Did Griffin get robbed? Why doesn’t everyone wear a gath? Hedge deserved a ten. A 6.77 for a switch barrel? Does the carve after the bowl count for anything out there? These are a few of the notes I jotted down while watching one of the most entertaining contests of the year. Here’s an in depth rundown of what happened in Tahiti at the OuterKnown Pro.
THE FIRST DAY
The first 3 heats of the Opening Round were actually held on Wednesday, the day before the big day. I silently wonder if Italo and Ewing felt a bit cheated, as both surfers fell to the Elimination Round, gripping the nerves. Jack Robbo shined in the last heat of the day, dropping a 9.43 on what seemed to be the only proper wave to show up from the swell we were expecting. A ‘squall’ approached very shortly after Robbo’s 2nd scoring wave, causing the event to go on hold immediately after this heat, and for the rest of the day.
The next day started out with exactly what we were all prepared for – Filipe Toledo catching 1 wave in 35 minutes, in some serious juice. The waves were pumping. Kelly and Hedgy traded a few solid tubes, and the Hedgehog took what I believe was the wipeout of the event. Examine Filipe, sitting outside of Hedge, with priority, have a paddle and lose priority for not going. Know that feeling? However relative – cruising into one and you look over the ledge of something you actually want no part of – the feeling of your heart being in your throat. I know it. You should know it. At this point I almost felt bad for the guy. Anyways, best part about the whole thing was Flip kicking out of his one wave at the very end of the heat, rubbing his hands through his hair as if extremely stressed out, and then giving a nice slap of the board. I reveled in this moment.
Following the heritage heat, plus one (wave or surfer? both.), the day’s dramatics would be set in the next 2 heats, with both Kanoa and Griffin falling to the elimination round. Of the top 7 surfers, only Jack Robbo went straight to R16. What made matters more interesting was both Sammy Pupo and Connor O’Leary looking strong in their opening heats and moving straight through to R16. Miggy Pupo came up just short of O’Leary, but was surfing confidently nonetheless.
The start of the Elimination round brought an absolute unicorn; Filipe Toledo caught a few Teahupoo waves with some size. He lost by less than a full-point to the hard charging Hedgehog. I just rewatched this heat trying to find some holes to poke, but there are not too many. If I had anything to say, the waves he caught never really looked unmakeable. This 5.93 was a bomb, but he was way on the shoulder. Anywho, down he goes, giving JackRobbo the opportunity to swipe the number 1 spot heading into Lowers.
One last thing to note about Toledo’s ER performance: every score he had (bar one) was higher than anything Kanoa or Seth Moniz produced in the following heat. A small blame can possibly (?) be thrown at the overlapping format just coming into play, but both surfers kept a 1 point ride in their score line, and Seth only caught 2 waves. Kanoa survives with a 5.03 in the last 5 minutes, hopes still glowing.
Ethan Ewing impressed in the next heat by taking out the ever present, always dangerous Michel ‘Spartan’ Bourez. One note about this heat, also regarding Kanoa & Moniz’s lack of scores; Ewing had two – 4 point rides, and Michel had an 8, underneath the priority of the heat preceding them – Kanoa & Seth. Those boys couldn’t get a read during their heat.
Speaking of not having a read, Jake Marshall and Callum Robson surfed possibly the most embarrassing heat of the entire year, maybe ever in history. Jake advanced by virtue of a 1.73 for three turns on a wave, knocking Callum out of Finals day contention. The combined heat score between these two was 3.4. Two surfers, five waves ridden, three-point-four. Wow. wow.
Italo and Jaddy paddled out during that childish heat and took over the lineup. Just bullied Callum and Marshall around. Not literally, but that’s what seemed like must’ve happened. Italo scored an 8.60 and a high 6 under priority. Jadson also had two 3 point rides, higher than either of those guys heat total.
Jaddy is one of those guys who give 100% go at all times. Doesn’t matter the conditions, opponent, location, he wants to compete. I hold that in a very high regard, and believe that is part of why everyone loves him. He knocks Italo out of the contest by less than half a point, leaving the former World Champs future out of his hands. To this point, it was the heat of the event.
With Italo losing out early, Ethan Ewing had now solidified his spot in the Final 5 at Lowers.
Miguel Pupo still had hopes of Griffin losing early and sneaking into the Final 5 with an event win. He surfed a very smart heat. He didn’t catch one wave until his heat was in priority. Just after the 8 minute mark, bearing no significant scores (nothing over a 5), Miggy and Nat Young traded some big bowls back and forth, twice, in under three minutes. Miguel came out on top, keeping his miracle dream alive.
Griffin was in the water facing Jacko Baker when Miguel caught his two scoring waves in 2 minutes and 20 seconds. I’m sure Griff was solely focused on himself and his job at hand, but I ponder how much Miggy was thinking about Griffin? Jacko got one barrel out there, but he didn’t seem to have too much of a read on the wave. He took a pretty nice digger as well. In the end, he didn’t provide too much resistance to the jedi mind tricks of Colapinto. Griff rolls on. Safe.
Matty ‘Ice’ McGillivray was the surprise of the event. He showed early on in his heat against Barron Mamiya he was not scared to tuck into some monsters. At this point in the day, the waves were pretty much perfect. Completely glassy, not a chandelier in sight, every wave throwing wide open. The winner of this heat would be surfing in Heat 2 of the next round, so the overlapping heats took a break for the second half of this heat, and beginning of the next. As soon as the lineup was theirs, McGillivray and Mamiya pushed each other into a few mean waves. Barron notably had to hit the eject button on a square one. McGillivray looked confident, making every wave he took off on after the lineup emptied, winning the heat with some room to spare.
Onto R16.
**Small Spoiler Alert**
Only one surfer in this round had a heat total less than 13. Everyone was RIPPING, and the waves were mental. Let’s move on.
Ethan was now locked into the finals, but his seeding was still unknown. Griffin and Kanoa could theoretically still jump over him. Now, Ethan draws the local wildcard Kauli Vaast. It seemed like everyone already knew who this kid was, so I must be pretty new to following the Teahupoo scene, but I had never seen him surf. Ethan got his scores early, while Kauli seemed to be waiting for the precise waves he wanted. Again, the waves were SO good at this interval of the day, I may dare say perfect. It had me thinking me and my boys could make a couple out there (big laughs). Both surfers had great waves, and great heats for the matter, but Kauli advanced with waves that looked just a tad bigger & more dangerous than YEWings. Down goes Ethan, with a spot in the Lowers lineup at some point next month.
Sammy Pupo’s dreams went out the window when Griff advanced to this round, so he was simply surfing for an event win, and maybe some experience out there. McGillivray had something to say about that, dropping a 10 for one of the most psycho backside drop-ins you could possibly think up. Sammy still showed a ton of poise and fight, and made it a damn close heat after that, with snagging two kegs under the 4 minute mark. When the heat ended, the scores on the board actually showed McGillivray losing with a 10. I’ll say it again, Sammy is going to blow some minds next year. He even backed up my claim in his post heat interview saying this year he gave “50%” and wants to give 100% next year. Yeehaw. Matty Ice has a 7 roll through after the heat is over, leaving the younger Pupo brother needing an 8.08. He comes up just short, a 7.50, & the mysterious McGillivray rolls 17 – 16.43 (what a damn heat!).
One could tell from the last 3 heats this day was JUST spicing up – 5 of 6 last surfers in the water clocked over 15 point totals.
Enter Colapinto and Yago Dora to the lineup. Griffing gets off to an ultra quick start, sneaking in and out of two barrels within the first five minutes, snagging a decent score of a 5 point ride on the first. The real exchange came while Matty Ice and Sammy were sitting a bit deep on the reef, Griffin stroked into a thick one. Not a very long tube, but he was very deep. One huge pump, almost catches his outside rail mid-face, grabs rail with another small pump, makes one quick foam ball section and zooms out. 9 points even.
Sammy and McGillivray exchange waves before Yago gets his turn. I thought he may have got a tad underscored on this first wave. He traveled what I thought was a bit further and longer in the tube in comparison, though Griff’s was a bit bigger and more square. 6.67. In between keeper scores Griffin took 2 wipeouts on waves it looked like he would make. Yago snagged a 5 for holding on to the wall for dear life, spending an absurd amount of time in the bowl. Now we reach the final exchange. This time around, Yago pumps into and through a big square one. Pretty similar wave to Griffin’s. The only complaint I could see one having was that he pumped really hard and maybe could have spent a little more clockage behind the curtain. Insane wave though. The folks in the lineup would have heard the 8.27 score come in to give Yago the lead very close to the 4 minute mark.
So there sits Griffin, 4 minutes on the clock, needing a 5.94 to keep his year under his control. Yago swung around under priority on a smaller clean barrel for an insignificant 3. A few ominous minutes swiftly click by.
“Looking pretty quiet out there Kaipo,” Pete Mel chimes.
“Not much he can do with no opportunity… 30 seconds.” Kaipo replies.
Somehow, somewhere Griff caught glimpse of a wave, getting to his feet with :09 on the board. It’s a smaller (relatively), inside looking wave that has a high and tight barrel. He pumps once, hand off the rail, reaches down snagging the outside edge, another big pump, sets the high line, flies though and out of the bowl, untouched. Points to the sky, throws a 1 finger and kicks out.
“All he wanted was the opportunity. All he wanted was a chance.” Great call by Pete Mel.
The commentators, and possibly the judges were comparing this wave to Yago’s first, the 6.67, a thicker, wider vortex, with maybe a little more time inside. 5.94 – the number needed – as Griff sits in the fuel infested channel, surrounded by cameras and boats and skis. All eyes on him, ears pointed toward speakers and scaffolds built on top of reef. Yago stroked his way over, hat and glasses already noticeably adorned, oozing swagger. They shake hands, quick embrace. 5.63 is announced. Just short. .31 short. Would he, could he have gotten the score if he would have done a down carve after? Maybe two? What would it have took, or was the wave just not enough? Griffin’s year was not quite over yet, but it was out of his hands. Italo is now confirmed for the final 5, and the last slot will be decided at the end of Kanoa’s heat against Jaddy. Yago was not interviewed.
Kelly came up against Connor O’Leary in the next heat, and for the most part it seemed they didn’t want to interfere with Griff or Yago. Only one wave was caught before their turn at priority – a mid range 5 for O’Leary on a clean in and out with some spit. Once Kelly had his choice of wave, he did not miss. Neither did Connor, for that matter. Both guys had 16+ heat totals and were packing some seriously heavy waves. Kelly’s 9 and Connor’s 8.40 were those Teahupoo waves you have nightmares about, where the wave has no back, it’s throwing out wider than it is tall, just fucked up. Slater advances in a close one, another cracker heat.
Sharing the lineup for the backend of that heat was the highest scoring matchup of the event – Nathan Hedge vs Jack Robinson. Jack trying to reach up and grab the number 1 seed from Toledo, Hedge trying to enjoy himself and take out anyone and everyone. Robbo starts off strong with a 7.67 that he didn’t end up keeping. Hedge got two quick small scores, getting warmed up. As soon as priority took over Jack nabbed a 9.10 for a unique line, way up high through the barrel and over the foam ball, putting Hedgy in a combo. Robbo is so damn talented in waves like this, we can only hope to see him against John and Medina at some point in similar conditions. Every wave he took off on scored over a 6. After his 9, he caught two more waves, the later improving on his score line with an 8.50.
Hedge needs two waves, a 17.60 to match, with 9 minutes left when airdrops into an absolute cavern that was spitting on him the entire time. 9.87. Two judges threw 10’s and three gave 9.80. Seriously, what held back the .20? What was missing? I was confused. Jack took off on a wave behind Hedge, giving Nathan priority after that massive score. The elder ozzy now needs 7.73 with 6 minutes left. It looked like he paddled deep up the reef for his next wave, screaming off the bottom and untouched through a big one. Now needing a 9.21, Jack spent as much time as he could in a barrel much too small with about 50 seconds left. He had some odd claim on his way out to the channel. 6.17 was not enough to move him on, locking him into the 2 seed for next month. Hedgehog rumbles on. His post heat interview was so rad, shedding some light on the situation Jack put him in.
“At the start of that heat, Jack really just showed me what was up and went around the back behind me. The only other person that’s ever done that to me was Andy out here, early on in the piece, and I just went ‘he’s gnarly’, and I just sorta had to get through that. I just gave him a little bit too much space. It was a fair bit to get through mentally. To beat Jack I knew I had to be on the biggest, best waves.”
– Nathan Hedge
Photo: Damien Poullenot/WSL
In a heat that didnt stand for anything other than seeding next year, Caio Ibelli beat Jordy’s two 6’s with an 8 and a 7.97, for maybe better wave choice? Conditions looked to be deteriorating in a small manner at this point. Skimmed over this heat. Stoked for Caio though, and so fitting of a character for Jordy to lose to. I’ve already said it, kinda wish he would hang it up before it gets ugly this next year..
And now, the heat to decide two surfers fates for the Final 5. Kanoa vs Jaddy. Tensions in the air. All of SoCal’s core lords tuned in. These two seemingly paid no mind to the other heat in the water, getting off to quick starts. Kanoa got the first wave of the heat, a 5.17 he would not keep for a nice deep chube. Jaddy went behind him, backdooring a nice clean bowl for a 3.17. Upper hand Igarashi. Another set comes through with Kanoa going first again, a 5.83 for threading high and tight through a couple of falling sections, and getting clipped on the way out. Jaddy on the wave behind, bigger, wider, and cleaner, locks a 7.67.
Two waves for each surfer in under 10 minutes.
Jaddy immediately turns on another wave under priority trying to backdoor a section again, but he gets taken out by the foam ball. Kanoa gets another wave under both Jordy and Caio, he gets behind a nice section, really deep and over the foam ball for an even 6. Almost 10 quiet minutes go by before the next wave was ridden. Jaddy, with priority, took off on a curious inside wave that looked to have some froth on it. He did get deep and had some nice time in the bowl, but it was noticeably smaller and not very wide. 4.77. On his way back out sitting a bit wider than the other 3 surfers in the water, he snags another odd looking wave, pumping twice before pulling in, pumping once more in the tube, and highlining out clean. 5.73 under priority.
Now, the previous heat ends, and these two have choice of waves.
P flag next to Kanoa’s name, he needs a 7.41 to advance with about 20 minutes on the clock. Another quiet 10 minutes creep by. Just over 10 minutes show when Jadson goes on a messy one. I’m pretty sure he had no shot to make it. 1.13.
Tick tick.
The mention is made if Kanoa loses, Griff is still not a lock because Miggy Pupo – who is in the water for the last heat of the day – still has an outside shot. If Kanoa gets his 7.41, he is locked and the final 5 is cemented.
Kanoa really laid all his cards on the line for his last wave, stroking into a bomb with 2:15 on the buzzer. Under the ledge he holds rail from the takeoff, hits the bottom, hand in wave face he pulls off the bottom to a high & tight line over a foam ball section. He’s deep. Back down mid-face and in the bowl, pulls the rail for another mini pump, over more foam ball and spit, and finally sees his exit. He flies out untouched. Looks to the sky, picks his line through the floaties in the lineup, 2 hand claps and 2 leg slaps. Scores come in with less than a minute left, a 9.70. One judge threw a 10. Joe Turpel announces Jaddy needs an 8.04 with 20 seconds. The camera pans to Jaddy shaking Kanoa’s hand. A splash of water from Igarashi, and the Final 5 is locked. Griff’s season to a screeching halt. Kanoa, elated, on the boat,
“I’m like lost of words right now. I, uh, I can’t believe it. Honestly, its super emotional for me. Like, I really, really don’t know how to put it to words. I want to thank Teahupoo. I want to thank Teahupoo.” -Kanoa.
To Lowers !
Filipe (1)
Jack (2)
Ethan(3)
Italo –
Kanoa – can pass Italo with semi final finish
Finally, the last heat of a marathon day, Miguel Pupo vs Jake Marshall. I’ll wrap this up quickly – Miguel made every single bowl he pulled into. Jake Marshall kept two ones in his scoreline. Not for lack of effort, he fucking charged deep into 2 monsters, I’m just not for sure he has the backhand barrel experience to make it through something like that. He’s got next year to show us. On goes Miggy.
Wow. Wow. What a long ass day. Thanks for keeping up. Since we’re through the Final 5 drama, this next section will be nice and sweet (in comparison).
FINALS DAY
As soon as the broadcast started, the WSL showed numerous clips of people getting shacked on smaller-than-yesterday, but sizeable tubes at sunrise. This would be a façade. The bonafide Chopes waves would be few and far between on this day.
First heat of the day involved the surprising McGillivray and the local wildcard Kauli Vaast. This is where I started to get really shocked by the amount of knowledge this kid has of that wave. As impressive as McGillivray was in the previous two rounds, he looked very outmatched in the conditions on this day. Kauli threaded through 4 long, running barrels, never looking out of control. Matt was still going on some bigger waves, but he was too deep, or getting pinched, or having to go around a section before pulling under the lip. His waves were nothing like what Vaast was going. Kauli cruises through.
The next heat was the GOAT vs the scorching hot Yago Dora. Before things really got underway, Kauli gave his interview in the boat explaining it was “between two size” so there was the outside ledge versus the inside ledge.
Slater got off to a quick start with a low 5 and a 6.67. Yago flew through two very deep tubes but got clamped, or caught behind to get a couple of 1’s, now combo’d by a 12 point total. Kelly had a priority blunder with just under 10 minutes left in the heat. Yago baited him on a smaller inside wave that clamped closed in front of Slater, unable to push out. Yago goes on the wave behind him, a touch bigger, absolutely wider and cleaner, coming out unscathed. Kelly copped that one on the head. In between replays we can’t see who makes it out the back first.
When the live feed comes back Kelly has the priority ‘P’ next to his name, but we see Dora stroking into what has to be the biggest wave of the heat, Kelly diving through the face maybe 5 yards down the line in front of Yago, as he absolutely sails through a cannon. The heat has now turned on Slater in a matter of minutes. He curses and splashes water.
“Unspeakable words flying out of Kelly’s mouth,” Strider comments as Yago’s score of 7.83 comes through. Slater now needs a 7.44 with about 5:30 left on the clock.
2:50 showing when Slater gets into a high and tight tube with some nice time behind the curtain. He comes out clean before the pinch, into a nice down carve back toward the face. Bowl for bowl, Kelly was in the tube longer and maybe needed a bit more skill to get through it, but Yago’s wave was 2X better.
Stab’s own Michael Ciaramella said his immediate thoughts were that Kelly didn’t get it.
Laura Enever comments, “Because there was no, you know, big moment, over the foam ball, it might just go under.”
Judges unanimously throw the score at Slater, 7.8 being the lowest, average an 8.10 comes in with 1:10 seconds to go. That’s all she wrote for Yago, and the OuterKnown founder moves to the Semi-Finals of the OuterKnown Pro.
Heat 3 presented the only other OuterKnown rider and senior citizen Nathan Hedge, versus a complete shocker Caio Ibelli. Best part of this entire heat was the paddle battle that ensued after an exchange that featured Caio’s first wave, Hedgey’s second. In that first exchange, Hog got the biggest wave that would come through during these 35 minutes, getting spit out for an 8.83. Caio weaved through two tighter barrels for mid-range scores, leaving Hedge needing only a 2.17 to get through. He would end up not getting the score and losing by this margin. 11 to 10.76, Caio.
The last heat of this round was Kanoa vs Miggy Pupo. Miguel just kept his rhythm rolling, making every wave he took off on again. Kanoa only had one wave and needed almost a perfect 10 (9.93) with about 4 minutes to go. He squeezed through two pinching lips to make it a heat, but in deteriorating conditions, he was no match for the goofy Pupo. Miguel advances.
The women then surfed their Quarterfinals and Semifinals. When the men’s event returned, there was no more outside section – so it seemed. I don’t know that wave at all, so I am definitely speaking out of turn. But, for Semi Final 1, Slater vs Kauli Vaast, the local wildcard was running wild all over the inside ledge, leaving Slater sitting out the back and combo’d within 8 minutes into the heat.
Kauli was taking off deep, just pumping and racing through section after section on what looked like pretty shallow reef. He had an 8.83 and an 8.5 before he took off on another runner, this time switch, tucking under a messy lip, hanging on through multiple chandeliering sections, and flying out for a 6.77. In my eyes, this was undoubtedly the most intriguing, entertaining wave of this whole contest. I am going to do a whole nother tangent on this particular wave and the idea behind it. It got me so fired up. At this point, we were all thinking Kelly wouldn’t even catch a wave. I actually think if Slater knew that Kauli made a bowl switch, no shot he would have paddled for one. With less than 3 minutes left, Kelly goes on a small, clean inside wave, but gets way too deep and falls. 1.17 to 17.33 – the wildcard to the final.
Semi two, Caio versus Pupo went just how you would guess in conditions like this. That, plus Miggy’s momentum into this heat, I think anyone could have guessed who would take this out. Miguel finally fell on one wave. Caio actually had a nice 6.17, but could not find anything to go with it.
Miguel takes on Kauli Vaast in the final.
Per Stab’s last podcast, Miguel started as a 2-1 underdog in betting odds, but if you looked closer, it was pretty evenly matched. As much knowledge and experience as Kauli had on his side, Miguel had momentum and rhythm.
The local let Miggy take the first wave of the heat without much battle, something you don’t see from top tier CT surfers often. The 10 year veteran weaves through a long tube across the whole reef, starting off strong with an even 7 point ride. Kauli’s first ride was a near make that would have went excellent. The water angle showed him pumping nonstop, racing through a long tube, only to get caught by the foam ball at the very end.
Miggy’s first two waves left Kauli needing a solid 8 just over 10 minutes into the heat. Vaast’s first nice wave was a 7.33 for getting spit out of a bowl and coming out untouched. The issue for the local was that the elder Pupo brother was on a bigger wave right behind him, going through a super deep section, over a foam ball, and cruising out after the spit. 9 point ride.
Kauli grabbed another inside runner, just bettering his score for a 7.37. When the scores drop there’s under 12 minutes on the clock and the wildcard needs an 8.97, and Miguel has priority.
Pupo would use this priority on the first wave of a set, getting really deep and “shot out of a cannon,” in the words of Turpel. 8.17. He was just strolling back to the takeoff zone when Kauli picks off another one on the inside ledge and spends an absurd amount of time behind the curtain. The only other person I saw stall as usefully as this was Jack Robbo. This 7.63 number kind of baffled me, begging the question – is a perfect wave worth more than a perfect ride?
With under 5 minutes left the young Tahitian would need a 9.54. Each surfer would catch one more wave, Miggy a 6.67 that would not be in his scoreline. Kauli caught a bomb that looked like it wasn’t big enough for the outside ledge, pinching at the end. He made it through a couple of crazy sections before getting caught, but it would have been a tough task to make the last section. Miguel, once again, did not fall in this heat. He had INSANE connection out there. It was pretty magical watching it all back.
Miguel Pupo, the 10 year veteran takes out the OuterKnown Tahiti Pro for his first CT win on tour. If Kanoa had lost one heat earlier, he would be in the Final 5 at Lowers. What a damn run. Congratulations to one deserving fellow. And congratulations to anyone who actually stuck around to read this entire thing. I sincerely appreciate the time and support.
The Final 5 for Lowers is as follows:
- Filipe
- Jack
- YEWing
- Italo
- Kanoa
Talk about this soon.
Cheers,
-hwilsin
One reply on “TAY AH WHO POO OOH NOTES”
[…] And finally, Miguel said to hell with all of the losing by mere fractions of points. He went and took out the final contest of the year, the OuterKnown Tahiti Pro, covered in full here. […]