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MAYHEM presents a report from the Gold Coast, AUST.
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I've been in Australia for the past week or so. After a few days of building boards at Chile's factory in Sydney, I went to the first WCT show at Snapper. Not Sniper, for now. The rocks looked more like holes in the ocean than point breaks, so most of the heats were at Rainbow Bay. Snapper was a bit mushy, but it looked like fun.
Most of the images below are provided free of charge by surfline.
It started with the girls' heats. Coco Ho lost two heats (2nd place) but still had a good day of surfing. Both heats totaled 17+ points. Her forehand snap and finishing was thrilling. This strong competitor, Ho, kept going, but unfortunately her opponents rode longer and landed more lips, which cost her the total points. Check out her heat critiques from rounds 3 and 4. Amazing!
Coco Ho's surfing was amazing, but she lost both heats despite scoring 17.3 and 17.33 points. Photo by ASP Kristin.
On the second day of competition, Carissa Moore took it all. She performed full rail turns that even many of the young male surfers at the WQS couldn't pull off. She was riding an experimental V2-Rocket (size 5'7" 18.56" 2.18" with a super low entry and super release tail design). As Surfline headlines have it... STUNNING.
Carissa Moore in a V2
"The waves on the outside are so fun. Everyone on the tour has a chance to get some good waves. I'm excited to move on to the next round. Hopefully, the waves keep coming in," said Carissa after hitting the best point of the day. Photo by ASP Hayden Smith.
Maria rode her monster Tiki and looked great, but was eliminated early on.
Maria Manuel made some solid turns, but was eliminated in round 3. Photo by ASP Hayden Smith.
The men's heat. The waves were a little stronger, with tails flying everywhere. Taj was up first. He seemed to have decided to wait for the really good waves about halfway through the heat. He had a new board with FCS2 fins. The waves he caught were really good, and he was riding them well. However, he couldn't land the backside he caught when the wind died down. The talented pro surfer landed two waves and earned himself a ticket to Round 3.
Next up was Kolohe, a 6'0 Driver equipped with FCS2 fins. His high and powerful flies (airs) attracted attention. Competing against the kings Kelly Slater and Dean Sensei, Kolohe chose good waves, controlled the heat, and surfed calmly. Kelly gradually gained points, and finally passed Kolohe at the end of the heat to take first place, as he often has done before.
"On a day when the title hopefuls had odd, flat waves that only broke in certain spots, but also a lot of luck, Kelly Slater's most storied guard was there and unyielding. Kolohe Andino and Dean Reynolds' heat was the most anticipated of the day."
"It's very motivating to compete against good surfers," Kelly said.
"Dean's one of the best surfers out there, Kolohe's starting to come into his own, and it's the same for everyone. They're all enjoying their off-season and coming back here and competing again."
The heat between Kelly/Dean/Colo was the most anticipated heat of the day.
The real surprise of the day was Travas Rogers' backside attack. Travas caught two waves and smashed into them. He effortlessly executed a fast backside pull, stretching, and cutting long ride. He earned the highest total points of the round.
Travis Rogers was wearing the new FCS "ORIGIN" fins. The ORIGIN system is made of faux glass. We've been working on these fins for months, and Travis' heat was the first time we saw them in public.
Julian came into Round 1 with a relaxed, confident attitude. He didn't try too hard and just surfed powerfully and decisively to win. I felt he had done well in that heat, but was saving it for the heats that followed. We had shipped him eight boards in early January, but they were lost in transit. After dealing with many people and a flurry of confusing emails and phone calls, his boards were eventually found. He felt confident enough to use them in Round 1.
A pink Mickey Mouse drawing by his mother for the breast cancer campaign.
In the end, I couldn't find any photos, but Brett Simpson rode a 6'0 18.75 2.38 Driver to land the lip in round 1 and jump up to round 3.
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That's it. I'll be posting the sequel on my blog, so please look forward to it!
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