I’m with Slater
After witnessing the Boost contest down at Bondi first hand, I would like to say that I am 100% behind Slater trying to find a new formula for the sport of surfing.
I was privileged enough to watch first hand the aerial manoeuvres of Taj, Slater, Owen Wilson & Jordy Smith, & some of these were on closeouts that wouldn’t even get a second look in normal competition.
On the WCT & any competition with the normal rules & judging, surfers have to wait for the best waves that will line up through to the inside, which can be quiet a wait, then they have to perform as many moves as they can with the longest ride. It promotes surfers to hold back from their big moves in case they fall, so they end up just completing the moves they know will score.
I have watched a few contests both being there & also on webcasts & I am happy just watching the highlights at the end rather than sit through the whole event to really only see a few waves ridden. The competitions are not much of a spectator sport, but at the boost I was afraid to turn away as the surfers in the water were paddling onto anything & everything and launching into unbelievable airs. It was awesome to watch & had a great atmosphere.
Now Slater came under intense scrutiny last year after he and ESPN threw around the idea of a secondary tour, one which would feature just 16 athletes and unprecedented prize money, plus mainstream media coverage.
Slater then outlined how the system could work. ”Someone like Jamie O’Brien is never going to be a world champion, but he’s the best guy at Pipeline and he will prove that over and over again,” he says.
”He’s won more different events at Pipe than anybody. He’s won five times at Pipe in three different events. But he’s not going to beat the top 10 [surfers] at Trestles probably, so it’d be more like a horses for courses kind of thing.”
”You’ve got Manoa Drollet, who’s one of the best guys at Teahupoo, but he’s probably going to get smoked at Brazil on a beach break. Laird Hamilton will smoke all of us at Jaws, but I guarantee he’s not going to beat me at Huntington. So why not show all the best surfers of the best waves in the world?”
”I’m just talking off the top of my head here, but maybe we have the 10 best guys who have proven it over and over again in all conditions against the best, say, six to 10 guys at each spot,”
”Then you bring a guy like Danny Fuller in to Teahupoo and most guys don’t know who he is, but he’s a Pipe and Teahupoo great barrel rider. Horses for courses. Then you go to a beach break and Mitch Coleborn, Ry Craike and Dion Agius get a chance to go.
”And maybe, hell, if you win an event and you’re not on tour, you get a spot on the ASP tour the next year. There are all these great surfers who aren’t on the tour, free surfing, but there’s no reason you can’t create a format that encompasses all those guys once in a while.
”I still think another series would be good. Surfers need to keep their options open, to create the best product that they can.”
I think he is onto something. When you think about a sport like motor racing, there are many different types of championships. You have Touring Car, Rally, Drag Racing, F1 & Stock car to name a few, each with their own fans & world champs. I’m not saying we need all this in surfing, but surely we can expand a little to make it a little more exciting.
For some of the moves I’d like to see in competitions see clip below
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Reference SMH Feb 28 2010
