Will Jack Freestone Be Following Kerrzy Down The Alternative Route?
Jack parts ways with Pyzel, hints at a preference for even-numbered fin setups.
2x World Junior Champ, BJJ purple-belt, and former CT surfer, Jack Freestone is parting ways with 2x SITD winner, Jon Pyzel.
His IG caption reads: “And so it’s time to start a new chapter. Before I do I have to say a huge thank you to @pyzelsurfboards for helping me for the past few years. Jon helped me not only in the water and competitively but as a human outside the water. You can learn so much by just simply being around someone and I learnt so much from Jon. I will always cherish the good times I had surfing his boards but I will value the friendship more than anything. Thank you to the entire @pyzelsurfboards @pyzelsurfboardsau team for always working hard and making everything so easy. I appreciate everything. Much love.”
Gracefully said.
After joining the tour in 2016, Jack earned himself a runner-up finish at the Oi Rio Pro to JJF, finishing his rookie season ranked 31st. After a 30th at the end of 2017, Jack fell off tour had but returned the following year after a successful QS campaign.
Towards the tail-end of 2018, Jack joined forces with Waialua-based board builder, Jon Pyzel, made a baby with Alana, and began his quest to get really good at strangling people at Boars Nest BJJ gym in Kauai, where the Tweed Heads native now lives with Alana and his two kids. His shake-up in lifestyle saw his most successful CT year come in 2019 after a 3rd in the Quikky Pro in France and 2x quarter-final finishes at Pipe and Portugal.
After missing out on the cutoff this season, we won’t be seeing Jack on tour next year. We also won’t be seeing him ride Pyzels.
Stab asked Jack why the parting. Here is his response, “There was no specific reason. I was just wanting to ride some alternative different boards, and Jon is on a different path than I am. It was a very respectable parting. As for who will I end up with? You will have to wait to find out.”
However, we are very impatient here, and suspect Matt Parker’s Album Surfboards, notorious for snaring jaded CT pros on the rebound (re: Kerrzy), is tickling Jack’s fancy. Album’s eclectic shapes have gained mass kudos in the surf world after Asher Pacey and Kerrzy‘s performances showed alternative shapes could still allow for high-performance surfing. You can read more on Matt Parker’s board philosophy, here.
Will Jack’s affair with alternative boards stand the test of time? Or will the old faithful thruster prove impossible to relinquish?
If he has a crack at the CS next year the latter seems more likely. But for this, we must wait.