absolute legend!

Saw this last night on his insta and was hoping you’d post it.
Sickest cunt

Keep charging Laurie. Fuck the WSL.

Laurie is awesome but I'm confused. On the one hand he says he's bummed about not getting in the top five of a corporately driven award run by seppos, and on the other hand he says that whole scene is fucked anyway. This doesn't sound like a bloke who doesn't give a fuck. If that was true, he wouldn't have mentioned it, and this "story" wouldn't exist.

Laurie should be a role model of a true Australian sportsman. But he's not the first. From memory Cheyne Horan suffered huge setbacks from sponsors when he thumbed his nose at Coca-Cola.
In fairness there are not too many corporates that have any civilised ethics, but you'd agree Coke & KFC would have to be as bad as it gets. What next? surfing for Adani?
Rave over...Good one Laurie for sticking it to the fatman.

You won by a nautical mile. No honour in accepting fraud awards from kooks. I got few awards from khao san road.

Don’t stress Laurie.

There isn’t a surfer in Australia , if not the world who isn’t aware of and in awe of your exploits. The fact that you’re a perfect example of the cutthroat and unrepresentative surf industry’s focus on industry numerics instead of deep rooted respect from the surfing community only endears you more to everyone.

If it makes you feel better , I never got recognition for a two second tube I scored at HT’s in front of a boat full of “ mates “. The pain never goes away but you’ll learn to live around it.

The judges probably thought that was Johnny Utah dropping in at Cloudbreak.

Artful wave riding at its best, why not the vote of the people!

Still waiting for Mark Visser to jump out of a plane strapped to a ski!
Might need a bigger Jeep.

Hyperbole aside, the ride in the short vid above is bloody impressive!!! What is the criteria for the top 5? Ie the equivalent of the CT criteria. If there isn't a framework to critically evaluate the top 5 then Laurie is probably right about it not being transparent. Or is it just a popularity contest like the Logies?

Take a look at where the pack is compared to where Loz takes off!

Deeeeeeeppppp

i read somewhere that at completion of this wave the worlds elite big wave riders present gave laurie a standing ovation......vindication in itself.......the corporate thing is complex.......its all part of people wanting a slice of the cake......be it surfing industry. building . law. church......i see it that swellnet is itself a small corporation.....we are all contributing right now......those at the top of corporations want and need more and believe they are worth more and will often go to extremes to get it.....this world is complex and we are all complicating it....thankfully many of us can just split and go for a surf......i like blue blue rooms comment......but if someone has more contacts or followers.....public voting can be manipulated as well.....keep that wave in the memory bank laurie.....no one can ever take it from you......to me thats what its all about

What I've always liked about that wave is that Laurie didn't flick off after the barrel, even after the drop of a lifetime, then getting pitted for eternity (slight exaggeration), he didn't flick off in front of the cameraman for a smile and a shaka but stayed riding that line of energy as it dwindled down the reef.

..my ten cents worth..the raw footage shared that day on insta showed the people in the lineup going banana's about your wave Laurie (i'm just adding to Mick Burnside's and Bill Posters comments) ..we all need more coin..but hey, as far as I'm concerned, you're in the elite for - sheer courage (how far inside the pack are you?) judgement (what a perfect wave) synchronicity (being in the wave, not trying to damage it) - as the character Sando says in Tim Winton's Breath - "You don't need the photo mate, you were there" (swap "photo" for "money"). On yah LT awe inspiring for a more than a decade to me.

like radiation rules stated...... all the crew(down line from lauries take off) goin bananas......theyre claiming his wave.......maybe its like hey im here too with some of those egos seeking a stoke ....where as the bloke in the hot seat performing(laurie) is just shutting up and doing it......claiming someone elses wave shits me.....cause its usually done at the a grade or elite venues where mr video is.....its like theyre trying to suck a bit of reco or energy from lauries achievement.

Some great waves i have ridden were filmed / photographed. Over time the image has replaced the real memory in my mind. Whereas amazing waves ridden alone or unfilmed are burned in my mind more clearly.

Selfies distort the experience. Stay pure and out of sight.

Is there anyone left in the world immune from the temptation to rant on social media?

It's ride of the year, not ride of a lifetime.......

Your in the other category Laurie.

Congratulations!

WSL = KOOKS
Just in case anyone forgot .

I remember all that cloudbreak footage - how it was just so big and there were some sort of steps on the biggest waves that made it stand up like a slab, at huge size. Soon after we saw that mad Russian tow into Ulus at a size I've never seen before - an incredible ride. It was like surfing shifted up a level of consciousness in a 2 month span. Was that 2017?

I think we Aussies love someone who works like one of us, who also does incredible things - the level of relation is high.

I reckon Laurie Towner has it worked out right now. He's able to chase swells but is working a regular job that will give him skills to use well into his older life. And he can speak his mind.

Hard to argue. It's an awesome wave and expertly ridden. Does that make it ride of the year or barrel of the year? Nah. Top 5 maybe. Definitely deserved a slot in barrel of the year compared to some of that Puerto stuff. But nowhere near a winner in either.

Ramon's from the same session was a level above this one.

And it's hard to beat a guy getting barrelled 8 times on a wave that lasts over two minutes at Skeleton Bay for tube of the year either.

Awesome wave - unfortunately the surfing industry is no longer able to fund (through sponsorship) the 10s of people it provided lifestyles for in the good times - the surf industry has had to cut back on excesses to survive in a world where kids no longer default to surf clothes and general lifestyle / fitness brands now enjoy a greater share of the wallet - surf brands have consolidated and now need to focus on which athletes sells board shorts etc and unfortunately (like many other action sports) only very few athletes generate a return on investment above cost of capital - harsh reality for many who enjoyed the good times over the last 15 years !!! The surf industry is run by corporations and always will be - this is to the benefit of the top athletes and stakeholders - consistent with all global sports

Its the take off / drop that mesmerises me on that wave, absolutely on the edge yet no hint of the wobbles or loss of control.

As for the corporate thing nothing new there you either play the game like the pros (say what you are told to like a true American clone) or you don't get a look in even the Brassos have worked that one out.

I've seen it all with the XXL although I missed that wave of Lauries as I was too far inside and only got the tail end. 5 minutes later Nathan Florence got onto my Tavarua boat and was loosing his mind after witnessing that ride. Saying 'it was un-fucking believable' and he was so pumped to maybe get one similar. But yeah, i reluctantly send in my clips. Mainly after the surfer requests me too when they want their wave entered. So its not about the $$ for me plus I want my footage to be exclusive for my films. Actually, when entering in Nathan Florence's Teahupoo paddle ride back in 2015 where it lost to Shane Dorain's Peahi bomb as I recon Shane's was more XXL than the excellence of Nathan's which we all know Nathans was way more technical. So Nathan was a victim too. But that's WSL XXL for you..

Looking at the rides that were in the top 5, I reckon if Laurie's wave was filmed from the front angle and undeniably showed the length of his barrel he would have been in there. There's no land angle at Cloudbreak. Still, every surfer knows it was one of the better completed mega-sized tube rides ever filmed.

If you go back to the homepage and enlarge Grambeau's still shot as big as you can you see just how ridiculous the drop was and just how PERFECTLY poised and balanced Laurie is.
Everyone in the water that day, everyone who has ever surfed a wave over 12ft and every other big wave surfer in the world know how good that wave was. An incredible once in a lifetime moment.

fuk yeah

Such food for thought this one, mosty
great (some ridiculous) comments above.
I really like what bill-poster said about him continuing on down the wave. He was feeling it, it wasn’t for the sponsor, mags, peanut gallery, WSL or ego.
I don’t know the bloke but that just seems like him, salt of the earth, humble family man, who just so happens to be one of the premier big wave surfers on this planet.
To Laurie’s credit there’s been a lot said about him not being sponsored over the years and non of it by him. He’s played it down, taken it on the chin. I think the man deserves to give the ‘surf world’ and all it’s ingenuine stakeholders a little peice of his mind.

PS- any of this other raw footage or other angles of this or his others waves out there?

tbb's full-on bodybash'n is viewed as disrespectful to old school pod bodysurfers.
tbb views flippers as the evil that destroyed surfing >>(FF 1,000,000 years)

Now neoprene spacemen lifelined to decking rails minimize wave contact to a blip.
Jealous of WSL autobot ski troupe who no longer even touch the gross moist waves.

Step off the rails, now surfjustsurf & claim the ride of your life. (Spock: Highly illogical)

Footnote: Skeg tbb rates the ride highly alongside fellow swellnetonians input

Amazing wave and probably deserves an award but don't really understand the rant. Everyone who receives money has a boss and everyone in some form or another recieves a benifit from the corporate world.
If you want to be payed to surf play the game, if you don't then surf for fun with no recognition like the rest of us.
Laurie is an amazing surfer who i love to watch, but you got to wonder what he would he do if a sponsor once again offered a large sum of money to surf.

Didn't some corporate wankers give him 20 grand years ago when he got big wave award (towed in) at cow bombie. Even though there where bigger waves surfed by little known locals. Pretty sure these corporate wankers got him the award that day. Anyway the lad charges and deserves all the smoke up his arse he gets. Good on him for stirring shit coz it happens every year.

Sick wave.

But, sponsorship is a privilege not a right (especially when it comes to surfing....or am I being naive?). Furthermore, these are for-profit businesses, and so they are under no obligation to promote in any shape or form people or things that do not lead to a return on that investment. Sounds like too many people forget that. Mr Towner included.

Hey, I get it, the ideal scenario for any of us is to get paid to do something we love doing. Heck, I would love to be paid enough to work part-time on screenplays, stay at home being a dad and growing veggies, pay off the mortgage and build a retirement fund, and still go to the Maldives once a year....But the world does not work like that for 99% of people.

Ever heard cries from artists along the lines of "the government needs to support artists more because the work they do brings value to society!" or "people just don't see the value in art and aren't willing to pay a fair price!"....and thought "put a cork in it, nobody cares about your shitty art". Of course you have. And that's because we live in a market-based society (as effectively all societies are excl. Nth Korea) and the market sets the price. If you're not able to make a living, it's because the rest of us simply don't agree with the value you place on your own work (i.e. how high you regard yourself!). Or businesses don't believe they'll get a sufficient ROI to give you a living wage and send you to far-flung destinations for photoshoots.

Sorry your dreams aren't the reality. But suck it up.

Hey Laurie, i suppose these things happen to us sometimes. I got snaked on a bomb by this guy last week and thought why do i bother, but i reckon its fortified me a bit now. So, don't give up. Get back 'in the ring' and enter again ... do a Tiger Woods on us. bon chance mon ami

Laurie, your an aussie ripper mate and that wave at Cloudbreak was just fucken awesome to watch-no wonder you reckon it's your wave of a lifetime.
Anyway now that WSL is running all the comps we just have to watch the circus deteriorate into a seppo mess, fuck pete mel he is the most annoying announcer, just so full of himself
For all it is worth watching the younger ones come through I have given up watching the shit simply because the yanks have fucked the show, just keep it simple you idiots and the punters will watch
It's a bit like reality tv these days, -no-one with any credibility watches cos its just the same shit regurgitated
Keep the chin up Laurie, you charge big time

I greatly respect Laurie's surfing and breadth of ability, could watch him all day. Having been handed my arse by a 5ft wave at Cloudbreak, I also can't get my head around the violence you'd be subject to if you went down on anything over 10ft out there, let alone this wave of his. It's got so much punch it's absurd.

However, people in glass houses need to be careful when throwing stones. Nobody is making these blokes commit to getting there and paddling out: it's all an individual choice. If you're there to gain recognition or win awards, then I reckon you;re doing it for all the wrong reasons. If you need cameras there, what are you really there for? What still or footage could possibly go even close to communicating the adrenaline and satisfaction that (I imagine) a wave like this generates?

As has been said, the peers in the water saw it, and it sounds like the impression was universal. That should be enough. Whinging only implies a a longing to be part of it, rather than any kind of railing against it.

That take-off was the absolute pinnacle of great surfing. The skill and commitment required to pull that off shows his place at the highest level of surfing.

amazing surfer no doubts - laurie seems to be upset rather than not caring

He makes it look too easy. I thought that wave of Dave Wassel's out there a few years back was even more critical, but perhaps it was a different camera angle? I don't think that one got nominated for an award either ...

David Scard Cloudbreak Paddle in angle 2- youtube

Some of the other waves nominated were pretty lame. Big and crazy yes, but very scrappy and few didn't even make it

Takes guts to sit that far inside. Technically excellent.
But me thinks he doth protest too much.

Silence would have been a stronger statement.

How does the tagline go? WSL "let's script this"

Critical drop, perfect balance, perfect line, brute of a wave, long long barrel although hard to tell how long at that angle.

Best big wave ride I saw last year. Best any ride I saw last year.

Re why he's having a go about it, you could give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he is railing against the apparent injustice of it all which can be done without it being a whinge. You know, if you were feeling generous.

You could just say 'this is how the world works, get on with it' or you could say 'this is how the world works, and I ain't gonna take it anymore'.

This is how the world works, but if you are going to give out awards claiming that a particular ride was 'biggus dickus ever' wave, than you really should have a biggus dickus wave, not just the wave that was most sponsored. Seems a reasonable argument.

Nice comment from Twiggy a couple of days ago : "One notable exclusion from Ride of the Year was @Laurie Towner's beautiful tube from Fiji that has caused some debate as to the legitimacy of the selection process and we have asked for clarity from the judges involved as to why this wave was left out in place of the five selected. I have a feeling however that Laurie will be in the Top 10 performers of the year and will get his chance at the events in 2019/20 which we all want to see."

LT added another pic of a Cloudbreak paddle in on his insta
Fuckn jeezus !