Corona Open J-Bay: Day Two
Well, we got our day at solid, maxing J-Bay. Perfect at times, almost too big at others and certainly a major challenge for the top 24 men and remaining 8 women.
Answers to questions about whether Kelly could still hang with the elite in elite-level surf were answered definitively (no). But the old boy - Uncle Goat as Jack Robbo called him in his post-heat presser - was still entertaining as hell to watch.
We've known for a long time that Kelly is ultra-sensitive to online criticism, recently confirmed by the latest episode of Lost Tapes. He bristles and reacts and loves to prove the critics wrong, loves to one-up online trolls. It's an unusual but endearing quality, for mine.
Today he half proved the critics wrong. Lest we be lumped in with these online trolls, the analysis of Kelly is strictly grounded in objective reality: the numbers, heat scores, rankings positions etc etc. Irrefutable facts and matters of the official record. Reality is very hard to accept when we are used to the status quo bias of Slater mastery. But accept it we must.
For example: His first four scoring rides in his Round of 16 clash with Jack Robinson were a 3.67, 3.23, 2.73, and 5.33.
All mediocre or below.
Kelly (AVG/WSL)
Sometimes the raw facts obscure deeper and more intangible parallel realities. Aside from the obvious: a 50-year-old mixing it up at the elite level with a bloke not even born when Kelly had already won six titles.
Behind the numbers: Kelly's 2.73 had a beautiful top turn, foam climb to deep fade then a signature carving Three-O deep in the bowl of a double-overhead J-Bay screamer that made Rosie go “whoa!”
He didn't stick it, but if he had that would have been a major headache for the judges. How to throw a number at a turn only he has the balls to attempt, let alone pull off?
Kelly was in the heat until the death but the final exchange on the buzzer was conclusive. Kelly's claimed 6.67 against Jack Robinson's 9.10.
Those scores perfectly illustrate the size of the numerical spread now between Kelly and the elite.
We also need to mention Kelly was helped by jet-ski assist, which magically appeared right as his heat began. A first for competition at J-Bay.
Earlier, a low energy Kelly, after a heat win against Barron Mamiya which featured his highest wave score since Portugal in March (7.33) claimed his tiredness was down to a late arrival and that he was still trying to get used to a new board. No doubt he was responding to the barrage of online criticism about his poor equipment choices.
It seemed maddening for someone of his experience to blame poor board choices - surely that is one of the few bankable positives for the aging surfer. Dialing in quivers. But no, the board he rode was “not a perfect board for out here”.
Cue sound of a million foreheads being smacked by surf fans in frustration.
Enough, Kelly.
Let's roll the tape back to 2019. Two goofys in the final - Medina vs Italo. The goofyfoot line: continuing, rhythmic, scaleable, increasing amplitude and altitude across high hooks in the bowl, looks to remain the benchmark for pumping J-Bay. Examples: Italo, Yago, Connor O'Leary, Tatiana Weston-Webb. Of those, I continue to favour Italo for the risk and execution on the closing turn. That huge high hit to explosion on the inside ledge is very hard to do and a clear point of difference.
Italo (AVG/WSL)
The very long lead time from judges made it hard to keep up with Italo's rides. At one point it seemed judges had awarded a sub-4 to one of those emphatic exclamation points. Only for an 8 to magically appear ten minutes later.
Now that Miggy Pupo is gone, we need to acknowledge that Yago Dora is carrying the torch as the most stylish surfer left in the event. Yes, I do mean over Ethan Ewing. There's just slightly less in between turns, if we had to split hairs.
However, Ewing was amazing against local boy Matty McGillivray. I had deja vu watching their heat. Matty M spent most of the 2020 COVID shutdown in my neck of the woods and I saw him and Ethan go head to head numerous times in perfect 6 foot point surf. From a distance, and up close, Ewing's spray fans were bigger, the redirect a little more solid. Judges paid a deep tube for Matty very handsomely, even though he fell on the end and were, I thought, a tad stingy for Ewing's perfect rail turns. A close victory was well earned.
Ethan (AVG/WSL)
Pro surfing seems cruel in the way careers fly by, absent Kelly who has made time reverse on numerous ocassions, none moreso than Jordy Smith. 2017, when he last won J-Bay, seems a lifetime ago. His back to back wins were a decade ago! He's a veteran now, looking for a consolation title. But not this year. And maybe not ever. If he doesn't, he'll be the best to not win a World Title, easily eclipsing other contenders like Taj Burrow.
Turn for turn he looks the only one with the repertoire, size of turns, and tube-riding nous to overcome Top Fivers Ewing and Robinson and the goofys left in the draw, then factor in a home crowd he loves to draw energy from. Jordy vs Ethan in 6 foot+ J-Bay with some problematic wind. I give a slight advantage to Jordy in those conditions. It's his contest to lose. Especially with no JJF or Medina.
Doesn't really matter for either Ewing or Robinson. Both sitting pretty with Quarter-Final finishes above Griffin and Toledo. The dark horse now is Igarashi.
Judges dropped the requirement for a finishing turn for the Women's Quarters. To be fair, their hand was forced by events. Sets were booming, even with skis on hand there were nightmares familiar to every pointbreak surfer. Paddle-out fails, equipment snappage, long-lasting punishment and tests of endurance. Carissa copped it worst, snapped board, dragged down the rocks like a drowned rat. She rallied to surf a couple of set waves competently for a high 6 and a high 7. Both generously scored.
Carissa (AVG/WSL)
Tyler did enough of the same mid-range rail work to get past Johanne Defay. In the post-heat presser, Tyler claimed to be “gaining data” and that her analytic brain was working overtime to parse the particular challenge of DOH J-Bay. Memories of J-Bay are mixed for her. As she reminded us it was here that “four years ago I disappeared for a few years”.
Tyler (AVG/WSL)
The emotional toolkit she referenced will be fully stretched in her Semi against Gilmore, who has looked the most in sync with J-Bay this comp. I thought her 8.33 opener was a bit over-scored but the final wave with three big full-faced carves back into the hook a bit unders. Either way, Steph is carrying the same aura she had at El Salvador. The problem for her will be dealing with unfavourable winds on finals day. Her frame will not be as physiologically suited to that bump as someone more athletic like Tatiana Weston-Webb.
Steph (AVG/WSL)
It's funny how the pros riding large surf with mechanical assistance has removed the sport further from recreational perspectives. Under those conditions locals would be on 6'3”s and 6'6”s. Maybe bigger. Picking off sets. Avoiding mistakes and their session-ending consequences.
We'll see how the more flighty post-modern pro equipment goes on finals day as Mother Nature ups the challenge factor. At the edge of the performance envelope we'll be anticipating more than survival surfing.
Online critic, out.
// STEVE SHEARER
Comments
You say that about Kelly but let's not forget he won Pipe (again) this year.
If his rating keeps qualifying him, his body keeps letting him and his head isn't calling him elsewhere to chase swells (instead of grind for points) - then he's got every right to be there and I for one (at 50 myself) am always keen to watch him surf - and listen to his event commentary.
Kelly's commentating is the highlight of him being at most events these days.
He doesn't get through enough heats to be otherwise.
I think one thing we can all agree on- the waves were the star of the show.
When KS won pipe I was yelling at the screen for him to retire on a high, I mean even if he had made the finals in trestles he really had no chance of winning that event.
Hopefully for his last hurrah he can win chopes and take a few wildcards in his pet events until he's 70 or 80.
Pipe isn't the event for Kelly to retire from the tour.
Why?
Because it's an event he'll still be competing in as a wild card for another few years after he's done with the tour to my eyes.
Chopes would be the one,but he'll probably be able to jag a wildcard there for another few years too.
I reckon the best way for him to go out would be to announce it's his final season,like Parko and ADS did.
I think Mick did it too.
Then every event he goes to is a farewell at each stop.
I’m trying to source some elephant jizz to steam with my new coffee machine.
nice to see the ocean dominate the humans..for mine that day was JBay at optimium, not "perfection" 'coz that's an illusion. What a glorious sight. It's also interesting to observe that the very top performers are significantly faster than those in the top 10. I bet the waves for finals day today will lead to everyone bemoaning "how good was it yesterday"
“ Answers to questions about whether Kelly could still hang with the elite in elite-level surf were answered definitively (no). ”
“Lest we be lumped in with these online trolls, the analysis of Kelly is strictly grounded in objective reality: the numbers, heat scores, rankings positions etc etc. Irrefutable facts and matters of the official record. Reality is very hard to accept when we are used to the status quo bias of Slater mastery. But accept it we must.“
Way off the mark. Definitively? Objective reality? Huh ? Slater didn’t flub, he was beaten by the number 2 in the world. He’d have otherwise have moved into the quarterfinals of an elite event.
Going off objective numerical quantification, the last round of competition saw Slater scoring higher heat totals, in the same wave conditions, than Toledo ( World # 1 ), Colapinto ( #4), Robson (#8), Ibelli (#12), O Leary ( #10) and Miggy Pupo ( #9).
So Slater earned a higher score than half the current world top 10 surfers, including the top ranked surfer on the planet, and you claim that an objective analysis finds him not relevant at elite level?
That’s some hard loling my friend.
BTW….keep your eyes peeled for an Igarashi push. Got to have that final five representative of all the large global markets!
on kelly, i think it's a mistake to say he can't "hang with the elite in elite-level surf". it's more that the direction the judges want to see surfing going is relegating him into obsolescence. kelly remains one of very few (if not the only one) that will make use of the entire wave. he does full roundhouse cutbacks on the flat sections, rather than just sitting still and waiting for the section to form, or doing a shit half-cutback half-hack to keep moving while waiting. he surfs waves more fulsomely than most other surfers, whereas the judges seem to want and reward dudes searching for and juicing the vert sections - all the shit in between doesn't generate points. sure, it means we might see more 'high performance' surfing, but is that a corner we want 'good' surfing to back itself into?
He can hang with them,he just can't beat them most of the time anymore unless he's at Pipe or Chopes.
Not quite with you on Kelly, Steve. He had Robbo on the ropes until Robbo pulled another Mick-like buzzer beater out. A few things not mentioned for those of us that went to bed early, what happened to Griff? He looked unstoppable until he snapped his fav shooter then lost his mojo big time. What was his interference about? I watched the replay of his heat with Jordy and saw nothing...not that he was in with a hope of beating the big bru on his back up. Also, what of Toledo's shoulder injury...will he be (gratefully?) sitting out Chopes? Love to see a Robbo/Jordy and a Steph/Carissa final...
I'm with you - an interference is almost always going to be one of the most interesting things of the day and I couldn't find anything about it. I poked around in the heat analyser and found nothing- anyone know what happened?
it was a nothing burger right at the end of the heat
The first ever footage I saw of Jbay was Mark Warren, maybe late 70's, what seemed to be endless wall, different sections allowing so much time to enjoy the ride, speed up, slow down all with a relaxed style. Modern competition with "critical" surfing is awesome to watch but when combined with a style master, what a spectacle. Love this event!
Agree Zen - the waves were the star of the show.
Thanks for write up Steve, always look forward to your review.......
Jordy said it best in the presser; the sets were too big. The medium/smaller waves had much better shape. Really hope the swell drops a bit back to day one size and Ethan wins this. Along with Jordy they just look so good out there. Jack is a tube magnet but something looks off with his turns. I hope the judges don't reward his glitchy style. Yago and Italo rip but personally I don't find backhand surfing as appealing at Jbay.
It's probably not a popular sentiment, but it felt to me that Jordy was merely dialling in his waves. Other veterans do it too, however by virtue of his familiarity with the wave, Jordy really stands out.
Each wave seemed stitched together the same way they have been for the last ten years. The same speed, the same sequence of moves, the same turn placement and turn angle.
In 2018, when Filipe landed two oops on the one wave, all the talk was about how the mold had been broken; progressive surfing had come to this most traditional of waves and things would never be the same again.
Yet here we are. Back to the same old.
The same old looks pretty damn good to me. I do agree you can watch his 10's from previous years and they are surfed the same way as yesterday, but damn he makes the majority of the field look silly with how well he surfs jbay.
100% Burlz. Give me that always over any amount of pump-pump-pump-flick-claim combos
Jordy to jbay is what JJF is to pipeline.
Or like me to a dessert buffet.
Correct.
An event he should've won 3 or 4 more times than he has,with more local knowledge of the break than any other surfer on tour and the best surfer on tour out there when it's going his way,which for some reason it doesn't for the duration of the event most times.
That was 2017 i think.
That was only 3 -4 foot he did those airs too.
And he spent about a hundred metres fanging down the line first instead of doing any canvas work beforehand.
It was groundbreaking what he did that day,but i'm glad Jbay overall hasn't become an aerialist's playground and has remained all about drawing lines and laying down rail.
Even when it's smaller.
There's enough other events to see the aerial gymnastics.
Lost Tapes gives an insight into the reality of Kelly's aging body. It is not fresh, new and ready at will. He has to prepare, overcome and, by force of will, lift on the day. Competition these days is far more of a mental and physical struggle for him than I expected.
The standard at J Bay was super high. JJ type down carves and occy style backhand bottom turn top turn combos are routine for most these days.
One of Kelly's best waves still stood out in amongst all that - slightly different lines and a commanding wild but controlled presence. If he had made that 360 it would have been an ahead of the pack move which at 50 is amazing.
He makes those carving 360's in beachies and shorter reef break waves at will almost.
I can't recall him ever doing one in a fast down the line pointbreak though,let alone at Jbay.
Agree completely with the KS assessment FR. Any time you're watching Kelly, you're witnessing history – the GOAT etc. But getting old's a thing and if you're a tiny bit off or fatigued, (which you're more likely to be with every passing year) recovery reflexes etc let you down and the wheels come off. With the critical timing and g-force heft required yesterday, it was pretty clear he's lagging behind the existing top level at J-Bay ... That he's even 'in the conversation' (as the commentators love to say, and though they're probably not permitted to voice what some must surely be thinking) at 50, is astonishing.
Great bottom turn Steph.
If you have a Spare Hour this ^^ is Gold.
Lots of Slater comments. These days he seems to be a very polarising figure. I think you can't deny that he is incredibly narcissistic. If he was less of a wanker more people would be supportive and impressed by his achievements.
Realistically, his surfing does look dated in anything except barrels.
Beatriz Ryder shot half those photos Steve, not AVG.
I think Kelly's main problem is hes always tinkering around with boards ,you would think he would have it all worked out by now but no, rolls up to an event at the last minute with some untried board and hopes hes going to blow it out of the park......rarely works that way but im sure if he was on a CI as he used to rip on he would be doing way better .......Ethan Jordy and Steph and Jack were glorious to watch.
The day Kelly announced he was parting ways with Quiksilver in 2014,and around the same time started fading out of Channel Islands boards,was the day he ceased to be a serious world title contender and his contest results took a turn south much more often.
It was probably going to happen anyway with the Brazzo storm that year assuming tour dominance,but that's what i noticed.
He seemed to become somewhat competitively lost at most events after splitting from quiksilver compared to before that,and his more eccentric style of equipment at many comps trying to stay relevant with the new young guns on tour in hindesight hasn't worked.
Pipe and Chopes are waves where you can't go too experimentally off tangent with your boards,and that's a big reason why he's still one on the main players there.
If Kelly had stayed on CI thrusters, I truly believe he would have at least one more world title. It seems the past ten years, his biggest obstacle has been himself. He self sabotages himself by opting for “innovative” boards and fin setups.
I still think in his mind, after the Australian leg, he has been safety surfing and is putting it all on the line in 2023, in order to surf 2024 Olympics and retire.
As un familiar with the comp scene as I am. I love seeing luck play out in surfing both comp wise and recreational. Sure skis help with getting the most from a heat but they most certainly limit some of the luck elements and take out dealing with part of what surfing is.
Quote: Sets were booming, even with skis on hand there were nightmares familiar to every point break surfer. Paddle-out fails, equipment snappage, long-lasting punishment and tests of endurance. Carissa copped it worst, snapped board, dragged down the rocks like a drowned rat. She rallied to surf a couple of set waves competently for a high 6 and a high 7.
She dug in and fought back mentally and physically. Ski reliance will make for lesser battles and take out some of the luck no matter how rinsed they get or where they sit in the rankings.
I want to see them face the conditions as everyday surfers would, however luck plays out. It's all part of it and somewhat what they should be training for. Otherwise just build bigger wave pools, neon lights and sponsorship signs. Playing the field is half of it how ever it plays out. Reading the line up and taking a gamble are all part of competition and conditioning. Paddle battles shouldn't be removed no matter how brutal or boring they may be. I guess my comment is a bit like holding onto a car whilst riding the le tour. Luck should always be open and swing both ways. let them take a few on the head.
“Enough, Kelly”
Watching his 1st heat with a shitty looking board again… For a surfboard design freak like Slater, the self sabotage of experimentation in heats was at 1st baffling now is just bizarre… just like the Seinfeld finale.
Funny, I just posted about the same thing, then read your comment.
Great minds…
Jordy 'easily' the best surfer never to win a world title over Taj?
Not even close competitively speaking.
Taj had won several more events than Jordy up to the same age,and was a legit world title contender on more occasions,and had a few more top 5 finishes too.
I'd say Jordy is the best inconsistent surfer to never win a world title,or a close toss up with Julian Wilson.
I don't think Taj ever addressed his shortcomings (heavy lefts) the way Jordy has.
Jordy is now a contender at proper Pipe the way Taj never was.
(yes, I know Taj won Pipe- at 3ft Ehukai beach break)
That's probably true.
But i'd vouch Taj was more of a proper contender at most other events over Jordy.
Comparing their career results year in year out would seem to indicate it to me.
Perhaps it's best to say they're the best never to win a world title in their generations.
Taj is firmly within the same gen as Mick and Parko,Jordy the one after it.
Could still be premature talk about Jordy being best never to win,but i think his odds aren't a whole lot shorter than Kelly's chances by now.
That's what I reckon JetRo, Taj was in the top 5 picture for ages, just not the very top. Jordy finds ways to lose, his heat IQ is...ooff. Safe to bet against.
Taj was a solid world title contender most years for a decade i remember from the very late 90's through to the end of the 00's,just like Parko who did eventually break through and win one.
I can't even really remember 1 year Jordy was a major front runner all season long.
He'd always lose a wheel somewhere along the line and derail his season,or lose consistency after several events and someone else would overtake him and get the grand prize.
Those two scenarios are the picture of his career in his better years.
Knocked out Bruce and others in pumping 6-8ft pumping pipe/backdoor to make finals day of that particular comp…. Also did well at Cloudbreak numerous times not to mention a couple Chopes finals.
Sammy Pupo made Jody like a rookie in heavy lefts… Looked like proper Pipe and his second scoring wave was a 1… Your contender is a pretended.
Hate to say it, but I’m with you 100% on this comment JR. Jordy’s heat with Ethan today was a snap shot of his career. Flashes of brilliance but should of would of could of
Why you hate to say it?
Because you've been 0% with me on some other comments previously perhaps lol.
Kelly sums up the year in the commentary booth… Average waves all year until J-Bay but Pipeline was the best conditions ever heat by heat… Classic, gotta say he has a point.
Sour grapes or just desserts
Another thing that made the contest great to watch was no Joe Turpel or Shannon. Rosie Hodge was pretty good commentating I thought. Obviously we still had WSL's corporate fuckery in play. Why do they insist on interrupting their service with ads for their service? Its like eating at a restaurant and the waiter taking your plate away while you're eating and asking if you would like to eat at this restaurant.
Hell yeah but Rosie’s voice cuts through like a rusty Stanley knife at the best of times. One stage she talked about the natural foot domination of J Bay until Gaby etc... Occy got forgotten real quick.
kelly is 75% on top of the rest at his age , if he was 50% half his age be taking another title of these contenders