Stab Surfer Of The Year: Creed Mctaggart, Laura Enever, Seth Moniz, Jamie O’Brien, Jimmy Wilson

Merry Christmas you filthy Northern Hemispherians! And welcome back to Stab Surfer of the Year. We’re officially 20 percent into our quest to find out who the best surfers (male and female), junior, and best edit of 2019 truly were.

Yesterday we heard from John Florence, Eithan Osborne, Mason Ho, Yago Dora and Parker Coffin (you can read their input here).

After day one, our leader board looks like this:

Stab Surfer of the Year Day One Results:

Male (Top 13)

1. Italo Ferreira (13 points)
2. Gabriel Medina (10 points)
3. Kolohe Andino (6 points)
=4. Mason Ho (5 points)
=4. Griffin Colapinto (5 points)
=4. Michael Ho (5 points)
=4. Ethan Ewing (5 points)
=5. Noa Deane (4 points)
=5. John John Florence (4 points)
=6. Dane Reynolds (3 points)
=6. Jordy Smith (3 points)
=6. Jeremy Flores (3 points)
=6. Filipe Toledo (3 points)

Women (Top 5)

1. Carissa Moore (8 points)
2. Stephanie Gilmore (7 points)
=3. Caroline Marks (5 points)
=3. Coco Ho (5 points)
4. Lakey Peterson (3 points)

Best Junior (top 4)

=1. Crosby Colapinto (1 point)
=1. Eli Hanneman (1 point)
=1. Jackson Dorian (1 point)
=1. Joao Chianca (1 point)

Best Edit

=1. Flow State starring Russell Bierke (1 points)
=1. Left Brain Right Brain starring Chippa Wilson (1 point)
=1. The quieter you are the more you can hear starring Craig Anderson (1 point)
=1. Red Monkey Full Moon starring Mason Ho and Mick Fanning (1 point) 

Creed Mctaggart 

Age: 25 

Bio: Wailing frontman of a band called Wash, sometimes regarded as Margo reincarnate. Was surfing on a whole ‘nother level in 2019. 

Men 

1. Wade Goodall (5 points): His surfing in Pentacostal [Wade’s film which hasn’t been released to the public, yet] is crazy. He’s always been my favorite surfer growing up. It’s so good to see him put out a movie. The movie is insane, and it’s so good seeing him do his thing. I love his surfing always has and he’s my number one. 
2. Shawn Manners (4 points): I’ve been doing heaps of trips with him this year and he’s been going crazy. He’s growing quite a bit, he’s not a little grommet anymore and he’s been doing huge airs and charging hectic waves. He’s been shredding. He’ll have some insane clips dropping next year.
3. Noa Deane (3 points) — I’ve done a few trips with him this year, he’s always impressing me and going skitz. His surfing in RUBU is amazing. Anything he does is so good. He’s been doing these crazy 360 shuv-its, he almost landed a trey-flip the other day, I was like, What the fuck, mate? His power surfing and rail game is so sick to watch. He’s got a big frame so when he throws down a rail it’s powerful. 
4. Chippa Wilson (2 points): He’s probably one of the most freakish surfers going around. He does shit you’re so mindblown by. The way he tweaks his airs out is sick. He’s so flexible, strong and stylish. His surfing his recent Epokhe clip [Left Brain Right Brain] was insane. 
5. Craig Anderson (1 point) – He’s always charging big waves and then surprises you with something you didn’t know he was going to do. He’s effortless. So fun to watch. 

Women

1. Jaleesa Vincent (3 points):  I’ve been surfing with her for a couple of years now and recently, we did a trip to the Ments and she blew my mind at Macaronis. Watching a girl surf with that much personality is insane. She was doing finners and laybacks, her style is not contrived at all. She’s like a female Gerry Lopez.
2. Stephanie Gilmore (2 points): I love watching her ride single fins and different boards. That wave she got at Keramas was psycho, hey? She looked like Andy or something… I don’t know why I keep comparing the girls to dudes…but that wave was insane, I watched it so many times. She’s been on fire this year. 
3. Laura Enever (1 point) — I’ve seen her take on some pretty heavy waves this year and have a real good crack at it. She’s so skinny and little, but she’s paddling into these real crazy waves and you’re a bit scared watching but she’s so determined and keen to do it. She’s fearless, it’s really cool to watch. 

Best Junior 

1. Dakoda Walters (1 point): I surf quite a lot with Dokada down and around his area. He’s always so enthusiastic and so keen to surf. He rides all sorts of different boards and every time I see him he’s getting better and better and taller and lankier. He’s probably gonna be a big name when he gets older.

Best Edit 

Left Brain Right Brain starring Chippa Wilson (1 point): Dion shot a lot of that, and Dion said it was insane how many clips he’d get each session. Some of the straight airs that he does, you don’t know if he’s going for an inward shuv because he’s tweaking it out so hard then he just turns it back around. He’s like my cat smokey, just does unbelievable things where you’re like, Can you fly? I don’t know. Maybe you can. He surfs so good. Every trip he goes on he comes out with something mind-blowing.  

Seth Moniz

Age: 21 

Bio: North Shore royalty. 2019 Rookie of the Year with glistening eyes and a bright future! 

1. Italo Ferreira (5 points): The shit he did this year was just nuts. 
2. Billy Kemper (4 points): 4x Jaws winner, that’s retarded. I surfed it once. I never want to surf it again. 
3. Matahi Drollet (3 points): I just got to put him up there because the stuff he does is gnarly. He should’ve won barrel of the year with that one tube at Teahupoo.
4. Russell Bierke (2 points): That Flow State edit was so sick. 
5. Jack Robinson (1 point): His Sunset performance is probably the best ever. 

Watch Robbo punch Sunset into submission.

1. Carissa Moore (3 points): She won the world title. 
2. Caroline Marks (2 points): She’s 17, has a crazy mindset and is so gnarly. And she’s just having fun, that’s sick. 
3. Stephanie Gilmore (1 point): Got to put her up there. She’s so chill and surfs so good at every event. 

Best Junior 

1. Crosby Colapinto (1 point): He’s been surfing so good this year. In the last two years, he’s developed that CT style. He’s ready. 

Best Edit

Flow State starring Russell Bierke (1 point): What Russell was doing in that edit blew me away. It was so sick. 

Laura Enever 

Age: 28 

Bio: Ex-CT surfer turned psycho slab hunter. Most men will confess, “Laura has bigger balls than me, she’s fearless!” 

Men 

1. Russell Bierke (5 points): He’s just charged and paddled waves that no one paddles. He’s paddling tow waves. He’s really pushing the boundaries of big wave surfing. 
2. Matahi Drollet (4 points): He’s been killing it at Chopes all year, and has gone under the radar. 
3. Italo Ferriera (3 points): He had a breakthrough year and won the title. That was crazy. 
4. Jordy Smith (2 points): He’s always ripped, and he’s had such a good year on the CT. I wanted him to win the World Title. 
5. Gabriel Medina (1 point): I have to put Gabby in there. He’s just a freak. He always just doing crazy stuff. He’s an undeniable talent. 

Women 

1. Carissa Moore (3 points): Carissa had an incredible year. She stepped it up in her barrel riding. 
2. Stephanie Gilmore (2 points): She’s always amazing. So stylish, you can’t not have her not in the running. 
3. Caroline Marks (1 point): It’s been a breakthrough year for Caroline. Her backhand is so good and she’s going to be dominating soon. 

Best Junior

1. Jai Glindeman (1 point) — Every little edit he puts out I’m like what the fuck (See Pup below). He’s like a mix between Andy and Joel. He’s killing it. I grew up surfing with him in Narrabeen and he moved to Lennox Head. I feel like this year, every month he’s getting more and more tapped. His style is timeless.

Best Edit 

Flow State starring Russell Bierke (1 point): He was just paddling waves that people would tow and he’s so committed. He’s one of the best big wave surfers in the world for sure. 

Jimmy “Jimmicane” Wilson 

Age: 34

Bio: Ex-Photo guru for Surfing Magazine. Well respected within the professional surf community. Passionate as fuck and frustratingly right most of the time… 

Men

1. Italo Ferreira (5 points): Anything less than SOTY would be utter bullshit. Blast your favorite soundtrack over WSL commentary and watch Italo crank out live video parts in 30-minute increments. No one is close. I haven’t seen Italo lose a single session in three years. He wins life.
2. Chippa Wilson (4 points): Chippa’s surfing in Left Brain, Right Brain was the cherry on top of an already stellar year. Pair that with his performance and win during Stab High, a multitude of IG clips, side edits, and softboard footage –– you have a worthy challenger for SOTY. Can land every trick on command. The most technical aerialist in the world, without a doubt.
3. John John Florence (3 points): It’s a mystery why John didn’t get surgery on a torn ACL in 2017, but what he accomplished on a bum knee through the first four events of the year was so beyond any reasonable expectation for an athlete in that condition. Healthy John would’ve had his 3rd World Title wrapped up in Europe again. The WSL should thank god, and John’s doctor, for a heinous medical blunder that saved their end-of-season ratings.
4. Mason Ho (2 points): The amount of entertaining shit Mason puts out is mind-numbing. Always an A+ for creativity. He’s been the most fun surfer to watch for the past five plus years, and I still don’t know what rabbit he’s going to pull out of a hat during any given session. It’s also really nice to see him pull away from the QS sinkhole. Mason only competed in one event outside of Hawaii this year. That’s a W for all of his fans.
5. Gabriel Medina (1 point) No one can look themselves in a mirror and deny how damn good he is. It feels like some kind of miracle needs to occur for him to ever lose a heat. If Gabby one day showed a sliver of humility, he would probably drown in a flash flood of fan-love. I’m cool with him playing the villain role, but I feel like he could put a little more effort into it. At least share your real thoughts instead of going into politically correct, press-conference-mode during every interview. We don’t get much from Gabby other than 11 CTs and a couple dozen Instagram selfies.

Women 

1. Carissa Moore (3 points): At this point, contest surfing is the biggest barometer for the women by leaps and bounds. Riss wins SOTY based off events alone, but I was pumped to see her take a trip to Teahupo’o before the season kicked off. You don’t see many girls on the CT go an inch outside their comfort zone. She looked more fit and driven than ever in 2019. Riss is yet to defend a World Title which might explain why she’s giving herself a re-set in 2020. Earning a World Title takes more out of these surfers than the public realizes. I’m excited to see Carissa use next year to push herself and the sport forward.
2. Caroline Marks (2 points): Poised to go on a Layne Beachly-esque run if some young girls don’t step up to the plate and challenge her. With G-Land added, and once Steph/Carissa/Tyler start to phase out, who is going to come close.
3. Emi Erickson (1 point): It baffles me this girl doesn’t have any sponsor backing. She charges 50 foot waves on a single fin and is also blazing hot. Surf industry: wake up.

Best Junior 

1. Eli Hanneman (1 point): I see supreme, generational talent. There are a couple holes in Eli’s game right now, but you could’ve said that for any super freak not named “Slater” to come before him. He’ll be embarrassing guys on tour by the time he’s 18 years old.

Best Edit: 

Flow State starring Russell Bierke (1 point): There were a few clips in Flow State that had absolute shock factor. For best edit, I want to see a surfer go above and beyond what we’ve seen previously. Those paddle in clips at Shipsterns and the other outer reef blew my mind.

Jamie O’Brien 

Age: 36 

Bio: Considered the king of Pipeline. The king of the Vlog. An entrepreneur who is far more calculated than you might think. 

Men 

1. Italo Ferreira (5 points): I think he is so fricking tapped in every aspect of his surfing. 
2. Gabriel Medina (4 points): He’s probably the best backside barrel rider at backdoor that I’ve ever seen and it’s pretty surprising. Every other goofyfooter makes excuses going right on it’s big… He does things that you’re like, Whoa I haven’t seen that backside. I mean it’s so aggressive and just no hands, the big pumps, the big sections.
3. John John Florence (3 points): I’ll throw you a third John. John, I want to see you surf more. 
4. Chippa Wilson (2 points): I really like watching Chipper’s air game. He’s probably the most technical air guy in the world. You don’t really get to see a lot of him, but when you do, you’re like, Oh shit.
5. Left Blank (0 points).  

Women  

1. Carissa Moore (3 points): I just like the way she surfs and flows. She’s that person you want to watch when the girls surf. She makes a heat exciting. 
2. Moana Jones (2 points): Moana is killing it. She’s the only chick out at Pipe getting barrels. She’s really stylish. I feel she’s the first girl that has a connection with the place and loves it and thrives to surf it.
3. Caroline Marks (1 point) It’s really cool to see what Caroline’s doing and how well she’s surfing. I’m a big fan of seeing new people win, because I think surfing needs that as a change.

Best Junior: 

1.  Eli Hanneman (1 point): He’s so small and everything he does is big and his size makes it look even bigger and more impressive. I feel like Eli’s one of those kind of kids that could just qualify at a young age and be a big threat.  

Best Edit:  

I don’t know. I honestly don’t really watch any.

Stab Surfer of the Year Day Two results:
Male (Top 10)
1. Italo Ferreira (31 points)
2. Gabriel Medina (16 points)
3. John John Florence (10 points)
4. Russell Bierke (8 points)
=5. Mason Ho (7 points)
=5. Noa Deane (7 points)
6. Kolohe Andino (6 points)
=7. Griffin Colapinto (5 points)
=7. Jordy Smith (5 points)
=7. Ethan Ewing (5 points)

Women (Top 6)
1. Carissa Moore (20 points)
2. Stephanie Gilmore (12 points)
3. Caroline Marks (13 points)
4. Coco Ho (5 points)
=5. Lakey Peterson (3 points)
=5. Jaleesa Vincent (3 points)

Best Junior (top 4)
1. Eli Hanneman (3 points)
2. Crosby Colapinto (2 points)
=3. Dakoda Walters (1 point)
=3. Jackson Dorian (1 point)
=3. Joao Chianca (1 point)
=3. Jai Glindeman (1 point)

Best Edit
1. Flow State starring Russell Bierke (5 points)
2. Left Brain Right Brain starring Chippa Wilson (2 points)
=3. The quieter you are the more you can hear starring Craig Anderson (1 point)
=3. Red Monkey Full Moon starring Mick Fanning and Mason Ho (1 point) 

Stay tuned for tomorrow when we’ll hear from: 

Albee Layer

Josh Kerr 

Bruce Irons 

Conner Coffin 

Steph Gilmore