Finals Day: 2025 J-Bay Open
Finals Day: 2025 J-Bay Open
Epic Finals Day at pumping J-Bay concluded with wins to Connor O'Leary and Gabby Bryan and, it must be said, the WSL. The only tempering factor was a typically bewildering and maddening broadcast which seemed allergic to live action, including the most tense and high stakes moments.
Given the quality of opposition in front of him it was brave in the extreme for Connor to “call his major” at the conclusion of his tight heat win over Italo and claim he wanted to “showcase the best backside surfing anyone's ever seen here”. After the quality of his surfing on Finals Day, including a majestic 10 point ride, that claim requires serious examination. If not the best ever it needs to go up there with Occy in '84 and Gabe Medina in '19, better than Wilko in '17. Yago Dora also needs to go into that pantheon of goofy-foots setting an insane new performance bar at J-Bay after his surfing on Finals Day.
Connor (WSL/Alan van Gysen)
Let's rewind the tape. Early womens heats were a little underwhelming. Hesitation, lack of commitment, safety surfing etc etc. To be fair, early winds were a bit variable and lacking a stiff offshore the surf was strong, sectiony and often with a funky wobble running down the Point which made it tough to get hold of sections, although Gabby Bryan's 8+ ride to finish off Tyler Wright showed it was mostly surfers, not conditions that were responsible.
Caity's Quarter-Final appearance is misleading as far as her overall J-Bay campaign goes. She never found a comfort level out there that suggested a finals-worthy performance. She picked wide sets that didn't offer much in the way of steep sections and her diminutive frame struggled to engage with the water mass to produce anything like world champ worthy turns. As always, no lack of style - trimming across massive walls looked majestic - or bravery, she slotted into a bulbous cavern on her first ride only to see the exit cut off by avalanche. She rode 11 waves in competition over 3 heats with her best a paltry 6.67. By her own words Caity doesn't seem prepared to “jock up” and hit the gym and the protein powder so it's likely this disadvantage she carries in more open water locations against more athletic opponents will continue on.
Her QF opponent and world title protagonist last year Caroline Marks looked equally ill-suited to J-bay. Sixteen rides for a Semi-Final finish with a top scoring ride of 6.50. Caz just does not seem prepared to take the judges' very, very clear message about her surfing and lift the level, introduce more risk and commitment to it. A whole year has now gone by without a single excellent ride. Somehow, despite this endless procession of 4's, 5's and 6's Caz sits at No.6, just outside the top 5. It would make a mockery of the current performance level of women's surfing if she made Finals Day.
There's no doubt the person setting that standard at the moment is Molly Picklum. Comparing her campaign with Caity Simmers is chalk and cheese. Excellence from the beginning. Huge turns, total commitment from the bottom to the top. Full repertoire of carves, top turns and going big on the end section. She got better as the event went on- better reads, smoother lines, nicer looking carves. Pickles was easily the best female surfer of the event. Unfortunately, as she has done all year, despite being the best surfer all event she just fumbled the bag right before the finish line. Four Finals with a single win is a bad winning percentage. It did make me wonder whether the new Final 5 rules had been rejigged just for Pickles. She'll highly likely carry yellow into Fiji and with the new rules, just needs to win a single heat to avoid the heartbreak that plagued Carissa's Finals Day meltdowns.
Molly (WSL/Alan van Gysen)
I think it's a terrible last minute shifting of the goalposts. Fans want more surfing under pressure on Finals Day, not less. Especially if it's pumping Cloudbreak. This is the last year, why not let the format play out as it was designed? Watering it down now just seems like a panic move to appease pressured surfers or their sponsors.
If, by some weird quirk (a waveless heat, not making a tube etc etc) Pickles does lose early at Teahupoo and Gabby takes the yellow, she will rue the J-Bay Final where she had the waves to win.
Even in the last minute, with Gabby retaking the lead with a typical utilitarian ride punctuated with vicious lateral power gouges, Pickles had a choice of two waves with the clock counting down.The first wider set she duckdived instead of scrambling for the shoulder, the second, as the clock ticked down she simply looked at and turned her nose up at it. It was an inexplicable brain fart. What was she waiting for? A time machine?
Credit to Gabby Bryan for her willingness to gouge hard on every corner J-Bay offered. It wasn't as aesthetically pleasing or as comprehensive as Pickles' approach but in the end she only needed to be better than her over a 30 minute period, and she was. The women's title race is wide open. No-one carries experience or favouritism into Fiji. The fact the WSL has just removed one variable makes it only marginally less interesting.
By the time the men's Quarters started the offshore had kicked back in.The top end sets were a little less frequent and the tide was draining. J-Bay was in full dream sequence mode under bluebird skies. Performances started to ramp right up. Some of the losing surfers offered up the best surfing seen all year. Epic heats were consistently won via closing rides. First was Yago who set the template for big wins for goofy-foots with a buzzer beater to knock out Leo. The goofy-foot advantage is the ability to create a crescendo of vertical turns culminating in a massive end section hit.
Griff (WSL/Kody McGregor)
Griff looked sensational to take down Kanoa. I thought both of his scoring rides were excellent but judges kept them in the 7 point range. That stingy judging carried over the Toledo's heat win over Marco Mignot. Big turns that in previous years had gone excellent were locked into the 6 point range, hinting at a meltdown. It took a long, deep double tube for Toledo to finally shake off Mignot and go excellent. Once again Toledo hosed down any expectations of making the Final 5 making it clear that his performance was about J-Bay and “there's no Final 5 involved”. A strange position for a two-time world champ to take with one event remaining. It's like he's put the cue in the rack as a title contender and is content to make up the numbers.
It presents a stark split-screen contrast with current world No.1 Yago Dora. Yago has been explicit in his belief that his surfing is world title standard and that is what he is aiming for.
There were a lot of great heats on Finals Day but the Semi-Final between Dora and the elder Colapinto would have to take the cake for the best. Griff was insane, throwing down every bit of repertoire at full throttle against Yago. He came up, in the end, one or two failed end section hits short of Yago's stylish vertical whips. It could have easily gone either way.
Yago (WSL/Kody McGregor)
Connor's heat wins on Finals Day were more definitive. He went into both Quarters and Semis as massive underdog against former champs and acknowledged masters of J-Bay. 75% of fans picked Ewing to knock out O’Leary and for most of the heat that is exactly what looked like occurring. Ewing had control of the heat with winning exchanges and Priority with minutes remaining. Sets were stacked and Connor took a mid-sizer off Ewing with P that grew down the line like the best point waves do. As the wave increased in size and intensity O’Leary's backhand belts grew more extravagantly violent and daring. It was like witnessing a choreographed fight scene from a Tarantino film. Not quite real. Judges had to pay it with the best score of the heat and threw it the winning number. Coming in down through Impossibles O’Leary found property owner Jordy Smith yelling himself hoarse from his ocean view balcony. The big goofy had done a favour (in his words) for the “big bru”, by knocking out a Final Fiver and preventing Smith from sliding further down the rankings.
Ethan (WSL/Kody McGregor)
If he was a massive dog for the Ewing heat he was even moreso against 3 time winner Toledo. A full 81% of fans had picked Toledo as the winner. 4 minutes and change remaining and chasing a 7, O’Leary found another mid-sized set hugging the point. Two big outside carves and then he found a long tubing section through the middle part of the wave - the only one all day. A long, deep backside tube ensued then he hit the backhand combinations which had been so deadly all day. Five huge turns were added to the outside turns and deep tube. Collective roars, hoots, screams and various other animal sounds were heard from the crowd as this greatest ever backside ride went down in the glorious African afternoon light, famous for its clarity. It had to go ten and it did go ten.
You couldn't blame Connor for a come down in the Final after that stunning summit was reached.
He started the Final strongly after one small throwaway ride. It took some time before we saw it.
Perfect J-Bay is a dream for the fans and purists - it's a highwater mark for the sport in the same way Wimbledon or the US Open is for Tennis and Golf. Unlike those sports though, we now know it doesn't work like that for pro surfing. In a candid interview with STAB magazine WSL stalwart Graham Stapelberg indicated “iconic” events like Fiji and J-Bay “don't make us money” and they couldn't add more (like Indonesia) or “we won’t be in business much longer”.
Thus we get the curious and maddening situation whereby live broadcasts are interrupted by long ads by the Tourism ventures which bankrolled the event. Imagine Wimbledon with a tiebreak in the Finals and we cut to a long segue about riding on the London Red double-decker buses and how it brought one of the commentators to tears. Which is what we got if you substitute a safari for the bus ride. Surely the sport has to instigate some kind of pay per view, at least for these iconic events so they can be broadcast as sporting spectacles and not loss leaders for tourism ventures.
Not even these egregious broadcast fails could dampen the spirits when Connor ran through the gears yet again for an excellent ride and a winning back-up to take his first event win.
Connor (WSL/Kody McGregor)
Author and concentration camp survivor Viktor Frankl in his famous ode to the human spirit “Man's search for meaning” ascribed meaning to any acts that fulfilled the potential in any given moment and that once performed these acts had this value “irrevocably stored and treasured”. Such will be that day for Connor, Gabby and surf fans, an asset now in the past that can never be removed.
No great change, somehow, to the Final 5 on either Men's or Women's sides. Yago swaps Jordy for yellow and Molly and Gabby sit out at one and two with daylight to Caity.
Bring on Teahupoo. //STEVE SHEARER
(WSL/Alan Van Gysen)
Comments
Man that was an epic day. The Griff v Yago semi was as good as it gets, neither deserved to lose. Stoked Connor finally cracked the code and got a win, Italo, EE, Filipe and Yago is a hell of a roll.
Feel a bit gutted for EE, he ripped, that photo is incredible, but again fell at critical moments on potentially heat winning waves. He seems to perform much better as an underdog than a favourite, when he just seems to wilt. Hopefully he can find a way to unlock a bit more mongrel next year, but in a season where he couldn’t even crack a final with El Salvador, Bells, Burleigh, Margs, Trestles and J bay on the schedule, something’s not right.
Thanks for the great write up, as always Steve.
That photo is awesome.
It was an entertaining day, nice wrap Steve.
"...property owner Jordy Smith"
Brilliant! Big night in jbay !
Bet Steve had a chuckle when he wrote that, I know I did
Winx,
“Imagine Wimbledon with a tiebreak in the Finals and we cut to a long segue about riding on the London Red double-decker buses and how it brought one of the commentators to tears.”
Lol. Funny/sad but true.
How was your steak big guy ?
I feel like we all got to enjoy the steak
Not bad but definitely room for improvement. First time reverse searing. Oven part is easy but I wasn’t prepped properly for the searing part and Macgyver’d a grill over the fire. The crusting will be much easier next time. Also, probably use a rub too rather than just plain salt. Got a feed out it Friday, then couple of steak sangas for dinner last night :)z
Heat the fuck out of the pan first ,then when you've reached peak heat dump it in, cast iron all the way. Tiny bit of oil also
I always salt and oil the meat not the pan. Let sit for half hour. Longer no problem. Crank that cast iron, throw it in.
What is reverse searing?
Pepper, garlic salt ….lil drizzle of maple syrup
- did someone say crust ;)
When do you add that maple syrup?
in the below methid, on the third searing, I added a drizzle of chilli honey, which is all the rage with cheeses.. worked well, just a drizz.. couldn't taste it at all but gave a little something..
shit yeh, generously rub oil and seasoning into the meat and let it sit on a plate or a bag in the fridge.
that's for, like an eye fillet or something with minor marbling and incredible texture..
(bones need oven attention, or hood down, fer sure).
I'm a domestic pragmatist these days, a nice cut, I'll chuck on a searing hot pan till coloured, then flip it, then immediately turn off and let sit in the pan.
6 mins later, remove meat and set aside, and get pan (and leached juices) hot again and chuck the meat back in and repeat.
(so many opportunities for mushrooms and onions and things to be included throughout with the juices..)
6 mins later again, doing this a third time, allows leaked juices and blood to reduce onto the meat. use that 'finger to thumb meat test' throughout, and you'll get it to where you want.
like with woodcarving, when cooking meat, you can always do more, but you can't undo.
2 x oil on the meat. Bring meat to room temperature before cooking and preparing. No need for a rub, just salt and pepper will suffice. A super hot pan and drop the steak in. (Blue to rare is best but this bit is up to the individual, No judgement here). Rest the meat after removing. Slice against the grain. Enjoy.
I don’t know, the pepper can get a bit bitter.
I like the fresh cracked pepper taste at the end.
Each to their own for sure. Couple of dabs of Tabasco to serve.
just salt and a high burning point oil (like rice bran oil) before cooking, the pepper burns and goes bitter
add freshly ground pepper to taste once rested
Yep sauteed onions in the juices and butter while the steak rests.
Can’t see any harm in a quick warm up of the steak to finish.
And use the excess butter from sautéing onions to spoon over the steak…onions on the side not on top of meat. (Again..this is up to the individual).
Yep to that!
Did we come here for cooking class now .. what is this woman’s weekly .. shit..
haha, it was a rather large part of the comp comments convo on friday night, people cooking meat for tea and having beers.. @Nick Bone commented while seating his on-the-bone rib eye 'real men cook, while women double post'.
This is 3 Michelin star worthy cuisine talk. Way to advance for WW.
Swellnet the restaurant....coming soon .
Cook book also .
Cooking 101 blowing up the thread Gary.
More comments than a surf ads article!
This should clear up any confusion.
haha, winner ; )
Haha you come out the wood works with some gems sometimes, Tubeshooter!!!!!
“You wanna get striked!”
Haha why did I think of Indo hearing that.
Did Indo get cancelled due to violent beef-related imagery?
hehe
The things that stick in your head over the years ;)
Seemed fitting.
Reverse searing - that is some next-level wankery (no offense). Looked bloody good though!
Couple of other sous-chefs and grill cooks around here. th springs to mind.
Basically an admission you can't cook a steak in the proper way.
Viktor Frankl just earned you a 10.
And well done Connor O
Connor 10 points !!!!!!
Congrats enjoy the moment !
Bravo to all the finalists !
Especially as they say , "The winners are grinners and the losers have to please themselves."
Crazy finals day in beautiful waves. Couldn't sum it up better.
Kinda feel like going on Safari.
Great day for the goofies!
Saw an inkling of Occy in the way he was approaching it and was on board immediately. Lanky and me picked him on finals day.
I had Cole as my darkhorse at the beginning then when he got ousted went for Kanoa.
I couldn't have been further off.
molly was quickly ordered told not to mention the apple watch malfunctioning
sucks if she thought there was more time. might have to wear their own watches as well to timekeep.
I thought this at the time. Inexplicable that she didn’t paddle into either of those waves if she knew that it was >30sec to go.
Is this true? the Apple Watch malfunctioned? Unbelievable if that's the case. surely they would have to re-surf the heat?
Great write up as always Steve and what a legendary finals day. Couldn’t even be mad at Connor’s last minute wave against Ethan robbing me of a substantial pay day - stoked he then went on to take the whole thing out. Not bad for a renter
Wow, unbelievable ending !
Best comp for a long time for excitement.
I am sick of seeing Toledo overscored. The 8 in the semi with Connor was at best a 6. No decent turns and you could see him the whole time in the barrel. Totally over the favoritism to him by the WSL and panel.
Great result for Connor and the celebrations with Dog and the dog pound would have been epic...
So refreshing to see NO Airs on finals day
Just good surfing
As close as professional surfing gets to the mantra of "Best surfing, Best surfers and Best Waves" -
do you like it a bit here on swellnet now, @john.calhoun. or are you just maintaining a professional presence?
your opinions are fine, but opinions are boring to people, like arseholes, we all have one. be cool if you had some sharey-words or reflections that might actually be of interest to a prospective buyership (travel is meant to bring an engaging humility to a man), in the context of expecting people to be excited about your book. there's a book thread waiting for your engaging anecdotes that will draw in your imagined readesrship..
I already commented on the book thread about THE BOOK - and may comment further, although the Publisher expects to sell books, not have people read the entire 56 982 "sharey words" in surfEXPLORE: Discovering New Surfing Locations Worldwide on Swellnet -
Anytime you need comments or educated, nuanced opinions regarding the demarcation of surfboards in modern Metric units rather than in ye olde Imperial units, why asymmetrical surfboards are superior and should be the norm, as symmetry with surfboards is nothing more than a fashion concession, or need someone to explain the Promise of Zionism, the right of existence for the State of Israel, or any of the policies and actions of the IDF in Gaza or elsewhere, just holla -
Nuance? You happy clapping goose.
you allright, mate?
'sharey words' means not condescending and soapbox.
to answer your odd question, appropriate to a thread that does not appear on the front page, because politics is its own beast, it is not a surf beast.
99% of the Australian community are supportive of the australian jewish community. We are all supportive of Israel and want it to be a shining light. We also want the Palestinian community to have basic human rights. The long history between the two have been increasingly unbalanced. Fuck iran's deceitful regime.. people that thought there would be a new dawn in '88 are gutted that it's fucked. Been good for Baha'i reading rooms.
Fuck hamas. wrong. the evil that comes from forcing humans into a controlled system.. But now. first time ever. Zionism has become the topical beast to Aussies, what's this thing that being used to slaughter? Aussies are (and always will be ) pro Jewish and pro Muslim, while being anti war-crimes. i.e. what Hamas did and what IDF is doing.
We all (globally) would have stepped in to help, had bibi said, this is fucked.. 'help!' - innocent people dead, fuck this.. he didn't want that. he wanted *this* - decades-long generational remembrance of the fire and brimstone that Zion can command through the US to kill the muslims.. generations...
It is all horror, it is wicked, it has little meaning to a modern society, and it needs to be reigned in. If the world economy and sense of humanity is ruined, there'll be no turning back. Especially while US is isolating and smacking down its $ so the haves can have more.
anyway.. surf site.
xx
+1. Some of your best work right there @base.
I appreciate that @SR, cos to my mind, most australians are respectful of traditions - traditions being important to so many that come here from soooo many broken places... US notwithstanding..
despite balanced long term aussie's brains saying:
'what the FUCK are you talking about?'
when western-religio-abrahmic-politico-gasoil-rawearth(sic)-dollarbucks shit
dominates the world's systems every waking botherance or exchange.
I know you hate it all, but have a love of all people.. hard to reconcile ,
when people come here, passionate about their particular bent on things,
wanting to be part of a truly egalitarian society that has free healthcare.
and truly is one nation under whatever you want it to be under. That's what Aus is trying to be. Last chance, we're fresh Aus and NZ. and we're a long way from the shit. the rest of y'all fucked it up, see how we go.
(well worn clip, writer aaron sorkin, a real conservative,
not a fake-arse reactionary that favours tribalism for its own sake)
..
haha, most don't really read your diarrhea, @john.calhoun, but I had a go at this squirt:
"Anytime you need comments or educated, nuanced opinions regarding the demarcation of surfboards in modern Metric units rather than in ye olde Imperial units, why asymmetrical surfboards are superior and should be the norm, as symmetry with surfboards is nothing more than a fashion concession, or need someone to explain the Promise of Zionism, the right of existence for the State of Israel, or any of the policies and actions of the IDF in Gaza or elsewhere, just holla -"
Are you OK, mate? Seems a champ with a book should be kicking more goals and less behinds. We've been through a bit, so I'm here for you, if you need some support or PR advice. Yours, B6.
Yep what a farkn plonka ;)
… wind is good in this clip
- got that calhoun kinda feel to the soundtrack tho
?si=9BaLYm3rW7Ajh8b7(unnecessary & fuckn annoying haha)
"because politics is its own beast, it is not a surf beast"
And immediately launches into a wide-ranging, highly political screed that says . . . . basically nothing.
Better to stay in your lane, mate - leave the situation in Gaza and the State of Israel to the professionals.
How's the surf been for you lately?
I have a surf trip for August for the lucky punter with the time and the dosh who wants to surf uncrowded waves in Indian Ocean Indonesia during peak season -
Details in my notification on Waverii -
https://waverii.com/listing/indonesia-surf-trip/
I can put up an announcement in the Wax Off section -
hahahahahahha.
you're a classic.
your lane is closing in, bro..
google earth for 20 years?
bahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahaha
fuck your opinion of anything.
I'm happy to be nice to anyone who is nice.
dumb-arseness with regard to you thinking you matter
in world events or opinions, or anything, this is in 'politico'.
it is a forum heading on swellnet.. go play with @jelly..
and we have weeded out the fucktards
so it is a wonderful, wonderful life..
looking forward to your contributes. random man.
the more the days tick over, and the world decays,
the more magical a thing *swellnet* becomes.
https://www.swellnet.com/forums/politico/571321
+2 basesix. How do I upvote this?
Is it fair to suggest that similar to margs the last turn on the flats/bricks seem to get overscored and more often than not turn heats
Moments that sear, like Connor disappearing in that delectable flaring SA sun, ..he's going again ? Moments when the camera pans.
Winning at home, man these beachfront rentals are XE, no pressure big bru but you better fukin win, has a flipside. Looking at the beach grandstand chockas with property owners and their mates who’d made a special effort, put away the big game hunting gear for a day, gathered the clan and turned up to watch Jordy king of the jungle open Jbay's entrails as his chestbeating silverback dream run continued, then roast a baby rhino, some zebra legs, and get pissed.
Slow roasted indeed but he'll be back, with a vengeance. Probably working on a book right now, maybe needs some marketing advice?
Hey but thanks JC, you're alright by me, I mean anyone who can make me laugh that hard at my phone, and the smart-arsery you inspired, priceless.
Connor aggressively attacked the gnarliest sections he could find at Jbay and won, so did Gabby and Pickles, the way they shaped up to solid jbay, Steph would be so proud (how's the season earnings on those two, yew) Izzy too, though she'd Pro Surfer’d herself to a standstill by the end haha, great comp.
?si=O9bTruVKajwbagPIThe Risin Sun done stole our C.O’l away
Good report Steve, thanks. An epic J-Bay comp and great wins for Gabby and Conor. Richard Marsh's coaching deserves mentioning too. Good on him. And I agree with you on the miserly judging in the some of the quarters and semis. I hope the judges have a good look at their own performances after every comp. They really need to. After so many years complaining about this, it still irks me when judges don't use the full spread of scores available to them. Giving scores in the high 6 and seven point range, when some waves ridden clearly are excellent rides, happens too often. This sees the judging panel regularly painting itself into a bad corner. By not awarding higher scores, that are deserved, the margins between competing surfers become narrower. Heats then become closer on points than they should be. This can lead to poor/wrong results, and controversy. The remedy is simple. Award more excellent rides. Give higher scores that are deserving. Even if you award a 9 point ride, you all still have another 10 points to adjudicate and play around with to help analyse and separate the differences between all excellent rides. In short, allow yourselves more breathing room with your scoring. Please use the full range of scores better. You will feel better doing so. So will the competitors. And us spectators too. Cheers.
What an epic day, thanks for a great writeup.
yes! Connor with the win.
and the way it was done, pumping J-Bay, a fellow finalist at the top of his #1 worthy game... along with pro surfing we were the winners (broadcast missing key waves aside).
the heads coming out to congratulate Connor show that the vibe he puts out in interviews are legit and he must have a massive level of popularity and sincere respect from both the Womens and Mens competitors. a dead set legend... and a good bloke.
and his ten.... no dickheaded demand for a ten (like the usual dickheads) just a "holy shit that wave was awesome" arms up claim and then the reach flip top head tilt back when told it was a ten when he was climbing out over the rocks.
Connor rules.
in summary... YES!
Well said Nick.
Top write up Steve.
Great photos in the article, in particular Connor's
Congratulations Backhand-san and Boring-san's roundhouse.
Great report FR.
I really enjoyed the backhand hack-fest.
And extra points for avoiding the C word FR.
Good read and i really thought your analysis on the womens side was brilliant. Glad you mentioned that Caitys surfing was beautiful even if lacking the turns. Marks seems to have regressed under L.E...i remember hearing something about him telling her to fall off more. Has that had some reverse psychological effect in heats? She can do the big turns, she showed it on a couple of end sections.
Mollys melt was bizarre. Just knowing simple maths, 13 seconds doesn't go into 18 seconds as you paddle over the last wave of A FINAL should be a bare necessity in heat management. Incredible surfing.
That pic of EE above is insane. Would love to have seen him bring more of that carving game to his campaign.
And after watching that semi, if i ever need a refresher on how to backhand surf, that's the heat i'll be bringing up on youtube and watching in slow mo. Top of the tree stuff right there.
Great wrap FR! And epic finals day to enjoy.
Btw my favourite highlight of the WSL missed live waves catalogue, was when they filmed a rock for over 40seconds while live action was playing out. Surely they're missing live waves for a reason.
what was with those rock shots?
Yeah that rock footage was truly bizarre.
That was the best viewing since Gabs and Italo.
The forecast had me reminiscing that final all week and the goofies had my money and they took it next level.
So stoked for Connor.
Theres many non CT surfers that can charge big slabs or land big airs, but no one outside the tour is doing surfing like that.
Hopefully one day we get to see what JJF can do on a finals day like that.
Didn’t even watch it don’t really care. Only read this for Steve’s words.
This was the classic comment of all time:
“Imagine Wimbledon with a tiebreak in the Finals and we cut to a long segue about riding on the London Red double-decker buses and how it brought one of the commentators to tears.”
No one really cares for Pro surfing. It was only ever designed to sell Surf clothing and the surfing lifestyle to the masses. Surfing is a participation sport not a spectator sport.
Surfing is the most alluring activity in existence for non surfers. In any line up from your local to Speedies 10% of the surfers get 90% of the waves…lots of crew just want to feel like they are part of the action
But I agree with the comment about selling clothing, what fraction of people who own surf attire can actually surf?
Genuinely watchable from start to finish…why can’t it always be so?
EE should follow the Armand Duplantis playbook - do the bare minimum required to beat your opponent, then go to town…
Do yourself a favour Hamishbro.
I usually find Shearer's writings more exciting than the actual contests. This time, it found its match.
No talk of Bella’s and pickles semi which was the final for me both very smooth and stylish surfers
If I were Ryan Crosby, the WSL CEO who was supposedly in attendance at this Jeffrey's Bay event, I would impose an immediate executive order that plain white surfboards are no longer acceptable for professional surfing competition.
Just think how much more compelling (and watchable) a half-arsed graphic presentation on Connor O'Learys board would have made his epic 10 point wave in the semi-finals - a red board or variation thereof would have been so much more attractive on screens worldwide than this pathetic white board / black logo combination we have had now for more than 40 years of professional surfing.
With MILLIONS of views of this 10 point wave on social media within 24 hours, a compelling graphic presentation, as has been done in the past by World Champions like Martin Potter with his iconic Flames and then, the circular Target graphic and by Derek Ho, with his iconic Red, Green and Yellow graphic on his Island Classic surfboards and Mark Richards before them, who NEVER rode a white surfboard in a contest if he could do otherwise, there are many examples but for some reason, probably because no one told them it was important, surfboard graphics have regressed to plain white foam and black logos.
In the Social Media Age and in the Attention Economy, when a wave like Connor's 10 point ride in the semi-finals will rapidly proliferate on social media into millions of views in mere hours - a compelling graphic and distinctive, identifiable colourway should be made mandatory at the top level of professional surfing.
Every Formula 1 car and MotoGP motorcycle has a distinctive graphic pattern and colorway - immediately identifiable on ANY SCREEN without explanation,. The surfboards ridden by professional surfers at the top level of professional surfing competition should be the same.
Anything less is simply unprofessional.
Dictionary
Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more
identifiable
/ʌɪˈdɛntɪfʌɪəbl/
adjective
able to be recognized; distinguishable.
"His plain white surfboard with black logos were not easily identifiable"
Well, yeah, you’re not farkn Ryan Crosby …
& the wsl isn’t formula one or moto gp
- so, as us semi feral savages sometimes say:
Get a dog up ya ;)
It's because their boards are disposable so pumped out at cost minimum.
Not saying it's right.
How many boards would Pottz, Ho and MR have used in a whole tour year?
Like album covers ?
Artists everywhere saluting John C.
Nice Cover Art on this
?si=ZrWa5fVFrkTZjzf6Everyday, everyday....
The only person I can recall currently practicing a consistent graphic presentation on their surfboards is Erin Brooks - when you see that rainbow coloured flames graphic, you know without explanation it is ERIN BROOKS.
This attention to detail and consistent presentation no doubt was a significant factor in Erin being chosen for the cover of the newly-revived print edition of SURFER Magazine - over more established and successful women surfers.
Marketing 101
, mags are over though john : (
Surfing is a new sport to young people.
The youth chose surfings direction.
There are no more gatekeepers.
Swellnet is the future of surfing media.
Would just like to add to that, last year Surfing Life Australia ran half a dozen covers of women on mostly white boards.
All the lost surfers have significant art and design on their surfboards. Often they have a similar theme each time. Or a new look for a venue. Would be easy to put the surfboard pic up by their wsl pictures on the broadcast
For me surfing is all about surfers riding waves and how they rides the waves is about their style. Who cares what colour the board is? Riding boards is for skaters and skiers
Great waves, great show, great review.
Two Australian actors play the lead role in the 'Time Machine'. "All the time in the world...." in the 4th dimension...
Rod Taylor from Lidcombe NSW Movie 1960 worthwhile https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9ducs6
& Guy Peirce Time machine Movie released in 2002 (yep same guy, way back in neighbors)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Time_Machine_(2002_film)
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9h61dm
HG Wells was / is ahead of his time ..... He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells
"The Time Machine is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Time_Machine
" You have all the time in the world" .... H..G.Wells asks the reader.... in 1895 .... " Are we prisoners of time?"
If I was Ryan Cosby, I would tell the production crew that live surfing takes priority over all the other crap.
I would also tell Turps and Jesse to rest their tonsils now and then.
Can we get alerts if more Swellchan Q-Drops come in to bolster the Pickles conspiracy theory?
I’ve theorised that a world title to complement her talent, alongside her personality, attitude and look should make Molly a break out star in Oz. A charismatic world champ with a cross over media profile would no doubt make for an attractive proposition from the perspective of a ME sovereign investment fund. Perhaps there’s been some back channel communication, a friendly suggestion perhaps, ahead of discussions towards a possible buy out? Shadowy forces at work.
Whether Woz deep state actors, who would reap enormous financial benefit from a deal with a Gulf State, are giving her a push or not, or whether the conspiracy goes deeper still, great to see Molly fulfilling her potential. She’s a bloody ripper.
Molly needs to start doing power squats to keep up with Gabbies power.
Caity seems lost on tour and over it. she has her world title, nothing left to prove.
needs to find a new source of inspiration to keep up with the others who are hungry
Ya reckon?? I thought Molly had way more rail engaged in her turns (hence more power).
The surfing she was doing was far superior to Gabbys in my opinion. Just fell apart strategically at the end of the final.
i think gabby was pushing much harder on her rail and throwing bigger spray.
bigger spray always wins. it may not be "better " surfing but its more of a wow factor that judges like
IMHO Molly keeps her rail engaged for longer. Gabby has the power but doesnt keep the rail engaged as long as Molly. If Gabby kept pushing through her turns with better weight transfer it would be a different story
Wonderful comp as it was billed to be.
So happy Connor got his first W of his career. Bit of a journeyman who you can tell has the chops in the heavy water and could do this at a point, could just never go on a good enough roll.
As for Gabby, she throws water, yes
- but I’m really not convinced her start-stop style is world champion stuff. Is she the beneficiary of overall poor and inconsistent standard of this year’s CT crew? To me Molly is the clear standout with daylight second.
Cheers for the wrap Steve, a great read.
It's the only comp you actually get excited about. Like shouting at the TV excited. And if there is no excitement happening there are so many unsurfed waves peeling down the point you just sit there and mind surf them until the next wave gets caught and ripped to shreds. Such a pity Jordy git skunked by the ocean early on.
Great waves, great surfing, close calls.
Thanks for your astute observations on the sport side Steve.
Worth paying for veiwing perfection. Maybe another billionare could invest in surf competitions.
Youtube must be making some $ out of sports & advertising?
"YouTube’s record Q4 ad sales of $10.473 billion" Overall, Alphabet reported Q4 revenue of $96.47 billion and net income of $26.54 billion"
https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/
Alot of skating, weaving, waiting to hit the cascading lip...
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/cascading
Judges score the wave & linking turns, without falling & jumping off....
Wish they could ride bigger boards (eg 6'8-6'10).... more leverage, less pumping required on those set waves, for big carving turns, without getting caught behind.....losing it at the final race..
Q. Where are the pro's support crew with spare boards in the channel... in Hawaii, Indo, Fiji, Tahiti, talking on the beach .... ?
there is no channel
Simmers ripped. Don't think she needs 'protein powders'! Seen her surf Backdoor and Pipe.? - its quite impressive.
Shapers rabbit hole
Wild tele and the bugger can play.
whoops.. idontknowhy .... youtube & or ltd ram memory
&list=RDJQ4ztL7dBKE&index=2ramdom browntown test "the best is yet to come..."
...
Late to this party but I just read the wrap-up.
Your an obscure philosophical mo-fo with your Victor Frankl references Steve Almost every write up drags pro surfing into high brow musing, hats off to you.
Otherwise your reference to pay per view is almost the most interesting thing here. I would never have thought I'd be a supporter of it but I'm moving in that direction. They could even do a soft start by running two streams, one superior pay per view and one free to air slightly delayed.. It would cost a bit more in production at first but a fairly easy proof of concept.
Congrats to Gabby and Connor! A solid serving of meat and potatoes! Not the surfing I really wanted to see win but well executed.
Agreed about PPV, the dual stream is a great idea. No ads or promos and a pure focus on live action.
I reckon instead of just Pipe being worth double points next season, make J bay, Fiji and Tahiti all worth double as well, giving us 4 grand slams.
Then make each grand slam PPV, maybe like $20, and essentially crowd fund the events in A grade waves. The events that are government funded can stay free to air for greater reach.
"Surely the sport has to instigate some kind of pay per view, at least for these iconic events so they can be broadcast as sporting spectacles and not loss leaders for tourism ventures."
"not loss leaders for tourism ventures" - that would be bucking a 50 year trend..
I cant believe you actually managed to wrap Viktor Frankl into a write up about a surfing comp....thats amazing!
Sometimes the whole WSL circus feels like a bizarre logotherapy exercise in paradoxical intention.
.....love it!
But the heightened emotional reactions of many respondents in the forum makes me wonder if they are exercising the last of the human freedoms....
Why do people want to insist on paying for something perfectly free, easy and entertaining? How much do you think it will improve?? Madness.
Highly enjoyable. JBay is so aesthetically pleasing but does ask questions regarding the pro surfing enterprise.
Like to me watching Ethan Ewing redefining the lines on an otherwise functional wrap then throwing a finner and getting clamped on the end is ways better than 3 big completed power carves. The style and flow way more important than the completion in my eyes That said Conno San deserved, popular, worthy winner with great style to boot.. Good to see him go basically for broke on that 10 after previous fall. Also his white Chompers lighting up the line up, the griniest winniest of grins.
I felt the surfers out there that impressed were Conno, then as always Jordy, Leo (like A grade Curren with shades of ST). Then of course Ewing,- artist, couldn't sacrifice style or flow even if he wanted to, then I thought Colapinto for the way he frees up his fins in the pocket. Huge underated element of risk that adds a pinache and is perhaps not being scored. Those high risk flourishes seriously add to my viewing pleasure.
Isabella and especially Molly super improved on the forehands. Agree that Molly the best in the woman's by far. She learnt some secret and has unlocked that wave I reckon.
Commentators on form also. Brazzo Jesse called out Gabe for 'not pretty surfing' - you could just about hear his neck snap, looking around in the booth probably for someone to clip his nuts off. I reckon he stuck the landing, new Aussie lass gets it on flow though.
After reading that first line it just occured to me.
It has seemed like they're going out of their way to miss waves. All thoughout the broadcast crew were mentioning in the live chat how you honestly couldn't miss the live action if you tried.
Maybe that's the strategy. Get the fan base so frustrated with ads that they succumb to paying for the product without ads.
I say revolt. It's the same strategy being used by AFL and NRL, putting the key Saturday night fixtures behind a paywall, knowing that's the time most people want to watch a game.
It sucks but it sadly is the way of the world now.
One of the more impressive conspiracy theories I have heard in a while.
You seriously think there's a strategy for surfers to deliberately miss waves - and compromise their chances at a world title - in order to annoy viewers with ads, so that when the WSL eventually launches pay-per-view, they'll be sufficiently numbed to hand over their credit cards?
I think he’s saying the camera crew to miss waves. Not the surfers.
Risky business though trying to decipher what @southern is talking about ;-)
Haha Monday fair old Monday morning clip @moonah!
I don't think he meant surfers intentionally missing waves, but the broadcasters missing waves, chucking in ads at critical times.
OK, I can see how I've misinterpreted it. Apologies.
But it's still a ridiculous theory. Unfortunately, ads have to be broadcast. And absolutely, the production standards seemed to be much different at J-Bay than other events - I don't understand how they can justify such long infomercials during Finals. If they absolutely have to be broadcast, then they should schedule a 5 min break between heats (i.e. with no surfing) to tick that box.
But the suggestion that it's all part of a bigger plan to butter us up for PPV? C'mon....
FWIW I reckon WSL should have gone PPV years ago. In general, the broadcasts are world class and worthy of paying for - they've ironed out a lot of the bugs that used to be in the system years ago (most of which were related to early stage internet technologies).
haha maybe ridiculous to your good self Benno but i can see an opportunity for a new media/gaming savvy CEO to exploit an opportunity to create a greater revenue stream, by doing things like instructing camera crew to film a rock for 40secs in the middle of a heat, to show a commercial, then Jess on a safari, and then go to the studio to talk to Jess about her safari before returning to show not 2 but 3 waves missed in that time, thus frustrating us the viewers.
And if not, put it in the basket of all my other deluxe conspiracy theories. There's no way it can ever be proven anyway ;-
I should add, if it was so ridiculous, why did the two biggest football codes in Australia do exactly that? They even conned me into getting a Kayo sub because i didn't wanna miss a couple of the big games. It's not unprecedented.
No question about the infomercials being a revenue source.
But "instructing camera crew to film a rock for 40secs in the middle of a heat" is very unlikely, and certainly wouldn't have been a direct order - rather just a poorly planned production strategy that had extremely high KPIs to reach, in order to justify the associated advertising revenue (which allowed for the broadcast to be freely available on Swellnet).
Geez i find that hard to fathom.
I'm a camera man, standing on the point of one of the greatest waves in the world, absolutely cooking, beaming my footage live to the whole surfing world,... i could film anything, anything....but i decide to frame a small rock on the shoreline that's getting lapped by waves. Not even an attractive rock by any stretch of the imagination, a boring, dull rock (no offence rocky). And for the production team to let that roll for 40seconds without having the awareness to at least cut back to the live action, let alone show the waves missed during the ad and the rock fiasco....sheesh...you couldn't avoid showing live action more if you tried.
That's not how it works. You're not an independent, freelance videographer, but one member of a broadcast production team, working under instructions from the program director. It's an insanely complex setup, and it runs non stop for ten hours a day.
Maybe.
Either way, just to be clear, it's not a conspiracy theory i'd put my own name to and sign off on.
I was just musing on the possibilities and from your take, that's a strong no. Fair enough.
I think it's highly possible, but yeah, the likelihood of the woz being that coordinated is unlikely.
Watching on YT, it is blatantly obvious that there is direction to go to ads when sets are approaching, then have replays lined up for "After the break".
In order to sustain this charade, it is equally obviously that the "Stay tuned" background shot was directed to show the end of Impossibles end and a wide sunrise shot, specifically to ensure no action is visible during the break - although we get the infuriating beach commentary to tell us waves are being ridden at that very moment.
Not my idea of "World Class" - but then again, I'm old enough to remember waiting for the contest reports in Tracks a month late, then waiting for the video store to get the latest ASP video a couple of times a year.
Yeah good on ya Dinger!
And yep, i remember being shocked reading about Mark Foos shocking death a coupla days after it happened in the Adelaide Advertiser in a tiny little news clip in the sports section. Still seemed quite up to date back then!
Found it quite funny that @thermalben would go for the jugular and call that claim ridiculous. I do recall Mr Ben being quite swept off his feet by Trumps inauguration speech. Go figure eh?
Wot?
haha
Funny it may be ...though quite a stretch to the Trump thing.
My point was there is a lot to be thankful for, but also a hell of a lot of room for improvement.
"My point was there is a lot to be thankful for, but also a hell of a lot of room for improvement."
Agree 100%
"it is blatantly obvious that there is direction to go to ads when sets are approaching, then have replays lined up for "After the break"."
Disagree 100% (but not gonna go into it any more).
nah not a stretch.
Gotta keep receipts especially when site owners go out of their way to try to belittle you for a simple plausible observation.
Fair point Leroy.
It's more that the WSL isn't really free and easy. It's limping along only propped up by a billionaire's dollars. It seems impossible to sell and I fear for the whole shebang if they don't find something more feasible. If they can institute some kind of modest pay per view, plus sponsorship, that allows them to showcase better waves then I'd be for it.
Sugar coat the comp 6 different ways but the surfing I witnessed hasn’t progressed from 10 yrs ago. In fact i think the gen before i.e mick, Jules, parko, Steph and Carissa did more justice to J Bay. Was fired up last fri night for a great evening of viewing. Sorely disappointed. Hoping chopes pumps
hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard, Caitlin simmers to a TEE. I feel like she doesn't have a competitive bone in her body, would love to see her take a year off and put together the best female edit we have ever seen
Great summary as always, FR. After many a comp, I watched this one live. Although I was slightly supporting Yago, I am very happy for Connor. He seems like an awesome guy. It is great to see first-time CT winners getting there so convincingly!
What was the consensus on judging?
I thought it was pretty damn good from start to finish.
They paid big surfing and gave mediocre scores to mediocre or safe surfing.
Agreed. There was the odd inevitable stuff up but no howlers.
Don’t remember any controversial heat winners so good I guess.
No major complaints ...but. A lot of the (Mens) heats were quite one-sided, therefore judges were rarely found to have placed themselves in difficult positions.
One perennial irk is the 9+ for a single air, eg. Yago's 9.3 in OR. That was a crap wave with not much else done except for the closeout air.
My beef is that should not be within 1.5 pts of the type of wave Connor put together, especially at J-Bay.
Tahiti is one place where the judges need to keep a lid on it. I can so no reason to go 9+ on a wave early in the heat, as that results in other waves being forced to fit into the 9-10 range.
That is assuming better waves come later in the heat. But they often do at a place that is producing humongous barrels.
I really dig your musing on the scoring structure @Ding.. what drives me nuts, is the idea of a relative scale relevant to a particular heat (desirable), but the much touted rigidity of an 8 being the concrete line for 'excellent'. Can't have both.
They can if they use 8.0 as the scale setter. That allows a full 2pts for the relativity within the heat if better waves come along, which they invariably do at a place like that. To wit, the Kelly vs JJF final where all the scores were 9.8+ or something ridiculous.
Do you know what drives me nuts?
A steering wheel hanging off the front of me pants.
I had to think for a sec then laughed out loud.
I really must be tired.
Pretty good on the whole, but I reckon they give far too much weight to the closing turn at J Bay. If you don’t make the close out turn its seems they are not normally giving anything above an 8, even if the surfer has gone to town on the first half of the wave. Thought EE fell victim to this against Connor, that heat could’ve gone either way.
I really didn't think the Judges were going to go perfect on Connor's wave in order to leave themselves some wriggle room, but full credit to them for paying it.
Compared to Felipe’s 8, Connor’s 10 was a 15 on the scale. One judge only gave it a 9.7 though.
Thanks Steve. Missed the whole comp. What can I say. Been a big couple of weeks. What was I doing?
Really pleased to see Connor win one. I like a lot about the way he surfs and JBay provided a great canvas for him. Haven’t see the 10 yet but watching “all the excellent scores” on YT now, so will be there in a minute.
Sounds like it would have been a great one to watch live, especially with the banter on this website. Comments on this forum ranging widely, some of them even related to Steve’s reporting.
Also rapt to see Molly regain her mojo after a strangely nothing start to the year.
Wow they scored some good conditions with some real growers down the line. Excellent.
Interesting comment above from judicious gentleman comparing Molly’s drawn out turns to Gabby’s comparative flicky turns. Don’t get me wrong, Gabby’s backhand is normally power plus but paled in comparison with Molly’s best. Haven’t watched the final though and seems to be consensus that the result was fair. Interested in comments that Molly’s Apple Watch malfunctioned to see her not take that last wave. Is that true? She could feel bummed if that’s the case, and I can see it happening.
How much power has Connor got? Those long ones, burning thighs, and he’s whacking it full throttle all the way down the line.
Wonderful, even if it all went down without me. :-(
Connor’s 10. Wow! Shot of his fellow competitors going wild, Leo F can barely believe his eyes.
Probably fairly 4 points better than FT’s 8.
Filipe probs threw his heat so he doesn't have to show up at Chopes or CB. You'd think after getting 10's there, J-Bay would have been all over it this time- it was perfect for him.
Has anyone noticed Gabby Bryan has won 3 events with a lot of wiggles then basically the same turn?.. Can anyone imagine this world number 1 rated woman ever taking to the air? ..
Air?! We shall not appreciate a world number one who takes to the air. In beach breaks it's boring and in point breaks, it's depraved. Stick to the rail game, always!
You have two waves & two turns to make $50,000... try a backhand 15ft air & land it... boring.. whatever
You have two waves & one turn each to make $50,000... try a backhand barrel, as an expert @15ft +?
heaps of uncrowded waves in bbboganville
Rediscover inner confidence, local knowledge, hint of blind faith &... reflects...
https://www.youtube.com/watc,=ncUFOR2MN8w
Forecast looking pretty psycho for the chopes warm up