Bruce Irons, Clay Marzo, Damien Hobgood And More At Padang: The Gallery

The locals reign supreme at Padang and this year was no exception. After they called the event off in 2015 (like the Eddie, the surf has to be quality to be contestable) and the top barrel riders in the world hailed down on Bali. To everyone’s pleasure, the waves continued to open up as the day carried on and the result was some of the highest calibre surf for the Rip Curl Cup in history.

Local, Mega Semadhi took the win for the second time in his last three showings at Padang. He faced Mason Ho, Clay Marzo (a rare sight in a singlet!) and Damo Hobgood. Bruce Irons undoubtably sliced the best wave of the day for one of the four perfect tens. And Mason surfed in his traditional irreverent fashion, parking in deep tunnels and firing off airs when possible – that kid’s surfing is the epitome of fun laced with undeniable talent. 

“My first heat I was really nervous and was really sloppy,” said Mega. “I was going on small waves, bad waves and whitewash. Luckily I got my head together, got through and was able to get into a rhythm for the rest of the contest.”

“I’m so happy to win at my home break again,” Mega said. “But from my point of view, there is no local. We are all locals of this universe and today we are all locals at Padang Padang.”