The first ever surf contest to be reported was held in 1928, at Corona Del Mar, California. Titled the ‘Pacific Coast Surf Riding Championships’, the event was organized by the city of Newport Beach. Surf competitions have come a long way since these early days of paddle contests, canoe tilting, surfboard races and life-saving demonstrations. […]
Category: tour talk
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RULE NUMBER ELEVEN
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve missed out on more surf sessions than I am proud to admit. A late wakeup, wind is on it, tides too high, it’ll be better in an hour, was better yesterday, too crowded, hungover, too much current, got somewhere to be in an hour, need to eat first – trust […]
Now that the wave pool is over, I want to share some thoughts. As you may recall, I recently informed you of a little movement going on in our corner of the play room – a boycott of the WSL’s Abu Dhabi wave pool party event. I just wanted to ask if those same boycotters […]
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WAVE POOL INFO
“I’ve seen bigger waves in a toilet.” It’s that time of year again! The most hotly debated contest of the WSL’s entire existence is upon us. Not only is this event back at a wave pool, this one is located in Abu Dhabi, an area where human rights are held precariously. It is such a […]
Jordy Smith dropped an insane movie last week. A mind bending, perspective altering watch. My immediate thought – is Jordy the best 37 year old surfer, ever? I had to go back to 2010 Kelly clips to find out the short answer – no. If Jordy can win the title this year, like we were […]
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DONE AND DUSTED
There’s been a ton happening in and around surfing, and I’ve done a terrible job of keeping you up to date. My apologies. I’ve been busy. It’s quite a job that guy Santa has. My older son is at the age where he’s enamoured with Christmas. Advent calendars, Elf on the Shelf, cookies & milk, […]
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BITTERSWEET
I’m here to say I told you so. That QS event in Mexico was great viewing. Two future CT surfers had an absolute cracker of a Final, and there were 7 “excellent” heats (16 points or above) surfed since I told you to watch. Sorry you missed it, but I’ll fill you in. From the […]
There’s a QS1000 going on in Mexico right now, and the camera work is atrocious. Heinous. Really bad. I had the contest on in the background for most of the day, but I actually tuned in for the last few heats. Wave looks really fun, but nothing special. And yeah, back to the cameras – […]
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2 BIRDS 1 STONE
Mikey McDonagh, Jordan Lawler, and Al Cleland each won an event on the Challenger Series. Not one qualified for the Championship Tour next year. Ian Gouveia skipped 2 events and finished 2nd in the CS rankings. Miguel Pupo, Joel Vaughan, George Pittar, Edgard Groggia, and Jackson Bunch never even made a Final, yet they all […]
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PICK OF THE LITTER
Have we already talked about how fucking gnarly the Challenger Series is? For example, Jordan Lawler didn’t surf at Snapper, but he won the first event he surfed in – the Sydney Pro. He then got 33rd in Ballito, and now has back-to-back 73rd (dead last) place results. He currently sits in 14th place on […]