Founders' Cup

Over a couple of days in Central California, 100 miles from the beach, twenty-five of the world’s best surfers were ripping perfect three to five-foot waves at the Kelly Slater Surf Ranch. You couldn’t get a hotel room within a thirty mile circumference of a small country town called Lemoore. Which, besides a bunch of produce farms, the biggest thing going on is the Tachi Palace Casino, which was packed to the gills with the surfers, their entourages and surf fans mingling with the Lemoore locals, celebrating Cinco De Mayo.

The Surf Ranch had the festival atmosphere - bleachers around the pool, VIP cabanas, life-size painted cutouts of the seven Founders’ to greet the fans coming through the general admission gates, a music stage with bands and Perry Farrell on the turn-tables and all sorts of important peeps scattered around the venue. Welcome to SurfChella. Kelly’s wave challenged the best, its perfect peeling predictability was the undoing of many, but if you’re Filipe Toledo you figure it out, as he went J-Bay on Lemoore with two rotations to post the only perfect ten of the weekend.

Through the forty plus years of pro surfing as we know it, there’s been some seismic shifts - the founding of the IPS in Hawaii mid-way ’76 bringing together the events of the “Gypsy Tour” of the early Seventies into and annual ranking and World Pro Championship, the ASP take-over in ’83 out of HB, Rabbit and Peter Wilkerson’s implementation of the “Dream Tour,” putting events at places like Garajagan and finally Dirk Ziff’s arrival and funding of the WSL to put the sport into the digital world as the webcasts have become as good as any in any sport.

The wavepool phenomena arrival is definitely another, and the fact that 5,000 paying customers had driven out into California farmland proves it, and from the opening of the gates until the last wave ridden, nobody left the pool. If you’re into golf or tennis you’ve heard of the Ryder Cup or Davis Cup. Well, the Founders’ Cup is surfings’ version. In this case it’s five teams of five (three men and two women) from the WSL rankings making up: Team USA, Team Australia, Team Brazil, Team Europe and Team World. The Aussies had the best rail game going but no game above the lip, the Brazilian Storm were storming as usual and Silvana Lima layed down one of the best rides of the final day but the surfing of Jordy Smith and Kanoa Igarashi on the Sunday put the World in the position to win.

Of course, just like a Hollywood movie script, the last wave of the event came down to Kelly Slater with one ride, needing a nine point one something to lead Team USA to victory over the Jordy Smith led Team World. But this Hollywood dream-script was not to be, as he ripped the bags out his tailor made left with a fumble on the end section to post a low nine, and the World was their’s.

They’ll all be back there early September for a CT stop where valuable World Championships points will be on the line. I’m sure Kelly’s phone will be ringing between now then for some practice sessions and I guarantee that hotel rooms in the vicinity will be at premium once again as I’ll bet the scheduled four days will be sold out with surf fans. You can’t beat the “live” experience as every four minutes you get to see one of the world’s best ripping on a perfect four to five-foot right or left.

Photos // Stan Sievers & WSL

Words // PT, A Founder