and it’s a gem amongst monsters. According to O’Neill Australia Men’s designer Tim Taplin (sitting in this tunnel), this was one of the few amazing ones amid plenty of closeouts.

Sydney’s coastline has lit up over the last few days, with an iron autumn swell grinding it’s way through most beaches. “It was all solid right-handers,” said Tim. “Marching down the beach, unloading sand out the back the whole way down.”

Originally from Bawley Point, but now a Collaroy resident, Tim was surfing with pal Isaac Buckley. It was a little sketchy out there alone, but the pair eventually started to relax a little. And as soon as they did, they copped an eight-foot clean-up set on the head. The boys’d opted to use their arms instead of the rope, purely ’cause “the take off is half the fun.”

The session was worth the trouble – Tim snagged the one y’see here and Isaac got what Tim describes as a crazy stand-up. Though you obviously can’t tell from this picture, Tim’s actually on a 6’3″ quad-fin. “Quads seem perfect for waves like that,” he says. Who woulda thought?