Big ups to Shane
Who is one of the best all around surfers in the world today? Kelly? Well, ofcourse. Mick after his second world title? Yes. Joel’s surgical cuts even after his world title collapse? Sure, the argument could be made…and there are many others. But I’m all about looking a little deeper and beyond the ASP tour. Just on the other side of the hype you will find Shane Dorian. Same as he ever was.
While on my recent trip to Hawaii, I couldn’t help but notice him. If you were there you couldn’t either. He was dropping in on the best waves of the day at Waimea the week it was breaking (not just during the Eddie). Then you could find him getting one of the best waves during the Pipe Masters a few days later. And let’s not forget the waves he has been charging in Teahupoo the past few years! Freaking brilliant. Is he just a big wave guy? No way. Check out September Sessions and remind yourself that he has been ripping perfect Indonesian waves back when Kelly had hair!
Is he the best all around surfer of his time? You be the judge, but I will tell you it is hard to argue with his performances over the years and most recently on the North Shore. I wanted to use this space to give Shane his props and show you this cool photo of him hiding out in the frame, away from the limelight, doing his thing. Well done Shane.
ASP Hurley Pro
Photo and words by photo assistant Jobi Manson
3:45 am the alarm goes… I leave my apartment in West Hollywood to venture slightly farther south to Lower Trestles, to witness the only ASP event located in the continental United States. I met my friend John at Carl’s Jr. where we proceeded to make the journey down the path to the hidden gem located at the San Mateo State camping ground.
Not being a native Californian, I knew the legend of Trestles, but had yet to experience its magic. Now let me preface this entry by saying, the surf on Day 2 of the Hurley Pro was less then magic. However, that’s not to say that magic didn’t occur. Arriving at the break just before sunrise, John and I found a spot on the pebble-laden beach and set up shop in order for me shoot. Lurking just behind my left shoulder happened to be the athlete’s only tent, to which I gazed star struck at all of my childhood surfing idols (the boys). In the tent warming up slash playing hacky sack were Cj. Hobgood & Marlon Lipke. Fortunately for me a very nice gentleman who happens to be the highest voted surf repair shop in San Clemente scored me a VIP pass, which allowed me to get stalker status on these gentlemen. Some even said hello.
The morning heats started off well enough in my opinion the better surf for sure. Cj rocked out beating Lipke… Taylor Knox proved that age doesn’t matter at all when it comes to surfing talent walking all over Australia’s Drew Courtney. Take that Australia, not so seppo now eh mate? And now I’m skipping to the part where I do what Dave refers to as “hating”. I am gonna “hate” for a minute on the results of heat number 8 concerning my official favourite surfer, South African Umhlanga boy JORDY SMITH and Tiago Pires. Jordy pulled two 360’s and blasted a superman air and lost? What is the surfing world coming to when progressive manoeuvres are being shunned? Okay, maybe I shouldn’t say shunned.. But Tiago’s roundhouses and slashes off the lip were far less entertaining…very vanilla. Where as Mr. Smith’s manoeuvres are more easily equated with a banana split? How do you like your ice cream? Because personally I like a little flavour. Okay, done hating…
As the afternoon progressed I ventured into the VIP section to grab some free food (yes!) and linger. I happened to bump in Rob Machado who was intrigued with my tilt shift and began to inquire what type of lens I was shooting with. Pretty cool meeting and greeting some of the pro’s. All in all a very fun day, I even went home to discover I had a bit of sunburn. I guess twelve hours in the sun will do that to you.
South Swell approaches
It looks like our first south swell will be visiting this weekend and it is predicted to be at least head high. Here’s one of your options – Malibu! Just don’t expect it to be a solo session! ha ha. Wherever your south swell spot is, check it out starting Saturday (probably more like Sunday/Monday). Does this mean the water is going to be warmer? Hope so.
Hey, I am always getting updates from the Surfing Heritage Foundation. This place has some of the classic boards of our sport in their ‘museum’ and it is definitely worth a visit. You may even want to see their website for some Ron Stoner images and other cool stuff.
I just saw that Joel Parkinson won at his home break at Kirra in some good looking waves. Congrats to him, but really, it is about time! Dude is a great surfer and that is his local. He should have taken this one years ago. I think the real surprise is that Kelly slumped in with a 17th. Does that mean he has some supermodel he’s tuning? Looks like the usual suspects in the top 10 with the Hobgoods, Mick and Taj. Next stop – Bells Beach.
Coco Ho surfs better than me…
I will say it again…’Coco Ho surfs better than me.’ Damn, it’s true. I mean I watched her heat today against reigning Haleiwa Pro champion Megan Abudo and she just finessed a difficult Haleiwa onshore peak a few feet overhead with tight turns, lots of speed and a beautiful cutback. Wow. I was impressed. She ended up winning the heat with Volcom’s Claire Bevilacqua coming in second and Megan getting eliminated in third. In the post heat interview she was asked if she would be going on the WCT if she qualified to which she answered that it was a possibility. I couldn’t believe that she was old enough. I still think she is 9 or something having watched her grow up around the North Shore with her famous family. Congrats to Coco and watch out ASP women she surfs better than me!
Sunset Beach, California
The truth is that I never planned on shooting Sunset Beach today, but I was just too late getting out the door to make it down to Newport with a few of my friends. They reported head high sets with overhead waves and lots of closeouts with the odd hollow corner for a head dip. Sounds pretty good to me!
I gotta admit I was kind of stoked on Sunset today. I mean there were some good sets in the head high range and despite the lulls when it came there were some fun long lines! Here is an unknown surfer girl catching a wall and showing what I am talking about. Hope you had fun out there. The photos will be posted either tonight or tomorrow…
Don’t forget next week is the Trestles contest and your opportunity to see the best in the world compete for the Title. Kelly could put a lock down on it, but I am not going to jinx him like I did in Bali. Instead I will pick Mick Fanning to win it all. If so, it will again be a contest coming into the final stretch, but if he flames out Kelly will have an easier road to Hawaii. See you down there.
Rip Curl is on…at Uluwatu!
The cat is out of the bag. The Rip Curl Search event is being held at Uluwatu. You can watch the ASP event, but you will have to stay up late if you are in the mainland US. The early heats will get underway right around the time Californians are starting to go to bed (Bali is 15 hours ahead- 9pm here is 6am in Bali).
Apparently Kelly Slater has been up to his old tricks surfing impressively and even going ’switch foot’. I will go out on a limb here (not really) and say Kelly will win this event. Why? Kelly is on a roll and he is good at keeping up his momentum. Kelly loves Bali, knows the break and has a support system in place. Finally, it suits his style. Uluwatu can be a difficult wave. It is moody and changes with swell and tide like no other place. Kelly is one of the most versatile surfers on the tour and reads conditions better than anyone. I think you will see him sit in different locations than his competitors in some heats exploiting his innate ability to catch the ’set of the day’. Don’t be surprised when he gets completely shacked on a day that isn’t really tubing. It’s just what he does and what makes him one of the greatest (the greatest) surfers of all time. I can’t wait to watch this contest!
