Who Blew Up
|
|
1. Jordy Smith.
|
MillerR-SA |
Jordy jetted into Durban last week to clock a bit of cyclonic water time courtesy of Funso. It was awesome to see Jordy at his old home beach significantly raising the bar. He doesn’t travel light does Jordy, two filmers and a stills photographer complete his entourage and capture his every move. When he takes to the water you see why. Almost every moment in Jordy’s surfing is golden. He IS that good.
Humble and friendly in the water he absolutely ripped the New Pier to pieces both above and below the lip. Also as the Durban surfers will tell you the cyclone swells come with serious rips, which didn’t seem to present any problem to Jordy who is in phenomenal shape right now. He had marathon sessions and probably caught more waves than anyone else. |
| |
| 2. Noel Rame. |
| |
| Old School, committed and stylish Noel was without doubt one of the standouts of this swell. Sitting way out the back and waiting patiently for the bombs he showed all the youngsters that 20 years of surfing the New Pier counts for something. |
| |
| 3. Phil Nel. |
| |
| Hailing from the Boland Phil decided to jump on a plane and fly up to Durban for the swell to see for himself what all the fuss was about. He must have clocked more water time than anyone else and had a mind bending 4 sessions on Saturday in what can only be described as challenging physical conditions. With his friendly approach and committed take offs Phil got his fair share. In the process he got to experience a some of the fabled New Pier tube time for himself. |
| |
|
And Who Blew It?
|
| |
1. Everyone who did other things than surf in Durban this weekend.
|
 |
| From Vetches Reef to Bay of Plenty there were so many options that there was something for everyone. If you didn’t get your share you blew it plain and simple! |
| |
2. Graeme Bird.
|
| |
| Graeme charges the New Pier and holds his position in the lineup with a committed approach to his wave riding. When Graeme paddles for a wave everyone knows he’s going to go. On Saturday morning just as things were getting hectic on the bank, Graeme committed himself to an absolute no hoper. The rest of the lineup watched with glee as Graeme went headfirst into purgatory as the lip pitched him into the sucking trough. 10mins later he paddled into another mutant. This time he nearly got to his feet and enjoyed the trip from the lip to the trough feet first but the result was the same – complete annihilation. The two wipe-outs of the swell both within 10 minutes. |
| |
| 3. John McCarthy. |
| |
| After ‘celebrating’ at the Bean Green 3rd birthday party a little too enthusiastically on Thursday night, John arrived at the first day of the swell with his fast twitch muscle fibres not firing on all cylinders. The result? A spectacular over the falls hat trick on his first three waves. With his bell clearly rung he a subdued and chastened John retreated further down the lineup to enjoy his headache by himself. |
| |
.gif)
.jpg)
.gif)
.gif)