Tom Carroll's Wildest Ride
Former two-time world champion Tom Carroll and his tow-surfing partner, Ross Clarke-Jones, narrowly escaped serious injury whilst surfing in Western Australia last week.
In the middle of filming a sequence for the upcoming movie, Storm Surfers 3D, Carroll towed Clarke-Jones into a mid-size wave on his jet ski, only to be caught by the wave as he headed for the channel.
According to Carroll, "The waves were so wild and unpredictable that is was hard to tell what was happening. I towed Ross into a wave then tried to get the ski over the back of the wave, however a large bit of chop bounced me back onto the face. From there I did all I could but just couldn't get the ski off the wave before it broke."
Caught in the whitewater, Carroll attempted to ride the turbulence behind Clarke-Jones, who was unaware of the situation unfolding just metres behind him. "I saw Ross down there and knew we were in serious trouble. I tried to manhandle the ski but the wave just took me where it wanted."
Unfortunately, the wave completely engulfed Tom and destroyed the ski in the process - ripping large stainless steel mounts away from the ski's frame, and pulverising a $15,000 carbon-fiber 3D camera rig. Incredibly, Carroll only suffered a bruised shin during the incident, whilst Clarke-Jones escaped completely unharmed.
The whole sequence was also captured by several 3D cameras, one of which was attached to the ski looking back at the surfing action. This footage will be used in the movie. This sequence was recorded by local photographer, Jamie Scott, who watched the incident from his boat in the channel. The last two shots are taken from a small camera attached to Clarke-Jones' board.
A week after the incident Carroll was still visibly shaken and pondering what could've been, "It was one of those events that happen in slow motion. We're just so incredibly fortunate no-one got hurt." //STUART NETTLE
