RECAP

Let’s catch up on the past week or so. Quickly. 

ITALO AND CARISSA WIN RAGLAN

Italo just did what absolutely nobody in the World wanted to see. He threw 3 (forced) air reverses on one wave, twice. The judges and the WSL gave him the nod over Morgan Ciblic, who proved once again just how damn good his backhand is. I saw Ain’t That Swell is already all over the case, interviewing Morgan basically immediately in the aftermath, asking how he felt about getting done-in by the judges. Heavy.

This event was all over the place: Horrible start. Tons of Lay Days. A seal attack. Nonstop Content from RaglanSurfReport and the WSL. It was a lot. A lot of attention and not a ton of surfing. Will be curious to see if they return back next year.

I will say that I think this was a really great location for the Ladies. Very rippable – when the waves actually did show up. Carissa took out Sawyer Lindblad in the Final, and won her first event since becoming a Mother. Huge shoutout to Italo for giving major props to Carissa on the podium. Really cool.

The last 3 events have been won by – Lakey Peterson, Stephanie Gilmore and Carissa Moore. I thought this past offseason that BettyLou had said the new crop will “smoke” the older generation? Woof Woof.

That’s all of the contest conversation for now. Maybe a deeper dive this week, we’ll see. A bit to get into. 

HELLO, MY NAME IS: GREYSON GRANT

A new interview series just dropped last week. I am really looking forward to speaking with all kinds of surfers from all over the world to introduce you to some new names. Going to be a fun experience.

Our first guest in this installment is San Diego’s Greyson Grant. This kid rips, and he’s starting to land some results on the QS. Meet and read about Greyson here.

HUGHIE VAUGHAN WINS STAB HIGH

Hughie Vaughan is the reigning Stab High champion. He just went back-to-back in Virginia Beach, after winning in Japan last year. The wildest part was that he basically dominated the event. I guess it was the first time in event history they scored a perfect 50.

In a field that included Eithan Osborne, Matt Meola, Jacob Szekely, Shane Borland, Ryji Masuda, Ian Crane, and more air specialists, Hughie stole the show. There were 36 men in the event, and there were 2 true standouts: eventual winner Hughie, and 15 year old Loci Cullen.

Loci is the back-to-back Bottle Rockets champion, so even still in his Youth, Nathan Fletcher made him graduate up to surf with the Big Boys. Epic move Nate.

This was literally my first time ever seeing Loci surf. If he’s got half of the talent on the wave face and in the ocean that he does in the air and in a wave pool, he has a chance to be a World Champion. He is that fucking good.

Winners of the other divisions:

WOMENS – Sky Browne

BOTTLE ROCKETS – King Nicol

LADY BIRDS – Isla Hardy

Final thoughts on this rendition of the event:

Do they need to move back to the Ocean next? Some commenters think so.

What the hell was that air that Hughie even did? Supposedly Tony Hawk commented with the official trick name – obviously taken from Skating – but I couldn’t find it. 

How much further can we go? Different spins and flips and variations? I asked this question years ago. Chippa, how are you feeling?

MOVIE PROJECTS

RIVVIA PROJECTS – VV TAPES 001

The Team edit has made a complete comeback. Billabong, Quiky, RipCurl, RedBull, Ritual Vision (coming soon) etc. I am a big fan. 

What’s happening now is these independent brands are following suit. Former Pro’s like Dane Reynolds (Former/Chapter11), Kolohe Andino (Stekko/2%), and Julian Wilson (Rivvia) are falling back on their nostalgic youth, creating Team Movies with their own stable of surfers riding under their brands. 

This is the first edition of a Team Tape for Rivvia. I completely forgot how damn good Ryan Callinan is. I enjoyed it.

Watch here.

NOW DAYS

If you haven’t seen this movie yet, stop what you are doing and watch this right now. Here. 

This is the best surf movie ever put out by an all female cast. The soundtrack is incredible. The little skits are really rad. And the surfing has never been better. It’s a known factor in surfing in this day and age, but the women are progressing so much quicker than the men. Erin Brooks has a few waves in here that truly blew my mind. The two air reverses at Macaroni’s is the clip that’s talked a lot about, but I think the big straight Slob air at Pipe is the best air ever done by a woman, and I don’t think it’s particularly close.

Again, go watch that movie. Show your significant other. It’s insane.

US BOARDRIDERS FINAL

Now this might be the first time we have spoken about the US Boardriders. What they have going on down in Australia is magnificent. Every year the ABB (Australian Boardriders Battle) is basically National News. The entire continent tunes in. The support from the clubs, the surfers, the community, its next level.

What we have going on in the US is a feeble attempt at recreating that same level of enthusiasm for Surfing. It’s not even close.

I’ve judged a few of these events. It’s cool, fun. The people down there seem to like it. A small group of people, though.

And so, yes, we still have BoardRiders events. I don’t want to get into the rumors and what I have heard, but they run an entire season, which culminates in a championship down at Lowers. Standings, rankings, results and all.

The confusing part to me is the Format. It’s a team based event where they have surfers from every age group, from U14 to 50 & Up. Two surfers from each division, with only 1 in the water at a time. Only 1 of each surfers wave counts, but they can catch 3. They have to tag the next surfer before running into the water. There is a double whammy surfer on each team, meaning their wave score can be doubled. 

I told you, it’s a lot.

I didn’t even realize we were already at the end of the season, but here we are. End of the year results are as follows:

1. San Clemente
2. Encinitas
3. Santa Cruz
4. Huntington Beach

I know they used to broadcast some of these via the Couch Surfing Show, but I really can’t even find many photos from the event, let alone video. I guess nobody is covering these events? I’ll see what I can find out.

STAB IN THE DARK W/ ETHAN EWING

I’ll be completely honest – I haven’t watched one episode of this thing. But, I am a journalist right? Writing, researching, studying, bringing you the news – thats what I do yaknow. 

So, from what I have found, we are down to the Final Five boards for Ethan to choose a winner from. Those 5 branded surfboards are:

1. Channel Islands
2. DHD (his own shaper)
3. …Lost (Mayhem)
4. Sharp Eye
5. JS

Just for one quick second, can you imagine if Ethan picks DHD. his own shaper, in the series immediately following the Kelly Slater debacle? No chance Stab lets this happen, right? 

Now that they are more than a few seasons in, I feel like holes are being poked in this surfboard test, for example, allowing their regular shapers into the event. Of course they will pick the board that feels the most familiar under their feet. It only makes sense (to me). 

Anyways. The Finale is premiering this Thursday, May 28th down in Oceanside. I guess Ethan will be there doing a Q&A. I’m going to double check my schedule (I know I can’t go) and get a little upset that I can’t make it – even if I haven’t watched one iota of content from this series yet. You should go. It will probably be sick. At the very least it would be interesting to hear Ewing talk. I don’t think I’ve heard a word he’s said. Maybe I should catch up on the series.

So thats what I’ve got for ya. A week in review.

See you soon.

Cheers,

hwilsin

Drew Stanfield