Ten Enjoyable Left Hand Performances By The Rip Curl Cup Invitees

The Rip Curl Cup at Padang Padang takes minimal arm-twisting to support. It’s held at one of the world’s best left-handers, has a fail-safe format (a month long period with the contest running and gunning on whatever single day has the best waves), and the waves are usually really, very good.

With a significant swell barreling its way towards Bali for the weekend, the Rip Curl Cup could get going sooner rather than later.

With the waiting period having started yesterday, let’s meet this year’s invitees. They’ll be up against Indonesian surfers Made “Bol” Aid Purtra, Raditya Bondi, reigning Rip Curl Cup Champ Mega Semadhi, Rizal Tanjung, Garut Widiarta, Lee Wilson, Pepen Hendrix, and event wildcard Rio Waida. Considering that cast of barrel specialists, locals, and legends, it’s sure to be quite the show.

Now, let’s get reacquainted with the international talent and reminisce on some of their finer left-hand performances.

Tom Curren at the Kampar River.
Why not start things off with a novelty? Taken from 2011, when Tom Curren joined several other Rip Curl team members to surf the “Bono” tidal bore out of the Kampar River in Indonesia.

Mason Ho at Padang Padang.
The obvious choice here would be Mason’s perfect 10 to pelvic thrust claim combo. Unfortunately, it can only be found on the WSL main site. And with the claim removed, for PG purposes. This backhand barrel to 360 combo performed at last year’s Padang Padang comp is a worthy revisit. Plus it’s Mase. Watching his surfing’s is like Breaking Bad, it’s binge-worthy.

Damien Hobgood at Cloudbreak.
If Padang Padang is massive for the day of the comp, picking Damien into the finals would be a very safe bet. Which sounds weird to say. But then you remember what Damo can do at close to maxed-out Cloudbreak and now you’re slowing down your office wifi for everyone else by logging onto Sportsbet.

Bruce Irons at Padang Padang.
Considering how many incredible sessions Bruce has had at Pipe over the years, it’d be cheating to pick something from Oahu’s premier stretch of reef. So here’s his perfect ten from last year. Unfortunately, like amps, the judging criteria is stifled one unit below 11.

Kai Otton at Pipeline.
Kai’s opening wave at the 2015 Pipe Masters. It got scored a 9.73. A backside snap may have brought it to perfection.

Bruno Santos at Cloudbreak.
As can be seen here, Bruno Santos has no problem pulling into sizable left-hand surf. But can his Cloudbreak dramatics translate over to Padang Padang? No need to waste time guessing, because we’ll find out once the comp kicks off.

Clay Marzo in West Oz.
*Rubbing hands anxiously* Clay Marzo in West Oz is never dull.

Jack Robinson at Pipeline.
The Jake Robo drinking game. Rules: Open up laptop, YouTube search Jack’s Pipe Invitational performance. Then take your age and subtract that number from Jack’s age. That number then represents how many different highlight reels of Jack to watch before bed and how many drinks to have while watching them. Depending on your age, this can be very dangerous on work nights.

Jacob Willcox in West Oz.
Another young West Oz native that is stupidly at ease in booming surf. Uh, hit play.

Ryan Burch in Peru.
Ryan’s handmade shape worked in Peru. How calculated do you think he has his boards for Padang? Also, do you think he’ll even compete? Good waves with no one out make even the most incontestable figure do mysterious things.

The Rip Curl Cup Padang Padang is held between July 10 and August 10, with competition running on the best day of waves in this waiting period. We’ll let you know on Stab when it’s on, and you’ll be able to watch it here. We’ll be highlighting all the local surfers competing tomorrow, as well. Until then.