Uluwatu dreamin’

Uluwatu dreamin’

Uluwatu consistently produces more great rides in Bali than any other location. But for how amazing the waves can be, they're not necessarily 'perfect' and certainly less predictable in shape compared to neighbouring breaks like Padang Padang and Bingin.

On top of being a difficult wave to read, there's often a healthy crowd to navigate. So choosing a line requires not only predicting how the wave is going to break, but also where you'll be able to fit a turn without taking someone's head off - Corox's wave at 2:17 is a great example of juggling these two elements without missing a beat.

Rather than the wave making a surfer look good because it's so perfect, it's the surfer having such a good read of the wave (and the crowd) that makes it such a great ride.

Learn how to save your friends lives

Learn how to save your friends lives

Above - Alfie England leads the charge to save Jonathan Davies (circled) who is face down and unconscious with a set incoming.

Today marks a year since Alfie England spotted fellow surfer Jonathan Davies laying face down in large surf. What followed was the heaviest rescue I have been involved in where the casualty lived in 44 years of surfing. Fortunately thanks to amazing team work by the Porthtowan and St Agnes surfing community and the back up of St Agnes lifeboat, the Coastguard helicopter and team at Treliske Jonathan was somewhat miraculously back in the water in a week or so.

You can watch the reconstruction here at Close Calls Caught on Camera EP 1 here 

It wasn’t the first or last rescue in the last twelve months performed by surfers as a large number of legends saved lives with many multiple casualty rescues carried out right around the UK in 2020/21.

The surfing community often goes unrecognised as the first line of defence in the prevention of drowning. Most surfers just pull the victim out of the rip, get them to the beach and carry on surfing. It's only if cameras are onshore that a small amount of incidents come to light. All in a day at the beach!

Incidents are on the increase though so as well as taking our hats off to all the heroes, I’d just like you to think about learning a few rescue techniques.

It wasn’t the first or last rescue in the last twelve months performed by surfers as a large number of legends saved lives with many multiple casualty rescues carried out right around the UK in 2020/21.

The surfing community often goes unrecognised as the first line of defence in the prevention of drowning. Most surfers just pull the victim out of the rip, get them to the beach and carry on surfing. It's only if cameras are onshore that a small amount of incidents come to light. All in a day at the beach!

Incidents are on the increase though so as well as taking our hats off to all the heroes, I’d just like you to think about learning a few rescue techniques.

Very early on in Irish big wave surfing, some of pioneers realised that sooner or later they would be called on to save a friend’s life. So they drilled for it.

In my own surfing community, as in a lot of coastal towns and villages, many surfers went down the surf lifesaving and lifeguarding route; more as cool summer job that would earn you enough bucks to escape winter than anything else. But those skills learned have saved many lives on travels around the world.

As I contemplated a parting shot for this issue (on newsstands today), the date seemed a bit of a coincidence, so I thought I would use it to encourage everyone to learn a little about rescue and CPR. You may never need it, but if you are ever faced with a friend in need of help, or even a stranger that needs rescuing on a foreign beach, you will be glad of it.

The feeling of helplessness or wondering if you could have done more is a terrible thing. The experience of saving a life, well that's pretty good.

For rescue techniques for surfers click here.

To find your lifesaving course click here 

Many people in our surfing community have been outstanding in saving lives around the coast over the last challenging 12 months. There are a lot of heroes out there, so: “Cheers,” to you all.

Smoke on the water

Smoke on the water

Toes on the nose with some of the finest Cali stylers, Joel and Josh Tudor, Saxon Wilson, Ryan Conklin, Kevin Skvarna David Arganda, Trace Marshal and Devon Howard. Nicely done ya'll...

Scottish Gold

Scottish Gold

Thankfully we could still go surfing during the second lockdown in Scotland but without being able to travel as normal it meant surfing all types of conditions at home right through winter this year - Mark Boyd.

Rip Curl Rottnest Quarters

Rip Curl Rottnest Quarters

CT rookie Morgan Cibilic (AUS) is through to his third Quarterfinal this season after eliminating Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) All Photos: © WSL / Miers

Australians Wilson, Cibilic, O’Brien Through to Quarterfinals at Rip Curl Rottnest Search pres.

The Rip Curl Rottnest Search presented by Corona, the fifth stop on the 2021 World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT) and the final event of the Australian leg, only completed the first three heats of the men’s Round of 16 before going on hold and calling the competition off for the remainder of the day due to lack of swell on offer at Strickland Bay. The three heats saw Australians Julian Wilson, Morgan Cibilic, and Liam O’Brien book their spots into the Quarterfinals.

Julian Wilson (above) Through to Quarters for First Time This Season

The opening heat of the day saw two of the CT’s most experienced campaigners and perennial title threats, Julian Wilson (AUS) and Jordy Smith (ZAF), go head-to-head at Strickland Bay. There was a lot on the line for both surfers with Wilson still searching for his first Finals appearance of the season, while Smith was hoping to back up his runner-up finish at Margaret River with another solid result at Rottnest. It was a battle of tactics between the two with Wilson coming out on top. Wilson found the better set waves and leaned on some of the progression he is so well known for to take the win.

“I feel like I’ve gotten over a big lump just there,” Wilson said. “To let Jordy go on that wave at the end then have a really nice one come to me felt so good. It was fun to look for those sections on the right and go for some big airs. I’ve been looking at the rights for that all week and have only had a couple of good ones and I’ll continue to look at them for the remainder of the event. I’m excited to throw some airs and make some big scores. I’m really happy with how well my strategy worked and just happy to win that heat.”

Aussie Youngsters Book Into Quarterfinals at Strickland Bay

Injury replacement Liam O’Brien (AUS, above) continues his charge in his career-first CT event, making his way through the Quarterfinals by eliminating CT sophomore Seth Moniz (HAW) in Heat 3 of the R/16. As conditions slowed, it was clear that the surfer who made the least mistakes would walk away with the win. In the end, it was O’Brien who had the upper hand, leaving Moniz with an equal 9th place finish.

“I wasn’t really expecting to make a heat at this competition, so I’m stoked to have made it this far,” O'Brien said. “That was a really tough heat and it sucks when there isn’t a heap of opportunity, but sometimes that happens in surfing. It ended up being pretty tactical. I made a couple of mistakes, Seth made a couple of mistakes, then I got lucky and ended up coming out on top. It’s been cool to be here working with my coach Jay Thompson, we’ve known each other forever through Burleigh and he’s helped me develop from a junior into what I am today, so it’s crazy to be on the beach at a CT with him and to be into the Quarterfinals.”

Jordy Smith on form Photo: © WSL / Miers

2021 CT rookie Morgan Cibilic (AUS) continued his epic first-year run, booking himself a spot in the Quarterfinals after a win over Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) in Heat 2 of the Round of 16. Cibilic’s tight frontside hacks and explosive backside re-entries continue to wow in the waves at Stickland and today was no different as Cibilic won the heat.

With conditions rapidly slowing over the high tide and the swell continuing to drop, event organizers decided to call the event off for the day after Heat 3 of the men’s Round of 16. With a more promising forecast for tomorrow morning, another call will be made at 7:15 a.m. AWST to resume the remaining heats of the Round of 16.

Watch LIVE
The holding period for the Rip Curl Rottnest Search presented by Corona is now open and runs through May 26. The event will be broadcast LIVE on WorldSurfLeague.com and the free WSL app. Also, check local listings for coverage from the WSL's broadcast partners.

Although Rottnest Island will remain open for visitors while hosting the event, spectators will not be permitted at Strickland Bay as this will be a broadcast-only event to limit environmental impacts.

Rip Curl Rottnest Search Men’s Round of 16 (H1-3) Results:
HEAT 1: Julian Wilson (AUS) 13.00 DEF. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 11.20
HEAT 2: Morgan Cibilic (AUS) 12.50 DEF. Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 10.77
HEAT 3: Liam O'Brien (AUS) 10.83 DEF. Seth Moniz (HAW) 8.10

Rip Curl Rottnest Search Remaining Men’s Round of 16 (H4-8) Matchups:
HEAT 4: Michel Bourez (FRA) vs. Miguel Pupo (BRA)
HEAT 5: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Owen Wright (AUS)
HEAT 6: Conner Coffin (USA) vs. Mikey Wright (AUS)
HEAT 7: Italo Ferreira (BRA) vs. Adriano de Souza (BRA)
HEAT 8: Yago Dora (BRA) vs. Connor O'Leary (AUS)

Rip Curl Rottnest Search Women’s Quarterfinal Matchups:
HEAT 1: Malia Manuel (HAW) vs. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)
HEAT 2: Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) vs. Tyler Wright (AUS)
HEAT 3: Carissa Moore (HAW) vs. Isabella Nichols (AUS)
HEAT 4: Johanne Defay (FRA) vs. Amuro Tsuzuki (JPN)

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