Ask Carroll

[Trev]

^^
Turtle's back. You can tell by the quoting.

Merry Christmas Turtle.

[turtle]

Just got an irritating txt from Tom who surfed Sunset this arvo, described it as "giant". Said on his last wave he was coming on to the inside section and it actually drained dry to black reef. He jumped off and got washed safely over it into the channel. Cnut! I love that shit.

Was he riding a SUP?

Does he ride a SUP in Hawaii? Do the locals tolerate him?

Why does he insist on riding it at times like e.g. exhibition round at Snapper?

He and Gerry should've paddled out on their SUPs for an exhibition round at Pipe before the final.

Nah a 9'8" Rawson quad.

Fcuk, you'd be hard pressed to find a surfer in hawaii who doesn't ride a SUP from time to time.

I think at Snapper he has done it just because he can.

I dunno what Fred has written or found out about Zosea but as far as I can tell so far they have about $8 million in sponsorship for about $30 million worth of mens WCT events in 2014, and two of the events (Fiji and Bali) have no naming rights sponsorship. Four of the women's events don't have any sponsors yet either ... yet there they are on the schedule happy as Larry. And there's no TV presence outside the USA, at least not that they've announced. They won't tell you anything eh.

Mega sceptical of 'em.

someone at Zooosea needs to get busy, 2014 aint far away.

[turtle]

hey old mate, been some nice 1's this year. ive done the loop and back on the cenny coast. my do a bit of reading/posting while im back.




Kelly's square barrel far out dude

[turtle]

hey old mate, been some nice 1's this year. ive done the loop and back on the cenny coast. my do a bit of reading/posting while im back.




Kelly's square barrel far out dude

[turtle]

ok Nick,

ive got a question how do a few wct surfers drop the back end/fins with nose up maintain a "line" and also manipulate a line in a tube like pipe i have watched thousands of hrs of pipe and backdoor. i have have surfed these breaks twice, 89/90. I got a couple of cover ups but nothing like a tube. Pipe line i think is a very hard wave to ride. How do you hold the line when being bashed about on the boil in awe of this yrs talent.

[Natho]

Nick, are you going to be having another quiver sell off any time soon?

[alakaboo]

How much of a plonker do you reckon Jamie O'Brien felt sitting on the sand when Pipe was going off?

[Nick Carroll]

Pipe was the first contest I've sat and watched unfold, well the final day anyway. After watching, my daughter who is learning to surf has asked me if I can take her to an event. I guess the only two real possibilities would be Kirra and Bells.
How much action can you expect to see at one of these events, given she is not towering above the crowd and all I'm a bit concerned we'd end up looking at the backs of heads mostly.
How hard is it to find accommodation and transport around an event, I heard Pipe was a record crowd but just how much of a crowd do the Australian events draw?
With waiting periods and the uncertainty factor, what's the minimum length you'd need to hang about to at guarantee seeing some surfing happen?

OK

well at either or both of these events you should be easily able to find a good vantage point from which you can watch the action.

There are often a lot of people around both events but not all the time.

At Snapper a big crowd will be around 5000, with maybe another 5000 drifting in and out of the vicinity. It's busy the way a big local market is busy.

At Bells the situation is a bit different since you have to drive out to the contest and park etc, thus people tend to congregate there. It gets more crowded than Snapper in the middle of the Easter weekend specially if the weather and surf are good. But there's more space for the crowd.

Its way less crowded during most of the women's heats but I strongly suggest you take your daughter to see the gun heats in those events, because she will be absolutely flabbergasted and overwhelmed by the skill of the chicks and their starpower etc.

I am sure you're as able as I am to research accommodation and transport around Coolangatta and Torquay. Just be ready to spend what it takes. Maybe a couple of thousand dollars all up.

But as far as viewing and access go, I don't think that's a sweat.

[Nick Carroll]

ok Nick,

ive got a question how do a few wct surfers drop the back end/fins with nose up maintain a "line" and also manipulate a line in a tube like pipe i have watched thousands of hrs of pipe and backdoor. i have have surfed these breaks twice, 89/90. I got a couple of cover ups but nothing like a tube. Pipe line i think is a very hard wave to ride. How do you hold the line when being bashed about on the boil in awe of this yrs talent.

what do you want me to say turtle, they are really fcuken good surfers, way better than anyone else in the world frankly.

I just don't know if most surfers can truly relate to the levels beyond a basic holy shit.

If you want to surf Pipe well then part of you has to be able to accept it as just another wave and figure it out as such. You can be in awe of it but you can't let it overawe you.

[Nick Carroll]

Nick, are you going to be having another quiver sell off any time soon?

Nup.

[Nick Carroll]

How much of a plonker do you reckon Jamie O'Brien felt sitting on the sand when Pipe was going off?

I dunno. Jamie could have been one of those WCT star guys. He chose another path closer to his heart. There was a few million dollars the difference and not on his side of the ledger either. Everybody's lives are complex and it's difficult if not impossible to make judgements about that stuff. He's a smart guy, Jamie, well, intelligent anyway (it's not always the same thing), but I suspect he is a slave to adrenalin, and not the first to lay his life down on the Pipeline altar. It's his life to lay down wherever he chooses.

[alakaboo]

I meant because of the Dos Santos bingle Triple Crown suspension thingy.
And because he said:
"I hope the waves just drop, that's what I hope. I hope everyone comes here for the Pipe Masters and the waves just suck".

[panaitan]

OK Nick I know it is a sensitive issue, but are you game to share your thoughts on the Judging at Pipe. In particular as it gave Fanning the world title?

I have some sympathy with the views expressed on some of the US based surf forums. Both of Fanning's heat winning waves were from 2nd reef roll in's. The level of difficulty on these waves does not compare to a free fall side slip into a square 1st reef ledge. Slater's finals monster being the best example, but there were others that scored lower than Fanning's waves.

Maybe I am just being influenced too much by Slater's performance at Cloudbreak and Pipe . He just clearly looked like the worlds best surfer this year. Fanning was super consistent, but at the same time awfully lucky.

[DucksNuts]

Nick, the commentators spoke briefly of top surfers and their ability to wipe out correctly...or at least in such a way to minimise possibility of harm, when possible.

Can you elaborate?

[tonka79]

OK Nick I know it is a sensitive issue, but are you game to share your thoughts on the Judging at Pipe. In particular as it gave Fanning the world title?

I have some sympathy with the views expressed on some of the US based surf forums. Both of Fanning's heat winning waves were from 2nd reef roll in's. The level of difficulty on these waves does not compare to a free fall side slip into a square 1st reef ledge. Slater's finals monster being the best example, but there were others that scored lower than Fanning's waves.

Maybe I am just being influenced too much by Slater's performance at Cloudbreak and Pipe . He just clearly looked like the worlds best surfer this year. Fanning was super consistent, but at the same time awfully lucky.

See the 'just stuff' thread panaitan.

[Davros]

Pipe was a close run thing but Fannings never say die approach showed why he was a deserved winner in a sporting competition. Slaters approach of only wanting to surf perfect surf f#cked him, so be it. His free fall drop in the final was pure freakness I couldn't believe what I was seeing, he is another level above when he's on fire but paid his price so the seppos should shut their cake holes.

[Nick Carroll]

OK Nick I know it is a sensitive issue, but are you game to share your thoughts on the Judging at Pipe. In particular as it gave Fanning the world title?

I have some sympathy with the views expressed on some of the US based surf forums. Both of Fanning's heat winning waves were from 2nd reef roll in's. The level of difficulty on these waves does not compare to a free fall side slip into a square 1st reef ledge. Slater's finals monster being the best example, but there were others that scored lower than Fanning's waves.

Maybe I am just being influenced too much by Slater's performance at Cloudbreak and Pipe . He just clearly looked like the worlds best surfer this year. Fanning was super consistent, but at the same time awfully lucky.

I don't reckon its a sensitive issue. It's a talking point! The whole thing is done and dusted, and most of the reactions online say more about the allegiances of the commenters than about the actual scoring.

Sorta went into it elsewhere on Just Stuff or whatever. To me it just goes to show you can't judge the judges off the webcast. See below the view of Fanning's 1/4 final winning ride from in front, as opposed to the down-the-beach webcast angle

1479348_10151758322076809_320345518_n.jpg (8.62 KiB) Viewed 4533 times

this is what the judges saw and it's why he got the score.

[Nick Carroll]

Nick, the commentators spoke briefly of top surfers and their ability to wipe out correctly...or at least in such a way to minimise possibility of harm, when possible.

Can you elaborate?

dude I don't know what the commentators were on about.

but yeah there's heaps of ways to wipe out and some are far worse than others.

generally you wanna

- keep away from your board
- go where the water's going
- avoid the bits of water that are going to bad scary places.

If you wipe out at speed you wanna use the speed to get yourself into a better position.

Wiping out in the barrel is usually better than wiping out anywhere else.

Very good surfers also often can tell a bit ahead of time when something is gonna go seriously wrong, and thus tend to push the eject button early enough so as not to be left horribly exposed to, say, getting sucked directly over the falls, or hit by the lip at the wave base.