Any surfers here? Anyone follow the WCT? The tour's getting really tight towards the end of this year. There's two comps remaining and less than 10,000 points (which is what you get for one event win) dividing the top four surfers on tour. On top you have the eternal bridesmaid Joel Parkinson on 52700 (he's come so close to winning a World Title a few times, but keeps falling short), King Kelly on 47200, Mick Fanning just behind on 47000 and John John Florence, one of this year's rookies, on 44350. Kelly Slater is the reigning World Champ and was leading the ratings until Portugal, the most recent comp, where he posted a poor 13th. Due to missing an event earlier in the year due to injury, he now can't afford to post another poor result and has to keep Parkinson from posting anything better than him. Each surfer's best 8 results out of the 10 events count towards their ratings (i.e. they drop their two worst results, a 9th and a 5th for Parkinson and an INJ and one 13th for Slater). The next event is at Santa Cruz, California- the O'Neill Coldwater Classic. Santa Cruz produces some amazing waves when the conditions come together- I surfed there a couple of years ago and had an awesome time, despite the 11-12 degree water. If you follow the tour, who's your tip for winning the event?
The race is still on! It's down to two men now, Mick Fanning and John John Florence were both eliminated in the second round- their World Title campaigns are over. Slater only just won his last heat by a point and Parko's still alive too. Tomorrow will be very interesting.
huge fan here and watch alot of the events on Fuel TV Jon Jon knocked out of the cold water classic this morning, as was Mick and Julian Wilson the WCT title is really up for grabs, its anyone's atm although looks like Parko is the fav
if he wins the WCT title he will be the first guy to ever win it without winning a single event, unless he wins the pipe event, its the only one left I think
He can still win the Coldwater Classic too, he's in very good form. He's straight into the quarters after winning his round 4 heat, while Slater came last in his and will be languishing in round 5. Slater looks like he's really struggling with Steamers Lane, he hasn't won any of his heats convincingly (with his round 3 heat featuring a highly controversial finish- most people thought Dusty Payne won it easily with his last wave) and looked lost in round 4. Of course, you can never count him out, no doubt he's reviewing everything that went wrong in his last heat and will be changing his strategies for round 5. At the moment though, Parko's looking the goods!
Teeeeeeeaaj go you good thing, good to see Wilko do well also I've still got Taj and Steph holding up their trophies from their win at Snapper on my FB page https://www.facebook.com/Twizzle.Eel
Good to see Taj finish the year strongly after a weak midyear. Wilko needed that badly, that was his first time making it out of round 3 all year- just one more decent result and he'll save himself for next year. It all comes down to Pipe now. If Parko finishes 13th, 9th or 5th, Slater needs a 5th or better to win the title. If Parko finishes 3rd, Slater needs a 3rd or better to win and if Parko comes 2nd, Slater needs to take out the event to win the title. If Parko wins the event, no one can touch him. Also, Fanning's still a mathematical chance of winning the title as long as he can win the event and Slater & Parko don't finish any higher than 5th and 3rd respectively. Pretty unlikely. That's an awesome shot on your FB Twizzle, Snapper was such a good comp this year.
I was there nearly every day, its always a great event and having 2 Aussies win made it even better I only live 5 mins from Snapper
Mick Fanning illiminated from Pipeline so its down to Parko V. Slater also alot of rumours saying this is Slater's swan song and he's retiring after Pipeline
I forgot I started this thread! I'm stoked for Parko, all those years of hard work finally paid off. It's good he won Pipe though, he wouldn't really want the dubious honour of winning a World Title without actually winning a comp throughout the year. He surfed amazingly in that event, definitely deserved.
What's everyones thoughts on the Surf Ranch Pro? Mine - its interesting, and probably the route that the Olympics will take, and it should remain as a stand alone competition, its controllable and consistent, which is what the Olympics will need, especially if the sport is there to stay But it doesn't belong on the Tour, the format is different, and the required skills are different. The tour should remain what it has been, the best surfers on the best waves. Wave pool surfing can be practiced, surfers can watch the wave, think about and practice exactly what they want to do, and then do it. Ocean surfing requires you to read the wave and get into the right spot and preform the right manoeuvres at the right time.
I agree, it doesn't belong on the tour, obviously a huge money spinner for Slater as it was over a thousand bucks entry for the 2 or 3 days and then car parking on top of that. I know he spent a lot of money on it but he is not short of a dollar. Its a theme park, nothing else. Since when was carpaking ever charged for any WSL event, really dont like it although as with all sports it is moving towards commercialisation. Also I dont like the fact that they are all 1 metre small barrels that suit the Brazillians and their aerial show and treat it like a skateboard ramp. They are not known for their big swell breaks in Brazil so they thrive on these small waves where and we get Bells and Margret River at 2 metres more often than not. The unpredictability is one of the things that adds to the appeal of the ocean.
Its also boring as f**k to watch imo The women getting equal prize winnings is also a big issue for the sport. They simply aren't watched by as many people and don't deserve it.
I quiet like them and I dont just mean perving at them, Tyler is as good and powerful on the snaps as any of the men and seems to have modelled her surfing on Mick Fannings style, a lot of power and strength in those legs. I dont mind them getting equal money but they need to get their numbers up as they only have about a third of the competitors as the men do. I agree the surf ranch is a bit repetitive as every wave is the same, its just not cricket.
The surf provides lullabies as ocean echoes roll. The sunlight glitters as the dawn turns dark to gold. I've posted thoughts at different threads, had the courage to start a few, and one of my likes is being creative so I made a few videos, maybe self-indulgence, maybe time on my hands and in need of fun. Here's a video I made called Waves
