The world tour provides a splendid lifestyle and a fabulous income for 45 men. But, who do you really care about? Whose heats do you risk instant dismissal for, sneaking online at work? Of course! Slater, AI, BI Taj, Joel, Mick etc. You don't care about the bottom feeders, moderate talents grimly fighting to hang onto their prized positions in the premier tour.
Henceforth, our tour review now focuses entirely on the surfers that matter – the top 16. Genuine title hopes; genuinely mind-blowing surfers to watch. But before you dive in Jake reckons that even among the top16 you can divide it into three descending groups in regards to the likelihood of em winning a crown. Up top is the A-team. Kelly and Andy “If they’re competing they’re gonna be right up there always” says Jake. Next up is Mick, Joel, Taj and the Hobgood brothers. The rest, says Jake, “Can get good results, maybe even win a contest, but not hold it together to ever mount a title campaign.”
KELLY "YOUR MATE JIMMY" SLATER
MENTAL STRENGTH. His ability to consistently win events: He started 2006 with back-to-back wins then got injured in Tahiti but still got third, he missed Fiji just to give everyone a little sniff, then he finished fifth in Mexico, third at J-Bay, second in Trestles, third in France, second in Mundaka and it was all over. He didn't surf in Brazil (can you blame him?) and finished the year off with the best final all year, just losing to Andy for a second place. Out of the 12 events you get to take your best nine so you get three throwaways. After missing two events, the next result he threw away was a fifth. I'm still trying to come to terms with this myself. All of
Kelly's results that counted for the title were third or better! Wow!
ACHILLES HEEL. He can let his personal life effect his surfing. In 2006 though, Jimmy was the most relaxed I had seen him in years and you could just see it in his surfing. He was almost freesurfing every heat and making it look real easy. I'm wondering to myself, was it because he hadn't made up his mind whether he was going to do the whole tour in 06 or had he found a happy place in his life?
FAVOURITE TACTIC? People have asked whether Jimmy rocking up late is a mind game to spook fellow competitors? Well, I wish he was late in my heats so I could get a lead but I don't think he's never on time for anything. He doesn't wear a watch and doesn't like to be told where he should be.
MAYBE YOU DIDN'T KNOW... but Jimmy doesn't really travel with any of the other pros. Only Taylor Knox from time to time but he likes to hang by himself or with guys outside of surfing. He plays golf more than he surfs and he is an amazing golfer with a handicap of just four.
CONTENDER RATING. I'm pretty sure we are going to see it all again in 2007 but there are going to be way more contenders. Everyone had a little sniff of what it takes to take down the title and that is consistency with a couple of wins along the way. Let's just hope Jimmy is going to do the whole tour to defend his title.
ANDY"AI" IRONS.
AI was unlucky to be beaten in the early events last year. He was beaten by an on-fire TB in the quarters on the Gold Coast and by the Raging Bull at Bells, also in the quarters at some of the best waves we've seen at Bells for a long time. Andy's a smart character when he's got priority but Occy scored a huge wave in their heat when Andy had priority. Occy had just jumped off the jetski and a freak wave came through that was just gonna land on Andy's head. Occy was in vintage form and rode it like it was a three-footer: 9.8, thank you very much. MONEY SHOT. His ability to pull out huge scores. AI was the only surfer to have three 10-point rides all year and, unbelievably, averaged 17.02 from every heat in Mexico. He also had the second highest heat total all year behind his brother Bruce and that was in the Pipe final. And that was when he came from way behind to beat Kelly in the final. The Pipe final sums up Andy: he loves a big stage and pressure doesn't affect him at all. The harder the heat the better he surfs, and we all know how much he loves sticking it to Kelly.
ACHILLES HEEL. Andy lives to and needs to win. Not only contests, but world titles. He's more passionate about a surfing world title than any other surfer. I'm not sure how long AI is going to last in his mindset if he doesn't win another world title. There are hints of the old Andy creeping back. No one wants to see that happen but if he isn't getting to where he wants to be, he might just self implode back to the old angry, arrogant Andy.
CONTENDER RATING. Andy and Kelly have had the best battles over the past three years and I believe they own surfing's greatest-ever rivalry. Pipe this year was Andy's way of telling Kelly that he'll never lie down. In the last four years, they have both won two world titles so this year is the decider.
MICK "EUGENE" FANNING
MONEY SHOT. Coming from Snapper and surfing all those long right points have sharpened Mick's forehand carve off the top. It's such a versatile turn, at any wave from Bells to Sunset to J Bay.
BEST EVENT. Beat Mick at Snapper and you're absolutely ripping.
MENTAL STRENGTH. By far, Mick is the guy who puts the most into his surfing by the way of training and eating right. He is the closest thing to a professional sportsmen we've got.
RUTHLESS FACTOR. Mick is unfazed by Kelly. He was the only guy to knock Kelly out twice all year. In a semi final in France, he was surfing against Kelly and the waves were pretty good, four-to-five foot sucky rights but there was a really bad rip running through the middle which sucked you out the back. The wave of the heat came through and Kelly had priority but missed it because the rip had sucked him off the bank. Mick scratched onto it and scored a 9-point-something and showed Kelly to his hotel bill.
MAYBE YOU DIDN'T KNOW... but Mick loves to bring his Mum along to a few of the events as there is no more solid support then your Mum. You try harder, it really is more special. Dorian won Mundaka when his Mum was there.
TAJ "TB" BURROW
Taj had almost the perfect start to the year with a second to Kelly in the first event and you could've put your house on the kid with the form he was in through the heats leading up to the final. Taj had the confidence to beat Kelly because they were his conditions, not Kelly's. If he punted on his last wave, he shoulda punted not floated, he mighta gotten it. Kelly looked relaxed and did better turns and Taj frothed and was trying to do more turns on a wave. He had a string of good results in the middle of the year with a third in Mex and second in J-Bay and another third in Trestles.
MONEY SHOT: TB loves to punt in heats and if there is a righthander and the wind is blowing into it you may as well not even paddle out. ACHILLES HEEL: A lack of confidence against low seeds. The heat that turned Taj's fortune around last year was when he got beaten by Pedro Henrique in France. He got beaten by his own air game. Pedro had the best heat he had all year, gave TB a 17th, and TB just let the title race slip away.
Maybe you didn't know. Taj is the only guy on tour riding something different in the surfboard world. He's riding Firewire surfboards. It's definitely worked for him so far. I think people have tried em but Taj has worked on them so much and Taj has had his boards modelled on his good boards and has persevered with em and is reaping the rewards.
CONTENDER RATING, I think he's finally ready for the title. He has had the bad losses and he knows how to win and also, now he knows what it's going to take to beat the top dogs. He needs a good start, though.
BOBBY "ROBERT" MARTINEZ
MONEY SHOT. He's the new school Barton Lynch or Damien Hardman. He does big, smooth turns and then in Mundaka he throws out an alley oop in the final. It was probably the only air I saw him do in a heat all year but he pulled it out when he needed it.
MENTAL STRENGTH. There were only four guys who won two events in 2006 and for Bobby to put his name alongside Kelly, Andy and Mick as a rookie is extraordinary. The trick as a rookie is to get a good start. He finished third in his first event and in his third event he was on the podium with the winner's trophy in his paws. Unbelievable! He had the best rookie year I have seen in my 11-year career.
FAVOURITE TACTICS. Definitely not a hassler, he's not overly patient, he likes to catch waves. He reads the game pretty good.
ACHILLES HEEL. I hope he can back up 2006 with another great year but that is the hardest thing to do after such a good debut. You start to put pressure on yourself to do better.
CONTENDER RATING. Not consistent enough for a world title. Yet.
JOEL "PARKO" PARKINSON
Joel had every result you can have on our tour in 06: a win in Hossegor, second at Bells, third in Mundaka, fifth at Trestles, ninth in four events and two 17ths and one 33rd
FAVOURITE TACTICS. He's ruthless. He doesn't mind a hassle. He loves to start the heat on the inside. The year he won J Bay when he was 18, he beat me in the quarters and we sat up the top of Boneyards for about 10 minutes because neither of us wanted to give each other the inside. I eventually gave in. He's probably not like that as much anymore because he realises he can win any which way. But if he's got someone hard, he'll always start on the inside.
BEST EVENT. Hossegor was some of the best surfing I have seen from Parko. He beat Andy in the semi-final with tube rides to big carves to sick airs. He really put everything together in that event. Andy had won the Quiksilver Pro in France three years on the trot and got a second the year before that. In France, if you can beat Andy you normally win the event.
MAYBE YOU DIDN'T KNOW... but at Bells all the talk on tour was that Joel was by far the best surfer there but he got beaten by one turn that Kelly pulled off in the final. The turn was incredible.
CONTENDER RATING. With Joel's talent he should be a title contender every year. But he has never really done well in the big lefts of Fiji and Tahiti which is weird because he can backside tube ride as good as the best. If he's got good boards - and he rides on confidence - he's dangerous. He can absolutely annihilate all of those top guys.
DAMIEN "DOOMA" HOBGOOD
Dooma is one of the nicest guys on tour and one of the deadliest in a
heat in all conditions. Watch him smile and be merry and then have him
hand you your arse in a heat. He smashed Cory Lopez in Brazil this
year.
MONEY SHOT. Truly a master of the tube in Tahiti, Fiji and Pipe.
He loves digging in his arm to get super deep in the pit. Everyone's
good in those barrelling lefts but Damo is set apart by his ability to
read the wave. When Tahiti's six foot, everyone can get great tubes,
it's just a matter of how cocky you can get with it. They rule because
they spend so much time in the water. Fiji is the key, taking the high
line in barrels, know which ones are good, which ones are bad. The
Hobgoods know the tides intimately well. They know if the tide's
running out, they need to catch what they can because there aren't
gonna be many waves.
RUTHLESS FACTOR. Damo is the best goofyfooter (along with his
brother) to charge Backdoor, which got him to the semis last year at
Pipe. Backdoor is a trickier wave than the photos and mags would have
you believe.
MAYBE YOU DIDN'T KNOW... but Dooma won eight of his first round
heats last year which makes a huge difference in the relaxed mode you
can get into in an event. The second round is a frightful. The high
seeds come up against the wildcards, it's way riskier surfing against a
local wildcard than a guy off the bottom of the ratings. The biggest
relief we have is not having to deal with it.
CONTENDER RATING. There were only seven guys that won events in
2006 and only five winners in 2005 and Dooma was on the list both
years. He's in the outsider's world title territory.
THOMAS "TEETH" WHITIKER
Thirty-thirds wreck your mind and spirit. Tommy only had one in 2006 and that's why he finished so well. Ironically, it came from travel buddy, Jarrad Howse, in Tahiti. Only three waves broke the entire heat and Tommy was sent home.
MONEY SHOT. Like those no-bullshit Bronte surfers before him: Luke Hitcho, Rod Kerr and Richard Cram, Tommy is all about big turns. The judges love big, committed turns and that's what he delivered this year, especially in Fiji and J-Bay.
MAYBE YOU DIDN'T KNOW... Tommy is one guy that will travel with the same board all year. If he has a favourite board he will put it on ice and only ride it in heats. You have to have very good self-control to be able to do that, everyone always want to rip on their fave stick but Tommy knows that there is no better feeling than trusting your board in a heat.
MENTAL STRENGTH. On a personal note and not overly useful in a solitary sport like surfing, Tommy is the man you want in your trench. He'll do whatever it takes to help his friends. When I got my passport and wallet and all my crap stolen in Sao Paulo en route to the contest, Tommy hung out and loaned me money, completely looked after me.
TAYLOR "CARLS BAD" KNOX
MONEY SHOT: Taylor is one of my favourite surfers to watch. He's full old-school and has the best cutback on tour now that Hoyo isn't there any more. There are some surfers who cheat to get scores of the judges but not Taylor, he doesn't even know how to do a half turn. It's all or nothing for Taylor and that's what I love about his surfing.
BEST EVENTS: He's pretty to watch if he's on-fire and has a good board at places like J-Bay and Bells. Big, big forehand carves.
MAYBE YOU DIDN'T KNOW... but Carls Bad started the year off in electric form and you couldn't knock the dude out until after Mexico where, for some reason, the wheels just fell off his whole year. He should have been top five the way he started the year. He was so relaxed and things just happened for him but in the latter half he couldn't buy a result or a good heat or a good wave for that matter. He got beaten by the local wildcard in Mun-daka which was one of the most frustrating things I have ever seen. All he had to do was make it past the second section of two waves in the heat and he would have won but good old Taylor all or nothing really worked against him that time.
CONTENDER RATING: Best hope is top five.
DEAN "DINGO" MORRISON
Dingo had a good year with highlights being his third place in Mundaka
and Trestles where he beat Fanning in the quarter-finals. When two good
friends surf against each other they always seem to try way harder.
MONEY SHOT. The roundhouse isn't a high scoring manoeuvre
typically but Deano's first part of the turn is so critical that he can
actually score with a roundhouse.
MENTAL STRENGTH. Dingo is a full surf nazi and is always one of
the first guys out in the morning. He is just one of those guys that
loves to surf all day. He doesn't mind skipping a few rungs up the
hierarchy for waves in any lineup as well. He's always paddling around
on the inside and catching everything that moves.
MAYBE YOU DIDN'T KNOW... but I would love to know what happen in
his third round heat at Pipe last year where there was an interference
call on Daz O'Raff on Dean, which resulted in Raff getting booted from
the tour. Raff simply dropped in on Dingo (which never happens without
some kind of deceit) so I'm think there was more to it. There were
words exchanged after the heat had finished but I'm not sure what was
said.
TIMMY "CAPTAIN GOODVIBES" REYES
Timmy was the most improved surfer in 2006. He started his year pretty slow with a 33rd and a 17th but then got on a serious roll with five results in a row past the third round. Timmy was one of the few guys that had two 10-point rides in 2006.
MONEY SHOT. He is one of those guys that throw everything at a wave and sometimes his turns can be mistaken as one of Kelly's, especially at a wave like Trestles. He's got this float to top turn that he does that looks virtually identical. I'm sure he watches all of his videos and tries to mimic it.
STUNNING MOMENT. The heat that most impressed me was his 33rd round at Trestles against Rob Machado. For a young guy in Cal growing up he might have been a little rattled but Timmy blow him away with really nice clean forehand hacks. Rob was probably a god to him.
CONTENDER RATING. A bad knee injury at the Cold Water WQS event in Santa Craze blow his chances of top 10 but he deserved to be there with the results he had and the way he surfed in 2006. Can he win a title? Best hope is top five.
PHIL "MANPOWER" MACDONALD
It looked hard for Phil to try and back up his great year of 2005 where he finished fifth and made a handful of finals. 2006 found him chasing his tail and he didn't make it past the fourth round until the second last event on tour which was Brazil where he had his best result, a third.
ACHILLES HEEL. Phil loves to sit and wait for the sets in heat but sometimes this can make him come unstuck like in Mexico last year where he didn't even get to his feet in his heat against Kelly. He did not stand up
MONEY SHOT. He uses his power well because he is a bit of brick wall out of the water and can mix it up with the new school with the odd cheese wiz here and there. Also, Phil seems to surf his best against the big guys and is never scared to surf his beat in heats.
CONTENDER RATING. Phil was lucky because he had a lot of talk-up and an amazing end to 2005. Then he started 2006 horribly and then just pulled it together as the tenacious competitor he is and that's what you gotta do.
CORY "C-LO" LOPEZ
This is an average result for Cory. He finished the year with a bang, making the Pipe final but pretty much spent the year, like the rest of us, watching the Kelly/Andy show.
MONEY SHOT. He is always very dangerous in the two left barrels in Tahiti and Fiji. A maniac in big tubes. ACHILLES HEEL. I have seen Cory do some of the best airs I have ever seen but He doesn't seem to use them in heats that often which is a strange because he makes a big percentage of his airs.
CONTENDER RATING. There is no reason why Cory shouldn't be in the top 16 again in 2007.
BRUCE "Bl" IRONS
Last year in this review, I said Bruce wasn't well-rounded enough to be world champ. It was a big call but the latter end of 2006 saw Bruce come a long way with putting turns together. It looked like he was really starting to work out his short boards. Things are a-changing.
MONEY SHOT. Bruce would be a little disappointed with 14th spot. I'm my opinion he is the best tube-rider on tour.
BEST EVENT. Bruce had the highest heat score on tour in 2006 with a 19.90 in his first round heat at Pipe which I had the (un)fortunate luck to be in so I had a great view of his incredible tuberiding skills. There was only one other guy on tour that had more 10-point rides than Bruce and that went to his brother Andy with a total of three. One of those was the last wave ridden of the 2006 season.
ACHILLES HEEL. Bruce is always good to watch because he always likes taking to the air. The thing is, he wastes sections when he's getting speed to punt. He loses to inferior surfers because of this. It's hard to ever know what Bruce is thinking - he never loses his cool when he loses.
CONTENDER RATING. I think he's had his two years to warm up on the WCT and is ready to win an event and climb the ratings.
BEDE "WHITE FIJIAN" DURBIDGE
2006 was a see-saw for young Bede, He was either doing really good or coming last. Six 33rds, two ninths, two fifths and of course his maiden event win at the Boost event. One of his good mates had a lot to do with Bede only finishing in 15th spot. Young Ace Buchan gave him back-to-back 33rds in Europe. The heat in Mundaka was one of heaviest heats all year where Bede needed a 9.8 and ripped the living hell out of a set to just fall short scoring a 9.7. He beat the world at Trestles and had to finish last in the next two events.
MENTAL STRENGTH. Bede is a super smart competitor and learnt quickly how to get big scores in the WCT: smooth, committed surfing. He won't keep on catching the same wave and getting the same score. He's really clever. He'll build a hotel not a house. He'll only catch a wave if it improves his position noticeably. He won't waste his time doing a five-minute paddle for a half a point or point more gain.
FAVOURITE TACTIC. He loves to start a heat with the inside and is willing to have a bit of a paddle battle to make sure he has it. He's a bit like Parko, always likes to stay on the inside at the start of a heat. Having priority is a huge advantage. A lot of people like to make sure they don't miss a set. A lot of people don't want to miss a set by sitting up the point. If he's renowned for doing it, people won't even try. CONTENDER RATING. All the heats he lost in 2006 he had big score but just drew the wrong guy at the wrong time. He should finish higher then 15th in 2007 but a world title is out of reach.
CJ "CORPORATE" HOBGOOD
CJ had a bad year. Three last places in a row which has never happened before to him. A third in Fiji and a quarter-final in Mexico were highlights to a pretty average year for the former world champ.
MONEY SHOT. CJ's super strong on the left barrels of Fiji and Tahiti, like his bro, which shows in his results for 2006. There were only two guys all year to lose with a heat score over 18 points and the brother Hobgoods nailed them both. Also, CJ's ability to win heats with big airs is uncanny and he loves coming from behind to nail big scores when they're needed.
ACHILLES HEEL. CJ's normally one of the smartest guys on tour except for the heat he surfed in Mundaka against Victor last year. He only needed to surf his heat out but instead tried a couple of crazy airs that weren't even close to being necessary.
CONTENDER RATING. CJ is one of the fairest guys on tour and hates to hassle in a heat which is understandable because he doesn't really have a weakness at any of the events on tour. With his ability he should be a world title contender every year.
