Dane Reynolds, 10-point ride at La Graviere, France

“That thing was a fucking beast!” says photog Ryan Miller, recalling a moment he spent on the beach today at La Graviere, watching Dane Reynolds storm through this tube. “It had 10 written all over it from the drop. There were other 10s today but this one was far and away the best wave of the day. How he got to his feet and then negotiated that third tube section is beyond me. The cheers that erupted from the thousands on the beach after his exit were deafening.”

Dane himself felt lucky to do well in the shifty La Grav beachies. “That was a tough heat,” he said afterwards. “I was nervous before the heat coming up against Mick in kinda tense conditions. The peaks are all over the place and unfortunately for Mick he was out of rhythm and broke his board. It’s not easy out there. There’s obviously not pressure on myself to get a result here like Mick, but I still want to perform and surf well.”

Amazing that a wildcard should be the one to eliminate the current world number one from a world tour event in the third round. But, as Miller says,” Everyone loves to see a wildcard win especially when it is in waves of consequence and could affect the world title.” While Joel Parkinson, who surfed the following heat, based his gameplan on Dane’s approach (“I saw Dane get a 10 and I wanted to try and find one like that.”), Dane was quick to downplay his wave: “There are better waves out there than my 10,” the Venturan continued. “Right towards the end, I was only 10 feet from a much better wave than that, but they’re extremely difficult to find. I feel really fortunate to have even found little head dips out there because it’s really challenging.”