The Weekly Bugle:
Into The Weeds Of The World’s Surfing Week
The Best Air Drop Off All Time
Despite contacting the filmer @glandfilms and the surfer, tagged as @valentinevess, I couldn’t get any added info on what might be the best airdrop in surfing history. My guess it was ridden at Outside Corner, Uluwatu. More base jump than takeoff, I’ve watched it a dozen times and am yet to tire of the steeze.
The Pipe Pro Call Controversy: Part 2
Internet fires don’t rage for long. Last week I went through the controversy of the Pipe Pro competition being called on the biggest swell of the event window. The WSL pile-on was huge, even if the competitors would have had a big say in that call. Fast-forward a whole three days, and the Final Day has been called the best day of women’s competitive surfing in history. Winner Caitlin Simmers, runner-up Molly Picklum and Bettylou Sakura Johnson redefined women’s surfing in perfect, sizey, Pipe. Caitlin’s post-interview quote “Pipeline’s for the fucking girls,” provided the perfect soundbite and a quote for the ages. No one mentioned however that the WSL might have just got that call right after all?
The Perfect Chapter Is Go
If you do want to see an event run outside the WSL’s large golf umbrella, the 10th edition of the Capitulo Perfeito (or Perfect Chapter) has been green-lit for this Sunday 18th Feb. The one-day barrel riding event will be held at Lisbon’s Carcavelos Beach and features a ridiculous list of international invitees including Anthony Walsh, Aritz Aranburu, Balaram Stack, Bruno Santos, Nathan Hedge, Dylan Graves and Rob Machado. They’ll be up against Portuguese icons and up-and-comers like Nic Von Rupp, Tiago Pires, Miguel Blanco and World Junior Champion Francisco Veselko. I’ll be there broadcasting, but it’s still worth watching the live stream on the webcast in any case. The forecast looks epic, and it might be the best-assembled cast of tube pigs on the planet.
Jodie Cooper on Beach Grit’s Dirty Water Podcast
More shameless self-promotion but Chas and Derek at Beachgrit have finally uploaded their Dirty Water Podcast which features my conversation with Jodie Cooper from 2022. Jodie was the first openly gay pro surfer, a big wave pioneer, former World No. 2 and who was viciously assaulted in the surf by a mat-riding male in 2018 at her homebreak of Lennox Head. Jodes talks through all these aspects of her life, and many more, in our chat. As ever, she is warm, funny, smart and honest. Highly recommended, as Beach Grit would say.
The Fading Light Of An Ex Pro Surfer
One of my favourite genres of social media posts is the disgruntled ex-pro surfer and an attempts to cling to relevance. This post by Gary “Kong” Elkerton might just take the cake, and the icing too. Known as Mr Sunset, Kong was the man at the iconic Hawaiian wave in the 1980s. But sadly, as he says, no one seems to remember. The comments too are worth a read, with Joel Tudor dropping some classic “the kids aren’t all right” vibes.
Golf and Big Surf: That Old Chestnut
In a hotly contested field of surf misappropriation UK brand Reflo have stormed the gates with this shit show. Now surfing and golf are increasingly aligning, but this drop for the WM Phoenix Open which is billed “as a tribute to the pioneers of Big Surf” might have pushed even that bulging Venn Diagram. Only 400 items though, so get in quick! And don’t forget to wear those pants high!
Nuance on a conversation around the WSL? It’ll never catch on….