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COMING DOWN FROM THE CLOUDS REFLECTIONS ON FIJI’S FINEST HOUR B I G G E R , FA S T E R , D E E P E R , L O U D E R T H E B R E A K N E C K L I F E O F R O S S C L A R K E - J O N E S A N D T H E 3 D M OV I E T H AT ’ S M O R E R E V O L U T I O N A R Y T H A N M A D WA X OF MAESTROS AND MADMEN DEREK HYND UNHINGED IN THE DESERT
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THE GREATEST AND PERHAPS MOST CONTROVERSIAL DAY IN SURFING HISTORY AS RETOLD BY THOSE WHO WERE THERE.
KE LLY ’S CA L L Hi, I’m 11-time world champion, Kelly Slater [soon to be 12 just quietly]. You’ll be seeing some quotes from me popping up throughout the feature, taken during my stint in the commentary booth as the session was going down in front of my eyes. Like this one of Ramon’s, “How did he not get taken out right there [on the foamball]? And then boom! I thought this was the wave of the day.”
PHOTO: RUSSELL BROS
K E LLY ’ S C A LL “It’s just one after another, and guys are literally like taking tickets and they’ve got a number on them and a wave’s coming and they’re just flipping and going. It’s just incredible to be able to be comfortable enough on so many waves. The real thing is, so many of these guys have put themselves in this situation so many times to be able to deal with it, to be able to handle it, to know what to expect when they’re underwater, what the wave is going to do to them, to know how to be calm, hold your breath. It’s all that training ahead of time.”
PHOTO: GIBSON
THUNDER CLAP FROM THE GODS. BY PETER ‘JOLI’ WILSON A thunderstorm rolled across the Fijian islands of Tavarua and Namotu around 2 o’clock this morning. Amongst those surfers and Volcom Fiji Pro support staff housed on the islands, a number of people thought the thunder was the noise of waves breaking on the fringing coral reefs signalling the arrival of the huge south swell that everyone had been expecting. Considering Cloudbreak was first known as ‘thunder break’, or loosely translated from the Fijian as ‘Thunder sent by the gods’, it was apt, and all who had heard the commotions were right, about the noise and the swell – it was thunder and the swell had arrived! At last light on Thursday the swell wasn’t showing, but at dawn today, despite the heavy cloud cover and dumping rain there were walls of white water crashing over the reefs. It was hard to put a size to it from the islands but the early reports back from Cloudbreak were that the swell was in the 10’-12’ range with wash-through sets and still on the rise. The swell continued to rise throughout the day and around mid-afternoon, three sets of waves about 40 minutes apart were the biggest and cleanest waves people could ever remember seeing at Cloudbreak. Micah, one of the oldest [but 50 years young] Fijian boatmen employed by Namotu Island said that he’s never seen waves at Cloudbreak like the
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ones he saw that day. Big wave surfers from all over the world had watched the low pressure form off the East Coast of Australia and start to push the south swell towards Fiji. Crew had been flying in over the past few days but had to hang on the mainland because the Volcom Pro was taking up all the accommodation on Tavarua and Namotu. Guys like Mark Healey, Ian Walsh, Reef McIntosh, Nathan Fletcher, Ramón Navarro, Twiggy Baker, Kohl Christianson, Danny Fuller, Jamie Sterling; they were all out there, plus most of the ASP’s Top 34, and guys like Dave Wassel, Alex Gray, Jamie Mitchell and Billy Mitchell who were working at the contest. The line up of surfers was impressive and the surfing was nothing short of breathtaking. By the end of the day there were at least five waves that could qualify for ‘Wave of the Day’. Ramón Navarro from Chile was in the pick, a late one in the day by Dave Wassel was in there plus waves by Reef McIntosh, Mark Healey and Ian Walsh were all in the mix. Over dinner that night [on Namotu] the waves were on the big screen TV over the bar and were being played again and again. The verdict from members of the Top 34 was Reef McIntosh’s wave was bigger and cleaner than the others but it wasn’t a unanimous vote.
THE FIJIAN SHOWDOWN
“It was the best it can get,” said Adrian ‘Ace’ Buchan. “I couldn’t imagine it could get any better ... the big wave guys have just taken riding Cloudbreak to another level.” Yadin Nicol agreed: “It was disturbing what those guys were doing, it was a totally different league … I felt like an idiot out there in the lineup. I was just so under-gunned on a 6’9” with no oxygen tanks or flotation vests … I just got flogged out there.” He added with a laugh. “So did I,” said Ace. “I borrowed a 7’0” and snapped it first wave. Both the Hobgoods charged the draining inside waves. Late vertical drops and deep barrels from both of them. Both snapped boards with CJ borrowing one of Kelly Slater’s guns late in the day. When asked about who he thought had scored the best waves Damien Hobgood couldn’t decide. “I thought Ian Walsh’s wave was the best wave I’ve ever seen, then Reef’s (McIntosh) was just crazy and then Wassel’s wave was sick, it is so hard to pick!” he said before adding, “The waves ridden today were just out of this world.” When Ian Walsh paddled past our boat it was a chance to ask his opinion about the day.
“It’s definitely the best waves I’ve ever seen anywhere in the world and the session has been going all day.” When asked about his bomb wave he replied, “It happened so fast. I think that wave was the best backside barrel I’ve ever been near (laughing).” He was being modest with his answer because he got more than close, he was deep in the throat of a tube pushing 15’ plus. Champion paddler Jamie Mitchell, who has recently charged all over the world riding big waves, had a similar view to Walsh. “I reckon they are the best waves I’ve ever seen” he said, “pristine, beautiful, big, perfect. Some of the big waves that came through today were like a cartoon drawing, no, better than a cartoon, more perfect, they were just incredible. Today was one of those days that will go down in surfing history, f*#@ it was an amazing day.” Dane Gudauskas, who had come to support his brother Pat in the Volcom Pro, charged, taking some on the head, air dropping others and scoring some solid pits. His words probably sum up the whole day: “The very best day,” he said. “It was way more perfect than I could ever believe a day of surfing could be. I didn’t think there could be a day like this in the world.”
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B I G W AV E D AV E W A L K S T H E TA L K . B Y J E D S M I T H DAV E W A S S E L C A U G H T J U S T O N E W AV E O N T H E A F T E R N O O N O F J U N E T H E 8 T H B U T I T W I L L G O D O W N A S O N E O F T H E G R E A T E S T I N H I S T O R Y. T H I S I S H O W T H E 37 -Y E A R - O L D N O R T H S H O R E L I F E G U A R D A N D V O L C O M P RO C O M M E N T AT O R D I D I T.
“THAT’S RIGHT BOYS, I BACKDOORED TWO SECTIONS ON THAT THING, TWO. COUNT ‘EM, ONE, TWO.” PHOTO: JOLI
Kelly Slater calls it the best two minutes of surfing he’s ever seen but the star of it all, Dave Wassel can barely remember it. Despite piloting the wave of the day during Cloudbreak’s June 8th super session, the 37-year-old North Shore lifeguard can’t recall much of what happened. “I’m afraid of big waves. Honestly, I’m afraid of heights, all’s I remember is shaking hands, hugging my friends and all of a sudden I’m at the bottom of this wave. So from A to B I forgot and then time just stood still as I’m grabbing my rail in this huge barrel,” he says. The wave is already being hailed as a frontrunner for the Billabong XXL ride of the year (a gong Dave’s won before) and amazingly it came just moments after Dave had stepped out from the commentary booth, his gig on the mic being the main reason he was even in Fiji. “I was stuck in the box but I knew I wanted to be out there when the tide switched around three, four or five in the afternoon,” he says. The two plus hours he’d spent commentating
his friends and fellow big wave loonies as they caught the best waves of their life had left the Hawaiian feeling edgy to say the least. But on the plus side, it also allowed him time to mentally prepare himself for what he was about to attempt. Or so he thought. “When I suited up and jumped in the water I saw the two biggest waves I think anyone has ever seen come through Cloudbreak,” he recalls. The first wave, a 20 footer, was chased by Hawaiian Mark Healey but he just fell off the back. As he turned around, the biggest wave of the day reared up and prepared to drop a hydrogen bomb of force straight on his dome. “There’s a picture I think of Healey’s board in the lip and that’s an 8’6, which means that’s a 20ft thick lip and that’s, I dunno, you do the math yourself: 40 by 40. And that’s what I saw when I jumped in the water and I’ll tell you, I still have a stain in my surf shorts,” says Dave. But Dave’s no stranger to big waves, either. Having spent most of his life chasing mack-
ing outer reef swells off Hawaii’s North Shore, he knows exactly what’s required in scenarios like this. Even his downtime kicks – free diving, spear fishing, open ocean board paddling and hunting wild boar with a bow and arrow – read like a Bear Grylls’ script. When Cloudbreak last broke at something approaching this size, Dave was there but strangely the Hawaiian remained a little-known underground charger. “I’m one of those people who always runs from cameras, so this is interesting. I’ve gotten great waves before but usually no one sees them,” he says. With at least three boats of photographers, media personnel, plus many of the world’s best surfers watching on from the channel there was no way this was going uncaptured. As the wave of the day rears up, Dave is in position. But he’s only just entered the lineup meaning he’s way down the pecking order for a wave. Then something remarkable happens. Having been so enraptured by action he’d spent
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DAV E W A S S E L , T O O K F U L L A D V A N T AG E O F A Q U I C K B R E A K I N H I S C O M M E N T A R Y D U T I E S A N D S C O R E D O N E O F T H E W AV E S O F T H E S E S S I O N . PHOTO: JOLI
the morning commentating, Dave had given all those who caught waves and rolled the dice a heartfelt word and congratulations as he arrived in the Cloudbreak lineup. When the wave of the day arrived, they called him into it. “It’s funny, cause Kala and I were just talking about it. The first person we met on the airline was a Fijian stewardess and her name was Akiti, which means: “it’s meant to be”. That was the theme of the whole day and the contest and the swell. It’s meant to be,” says Dave. He wrestles his 10’2 around and starts paddling. The board glides into the wave, before as he stands up, it “squirts off the bottom like a banana out of a peel,” sending him flying through one of the great pits in surfing history. “My entire life has just been going over the falls stuck in the lip. Nine out of 10 end up like that… But this was in front of the entire world,” he says. Once the spit settles, Dave returns to the chan-
nel where he receives a standing ovation from Kelly Slater, a crowd of ASP officials, photographers and other surfers. As he reaches the boat, Mick Fanning rushes toward him with some beers and that’s where he stays. “It doesn’t matter where you’re going in the world it only takes one … once you get that wave and you realise that’s the wave you’ve waited your entire life for and you’re faced with one of the most horrifying situations and it takes a split second to say okay, I’m either gonna pull my leash and swim under this thing or pull around and go for this thing. It’s that selfrealisation and hopefully it turns out for the best. It’s overcoming all your fears in life and coming out on top,” he says. When Dave picks up my phone call he’s back on the North Shore dropping Mark Healey’s board bag off. Soon he will go back to work as a lifeguard and can only dream of one day getting paid enough to give up working and chase big waves instead.
“Kelly’s claiming it’s the best two minutes of surfing that’s ever been seen. I’m taking that to cash it in at the bank,” he laughs. But that dream might not be far off. Having witnessed one of the ballsiest displays in surfing history from the channel having been too frightened to paddle out himself, Kelly Slater has now begun calling for more money and more support for the underground big wave heroes, such as Dave. “These (big-wave) guys and these swells need a good platform that supports what they’re already doing and someone to really document the whole lifestyle and help these guys out more,” Kelly told The Australian newspaper recently. “It actually brings up a more interesting question about the Association of Surfing Professionals backing a big-wave world tour or events in a specialty way as they happen,” he said. “It’s about time that it happens,” says Dave.
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PHOTO: POMPERMAYER
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KELLY’S CALL “John John right here in the mix. This kid’s unbelievable. There’s just no doubt he’s amazing at absolutely everything he touches, skateboards included. He’s not scared of big waves and he’s not scared of surfing one-foot onshore slop. He can mix it with everybody on earth in every situation, and if you ever had a doubt, that wave proved it right there. Nineteen years old.”
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ACES OR JOKERS? BY JED SMITH AC E B U C H A N FAC E S T H E M U S I C O N T H E T O U R ’ S R E M A R K A B L E FA I L U R E T O S U R F P E R F E C T, SUPER-SIZED CLOUDBREAK
It’s almost unfair that Ace Buchan should have to face the grilling you’re about to read. For of course, despite being farcically under-gunned on a 6’8”, he surfed that maxing day at Cloudbreak as the vast majority of the World Tour sought refuge in the Tavarua restaurant, watching the action on TV like the rest of us (for the record, the others that surfed were Joel Parkinson, Mick Fanning, John Florence, Pat Gudauskas, Josh Kerr, Damo Hobgood and Yadin Nicol). But he is a representative of the Surfers Union, and with that territory comes the questions as to why the event wasn’t run, whether the World Tour is now nothing more than a niche circuit full of small-wave tricksters, and, having failed so remarkably to be prepared for the most an-
ticipated swell in recent memory, whether the so-called world’s best now owe the sports fans. What are your reflections on the big day at Cloudbreak? Fuck, it was crazy. There are a lot of swells that don’t live up to the hype but that one definitely did. It was bigger and more perfect than everyone thought, you know. It was pretty crazy to be there and witness it and get out there and get a couple and get a few beatings as well. It was an experience. What was the vibe in the lineup?
It was really cool. I’ve surfed places like Waimea and Tahiti a couple of times when it’s on the verge of being too big to paddle, with those big wave guys, and I’ve really been surprised about how good the camaraderie is and how they look after each other. Obviously, they were all competing for waves but they were all genuinely stoked when one of the other guys got a big barrel. It was cool to see. Is it a camaraderie that you rarely get among tour surfers, like, was it a dynamic that you were kind of jealous of? Sort of, like the camaraderie on tour is pretty amazing. I spent two weeks on Namotu and it
KELLY’S CALL “They’re competitive in a really healthy way cause these guys are each other’s best friends and they’re not out there saying ‘oh you won’t go cause you’re scared’. They’re more like ‘let’s push each other and let’s do things no one has ever done on earth’. And that’s really what’s happening right now, you’re watching something that’s basically never been done. Last year it was touched on [last year’s big Cloudbreak session], and there were some boundaries pushed, but today I think it’s been just blown out of the water.”
PHOTO: RUSSELL BROS
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KELLY’S CALL “Why didn’t they have the contest? We would’ve probably run three heats, and if everyone caught every wave they possibly could’ve you would’ve seen 30 waves per heat, but that wouldn’t happen. Each guy would be getting three to five waves per heat, so you might’ve seen six or eight waves per heat, so every hour you’d only be seeing in the realm of a dozen or less waves. I’m not going to say it’s a bad call at all but in saying that I don’t think it’s necessarily the best thing for the tour, but these guys [the freesurfers] are the masters of this, these guys are the best in the world at this. They train day in and day out for this and they live and die for these waves. That’s who you want to see ride these waves in my opinion. As it turns out the wind got really good right after the call was made to stop it at 2 o’clock. Up till then it was not very good. You can say all you want online watching from your computer and the safety of your couch, but there were giant chops going up the face.” UNIDENTIFIED, FINS FREE AND FALLING I N T O T H E W AV E O F H I S L I F E . P H O T O : J O L I
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THIS CARTOON BY JOHANNES LEAK DID THE ROUNDS ON THE INTERNET AFTER THE ASP’S DECISION T O C A L L T H E E V E N T O F F. I T S E RV E D A S A C ATA LY S T F O R S O M E F I E RC E O N L I N E B A N T E R .
was sad to leave. I felt like I was leaving my family behind. The way the tour is now, it’s so small that it’s like you have your family on tour and your family at home. The mateship and the way we live on tour now is pretty unique to most sports, but I think with those big wave guys when you add in that element of danger and life threatening situations, obviously it kind of steps it up a notch. The risk is really high but the reward is so amazing. It’s a pretty unique environment to be in for a little while. What do you think of the big wave scene? It’s a niche unto its own, isn’t it? 0h, I love it. I think it’s so fucking cool that guys who are just like us are doing what they love and they kind of seem like they all have a pretty cool thing going on. They’re chasing swells around the globe and it’s pretty awesome to see with all those different niches in surfing – there are so many different genres – and it shows that … not that it’s a different sport but it is another ball game when the waves get in that realm of 15 to 20 foot plus. There were waves out there that those guys didn’t even want a part of as well. Skill-wise you’d think you guys would have them covered. But is there a different set of skills when it gets to that size? 070
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I wouldn’t say the guys on tour are on their level in waves like that. I think there are different genres of surfing and you’d say the same thing about surfing against us at Snapper or Trestles or probably even six foot Cloudbreak. But um, that’s what those guys train for and they were riding boards that were four foot longer than the biggest boards we even had there. It was cool to sit there and see the equipment they’ve got and how prepared they are. When I paddled out for the freesurf in the morning there were guys paddling past like Nathan Fletcher on a 10’10”, there were guys with inflatable vests on, I was like whoa! I was talking to Mick when we were out there after the comp was called off and we felt almost out of place in a pair of boardies. These guys had two vests on and air bladders on their back. Mick said, ‘Now I know what it feels like to be a learner at Snapper’. But it was cool to be out there and experience it and get a couple of waves and a couple of pretty incredible beatings and feel the power. I suppose the question is if these guys are better than the tour in waves like this, can the surfers on tour be considered the best in the world? I think it’s a pretty broad statement to say they are the best in the world across all waves. The tour is a niche and it’s own genre of surfing.
Most guys, the waves they chase, Mavericks, Jaws and Cloudbreak are all basically big outer reefs and the guys on tour are definitely not the best in the world at that. There are a couple of world tour guys, Kelly’s been there for the last few swells. It’s been the same guys, like Healey, Ramon and the Hawaiian guys who seem to be the standouts. So the guys on tour have the ability to surf those waves? Definitely, technique and skill-wise. I was talking to Jamie Mitchell and he was saying, look, you guys have way more talent and skill than what we have. It’s just about putting yourself in that situation a couple of times and getting the confidence. Having the equipment is one thing and there were a few of us out there, Mick, Joel, the Hobgoods, the Gudangs and myself, we all had six foot surfboards and to compete with those guys riding nine and 10 foot boards, it’s like trying to compete with Formula One cars in an Audi. It’s a different ball game. But I think definitely given the time in the water, the world tour guys have the skill to get barrelled on those big days. It’s wanting it as well though. Some people want it and some people don’t. I’ve ordered a couple of big boards already and I’ll try and go back on the next big swell and ask the
KELLY’S CALL “Look at this wave, look at how big, how massive this wave is. I don’t know what the heck he was thinking paddling for this wave but he got the wave of his life. That one I’d say was better than Ramon’s. Equally as deep, not as long, but a lot bigger.”
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KELLY’S CALL “This is the sickest drop I have ever seen in my whole life. I don’t know how he made it cause the rail was sideways. It should’ve dug instantly when he hit. He probably would’ve been safer on the wipeout; he might have penetrated.”
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question of myself whether I really want one, if I have the right equipment. Do you feel you have something to prove? Not really, not to anyone but myself. I surfed three times on the big day and for me to stand out there and get a few waves was a big step for me. I know Mick and Joel and those guys felt the same. I really wanted to be out there just to be a part of it and know what it took. There were eight of us out there and it looked like a cartoon, you know. It was incredible and it was dangerous, like um, to be honest if they had have run the comp I would have been surprised if someone hadn’t walked away seriously injured because equipment-wise the guys on tour just aren’t ready for that. How was decision made not to run the contest? It’s hard to say because I wasn’t in the first heat. I think the surfers always have a say but at the end of the day it came down to the wind. The wind was gnarly when they had it on hold and about an hour after it got called off the wind went dead still. They could have put it on and there could have been good waves ridden by the guys on tour but I don’t think as good waves would have been ridden by the guys, except for those with nine and 10 foot boards because it was just physically impossible. The surfers definitely had input and yeah, they could have had it and it could have been amazing, and it’s easy to look back and say “what if” but I look at it like it was an incredible afternoon of surfing. Anyway, at the end of the day whether there were singlets on or not it was incredible. I agree, because at the end of the day we, the fans, got to see incredible waves ridden and a lot of them. But I think what people feel a little gypped by is that back in the day, you know you talk about the 1975 Smirnoff Pro at Waimea, and it seemed there was a different culture when it came to big waves. The understanding was that surfers thought it was their absolute job to test themselves and whether they were going to be safe or not was kind of beside the point. I suppose that’s why a lot of people are calling out the tour. I think people are disappointed at how many people went missing, the lack of
preparation, these things... I mean, it was a once in a lifetime swell so, I dunno, it’s easy for people to sit behind their computers and make outlandish statements and so on. You speak to any of the guys who were there, the big wave guys and I know some of them were bummed we were out there without vests on because they were like you are actually putting us in danger because we might have to go in there and look for you if you get held under. There are a lot of unspoken rules in the game they play and we were breaking those by surfing on pretty silly sized boards out there. Obviously the fans want to see the best guys surf but on a day like it’s not like you can tell people who goes out and who doesn’t. If the event was on I guarantee everyone would have surfed but we wouldn’t have seen what we saw. It was a great afternoon for surfing anyway. I was pretty cool with what happened and what went down. I think the tour guys will be more prepared but whether or not there will be another day like that, it will be pretty incredible if all the elements came together again. But I still don’t understand how people arrived undergunned? It’s like, we don’t carry around 10 foot boards. No one really even has a board that size in their quiver. I have a 9’6” in Hawaii but it lives under Pat O’Connell’s house and gets ridden every three years. You don’t travel with a 9’6”, and a big swell, you know, I went there for a swell two weeks before the event and it was eight foot and it was Mick, myself, Kelly and John John and we all rode short boards. When I saw another swell I was like, well I’ve got a 6’8”, if I was riding a short board when it was eight foot, a 6’8” will be fine. You know, hindsight is a pretty easy thing to have and look back you should have done that, or whatever. It’s easy to play devil’s advocate. The tour has copped a bit of a battering since. Does it have something to prove? I don’t think so. People who really understand the sport and know big waves, they know exactly what it’s like to be out in conditions like that. Obviously there were a handful of tour guys giving it a go, which was great for the tour as well. And yeah, I think it was a pretty incredible day. X
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