“Aloha” by Julian Wilson

In the history of the dynamite little sport of waveriding, there has never been a Surfing Great who isn’t spectacular in Hawaii. There was plenty of talk from insiders in 2013 that Julian is the most well-rounded surfer on tour. The talk goes like this. His backhand is as strong as his forehand, his rail game is tight, he’s a gun in the air and he’s very handy in the tube. The question was often posed: what’s his weakness? That answer was kinda obvious, given his results. It was Hawaii and was down to the fact he’d never made it out of a heat at the Pipe Masters. This year he finished fifth. Following the event, however, Julian didn’t bolt for Honolulu and the next Jetstar flight back to Oz. He hung around and got on Hawaiian time. He might have broken a rib in the process (and we thank his film-maker Jimmy Lees for excluding any breakdown or dramatisation of the wipeout) and he looks incredibly comfortable in the Pipeline to OTW stretch. The track is My Heart by Donnie and Joe Emerson and it’s very good.