Bells

[alakaboo]

Bells exposes those with less fluid styles and rewards man turns. On that basis alone it should stay, although J Bay has a similar role and is much nicer to watch

[crabmeat thompson]

@channels

No problem with that, 8-ft Bells would be in my top 3 or 4 waves to watch on tour.

Except reality is a bitch for any 12-day waiting period, how much 8-ft Bells bowl have we ever seen? Whistle clean 10-12ft Margs is a spectacle. But again the law of probability tells me we might see it once a decade in a CT event.

WSL needs to stop chasing unicorns

[swvic]

I reckon Bells is a great contest venue. I've surfed it less than 20 times. It's challenging and has a lot more push than it seems on screen. As mentioned above, technically excellent surfers get the best out of it

I've long thought that the Easter aspect should be discarded for an end of April start. It'll never happen because RC and other traditionalists won't allow it. Sad, because a couple of years of shit waves in the current pro climate might be its end. If Braithy's right (I think he is) about the tour in general, dropping Bells won't be replaced by another location, it'll just mean one less comp on the circuit

[foamy]

Latest modelling say the blocking high might be moving north and a few polar lows drifting thru. Ergo, next week might actually get some quite decent surf.

Though, what little I saw today I quite enjoyed. The surfing was more entertaining than on a standard good day. There was some size and it was a bit disorganised which meant it was unpredictable, they couldn't go to their stock routine which was more interesting to me.

[pirate_agenda]

how embarrassing are the surf line forecasts. says its going to be 4ft then in brackets (waist to shoulder high).

Surfline uses 'face feet' as their metric, so technically they're correct. They switched over around 10 years back, a cynic might say around the time XXL and other big wave contests start getting big. By using face feet - as opposed to surfers feet that we all still use in Australia - every wave instantly became bigger and the magical 100 footer all of a sudden came within reach.

For instance, what they were calling 30 foot at Waimea twenty years ago is now considered approx. 50 ft.

doesn't matter if they are technically correct. It's what kooks do and is embarrassing to real surfers who have been measuring how surfers measure forever.

[Drailed]

Bells is awesome... When thers waves...

[foamy]

how embarrassing are the surf line forecasts. says its going to be 4ft then in brackets (waist to shoulder high).

Surfline uses 'face feet' as their metric, so technically they're correct. They switched over around 10 years back, a cynic might say around the time XXL and other big wave contests start getting big. By using face feet - as opposed to surfers feet that we all still use in Australia - every wave instantly became bigger and the magical 100 footer all of a sudden came within reach.
For instance, what they were calling 30 foot at Waimea twenty years ago is now considered approx. 50 ft.

doesn't matter if they are technically correct. It's what kooks do and is embarrassing to real surfers who have been measuring how surfers measure forever.

I love this argument because, as anybody who surfed in Australia before 1974 knows, 'face feet' was the measure. Then more folk got sucked in by this Hawaiian joke on haoles.
I remember reading an interview with the great Barry Kanaiaupuni.
What is this Hawaiian scale, he was asked.
Ha ha, it is macho bullshit man, he replied.

[rmb]

I reckon Bells is a great contest venue. I've surfed it less than 20 times. It's challenging and has a lot more push than it seems on screen. As mentioned above, technically excellent surfers get the best out of it

I've long thought that the Easter aspect should be discarded for an end of April start. It'll never happen because RC and other traditionalists won't allow it. Sad, because a couple of years of shit waves in the current pro climate might be its end. If Braithy's right (I think he is) about the tour in general, dropping Bells won't be replaced by another location, it'll just mean one less comp on the circuit

I reckon keep it the way it is swvic but remove the alternate venues. Part of surfing is that you are at the mercy of nature why should the ASP be any different? The earlier the better at least then the punters can enjoy decent swells without the increased crowds.

But if it was as you mentioned make it a mid winter comp so the pros can enjoy the real cold and add Port Campbell as an alternate.

[Davros]

Bells good is great to watch on the box

[steve shearer]

Bells will never die.
http://www.thefreeridevoice.com/2015/04 ... d-control/

[rmb]

Bells will never die.
http://www.thefreeridevoice.com/2015/04 ... d-control/

Ahhh Steve thats the beauty of Bells for the WSL, surfers won't buy into pro surfing contests unless it's epic. Sports fans don't give a shit especially in Melbourne if its an iconic event the plebs will come. Bit of a tourism boom for regional vic with an elite contest running and the flow on effect with tourists flocking and visiting surf fans ticking off Bells from their bucket list.

It's a win win for all bar surfers and surf fans who want epic waves.

[steve shearer]

Yeah it's gone hoody nuts Matty. Trying to fix it.

I think I fixed it.

[Davros]

Sonny Garcia shot is poster worthy

[alakaboo]

I liked the article Steve but you and most other surf writers I've read keep peddling the line that zosea and Ziff are unknowable.

A little bit of digging into Ziff uncovers some interesting stuff...like that his company owns interests in oil shale in Qld...

There is information out there, I'd like to see someone chase it.

[godsavetheking]

Great read as usual steve. D'you think Slater was cheating a bit with his board? He seemed to find zip and flow while the whippersnappers he was up against were nothing but bog and hop

[foamy]

Bells is a special event, The venue, the history, the waves, the crowd.
Many pros might not like the wave, but I think they all want to win it. Because it is so hard, exposing and the most historic event on the tour.
I really enjoyed watching Adriano Da Souza winning Bells in very solid surf in 2013. A much criticised surfer who has developed, is incredibly consistent and who absolutely ripped the bag out of it that year with a routine of huge full rail gouges. Beating Fanning in the quarters, Jordy in the semi and an on fire Nat Young in the final. It sure meant a huge amount to him. Because it was Bells.
He made the quarters in 2014. But I liked reading that, after all the other pros had left, Adriano was still there surfing for days because, for him, it is a special place.

[steve shearer]

Great read as usual steve. D'you think Slater was cheating a bit with his board? He seemed to find zip and flow while the whippersnappers he was up against were nothing but bog and hop

Thanks GSTQ, board looked pretty bog standard. Difference seemed to be in approach and mental formations, as the great Vietnamese Buddhist That Nich Han would say. He looked relaxed and in flow.

[Buff_Brad]

Sonny Garcia shot is poster worthy

Music accompanying clip on the Mentawais is dance party worthy.