The Weekly Bugle
Into the weeds of the surfing week that was.
Sancho talks to the Bugle on what might be the biggest wave ever ridden. John and Steph tell the WSL they need some space. Matt Barr has dropped The Announcement. Oh, and hear that noise? That's the sound of the content barrel getting scraped with rock slams and chimpanzees.
The Biggest Wave Ever?
This week I spoke to Benjamin “Sancho” Sanchis on this wave he rode at Jaws, on the Eddie swell. It’s pretty fucking big, isn’t it? How big, I asked Sancho? “I’m not interested in all that, all I wanted to do is get barrelled.” Solid response, given it may have been the biggest wave ever ridden by a human.
Here’s his take on the wave, as recounted down the phone from deep in the Sahara desert.
I did the complete rundown of the wave and the swell for SURFER. Sancho only went to Jaws at the last minute to run safety and accompany Jerome Sayhoun who was taking his 15-year-old son Liam on his first trip to Jaws. He broke his gun and then destroyed his tow board. This bomb was ridden on borrowed equipment from Billy Kemper. And when all the “biggest wave ever” chat kicked off he was off-grid camping in the Sahara desert surfing alone with Jerome Sayhoun. The iPhone footage best shows the scale of the wave.
The World’s Best Surfers Keep Walking Away (and the WSL keep letting them)
Within 90 minutes of each other John John Florence and Steph Gilmore announced they were taking a year off the CT, just a week before it was due to start. They provided various explanations that mainly boiled down to them going surfing. The WSL rewarded their absence with golden ticket wildcards for 2026. On the one hand, they deserve it. They’ve each committed their entire adulthood, (and most of their childhood) to pro surfing and have earned a break. On the flipside, I can’t think of any other sport where its biggest stars routinely do gap years. Their absence devalues the integrity of the World Title. Gabe and Filipe have taken similar sabbaticals in recent times. What if the WSL called their bluff and didn’t hand out the wildcards? Would they still take a break, or simply walk away for good? Keep in mind they only compete from February to September (as I discussed John surfed just 42 heats last year). Anyway the issue was summed up way better and faster by the Green Room Times.
The Announcement
Looking for a new podcast? My old mate Matt Barr from Looking Sideways Substack fame has, after years of hard graft, dropped The Announcement. It’s an inside look and three-part podcast documentary series about Yvon Chouinard’s September 2022 decision to relinquish control of Patagonia and make ‘earth’ the company’s only shareholder. Like all his output, be prepared for a Manchester accent and a desire to go deep in conversation to places and progressive topics that really matter. Quality journalism about the future of our planet.
Rock Slam
On the other end of the spectrum, though still perhaps in the life and death category, I’m a sucker for watching dudes getting splattered on rocks and surviving. Lucky, lucky, stupid, stupid fellas.
A Pivot
I always worry that I can’t do anything else. And that as one of six surf journalists left on the planet, maybe this gig is up. This clip however inspired me that it's always possible to retrain and learn new skills. I mean I won’t ever do it, but is nice to know the option exists.
