Adam Griffiths is an affable gent. He’s one of the leading lights in the ferociously strong British longboard scene and just an all round bloody good bloke. It was a pleasure to share the Indonesian trip (featured in issue 165) with him. Longboarders and barrels aren’t that common a combo so it was fascinating to watch him park his nine-footer in some tropical caverns. Seeing as he scored so many epic photos which we couldn’t fit in that issue we caught up with him for a chat about where he’s at and where he’s going…
How did you start surfing?
I grew up in Devon but not that close to the sea. I’m from Totnes so about an hour from Bantham. My parents took me to France a fair bit when I was a nipper so I did a lot of bodyboarding and I dabbled in whitewater kayaking. So I’ve always loved being in the water and doing any water activity. I jumped on my mum’s longboard in France when I was twelve and that was it, I was hooked. Didn’t want to get back in a kayak or on a bodyboard after that. However you start you’re getting ocean knowledge no matter what the craft. A lot of the greats started out on lids, even Slater. You just transfer that knowledge when you start standing up.
Been a longboarder from the start?
I took a shortboard on my first big trip, that was a 6’10”! That was when I was 17. Went away with Butler, Boydell and crew. I’ve come down to 5’8”s and 6’2”s shortboards now depending on conditions. But yeah always loved the bigger boards.
Where did the Bearman nickname come from? It’s not like you can ever pick your own.
It was from that first trip, Jim Bergin, Timmy Boydell and Tom. It started as, ‘Bear likes juice!’ and evolved into Bearman. Mainly because I was a big, hairy teenager. It’s definitely better than my secondary school one: Shrek! (laughs) It works. I’ll take it. It could be worse.
How did you end up in Newquay?
I started competing doing the BLUs with Minnow so was down here a lot. My Dad used to live here when he was in his twenties and my parents were up for moving so it just made sense. When I finished my GCSEs we all came down to be by the sea and been here ever since.
The British longboard scene seems really strong?
It’s really strong. You’ve obviously got Skindog leading the charge for years: eleven times European champion. When I started there was Lee Ryan and Chris ‘Guts’ Griffiths, they were a big influence. Elliot Dudley, Sam Bleakley we’ve got some amazing surfers and longboarders. It’s in a really good place right now.
How do we compare to Europe?
It’s us and the French. We’re the two major forces. The Spanish and Portuguese are playing catch up. On the world tour last year Europe had the biggest majority of surfers on the tour.
What’s the deal with the longboard world title?
It’s all about the China event. We compete in Europe to get to it. The top two from Europe qualify for the world longboard tour. There’s 19 that qualify from the previous years ranking and the other 19 qualify from the regions. Then some wildcards.
Is everyone happy with it being in China?
It’s been fun, but it’s the fourth year we’ve done it so a bit of variety would be good. It’s quite a small place with only two restaurants so the foods not all that … It’s better here!
Going back to the Indo trip: getting barrelled on a longboard doesn’t seem like the easiest thing in the world to do?
Sometimes I shy away from it and jump on my shortboard as it’s way easier and I know I’m not going to snap my board. But I set myself some goals this year and got a specific barrel board made for riding tubes. Real strong epoxy quad and a 2+1. When I took it out in Indo it was actually easier than my shortboard. I could get into the waves earlier, I was up and setting my line, as opposed to a shortboard where you’ve got to drop, get to the bottom and pull up into it. If you’ve got the right board and are willing to go it’s not so bad! Once you get past the thought of it.
Where do you stand on the trad/progressive thing when it comes to boards?
I like riding everything really. Pick the right board for the conditions. If it’s one-foot nice peelers or a point break then a log all the way. If it’s bigger or windy the traditional log doesn’t work so well at which point I’d rather be on my performance board.
Do you think there’s any solution to the competitive split between the two cultures?
There was a King of the Longboard event last year over a weekend. Two heats on a log, two heats on a performance board and they added it together for an overall winner. Longboarders can ride both they just have a preference. That worked quite well. The dream would be a proper tour with two or three stops so there’s events that suit certain boards and it doesn’t all come down to one event at one spot that favours certain riders. It seems like the WSL is moving forward, I think we’ve got a webcast this year which we’ve not had before and Jeep/GoPro are sponsoring it. Which is a step in the right direction.
People can relate to longboarding, very few people surf a 6’0” by 18” at eight-foot Pipeline, what we do is achievable which is why the clips of us seem so popular. (A one-wave clip of Bearman at Fistral shot by Sharpy has been seen 274,000 times on the Carve Facebook page for instance.Ed) It’s like big wave surfing it’s more apparent what’s going on to the mainstream viewer. It’s relatable.
What you doing this winter?
Buying a house. Boring! So Ikea time for me. Getting a mortgage and all that. Going to Portugal tomorrow for the Europeans then China for the Worlds after that. When I get back I’ll try and go hang with Tom Butler in Ireland for a month if the surfs looking good. First year in forever I’m not going tropical for the winter.
Going to take your longboard out at Mullaghmore?
Not sure about Mully! My goal is to surf some heavier waves on the longboard and do a film series over the next year if I can get the budget in place. I was in Ireland last week and the boys there want it so much, they live for it, when it’s super clean, paddleable and eight to ten foot it’s a beautiful wave. When it’s twenty-five foot, raining and gale force offshore it’s a different world.
The longboard tandem thing you’ve pioneered going to be a new movement?
Not sure how it’s going to go down but it was fun with Buttsy going tandem in Indo. I look super serious and Tom looks like he’s having the time of his life. They’re funny photos. Thankfully there were no groin strains involved.
One big question for longboarders: how the hell do you get your board-bag on a plane?
They take up to 277cm. Most boards are 270cm. You need a close tolerance bag and fly with the right airlines. Always check before you fly. Touch wood I’ve never had any problems yet.
Any shout outs?
Thanks to Fourth Surfboards for everything, in particular the Mentawai trip was awesome. Skindog for making me the longboarder I am. That said it’s nice when you beat him, doesn’t happen very often, he’s the ultimate competitor, but it’s sweet when it happens. Holly my wife: can’t beat having a surfing wife. Just need to convince her surfing through winter is a good idea. Then of course my parents for always supporting me.
Josh Kerr (AUS), longtime competitor on the elite World Surf League (WSL) Samsung Galaxy Championship Tour (CT), claimed the Todos Santos Challenge today, besting a field of 24 of the world’s top big wave surfers in mammoth 30-to-40-foot surf off the coast of Baja California.
The third WSL Big Wave Tour (BWT) event to run in the 2015/2016 season, the Todos Santos Challenge attracted the marquee big wave surfers on the planet to the remote location of “Killers” off of Isla Todos Santos in Baja California. A solid West Northwest (WNW) swell tracking from north of the Hawaiian Islands delivered surf in the 30-to-40-foot-plus range today, building throughout the morning before climaxing for the six-man Final.
Kerr, who finished 11th on last year’s elite Championship Tour, put his big wave skills to the test today, resulting in one of the biggest wins of his career. Consistently navigating massive set waves from the opening round, Kerr opened the Final strong and stayed busy in this afternoon’s six-man bout, posting an impressive 7.87 and an 8.20 to collect his first Big Wave victory.
“I have so much respect for the guys on this tour and those that regularly commit themselves to surfing big waves,” Kerr said. “I have had the biggest smile on my face all day just getting to surf big waves with them. I’ve felt great all day and had complete confidence in my board. I’m really thankful for the opportunity to surf here today.”
Kerr’s positive disposition in the face of today’s dangerous conditions was notable through his three heats as the Australian (now residing in the USA) consistently positioned himself critically in both the lineup and on the waves en route to his impressive win.
“The goal was to have fun,” Kerr said. “I’m going through the Green Card immigration process right now and had a one-day leave pass to come down here and do this event. I didn’t have any expectations and just wanted to surf the wave with all these guys. To walk away with a win – I feel like one of those dogs with his head out the car window, I was smiling the whole time I was paddling around in the Final.”
Kerr’s fellow finalists represented a “Who’s Who” of the big wave community as well as Todos Santos specialists: Rusty Long (USA), Nic Lamb (USA), Damien Hobgood (USA), Carlos Burle (BRA) and Greg Long (USA).
Long, a former Big Wave Tour Champion, was particularly impressive at Todos Santos today, putting his decades of experience at the venue to use and consistently netting high scores en route to his Runner-Up finish.
“It’s been a great day and I’m really happy that Todos turned on for the world to see,” Long said. “I’ve been coming here since I was 15 and it’s a very special wave for me. Unfortunate that the wind kicked up in the afternoon and I wasn’t able to find a second wave in the Final, but huge congrats to Josh (Kerr) who was charging all day.”
Today’s Runner-Up finish vaulted Long to the No. 1 spot on the WSL BWT rankings.
Billy Kemper (HAW), who entered the Todos Santos Challenge as the WSL BWT rankings’ frontrunner following an incendiary victory at the Pe’ahi Challenge on Maui in December, was in fine form in Mexico this morning but ultimately fell in his opening round bout to Long, Gudauskas and Hobgood. Kemper’s early exit saw him fall to 3rd on the BWT rankings.
Makuakai Rothman (HAW), reigning WSL BWT Champion and winner of the Quiksilver Ceremonial in Chile last May, was another to suffer an early elimination today in Mexico. Rothman, who entered the Todos Santos Challenge ranked No. 2 on the WSL BWT rankings, was eliminated in the final moments of his Semifinal bout to Kerr, Long and Berle.
Two events, the Oregon Challenge at Lincoln City’s Nelscott Reef and the Punta Galea Challenge in the Basque Region, remain on the 2015/2016 WSL BWT season with the potential to run, conditions permitting, before the February 28th close of the window.
Highlights from the Todos Santos Challenge are available at WorldSurfLeague.com
Todos Santos Challenge Final Results:
1 – Josh Kerr (AUS) 24.27
2 – Greg Long (USA) 18.84
3 – Carlos Burle (BRA) 18.33
4 – Damien Hobgood (USA) 17.33
5 – Nic Lamb (USA) 13.51
6 – Rusty Long (USA) 0.20
Winter is awards season, what with the Oscars and Golden Globes and all that. The Carve awards aren’t quite on that scale. So we don’t need to bust out the tuxedos and frocks. It’s our tongue in cheek round up of a wild year. So. Enjoy 2015 through our distorted lens. (Originally published in Carve issue 166 in December 2015, which went to print mid-way through the Pipe comp).
MAN OF THE YEAR*
Mick Fanning
There’s not a great surprise here. The king of surfing for 2015 is Mick Fanning. He’s transcended our niche to become a global name in the mainstream and, at time of writing, is going into the last event of the season number one on the tour with another world title his to lose. To do so on the back half of a tour post shark is all the more impressive. Mick we salute you, bloody good bloke, amazing surfer, total professional. Here’s to another title.
*AND TWEAKIEST SPHINCTER
WOMAN OF THE YEAR
Carissa Moore
In the convoluted world of women’s surfing where showing your booty leads to more sponsors and Instagram followers than being an amazing surfer Carissa Moore is a rare beacon. She surfs better than a good chunk of the men and lets her surfing do the talking. Like Mick she’s killed it this year and is looking like nailing another title.
MEDIA SLUT
That Fricking Shark
It’s amazing that in all the years the world tour has been going there’s not been a shark attack. Sure there’s been plenty of sightings and the odd watery evacuation scare but never contact. For it to happen live in one of the biggest events of the year to one of highest profile surfers is mind blowing. If you were watching the J-Bay webcast live as we were you’ll know the horror and sinking feeling everyone felt as Mick disappeared. As to whether it was an attack most agree it was a tangle slash bumps as opposed to an actual intentional attack. If that were the case it probably wouldn’t have had the happy ending and mass press coverage as ‘surfer punches shark’ is absolute gold. Whilst it might have dented the shark’s pride it didn’t hurt Mick’s career.
FUNNIEST INTERNET REACTION
Shark Memes
Where there’s a unique news story the internet obliges with taking the piss shortly after. The shark memes went crazy.
WINNINGEST SURFER
Luke Dillon
Lucked into the swell and session of the year at Nias and has gone on to win the UK Pro Surf Tour. So as 2015 goes not a bad one for young Luke. His trajectory keeps on soaring.
SWEETEST BROMANCE
Gearoid McDaid & Angus Scotney
The big Fourth Surfboards trip to the Mentawai was one of the highlights of the magazine season. It was a blast for all concerned but one of the things that might not have come across is the tender bromance between trip groms Angus and Gearoid. They’re were brothers from another mother for the duration. Lovely to see.
MOST SHOUTED AT ONLINE
Robbie Maddison
Whilst it was a well conceived, brilliantly filmed and perfectly executed slice of marketing, that garnered a zillion views, a lot of folk got the wrong end of the stick of the ‘riding a motorbike at Teahupo’o’ thing. Lost count of the online warriors decrying motorbikes as surfing equipment. As if that will ever be a thing. Those self same people don’t shout about jet skis either. Which is odd. Anyway. It was a stunt that caught the mainstream attention.
BEST USE OF FIRE
Jamie O’Brien
Teahupo’o has whored itself repeatedly this year if it wasn’t Point Break 2 filming it was JOB pushing the envelope of webisodes by setting fire to himself and surfing a sick tube.
In the morass of online content the crazier the better it seems and it went down a storm.
TRIPPER OF THE YEAR
Taz Knight
The North Devon youngster’s epic solo journey from California to Mexico via huge Mavericks, Todos and Puerto is still, six months later, incredibly impressive. Budge up Cotty and Tom there’s new big wave hero coming to join the gang.
BEST BRITISH WOMAN
Peony Knight
Not content with Taz hogging the limelight Peony won pretty much everything in 2015 also. Not sure what’s in the water up there in Devon but it’s working.
ABOUT TO MAKE EVERY SURF FILM LOOK POOP
John John Florence
JJF is a man of superlatives. He doesn’t do things by half. So his new profile movie View From A Blue Moon is the first 4K surf movie and seeing as it’s been produced by the Brain Farm crew (them that did Art of Flight) will blow the doors clean off the whole idea of surf moving imagery from here on out. It comes out the day we send the mag to the printers, and they neglected to premiere it in the UK, so we’ve not seen it yet… (UPDATE: now we have and the verdict? Incredible production values, some phenomenal surfing but somehow left us wanting more.)
BEST RUN OF SWELL
April
Been a weird one for swell world wide this year. Autumn’s not really been all that. Thankfully we had an epic run in April. Three weeks of perfectly clean, warm, right size west coast goodness. All that teamed with some of the best sand bars your correspondent has seen. ‘Like Trestles’ was a common quip. Fingers crossed winter delivers.
SMALL PERSON OF THE YEAR
Stan Norman
Wins everything. Froths hard. Surfs amazing. Little Stan continues his ascendancy and best of all there’s a big crew of mini-groms around him all coming through at the same time.
FEEL GOOD FROTHER
Oli Adams
From being seriously ill for a lot of his adult life Oli braved surgery and is now free from Crohns and is like a new man. Full of beans, even more of an exploratory frother and surfing better than ever. Which explains why you see him in the mag so much.
SQWEEEE! CUDDLE EXPLOSION AWARD
That fricking seal.
Stuff Kim K it was the seal getting a tummy tickle from a scuba diver in the Scilly Isles that melted the internet this year.
IRONY AWARD
SW Water and Dave Cameron
Yes. The leader of the UK who fronts the party that thought selling off the public utilities would be a good idea got to bodyboard in poop from the dated infrastructure that SW Water refuse to even consider updating.
IT ACTUALLY FLIPPING HAPPENED
Surf Snowdonia
The first public WaveGarden in the world finally opened to great fanfare in North Wales hurrah!
OH BAWBAGS
Surf Snowdonia
And then promptly broke. Fingers crossed it all gets sorted over the winter.
MOST HYPED WEATHER PHENOMENON
El Nino
The little boy is now being called the strongest event ever. Surpassing even the mega one of 1997. As to whether there will be another 100-foot Outside Logs Cabin session as the North Shore tries to not get washed away remains to be seen. The effects on global weather have been marked with the ‘biggest’ ‘strongest’ ‘latest’ storms and typhoons happening with alarming regularity all over the globe and sometimes in places where such things aren’t even a thing. Like the typhoon off of Oman recently.
SWELL OF THE YEAR
Indian Ocean mega event
It was the defining swell of the year with the Right in WA, Nias and Kandui all delivering the images that blew our socks clean off in 2015.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Jamie XX: In Colour
If you don’t have this in your iTunes then you might want to check it out. One of the albums of pure invention that gets better with every listen. Also getting a lot of plays in 2015: Grimes, Foals, Courtney Barnett, Spring King, TVAM, Sunset Sons, PSB, Churches and Blur.
If there’s one word in surfing that epitomises our collective idea of perfection it’s: Mentawai. The mythic Indonesian island chain home to flawless reefs, glassy walls and a deep seated spot in surf lore. It’s a chain where the dream of surfing unspoilt, uncrowded, tropical perfection really came to life. Twenty years on since those early Martin Daly trips alerted the world to the motherlode how is the remote Mentawai chain strung west of Sumatra dealing with the modern world? Has the rise of the land camp turned it into a Kuta waiting to happen? Are the locals getting a look at the western dollars yet? We took a crew for a mission to see how the land lies.
Once upon a time the way to do the Ment’s was by charter boat. They were the only option. As overland travel, then as now, is extremely arduous bordering on dangerous. Heavy duty malaria was rife, inter-island transport was by dugout canoe prone to swamping and if you did machete your way through the dense jungle to find your slice of perfection there was nowhere to stay or purchase supplies. Heaven help if you hurt yourself and needed medical attention. Suffice to say if you made it to HTs etc under your own steam last century then you officially get a Surf Explorers Platinum Mad Dog Medal. The boats were the sensible option. Get a bunch of mates together and spend a few weeks searching the chain for barreling joy. This was good for the boat owners, generally western, and good for the government officials from the mainland who sold ‘permits’. Not so good for the islanders who might get to sell a carving or two to passing boat trade.
Last time I visited nine years ago this was the status quo. You trucked about on your vessel and whenever you scored empty surf you crossed your fingers no other boat, especially one of pros, turned up. Of course good captains knew where was best and often you’d have three boats at one spot with twenty pros squabbling for limited sets to get their clips and shots. There’s no more heart sinking feeling than being faced with perfect Macaronis, pre-surf camp, and having it to yourself and seeing the Indies Trader IV, with helicopter on the roof, steam over the horizon. Knowing full well that a corpo team were frothing inside and ready to surf and shoot and steamroll the hell over whatever your little Brit crew were hoping to achieve. Even worse if you were just there on a very expensive holiday. At the time land camps weren’t really a thing.
These days the Ments aren’t the pro cadres personal island chain. It’s not the default for video sections it once was. Mainly because it got done to absolute death and also because us normal folk have twigged that it’s achievable and the waves are mainly doable for the intermediate competent surfer. The pros have moved on to the deeper reaches of the outer islands for their clips and the Ments are now a public playground. Which is where we come in… I’ve never done it land camp style. Always been slightly suspicious of the idea so it was high time to see if a new kind of surf tourism was happening or whether it was still westerners running western operations while the locals looked on nonplussed like with the boats…
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The guys at Fourth surfboards fancied a post-summer mission to cleanse off the foam dust and fired out an email to the team to see if anyone bit. Simple concept: Mentawais, staying at a rad little land camp in the wave rich Playgrounds end of the chain, go surf, shoot and have a blast. Harty and Luke weren’t expecting near as dammit the whole team, only Hazza Timson and Lowey had other plans, to say yes. Which is how the business end of Luke Hart, Ben Jones and Lee Bartlett ended up herding cats. With Tom Butler, Mitch Corbett, Corinne Evans, Emily Williams, Tassy Swallow, Adam Griffiths, Alan Stokes, Angus Scotney, Gearoid McDaid, Oli Adams, filmer Mr B and myself to somehow fit on obliging planes and boats.
Turns out the camp wasn’t even big enough. Luckily the guys at Matungou had been planning some new bungalows anyway so they got carpentering as we all decided which boardies and bikinis to take. Making the trip easier Buts and Bearman headed over early so that made the utterly apocalyptic luggage sitch a tad better.
Due date came and Emirates airlines effortlessly whisked our awkward cargo away with a smile and we were away. Now getting to Bali is easy. Maybe one stopover if you’re unlucky. Getting to the Mentawais is a bigger ask. We did Dubai/Kuala Lumpur. Night there. Then Air Asia to Padang. Air Asia is in essence the SE Asia version of Ryanair. Except they’re much nicer about boards. Again we got faultless service from a check in lady whose morning we ruined. Easy part done getting from the frankly grim city of Padang on Sumatra out to the island chain involves a boat. There’s a big ferry or smaller, faster boats. We had a small, fast vomit-comet. Those four hours were some of the worst of my travelling life. It was about as fun as having your nipples sanded off. Being on the edge of puking while bouncing around in a sweaty cabin for four hours was not an ideal end to what had been a breezy trip until that point. Still. You don’t get to the edges of the Earth easily. We’ll all look back on it as character building one day. It made a 36 hour bus ride in Chile with food poisoning seem like a fun idea.
Thankfully Matungou is an oasis of calm. Traditionally crafted wooden buildings nestled on the edge of a serene palm lined bay. It was a very welcome sight after two days travel. We were soon welcomed by Dr Ollie, a very affable gent from Lyme Regis, and Adri a local islander who have set up the camp in partnership with the main aim of doing it right. So all the staff are local. The food is traditional, the boats are local style, in essence big outrigger canoes built up a bit into whip fast speedboats. We were soon right at home in hammocks drinking coconut juice from freshly hacked coconuts. There’s nothing quite like the decompress of long haul travel into a stunning tropical location. All the stresses evaporate. We arrived at lunchtime and after a quick nasi goreng we were digging through bags to get on it as the evening session was on. Tom B and Bearman had been there a week already and were frothing that a certain left would be cooking… And it was.
From there on the next ten days were a blur of boats, surf checks, sessions, rice, chili, beaches, coconuts, Bintangs, laughs, snoozes, shaman and good times. Groundhog day in the nicest possible way: Up early with a weapon’s grade coffee or three in the half light of dawn. Talking story with the early risers like Oli and Stoker while marvelling at Mitch’s commitment to the dawn yoga session. All while knowing full well the grom bungalow of Angus, Gearoid, Tass and Emily wouldn’t surface until they could smell breakfast. Various crew would stumble through yawning until sunrise, breakfast and more coffee got us ready for the early sesh.
Figuring out where to go is key in the Mentawais and the land camps, at least those near Playgrounds and Siberut island, have a huge advantage over the charter boats. Speedboats mean being able to check heaps of spots fast. If it’s not on or it’s busy and there are other options you can just open up the outboards and blaze on. In a charter boat you’re stuck at walking speed crawling to another spot at snails pace; unless you’re towing a speedboat also. So once you know the swell size and wind you can shortlist the go to spots and get on it. Matungou has two boats so we often split up to not overcrowd anyone spot.
As for the crowds? Much has been made of the Ments being ‘over’ mainly by pros and photographers who’ve grown far to used to it being their personal studio. We had waves to ourselves and we surfed with other crew. At no point was it 140 dudes like at Uluwatu. Which was how many guys were there pretty much a year or so after it broke to the world in the seventies and have been ever since. The busiest any spot got was about twenty guys, which as long as everyone’s playing ball is fine. Of course some people don’t. Older crew and some more competitive cultures see the polite British trait of queuing and waiting one’s turn as a reason to paddle past and be a dick. These folk you can only explain that taking turns is the adult way of doing things. Or flick them the vees behind their backs.
Boat versus camps also means you are stuck in one zone at a camp. On a good boat you can roam from Thunders up to Maccas then HTs then Playgrounds. Camp wise you’re limited to one of those four zones. Pros and cons all round but with a strong wind blowing for weeks of this season being on a boat hasn’t been a barrel of laughs.
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As crews go we couldn’t have asked for better. In no particular order:
Tom Butler: Big wave sensei who prowled the line-up on bigger days with a calm confidence. Anything under twenty foot is just fun to him now so his game in hairy barrels was on point. Nailed a crazy sequence the first afternoon when all I wanted to do was curl up in a hammock.
Adam Griffiths: First time I’ve seen a longboarder in the Ments and boy did Bearman kill it. Total grace, flow and otherworldly reading of waves mixed up with big turns and deep tubes. Plenty of toes on the nose time.
Alan Stokes: It’s been nine years since we hit the islands together and not much as changed. Still the eternal grommet frothing to surf and loving every minute. Cursed with some brutal luck in some of the left barrels that resolutely refused to barrel for him.
Emily Williams: Welsh grom with a big future, christened ‘Sheggings’ after her fair Welsh skin got a bit burnt and she surfed in leggings. Will never hear the end of it. One to watch in the future.
Mitch Corbett: Recovering from a broken back and cruising. Mitch is a proper Zen master now. Certain of his place in the world and how he wants to live as balanced as possibly in all ways. A pleasure to be around.
Corinne Evans: Newquay’s busiest girl surfer. Fingers in many pies promoting women’s surfing. Sunny, radiant, frothing with a smile that could kickstart the sun.
Gearoid McDaid: Ireland’s biggest hope for the big leagues since I’ve been documenting surfing. Actually said, after one too many rice/noodle concoctions, ‘Can’t we just have a big plate of potatoes?’ Funny thing was next day we did… Along with Angus were the comedy double act of the trip.
Tassy Swallow: I’ve known Tass since forever and it’s always a pleasure hanging out with St Ives finest. Had a good dig at some of the heavier spots and owns a mean hack.
Oli Adams: A man reborn. Since his operation back in the spring Oli is a new human. On a constant upward arc in his performance and wondering where it can take him. The difference between this and our snow trip earlier in the year, which was post-op, is huge.
Angus Scotney: Mangoose is a big unit. But an affable, laconic, wise-cracking, smart ass. In a good way. He’s like Jordy in that you wonder how such a big kid can surf so loose and fast.
***
We didn’t score all time Mentawais. But as you can see even fair to middling is still hellishly good fun. It’s been an odd season, the theory being El Nino related, as there’s been heaps of typhoons north of Indo so sucking in a constant south wind as opposed to the normal slack winds and glassy conditions. Lucky for us the lion’s share of waves near the camp were offshore in southerlies.
As to the Ments being over? Far from it. This is my third trip out there and it’s still as magical as it was before. In fact I think I liked it more this time. My suspicions about land camps, based on a very small sample admittedly, have been proved wrong. Working in partnership with the locals improving their lot in life and helping out where possible, especially in Dr Ollie’s case dishing out medical care to all and sundry, is how things should be. Matungou is doing it right. Building rooms and boats using traditional techniques, serving local food, hanging with the local crew and them benefitting directly from you being there is how it should be. Everyone wins. Ask anyone that was there it was a wonderful experience. To visit the edge of the world and not be in the bubble of a boat is the future.
This article originally appeared in print in Carve issue 165
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BIG THANKS TO: Luke Hart, Ben Jones and Lee Bartlett at Fourth Surfboards (www.fourthsurfboards.com) for organising and shepherding the whole deal, Dr Ollie, Adri and the crew at Matungou (www.matungou.com) for an awesome stay and perfect experience and lastly Anthony ‘Mr B’ Butler (www.mrbproductions.co.uk) for swimming more than any human should and nailing the moving images for the associated film, that and being a pleasure to share a room with.
If you’ve spent any time in Thurso when it’s on you’ll have no doubt come across the genial gent that is Chris Clarke. He’s out at Thurso when it’s big, mean and cooking and until recently at the more surreptitious heavy spots by himself … Not any more.
I bumped into him on a remote cliff path as he was running back to his van to get his beaten up slab board, a dinged, noseless, wreck of a beast that has taken it’s fair share of lickings. Turns out he’s not allowed to surf the slabs by himself anymore by her indoors, and as some boogers had just ventured out he was switching reefs from a mellower one for the near dry death-box that was the author of his demise. The slab ban is for good reason, he’s now sporting a pirate worthy scar on his cheek that adds to his roguish charm. As shown below.
If you want to see what it looked like when fresh, and I repeat, it’s not for those who don’t like the sight of gore or consider themselves squeamish, then scroll to the bottom of the post…
Simple question: what the hell happened?
Well, I was in the water it was fairly chunky and I had just pulled off a wave and had taken my time getting back on my board to paddle back out. So I wasn’t quite ready for the impact of the next set wave. I was just a bit relaxed about the whole thing to be fair and lost my board in the white water.
Then at some point in the rough and tumble me and the board apparently were travelling in opposite directions quite fast. Still not sure which bit got me, but it was a glancing blow, so maybe fins or nose. I could see blood clouding the water before even coming up for the first time … so I knew it was a proper cut.
At that point I was starting to worry that I had taken my eye out but did a quick vision check and could see the shore. I didn’t do the usual paddle back out and ask, ‘Are there any flappy bits?’
I just bolted for the car park where Hamper and Micah were about to get changed and asked the obvious question:
‘So who’s taking me to hospital?’
Hamper’s face was a picture. He went a bit white as he jumped in the driver’s seat and Micah held the towel on to staunch the flow. It was pretty funny as it turns out Hamps doesn’t like blood so much. So the boys took me off to Thurso hospital, they did not want anything to do with it, so they kindly gave me an ambulance ride over to Wick hospital for a few hours until they decided they would not do it either. So I was away down the road for two hours to the glittering metropolis that is Inverness.
Once there an ace doctor, she was actually a dental surgeon, was expecting to have to knock me out and I’d have to stay in over night. In the end it was pretty simple.
She asked, ‘How squeamish are you?’
I said, ‘Not so much.’
So she just got on with cleaning it, picking all the fibreglass bits out and stitching it all back together. Dental surgeons have the best stitching skills it turns out. I got the nurse to take the open wound photo because she said you could see the top of my cheek bone which shows how close it was to my eye. The doctor got it all stitched back up super quick, 15 of the blighters, and I even managed to blag a lift back up the road with the ambulance that took me down there!
How did the good lady take it?
I rang the wife, who was only home three weeks after having our daughter, from the ambulance to tell her I was off to get some stitches and probably was not going to be home that night and that it was not that bad so don’t worry … But then Neil rang her in a panic to try and find out what happened having heard rumours of carnage, then Hamper came round to see her to prep her for the worst I think … ha ha! He showed her a photo of the gash at which point she rang me kind of sarcastically saying, ‘Only a small cut eh? you bloody idiot. Oh well at least you don’t rely on your looks for your livelihood,’ thankfully Helen is not one for freaking out and as a horse rider herself knows that everybody pays their dues from time to time.
Lessons learnt?
A couple of things I have taken from this are not to surf by myself anymore … and to hang on to my board like I mean it. I would also point out that although this was my own board people need to remember their own board when in the line up. Already this year there have been a number of incidents of tourists being in the wrong place inside at Thurso and a few board to body collisions. It doesn’t take a whole lot to do some proper damage so hang on to your boards and get out the way if someone is on a wave and don’t ditch just paddle for the white water man up and take it. So if someone gets mad because you’re floundering on the inside maybe it’s because they’re a bit scared of what can happen.
First featured as Clarkey Capped (a rather obscure Brasseye ref) in Carve issue 166.
He’s just beaten Mason Ho in the semi of the Billabong Pipe Masters… If Adriano lost to Mason he would have lost the title to Mick by a mere 450 points, but he maintained the pressure and used his years of experience to hold his nerve in a low scoring heat. He’s become the second Brazilian to win the title after years of being a danger man. He faces the other Brazilian world title holder, Gabriel Medina, in the final shortly. He dedicated his win to his brother who purchased his first surfboard for him for seven dollars and his friend the late Ricardo dos Santos.
In a phenomenally tense day of competition ADS main title rival Mick Fanning went down to Medina in the first semi-final, ironic as by making the semi Mick snuffed out Gabriel’s title chance. By winning the semi Gabe also became the first Brazilian to win the Triple Crown. Mick led for the duration in wonky small Pipe but Gabe pulled an air out of the bag in the final minutes to flip the lead his way.
Huge congratulations ADS, you deserve it and you can watch the Gabe v Adriano final here.
Update
Adriano added the Billabong Pipe Masters title to his day of days!
‘It’s an extra bonus, to be a Pipeline champ like Jamie and Kelly. There’s no words to describe how I feel right now. To be a world champion and to surf against my friend in the final. The ocean didn’t co-operate today but it’s still Pipe. I’m happy to finish the day well. Just like to say thanks to the fans here in Hawaii.’
‘Gabriel showed me the way to get here. How to be a world champion. Thank you so much. To share this with him in the final is a blessing.’
WSL RELEASE
After what can only be called the most dramatic day in pro surfing history, Brazilian Adriano de Souza (BRA) has clinched the 2015 World Surf League (WSL) Title at the world-renowned Banzai Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii. In the process, he also became the first Brazilian to win the Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons.
Surfing for ten years amongst the world’s elite and setting the stage for the rise of the ‘Brazilian Storm,’ De Souza’s Title clinching performance came with a significant wave of emotions, as he dedicated the victory to fallen compatriot Ricardo dos Santos who died earlier this year.
“It’s an incredible feeling and so special in dedication to my good friend Ricardo dos Santos,” de Souza said. “I have this tattoo in memory of him — he had the same tattoo that said ‘Strength, Balance and Love,’ and that’s all I needed to win this World Title. This is all in dedication to my brother as well, who bought me my first surfboard for seven dollars and now I’m on top of the world. What a dream to be a Pipeline Champion Master like Jamie [O’Brien] and Kelly [Slater] and Bede Durbidge, just so many names going through my brain now. There’s no words to describe how I’m feeling right now.”
The final day of the 2015 Samsung Galaxy WSL Championship Tour began with three contenders in the hunt for the world surfing crown – Mick Fanning (AUS), Gabriel Medina (BRA) and de Souza. Fanning’s Quarterfinal win over 11-time WSL Champion Kelly Slater (USA) ousted Medina from the race, but a late big air maneuver from Medina in their Semifinal eliminated the Australian from competition, crowning De Souza the new World Champion.
Taking down an explosive wildcard in Mason Ho (HAW) for a Semifinal win, de Souza claimed the coveted World Title after a loss earlier in the year at the Moche Rip Curl Pro had him doubting his chances heading into Pipeline.
“About midway through the year I thought Mick deserved the World Title more than me,” de Souza said. “He’s such a strong man and a three-time World Champ battling me for my first title was scary. I just wanted to give my best wishes to Mick and his mom — I had such a mix of emotions, but the day of my life has arrived.”
Fanning came into Pipeline having won his first-ever Hawaiian event at the Vans World Cup of Surfing and looked to be the favorite to win the World Title. But after being eliminated by Medina, his Title chances were left to Ho who couldn’t seal it for the three-time WSL Champion despite Fanning’s incredible win over Kelly Slater (USA).
“The energy’s been amazing walking down to the shore,” Fanning said. “I’m almost in tears every time I ‘ve paddled out and I’m just kind of going with the emotions. I had a friend tell me once that we can do anything and you just have to do it the best you can and stay true to yourself and things will happen.”
Claiming Runner-up status at the Billabong Pipe Masters for the second, consecutive year and the first Brazilian to earn a Vans Triple Crown of Surfing title, Gabriel Medina (BRA) achieved a phenomenal comeback after a tough start to 2015. Turning his season around at the Billabong Pro Tahiti with a Runner-Up finish, the defending WSL Champion stood proud hoisting his well-deserved trophy.
“I’m really stoked to be the first Brazilian to win a Triple Crown – it was actually my goal coming to Hawaii,” Medina said. “This year has been difficult for me when I lost the first four events and everyone said I wouldn’t have a shot at the World Title. I’m so thankful to come here and be a part of the World Title race. I’m so happy to make the Final, it was a tough heat against Mick and I got the score I needed in the last minute and I couldn’t ask for anything better. I’m so excited for Adriano to win his first World Title and Pipe Master – I know he’s been dreaming for ages and he did everything he could.”
It was Medina who ended C.J. Hobgood’s (USA) final run at a Pipe Master title, earning a Quarterfinal appearance in his last WSL Championship Tour competition. Winning a World Title in 2001, the 36-year-old Florida native spent 17 years on the dream tour – giving fans and fellow competitors so many fond memories to look back on.
“You’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with and I’ve spent the last 17 years of my life surrounding myself with, who I think, are not only the best surfers in the world, but the best humans,” Hobgood said. “I think this surfing platform is not just better than when I started, it’s 1,000 percent better so I’m happy to leave. The surfers are better, their characters and I just want to thank WSL for not only giving me this platform to speak right now but the stage out there to perform and do what I love. I’m fortunate enough that they work with us and continue to work closely with us, and hopefully it just keeps getting better and better because I’m going to be at home watching – so I’m going to be demanding the best. I just want to thank you guys, I’m stoked to get to work with Salty Crew now – thank you, love you…bye.”
De Souza’s 2015 Samsung Galaxy WSL CT Results:
Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast: 3rd
Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach: 2nd
Drug Aware Margaret River Pro: WINNER
Oi Rio Pro: 13th
Fiji Pro: 13th
J-Bay Open: 5th
Billabong Pro Tahiti: 13th
Hurley Pro at Trestles: 2nd
Quiksilver Pro France: 3rd
Moche Rip Curl Pro Portugal: 13th
Billabong Pipe Masters: WINNER
De Souza joins Carissa Moore (HAW) as 2015 WSL Champion; Moore won her title at Maui earlier this month.
“December 2015 has been the biggest month ever in the history of professional surfing,” said Paul Speaker, CEO of the World Surf League. “The Billabong Pipe Masters achieved the largest audience and greatest live viewership in the history of the sport, and we are so grateful to the athletes, fans and our partners for delivering a season to remember. Our congratulations go out to Adriano de Souza on an incredible Pipeline performance and first World Title, as well as maiden Pipe Masters title, and Gabriel Medina for claiming Brazil’s first Vans Triple Crown of Surfing title. We’d also like to extend our deepest condolences to the Fanning family and their tragic loss, and best wishes to Bede Durbidge and Owen Wright, their families, on their serious injuries toward a full recovery.”
The world’s best surfers will return in 2016 with the kick-off event at Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia in March.
