Watch: Nic von Rupp // Kandui - The Heaviest Wave in the Ments
Nic VR is back to rub salt in lockdown wounds.
There's no getting around the pain of watching electric blue Kandui reeling off at eight foot with a mere handful of surfers in the lineup.
Proceed with caution...
Comments
I don't know if I'm jealous of him or I think he's a flog? I feel like Nic needs to get a real job and contribute to society a little more
I don't know if I'm jealous of him or I think he's a flog? Yep same thoughts.
i can answer..a big flog....he would drop in on anyone, remember the unforgivable drop-in at Nazare earlier this year, in answer to question about safety in the line-up his answer was: "I took off because it's my turn"
I wonder what he wrote on his visa application: "self-entitled wanker" or "brain dead hedonist" or "I wanted more waves for me, fuck CV19"
von knob
nothing worse than a gloating gloater.........off him
Boy can surf.
that take-off at 3:05 was pretty sick.
Agreed. Fine line between a heavy drilling and poetry in motion. Hail that !
Bottom line.
He's there and we're not.
Is kandui better than supersuck? maybe. maybe the best left in Indo
Better than 4-6ft One Palm which is probably more like 8ft today and no one out?
Is that One Palm Point on Pinitan Is . Went there 20 years ago and was close to un ridable due to breaking so close to dry reef . Guide said the pros don't like it . We named Ted's Left which is on the inside of the bay .
Those two may be heavier barrels (and Kandui definitely gets bigger), but I still find Desert Point more appealing to watch.
It's a shame Von Rupture is such a tosspot, but then he's targeting these vids at other tosspots who think its cool and they're the ones buying his sponsors' crap. I just hope when we get to go back to the Ments he's not there when we are.
Nate Behl is a much better surfer, and doesn't seem to carry on as much - bonus points. Love to see him surf Rifles in the flesh.
Agree on all points.
The wave is called locally as no Kandui .
Yes and it is really heavy there was no way I was going out there on backhand or forehand.
He’s a polarising prick isn’t he
Have surfed Rifles and Bank Vaults but No Kandui . Hideaway was scary enough for me on my backhand .
Snapped my McTavish mal there . The living coral reef adds a lot to my fear factor .
IMO Greenbush takes the cake when it come to critical...
Just checked footage of Greenbush . It does look thicker but No Kandui looks faster . Not many trying to slow themselves down . Both waves look super critical so splitting hairs and happy to give a tie .
Haven't surfed it but reckon Apocalypse have to up there as well
Just checked it out and it looks like it has the thickness of GB and the speed of NK . The end section at NK often closes out and Apocalypse looks the same . Add the water obstacles and I would give it my vote . It is all a matter of degrees as assuming they all have the same coral reef bottom .
Heavy wave...evil end section that wraps back into you as it gets shallower..seriously challenging on your backhand. Great to see surfers paddling away from the man on the wave and wearing it, rather than forcing them to straighten out as they flail to avoid a few on the head. Nasty Nate won the heat by a mile...long,heavy,technical backhand barrels. He is a legend.
Watched it and made myself sick with envy
Yea nah I wont click there. Not that guy.
Excuse my ignorance but what has Von Rupture done to upset everybody? I know zero about the guy.
Just my take but as his rep has grown so has his irritation level as he tries way too hard. Guy can surf, no doubt, but there's heaps of others these days too. More respect should go to the blokes who just go about their business, take off deep and charge. As I said though, just my take.
Awesome. Not for me so no envy here. Doubt many on here could handle that.
Yeah funny about that Robbo. These waves are pro' level only for me Sultans at Maldives is my envy.
Jails is mine, 20 years ago, 4-6ft with 4 guys was my first surf in Maldives lol
If you turn the sound off and just watch, it is a thing of beauty.
I know this is a left field question for the team: Is there any ambidextrous surfers out there, past or present who switch stance to make it easier to ride heavy waves?
Yep. I do. Yourself?
Time for some switch tips, Blowin.
I'm a pretty average switch footer, but can do an ok bottom turn and have gotten the odd quick coverup. Moving to goofy heaven soon, and I'm a regular foot, so time to get better at it.
Any advice?
Thanks
Best advice I can offer is to be a really bad backhand tube rider amongst hard tubing backhand waves. Necessity truly is the mother of invention.
In all honesty I believe I was born to surf the way I do switch. It feels much more natural with better flow. Not sure what happened back when I was learning but I ended up going the wrong way.
Good backhand surfing looks and feels incredible and I believe technical backhand tube riding is the true measure of surfing talent.
I agree with the concept of backhand tube-riding being the true measure of surfing talent. Very few people get even moderately good at it. I'm always trying, but very rarely succeeding.
It's about the only thing I can do well on a regular basis and unfortunately only have average talent with the rest of my repertoire, especially anything forehand. Try taking off a bit later on your backhand and just grab your rail pigdog stance from the get go. Most times your fins will hold the line and you just slide into the barrel before you know it. Things go downhill though as you get older when your knees and back start stiffening up.
Thanks, Blowin
Let my clarify: I meant that I can do an ok bottom turn SWITCH and get a little coverup. And it's the switch surfing that I'm looking to improve on. Especially taking off switch, but bigger boards are good for praticing that, I find.
Not completely useless on my backhand.
Yeah mate, I understood . Just went off on one of my tangents. Apologies. The only advice I can give is perseverance .
Actually……visualisation. Watch goofy surf clips and try to feel the sensations in your body. Look up goofy surf clips on YouTube.
I'm a hopeless switch-footer, I limit myself to try and do a little switch on a 1ft wave when kicking out. Having said that and I've written about this bloke before, but I used to surf with this severely dyslexic fella who was such a good switch surfer that he always surfed forehand no matter which way the wave broke. Charged too, fella was fearless.
As an aside, he was an amazing juggler to boot.
It's said USA shaper/surfer Dan Mann only surfs forehand, he is a pretty decent surfer but i dont think he chargers heavy waves.
I skated more than I surfed when I was younger. I skate and snowboard goofy but surf natural. Dunno why I did this, but reckon I might have been a better surfer if I had learned to surf goofy. I can switch on soft waves and a bigger board, but too old to change /charge switchfoot now. Bought a smoothstar a few years ago and have been skating it natural - I enjoy it and it helps a bit in the water. Here's something that popped up in my insta feed this morning.
I certainly can't ride switch to save my life, have never tried it on a surfboard but have skated enough to just know I can't! However there's a guy at my local that I often see ride switch backhand barrels, he rips both ways and mostly does it for the challenge, have only seen him do it in waves up to 4ft but wouldn't be surprised if he can scale it up.
I don't mind NVR, seems like a nice enough bloke. Bit of a frother but his surfing backs it up. Just another person exploiting the digital age. You could say exactly the same about Nathan Florence, JOB, Koa Rothman, Brett Barley, Ben Gravy etc. They're all milking it.
As I said at the top, not sure if it's envy on my behalf. Probably mostly.
I guess I feel these guys already swan in and out of third world countries without seemingly doing much other than a modern colonial style day smash and grab. Seems even more tasteless during this pandemic.
Dunno, just one of those pub test kind of situations for me.
Blowin quote “ I believe technical backhand tube riding is the true measure of surfing talent.”
Totally agree - Nate Behl is a master at it.
I freakin suck at it.
Good on Nic for having a crack. Not everyone's cup of tea but the tall poppy syndrome kicks in pretty quick in these forums I reckon.
Know a couple of boys living in Ireland, heard from them that he does/has blown in to sessions at Mully, snaking locals and making a right cock of himself. Shame, because the locals are such legends that a bit of patience or ingratiation would have got him good waves anyway. Twat
And maybe a Guinness or 2!
IMO - He should just shut the fuck up!!
It just seems so fake and contrived.
(but maybe I'm old and grouchy.)
He can have it that wave is hectic af
I don't know what this guy is like, im not going to judge him off this one video, but i think a lot of guys that charge tend to be really into themselves (not all many are humble great guys) but i think having over conference in yourself and wanting to prove something to people really helps push them to surf waves that most surfers wouldn't.
Yeah the locals usually sort out the interlopers through a variety of means if they get ahead of themselves in the water or out. He may need to watch is hire car it may get a free panel beat.
also a lot of judgement on here from people whom I suspect have never interacted with the guy
Seems alright to me, maybe a bit excited but they have to be for people to watch. Machado cops a lot of shit for his monotone talking which gets boring this guy is just hyped up on goofballs the opposite.
I reckon NVR is up there with the worst personalities in surfing and as rank a surf capitalist as it comes. The video of him deliberately breaking quarantine rules in Indonesia during their unfolding Covid crisis and bragging about it is gross, as is him constantly talking about how the Covid disaster is rewarding him with empty beaches while hundreds die across the country every day. He consistently makes fun of the situation unfolding in Indonesia when called out on it and acts as if visiting foreign owned surf resorts is somehow a charitable act to the country. It's a sad reflection on the surfing industry that he remains sponsored while doing it, and that surfers somehow thinks him being a great tube rider excuses it. Bin him.