The WSL Finals
The Queen is dead, long live the Queen!
Steph Gilmore, the Queen of Australian surfing finds herself, according to three-time World Champ Mick Fanning, "in a whole new stratosphere by herself”.
From a deep combination position down in her opening heat against Brisa Hennesey and three consecutive falls, Gilmore told herself “it's not gonna go this way again” and climbed out of the hole with a brilliantly surfed buzzer beater.
The wobbly-legged faller of Heat One was never sighted again from that moment.
What we got from Steph en route to an 8th World Title was the most sustained run of rail surfing excellence ever seen in the sport. There is no comparison, no historical precedent to set her achievement beside. It stands alone.
'Sun and Steel', the autobiography of Japanese author Yukio Mishima details the path of self-mastery through martial arts and training. From the opening presser it was obvious there was a steeliness about Gilmore today which would match any martial arts practitioner.
Questions about her athleticism, her ability to go the distance, her drive, her reserves of stamina were ruthlessly quashed heat after heat. She finished the day effortlessly besting Carissa Moore in straight sets looking fresher than when she started.
She was combo-ed again briefly in her second match-up with Tatiana Weston-Webb, before landing two devastating consecutive rides, one with perfect rail work for a 7.00, and a second under priority featuring a greased nose-pick reverse, for an 8. That was the heat. Weston-Webb got the chance to answer back but her three-turner was rightly judged under the requirement.
Steph pulled a reverse? Where the fuck did that come from?
“I have to be more progressive in my surfing,” she said after the heat. “Thats a fact”.
Sure, it was a recycled Josh Kerr circa 2006 turn, but progressive is relative, not absolute. It made her stand out compared to unrelenting meat and potatoes from her opponents. Despite being the oldest woman in the Finals, Gilmore made her contemporaries look slow, outdated and miles off the pace.
By the time she got to Johanne Defay there was blood in the water, sunlight glistening on steel, precise spray fans being thrown everywhere. It was not a competitive heat, which I believe, as well as noting that head high Trestles suits Steph, was one of the few correct predictions I made. Defay was smoked by six points in her heat, which is an almost unbelievable show of dominance at this level.
Her two Finals Heats against Carissa were similarly uncompetitive. She won the first with the opening wave - hustling Moore off the takeoff as good as any behind-the-rock Snapper shark to nail a set wave for an 8.33. Moore could not produce anything remotely as sharp and precise in over an hours worth of surfing as the opening turn on that wave. The back-up 6.67 put her almost 5 points clear of Riss when the siren sounded.
In deteriorating surf there was no let-up, no signs of shakiness or any softness in the steel for the deciding heat. Gilmore made Moore look second-rate, which few have been able to do. An almost 4 point spread showed Steph still firing in absolutely peak form. Five thirty-five minute heats, the last three almost perfectly done. Dane Reynolds ended up on a drip after surfing three times there in 2009. Gilmore looked like she could surf five more times.
“Fark Yeah!” she screamed at Strider on the back of the sled, “Let's prove this whole system wrong.”
“Carissa is World Champ in my eyes.”
In any given year, sure. Carissa wore the yellow and held a commanding if uninspiring lead.
World Champ, nah.
The record breaking eighth title is in the books now Steph. And you almost single-handedly rescued Finals Day from being a dreary farce held in sub-standard surf.
Moments of brilliance in a very challenging year for Gilmore. Missing Pipe with COVID, dudding out at Sunset. “I had to crawl my way back into the cut,” she noted. A patchy year with an incredible day attached to the end, and as the reality started to sink in Steph started to revise her opinion on the “wrong system”.
“I disliked this format,” she said glinting into the Southern Californian glare, “and now I love it!”
Where does this sporting performance from Gilmore sit in the pantheon of epic Finals efforts, globally? I'll say top five and need to hear very strong arguments to convince me otherwise.
The best I've ever seen, for sure.
The dominant performance we expected from front-runner Carissa was executed perfectly by new World Champion Filipe Toledo. Coolly iced it, from the opening ride. Speed, variety, perfect join-the-dots flow on janky sections which he lined up and blasted without a hiccup. Remarkably, despite the aerial attack he possesses, not a single air, clearly part of what he referred to as his “winning strategy”.
That was a bold move. If Italo's opening air on a left into the wind had been more generously scored, as they were in earlier heats, Pip may have needed to press launch. As it was, for two dominant heats, not as one-sided as the Women but still emphatic wins, Toledo was able to stick to the face, and click the fins out the back skate-style like only he can do.
Italo fought a tight heat against Kanoa, saved by a single air on a right closeout before the wind came up.
The Australians could not mount any effective challenge. Ewing waited and waited. Fell on his opener for a 3.17.
With 18 minutes to go, he had a 3.17 and a 1.00 in the score-line. It was shades of Bells: stubbornly waiting for set waves he had visualised but which refused to manifest.
Robinson did no better. In the words of Kelly Slater, “he fell apart”.
Mysteriously, bizarrely, he kicked out of a major set wave after a strong opening for a 3.67. That was a mid-6 all day long if he milked it. Maybe more. At one stage he was signalling wildly to the beach while paddling back and forth. Why?
Needing a 9.60 he fell on three regulation top turn reverses.
A final exchange where Jack got an 8.70 flattered the score-line but 16.10 to 13.30 is still a hiding at this level.
Our humble family man who, in the words of Kelly Slater referring to Pip’s Tahitian performances, “still has lots of room for improvement” is our new World Champ. The overwhelming emotion he expressed was relief “for all the hard work of nine years, all the sacrifices made by my family.”
“To see God's work through my life and family life is amazing.”
Jesus had kept his promise, apparently, and Toledo walks away with something no-one can ever take away from him. A World Title.
How many more he manages depends on whether we come back to the cobblestones next year and in years to come. Backslapping and mass pocket-pissing from inside the tent will inure ELO to fan cries to hold the Finals Day somewhere more meaningful. The favourable time zone for the coveted American consumer audience will be a continual siren song.
Meanwhile, Cloudbreak was 6-8 foot and offshore today. Indo was pumping too.
In the end, the pennies will be counted and if the cobblestones put zeros in the bank account we will be back here next year, and forever more after that. In my view that sucks, softened slightly by the fact that we may see the Queen challenge Slater for 11.
Can you imagine Slater in the booth for that?
Thanks for reading, seeya next year.
// STEVE SHEARER
Comments
Didn't watch much of it but glad that Toledo got up over Italo. Besides Ethan, Toledo has the best rail game out of the top 5 for mine.
WSL judging final results Toledo 15.13 Italo 14.97
If Italo had been scored by the judges like the previous heats....it could've been.....
If the WSL mens final surf comp was held in the clean bigger waves yesterday, Im sure Jack & Ethan would of had better odds....
&t=6sFor the Five - A Film for the 2022 WSL Final 5
released 8th Sept 2022
" nice Brazilian song in the background, maybe a sign of what will happen on the next days"
“What we got from Steph en route to an 8th World Title was the most sustained run of rail surfing excellence ever seen in the sport. There is no comparison, no historical precedent to set her achievement beside. It stands alone“
Yeah, nah. Occy at the Bells skins contest romped all over this effort. Steph did 5 consecutive heats in 2-3 foot fluff. Occy did 11 in a row in cold 6-8ft southern ocean juice.
Not to mention John at Margie’s that year pretty much laying down new lines no one has done before or since.
Enjoyed the write ups this year Steve, good stuff
So you're saying you thought he was talking about surfing overall instead of womens surfing?
I didn't think he needed to spell it out but i stand corrected lol.
Pretty obvious to me jetson
“ the most sustained run of rail surfing excellence ever seen in the sport.”
Lol
Sounds like something Joe Turpel would say in the commentry booth lol.
Even he'd differentiate between the men and women though i reckon.
Maybe the latest 'woke culture' topic has just surfaced here.
Politically incorrect to differentiate sporting performances between men and women.
Such a shit location to end the year.
They should start and finish at pipe.
100% agree
Definitely finish at Pipe.
It's the sport's history.
Thanks for the editorials FR they've been a highlight of the tour.
Hopefully JJF and Medina are back next year, even then i think Robbo may be able to win.Coming second(?) for his first year on tour is pretty damn good. Ethan third? too.Was surprised they both had shockers. Might not be able to watch another final at lowers though.
AWESOME EFFORT STEPH your a absolute legend.. FR sensational write up again hats off to both
with you carpetman. zzzzzz! But great work Steph!!!
I didn't even know it was on until this morning.
A quick fast forward (on mute of course) through the heat re-caps revealed nothing noteworthy or innovative. Looked more like an average QS that could of taken place anytime in the last 15 years.
The supposed peak moment of professional surfing was truly SEPTIC,
'backslapping and mass pocket pissing' Indeed.
agree - it was shit
Thanks Steve, I'm gonna have to go back and watch the previous heats.
Great write-ups as always, bit better than ya basic meat and potatoes.
The feel good message of this event is that the 'backslapping and mass pocket pissing' is staying contained in a California circle jerk. We don't want this SEPTICemia festering and contaminating the outer realms, better they stick to well known spots.
Cheers to Trestles, onshore slop and high performance surfing. More barrels for the everyday surfer
It is pretty crook isn’t it
She had the same look in her eyes at the snapper contest when she beat Lakey? 4 or so years ago.....but im not convinced of deserving a world title ...certainly won the day but Carissa really won the year as Steph alluded too.........imo
I would feel more sorry for Carissa if the wave and conditions did not favour her, but the fact is they really did. It's the kind of set-up where she could well have dominated but in the end she got done by a hungrier, better surfer on the day.
Big picture, and this view will not be well received, I found that women's final quite boring to watch. Sans froth and narrative with the audio turned off, the surfing itself was not overly interesting.
I think...I'm looking forward to the next band of young frothers making the CT. The Snapper QS grabbed me more than that final.
Didn't see the event live was busy sleeping.
Decided to have a look at the replay of Steph vs Carissa in the morning.
1st heat a couple or so minutes in saw Steph catch the first wave.
Nothing special i thought,half decent wave to start.
Then worked out with a quick scroll through the wave scores for the heat that that was the highest scoring wave (and over scored by about a point i thought).
Then saw in the 2nd heat wave score list all were lower than that.
So when i realised i saw a rather average ride in the first few minutes being the best ride in both the heats,i mumbled in my mind 'well that's pretty fkn rubbish' and switched it off.
Still deciding if i should watch the replays of the guys.
Definitly not feeling any rush to at all.
I personally find it offensive that you'd call the rail surfing Steph was doing in the final average!!!! :-P hehe. Nah not really,....But that's the subjectivity of surfing for ya;. Personally, i thought it was some of the cleanest most precise rail surfing i've ever seen in such shitty waves. Each turn she did had me frothing as i watched it live. I don't think i've seen better precise rail surfing under such extreme pressure in such shitty bumpy gutless waves as i saw in that final from Steph. She had her power and precision on point in my opinion.
Wasn't actually calling her surfing rubbish.
Was calling the heats rubbish for the fact that her first wave was the best wave of the 2 heats and everything thereafter was lower.
Great result for Stef
But disgraceful holding it in such small condition after 8 ft tubes at chores 2 weeks ago
Italia trying to turn it into an air show instead of power rail surfing
Easy fix in future judges just say we aren’t scoring high for one manoeuvre airs
Good having Slater and mick in commentary booth
Reckon they would have held the womens final in 8ft Chopes,or any womens heat in those conditions?
Nah me either.
2- 3 foot trestles i'd choose an air game over trying to do power rail surfing too.
Toledo was just playing it safe not going to the air against a competitor with an air game as good as his own.
He would have pulled them out if he really needed to,but it turned out he didn't need to.
Steve, which kaleidiscope of worlds did you watch the comp in? It sure wasn't the same one I was watching.
Poor timing in Oz as far as media coverage goes for Steph's 8th. QE2 will dominate front pages and footy finals the back.
11th article down on Fox sports. WSL needed a shark sighting.
Love Steph but what are we doing here? How can we not get more critical of this format and start calling out the corporate seppos ruining the top tier of this sport, our sport. Gotta feel for Carissa, best surfer all year and lost 2 heats in 2ft runners. Hands down the worst management of any global sporting league
Disgrace.
Mixed emotions. Super happy for Steph, who as a mate put it, "mowed through the field like a Snapper Boardriders club round" but can't help but feel for Carissa. Thats gotta sting. As for the men's, bummed Ethan and Robbo didn't show up today and we got the champ we all knew we would get, with a massive asterisk. Interesting to hear Kelly banging on about Mick spending a month in Tahiti to improve his act there as needed...can't imagine Fil ever doing that - it's all gods will anyway right?
Apparently Jesus only likes Fil and hates the rest. “ They can get stuffed “ so save the the lord.
Steph run was very good to watch though. Mens side was very ho hum.
So the clearly best women's surfer of the year is not World Champion, and the 5th best is... Great result! All played out in cross-shore mediocre waves.
Steph was a deserved winner.... of the Trestles Comp, but not the World Championship. She said as much herself after the win.
I wonder how she feels about it as she reflects on the win and her other 7 - maybe she feels it was a bit of a heist.
Well it wasn't going to be too long before that scenario unfolded with this format.
But last year the 2 front runners won,and this year one of them did,so 3 out of 4 aint bad i guess.
yep agree- a heist in shit, should 100% be like the tennis masters where world ranking doesn't change but top finishers get chance to win mega bucks at end of season
"And yes, it's come to this
It's come to this
And wasn't it a long way down?
Wasn't it a strange way down?"
LC - S of L&H
Filipe is really a legend. Professional surfing is basically a spectator sport and Filipe has provided so many of the most entertaining moments in internet surfing history. From when he did that amazing backhand air at Newcastle QS against Panda (that was deemed an interference) to the 10s at Backdoor, J-Bay (18 point ride), Snapper and massive backhand airs in France & Brazil. Filipe is a freak and deserves this so much. Filipe was in the water so gracious when Gabriel won his title in 2014. Gabriel & Filipe both are really beautiful souls; gifted freaks. That is what surfing is about; the super freaks, whether it is Wayne Lynch, MP, Shaun, MR, Cheyne, Curren, Occy, Tom at Pipe, Elko at Sunset, Slater, Andy, Gabriel or John. These freaky guys make the sport of surfing shine & progress.
Why? Because he has a family and is a happy clappy? Meh. Give me JJF or Gabe or Robbo charging any day.
Pretty sure Barb spoke exclusively of his performances on a surfboard and character in defeat. Not sure where his Christianity or kids came into it?
Well unless Barb knows him personally, all we have to go on is the WSL’s carefully scripted narrative. The god fearing family man trope is a bit too syrupy and manufactured for mine. He’s a great small to medium wave surfer who, even with his soft efforts in heavy water, dominated the other events. Congrats to him but he’s not yet in the same conversation as some of the legends Barb name checked. As Mick and Kelly said, once he gets his heavy water act down he’ll be unstoppable. Let’s check back if/when that happens hey?
You're against carefully scripted narrative but are for Robbo? We've just spent an entire season watching him get juiced heat after heat while the commentary bang on about him being Buddha and the best competitive surfer since Kelly, like the last decade of JJF and Medina just didn't exist. Nobody has a bigger narrative than Robbo and it's not even close
Great comment.
Terrible way to end the year at average 3ft Trestles, the tour should always end at Pipe, such an anti climax.
But that said I'm super happy with the results Toledo deserved to be world champ this year easily the most consistent surfer and i love his style especially his forehand wraps and he just seems like a real nice guy.
Super stoked for Steph too, great surfer and my brief encounters with her she comes across as a quality person.
This new format is actually helping keep the GOAT on tour longer.
Win Pipe as the first event,win a couple of other heats at the next 4 events,and voila,make the cut and hang around another year.
If not win but finish high like he usually does at Pipe next time,and win 3 or 4 heats at the next 4 events and again,makes the cut for another year.
He'd be off tour now if it was still the old system in play.
Unless the WSL has got more GOAT injury wildcards in their drawer.
THE TOUR SHOULD ALWAYS END AT PIPE!!!!!
If it aint broken, don't fix it.
Hawaii is the spiritual home of surfing. If the God of Pipeline chooses for the surf to be small that year then so be it. But Trestles? Really???!!!
Yep. Completely agree with all of that @billie. Not sure anyone noticed but in the post show Peter Mel hinted at it being moved next year. Now the conspiracy theorist cynic in me couldn't help but think that a world title has been manufactured for our little mate Flip, to help sell whatever it is the Woz need selling in Brazil, and now he's got it, the cheque has cashed, they can move away from Trestles and back to more testing waves. But that's just that horrible nagging cynic in me that only sees the shit in humans and the Woz as a big money making maching putting their profits first and their 'script' first and their fans, (their whats!) second. I'm sure it's much more rosier than that! All the pro's are on board with the system cos biting the hand that feeds isn't a wise career move....unless you've just won your 8th world title and there's nothing that can be taken away from you in your purest form in a post heat presser. So if one speaks.......surely it's what the rest of them think.
Sounds like a bit of fun and drama.
Man I hope they blow up this format though, it sucks.
Oh yeah. Its so dumb. & cruel.
Oh god don’t say wraps. Cringeworthy
Makes me hungry.
Any truth to the rumour that Joe was overheard spitballing his 2023 commentary repertoire in a pub recently and was thinking of really running with the food / surf crossover theme?
hollow as a corn chip /threw everything at it like a pizza with the lot / deep in that thing like garlic butter in a Kiev etc etc
Lol. More so to the pre planned repertoire.
But!
I reckon Turps was the pioneer or blow tail reverse and a few more technical labels we has come up, and the rest of the comms team have followed suit.
Joe Turpel - A Visionary!?
I think the International mountain biking world does it well. They have the World Cup = Winner has the most points after the series of races. World Champion = Winner of a specified one off race during the season.
World cup rewards the consistency, World Champ rewards the best on the specified day. The World Champs event is where they get real loose / let it all hang out as it's a one off for the rainbow stripes.
Not sure how it would work with surfing
No one really cares about minor premiership in the footy (NRL or AFL) & it’s all about Grand Final.
As a counterpoint, in the round ball game it's all about winning the league, FA Cup (knockout comp) is more for the underdog.
You'd think that the WSL could have chosen a more appropriate format (eg. 5 person round robin event leading to 2 finalists from the highest total heat scores) or better still don't try and fix something that wasn't broken change. And most importantly finish at Pipe
I agree a rejig of format away from single elimination would be better. Also a different venue.
I agree a rejig of format away from single elimination would be better. Also a different venue.
Want to add my thanks Steve for the great comp coverage this year (and the SN handlers for making it so). An absolute highlight I always looked forward to. I remember with fondness your Outsider days and am stoked you're back in the seat.
“Meanwhile, Cloudbreak was 6-8 foot and offshore today. Indo was pumping too.“
Nuff said.
If the WSL are serious about the Finals format being taken seriously, they must host it in serious surf.
Cloudbreak, Indo, Pipe. Take ya pick Elo.
Way to go Steph! Freeride thanks for the great coverage, great to read.
I thought your opening quote was a bit harsh til I (du-oh) realised that you were using Lizzie as an excuse to throw that in. Clever!
Wow wow wow. Stephanie Gilmore is a true champion and good surfer. Can’t wait to watch the heats, though I detest the format - it’s a circus.
Here is the rankings of final 5 and according to points for whole year Toledo is #1 Jack#2, Ethan#3 italo #4 and Igarashi #5
womens
-hang on something doesn't add up, Carissa is ahead in points still so why did Steph win? Must be points before the final last night.
https://www.worldsurfleague.com/athletes/tour/mct?year=2022
Im just trying to figure out total points from whole year after the final.
Silly me. Before i thought the final event just gave more points than other contests to the yearly points and rankings, but realized the top 5 get in to the finals and final decides who got what rank, not points.
So these again are final rankings-
https://www.worldsurfleague.com/athletes/tour/mct?year=2022
I await with interest Kayne beachly comment on step win
Hopefully it is gracious
Did you mean Kanye Beachley? Lol, she certainly has the ego to match Yeezus :)
Freudian slip courtesy of auto correct.
Surprised Layne never referred to herself as Hesus / Yeezy
Overall the whole day was a bit ho hum in terms of excitement. I mean I would love to surf that stuf but to watch it - not that exciting.
Personally would love to see finals day at Cloudbreak. I guess the problem with that kind of wave is the physical endurance needed by 5th seed. 6 heats at heaving Cloudbreak or similar would be a serious feat of endurance.
Inspirational to watch Steph. Thought she had the wobbles from last year at first but came back. All the 5 boys are seriously great surfers. Fil might lack the big wave game of the others but gee he can tear the back out of most waves.
Amazing effort by Steph, but her win highlights the unfairness in the system to the yellow jersey. One bad hour and a whole season of dominance goes out the window and the champ is someone who scraped into the Top 5 at the last minute.
Felipe will be winning this thing for years to come as long as he can make the Top 5 at years end.
Gotta say I applaud Jack for his ability to surf to the script. Pulling off that wave for a high three?
He has years ahead of him and Toledo was well overdue.
Cant Script This!
'blood in the water, sunlight in steel' brilliant. She went surgical on tresLA and assassinated her opponents. Queen Steph indeed. Riss hasn't been herself?
I'm glad Mr Filipe Toledo ultimately has a world title, he's a great surfer.
Congratulations Toledo.
Congratulations Steph.
Thanks Freeride.
You’re into the Parthenon of connest scribes.
That’s a compliment cobber
In honour of Toledo, the crazy-eyed freak who deserves the utmost reverence of every surfer on the planet for his indisputable mastery of Hifi shredding
Surfing is a far better place with you in it Phillipe. Terimah Kasih Gila kontol.
Can't agree more, DSDS, but hate the claims and less than average performances in waves of consequence, but for sure the best ever in smaller conditions.
That video brings back many memories !
Great write up FR. Captured it beautifully. Sure was a shitfest to watch but had already kinda accepted that it was going to be that months ago so could just enjoy the theatre for what it was. Elo needs to exit back to Oprah. Steph, that was amazing to watch. And stoked i put a few sly bucks on her to finish a long night with a healthy little bit of pocket money. Nearly got the double with Italo too, so a bit dirty on Felipe for that.. As for Carissa being the best surfer of the year, not so sure about that either. Alot of the comps i clearly remember her scores getting juiced (as was discussed on here) and was pretty quiet at the heavy water waves. Steph sure was beautiful to watch and i reckon theres a part of all of us that wants to surf like Steph, and really, you couldn't ask for a bigger compliment than that. But yeah, the format definitely isn't fair to any surfer that has a dominant year across all venues...which i don't think anyone except Jack Robbo really had this year but didn't reflect on paper. Anyway, not a bad bit of free entertainment.
Fair comment. For all our objections, the price point was right.
Fark I’ve been looking forward to this write up since I stumbled onto the coverage this morning!! Sensational as always. I really echo the sentiments of gratitude for your efforts FR.
Loved em all!
Cheers
Go Steph you legend. I reckon she deserved to be world champ just on the strength of that incredible bottom turn at J Bay. (The photo was in previous articles)
Barton Lynch was epic on Stoked Bloke. Honest calling of scores and super insightful. WSL again has missed the bullseye and the rest of the board and the backboard, actually not even in the pub.
Seriously one of the "sports" most qualified to commentate.
"Yes they are not heats anymore they are Matches now because its a sport." Classic
"What we got from Steph en route to an 8th World Title was the most sustained run of rail surfing excellence ever seen in the sport. There is no comparison, no historical precedent to set her achievement beside. It stands alone."
Take it this is was written with tongue firmly in cheek
I woke with intent, I watched a bit, I slept.
It should not be so.
Another excellent report, thanks Steve. Hope you are back at it reporting incisively next year, and beyond. Good on ya, keep the ink flowing and your blade sharp. And congratulations to Steph, what an amazing turnaround and show that was! Loved it all. No matter what anyone thinks of the finals format, and end-of-year location, she still showed all the qualities a true Champion needs to be deemed most worthy. Missing Pipe and blowing it at Sunset, then slowly but surely crawling back into contention, just scraping into 5th place, against so many odds and all the naysayers, well, even the WSL couldn't have scripted that, ha! Yeah, agree, has to be in the top five final's performances, for sure. As for Felipe, hope his coach or minders tell him he must go live at Pipe and Teahupo'o for a few months before next tour starts, bleed there and get some of his skin onto those reefs. Even better, hope he realizes that himself, and does it! He can easily win a few more wold titles, the guy is a wave wizard, way ahead of just about everyone else in all skill departments...except for waves of consequence. Said it before and I will keep saying it, to be truly worthy, any would-be world champ needs to prove themselves in every sort of surf we ride, especially the most testing at our traditional proving grounds of Pipeline, Sunset, and now places like Cloudbreak and Tahiti. I hope he does. Now, for the Challenger Series...looking forward to that...and to see if money-bags Mr Ziff will keep funding this overly ambitious oddball travelling show next year? Interesting times for our expanding surfing world indeed...
Set the top 5 up in the Ments for 2 weeks. 4 different waves - barreling lefts, barreling rights, right turns and left turns. Select best day for each venue and drop them off for the whole day. Best two waves each spot count - 8 wave total. Live stream each day without scores and film a documentary to reveal the winner. Have a world champ and run a vote for people’s champion.
nice idea crg but imagine you'd booked 10 days at HT's resort and on the best day of your trip the circus rolled up and banned you from surfing. Spewing to say the least
Yeah agree...definitely has merit and would be much more enjoyable for all involved...except the imaginary American market that just doesn't care. Wasn't this the original plan (ments) that just somehow dissappeared? Back in the days of Sofie Goldsmith.
Agree also with Goofy.
The travelling circus with nowhere to go. Pipe still stands out as the obvious choice of venue.
Unless they just booked a resort in Indo for a week or two like how they book out g-land. That way at least people would know they cant go during that time and wouldn't ruin someones trip.
But yeah like you said just have it at Pipeline ffs
If its the original finish with accumulated points then yes definitely Pipe. But if they persist with this top 5 format then I think they need to balance out any bias towards one surfers strength. Pipe doesn't do that equally as much as Trestles doesn't.
And complaints about someone coming in and booking out a spot in the Ments is pretty weak. Isn't that what every surfer there does?
You wouldn’t be pissed if you’d surfed 3ft ht’s for a week and on the only 8ft day of your trip the wsl came in and claimed it? I’d be devo’d
Anyway it ain’t gunna happen, trestles it is
Probably just as pissed as Nathan Florence, Koa Smith, Nic Von Rupp and entourages turning up to film their next blog or a boatload of Brazilians...
And you're right...it's all moot...Trestles it is...
I know this will come with howls of disapproval, and rightfully so in many ways, but the French beachies to me spring to mind as a possible fit for this format. It's an equal playing field, no one gives a fuck about the Woz being in town (generally speaking) and it gets tonnes of swell. Can do massive airs, can do massive turns, can get big gurgly barrels. Tests the surfers. Move it to October for swell probability. Dare i say. Viola!!
You can totally say viola :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola
Probably not much different to a boat of pro freesurfers showing up.
Happens often in high season.
I guess at least you're allowed out in the water with them and have a chance of catching some of the scraps when they're free surfing though.
It’s a weird conundrum. If you knew that the WSL was going to have it finals there within a certain window you could choose to go at another time? Lots of people may (or may not) choose to go at the same time to watch?
Same problem as trestles I reckon. Excellent to surf personally, but repetitious, like the wave pool. Need waves of consequence and drama. If inconsistency is the issue, just allocate more time in heats. I’m on the skip button, or double speed for most of the boring events anyway ( or condensed heat packages……if the app can get it right without having to see results first ) . Hence start pipe, end pipe ( assuming pipe would allow that….dubious)
Steph wins the world title, surfing five straight winning heats at pretty terrible Trestles. I was so happy for her, however, it is a f** travesty as in pretty much any other sport Carissa would have been the World Champion. What is it about the surfing organising bodies that they really have to mess with the format to somehow make surfing more ‘popular’ and palatable to the general populise. Pretty sad really. Just leave it as a competitive professional sport and tailor it so that the best surfer wins each year. It is that simple.
Layne will be putting an asterisk next to Steph's 8th world title to go past 7 and get the record for herself i reckon.
Nah I can relate to the format, Cats win all season by a mile, finish minor premiers, do a great finals campaign then Hawthorn or someone beat them on the only day that matters. Hope it's not so this year.
For Steph to get up within this format shows true grit and shows seizing the opportunities on the day that the rules allow. Carissa was minor premier for sure though.
Yes, that is true in other sports, however most of these are team sports. In individual sports like tennis, F1 you accumulate points through the season and then whoever has the most points is the World Champion. Objectively that is the person who is the best in that specific year. Much as I love that Steph won, she wasn't close to being the best this year. This has also made her the best female surfer of all time, but she did this against a completely different criteria, so maybe they should have renamed this title something else and she could be the first person who won a world title this way. None of the competitors or fans, including Steph, believe she is the best surfer this year.
Boring as batshit ….
The dream tour is now the nightmare on
slop street …
This years Chumps have enlarged asterixX next to it …
Pipe ,Jbay and 1 day at Chopes were it this year.
2 1/4 events out of 11.
Terrible season for bigger quality waves.
Perfect season for a Toledo world title.
Filipe's victory speech suggests his Pastor has confidence that Jesus is all powerful at Trestles. But it follows he must have quietly let Felipe know earlier this year that he has doubts about Big Js power to protect at big Pipe or Chopes.
Big wave surfers take note. Jesus might be a 6 ft and under specialist and perhaps mostly steers clear of slabs. Rely on prayer at your peril.
Classic frog !
perhaps Buddha would be a better deity to follow , he strikes me as a bit of a charger !
Did Joe Turpel’s use of the phrase Brazilian dynasty annoy the heck out of anyone else? He obviously doesn’t know that dynasty relates to a single family rather than a country. I know I know, not really important in the scheme f things.
I don’t like the finals day deciding the world champ. But we seem stuck with it for now so I’ll say that I’m torn on the setup. On one hand if it plays to the script, the end of year number 1 wins the title and so it seems fair. On the flip side, god that makes it boring and also pointless. Stoked that Steph turned this thing inside out and won from behind with really good surfing and old fashioned determination. Her reaction to winning in the water was priceless
I have a conspiracy theory that as long as Kelly is on tour,this finals day format stays.
Pipe being the first event means he banks full or very high points as he nearly always does.
Then the next 4 events he can make a couple or so heats only and he still makes the mid year cut,proven this year.
Then he gets to stick around another year.
Under the old format he's toast and off tour this year would have showed.
And i think when he finally gets knocked out of Pipe early (he will sooner or later the longer he's there),then that's curtains on his career.
And the year after that,the format goes back to something more like what it was before,even if not exactly the same.
Have just had a few, now on a Sludgebeast Imperial Stout ( very tasty) watching Panthers whip Eels.
Watched re run of finals, Steph great champion, stoked for her, such a beautiful style and lovely surfer to watch.
Toledo, ok probably best surfer in the world in many conditions. But to have world champion decided in surf like we had is a bit of a shame.... Anyway that's my 2 cents worth, back to footy.....
why not go the full fucking hog and make the top 5 all go on a reality TV surfing show (big brother meets wave pool style) that is not shown anywhere at all except the US and the most popular as voted by the folks in wins the stupid thing and we can all just forget about the Weak Shit League
Paris Hilton to give out the trophies. Offspring playing on repeat for each wave. Donald Trump can press the bloody wave button. McDonalds prize vouchers for performance. I can see it clearly. Get Oprah in to give away a car with Elo. It seems it's an inevitability.
mate you're a natural, move over Elo!
haha,, too much mayo again couldnt read the whole article, ... got hung up thinking...."aren't all autobiographies written by authors ?".
Such a let down regarding waves for the final.
If they want a wave that showcases barrels, progression, et al. Why not Macaronis or even Keramas a proven event locale.
I mean look at the type of air Nathan Fletcher boosted at Macaronis during Stab High. Imagine what the top five might be doing.
Awesome write ups Freeride. Highlight of the tour this year.
Fantastic work Steph and a valiant effort by Italo too. He put in a good grind but lost the mojo in the for the final matches.
Steph getting plenty of big wraps in the MSM.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/sep/10/stephanie-gilmore-finally-...
Everyone is bigging up Toledo’s rail “game” but I’m not convinced 4 stage bottom turns qualify for great rail surfing ?
It is an absolute embarrassment and complete blight on the sport that they hold the finals in shit like that, the surfers/athletes work so hard all year and to have their year decided on whether you jag the one decent set coming through in a heat is a joke. Shame on the WSL.
That Tommy Carroll short vid with winner Steph on another website is Cool..
Very happy for Steph, she earned it on the day, truly a great, and Filipe, he earned and deserved it all season. Definitely don’t agree with the format for deciding the Champs.
Consistency and great surfing at multiple ocean locations determines the best for the year. Doesn’t matter if it’s decided early or at the end.
Amazing, gutsy effort by Steph and very inspiring to us mere mortals. I watched the whole 5 heats and could see the moment it turned for her after seeing it go another way for her many times in recent years.
PS: Steve your write up of this special moment in sporting history is also a top notch effort and you captured it all perfectly.
If we called the world title at the 10th event and renamed the finals the "All Star Weekend" with the same format and they win $500k each or something would that save all the problems? All Star would resonate with the core American audience, they could package it nearly for the webcast, and we'd still have a fair world champ.
How come Steph kept poking her tongue out after she won the title? Does she have Māori heritage? Enjoyed your honest and call it how it is WSL articles this season Steve- keep up the great journalism.
If they ran it at the surf ranch we could get some really amazing camera angles as we watch competitive surfing die.
No mention or discussion of:
- Mick n Kelly in the commentary booth, riffin' about competition, preparation, wins n losses
- Mick's win one fail next dig at Slater, which Kelly quickly picked up on.
- Steph's surfboard design tweaks re fin cluster mentioned in commentary booth
- Kelly's instant response when design tweak mentioned
- Kelly discussing Toledo quad choice
- Mick's instant response re: quads and twins
Grab a beer and listen ... some gems were shared!
And, FWIW, some gems discussed about board construction, board weight, design flaws during the commentary too. Not exactly what the marketing departments are sprouting! Kelly being honest?
cheers for those points Wingnut, will have to go and watch
The WSL was unlucky because Trestles had been pumping for the couple of weeks leading up to the contest window.
The good thing about Trestles as a finals venue is that everybody surfs it well. Particularly as it goes right and left. It’s an even playing field that gives each competitor every chance to show their best high performance surfing. You can’t rule out anybody winning, though only the very best surfers tend to win there.
We all love the spectacle and drama of Pipeline, but as Slater said after Pipe, I know which waves to catch and then it’s just a matter of going straight.
How much barrel riding ability can be demonstrated at Trestles?
Carissa won the title before trestles.
She was 11000 point ahead.
She was not in a commanding lead. She had already won