Trestles is always a crowd favourite. It’s always sunny and the beaches are always full of beautiful people. The waves are ripable and seemingly within the grasp of us mortals in a way Chopes or Pipe never will be. Every year it is lorded as a ‘skate park’, as a ‘progression session’ and an opportunity for the world’s best to show off ‘high performance surfing’. Yet maybe it’s the hubris or the constant geeing up of the commentator’s but it seemed a little flat.
Is that it? Is it the commentators? Are the events this year good but the constant ‘awesomeness’ just ruining otherwise exciting and interesting events? Has Trestles simply become eighth gilded lily of the year?
The only thing anyone was talking about was Slater’s fluffed air that half the world seemed to think was an actual punt. Even after Slater came out and said it was just luck that he landed on the board the way he did the ridiculous speculation and vitriol continued. Pundits and half-wits prattled on for days even after the King had spoken.
Back at the event everyone’s money was on young Toledo (BRA) to take top spot. Trestles is presently his home break and after a stellar year of ripping, you should have had him in your WSL team. And when he met Parko in quarters he proved his weight. I’m a huge Parko fan but he’s barely raised a pulse since his world title and a few J-bay heats aside it was an easy win for the Brazilian.
There was a little excitement in the quarters between Nat Young (USA) and Gabriel Medina (BRA) when Nat got called on interference. But because the live feed was away on an ad break most of us missed it. A minute into his heat the last Californian had hamstrung himself and simply couldn’t get back into contention. Nat, like Parko, could have done with the points.
By the Semi’s Fanning was the sole non-Brazilian. All of South America’s top boys were firing and chasing that yellow jersey. But no one was wrapping their turns like Fanning. No one can seemingly rip the lip with such torque in tiny waves as Mick when he’s in the mood. Ollies and nose-pick reverses just looked forced and ungamely compared to the bending, arching carves of the Cooli Kid.
No Brazilians were harmed in the making of this sentence or the Hurley Pro Final
Fanning collected 9’s over Medina’s 8’s and paddled into the final against De Souza who progressed over the fallen Toledo. But scores were tight all round. Adriano refused to relinquish the Yellow without a fight and Fanning would have to claw it from his cold dead hands (Note - No Brazilians were harmed in the making of this sentence or the Hurley Pro Final). And that’s what Fanning did. Every hack was wound tightly and precisely into impossible contortions small set after small set. Mick’s flexibility seems to be without parallel, even measured against the rookies and with better wave selection too.
Mick dropped a 7.67 to counter De Souza’s 7.37 and then a 9.77 to nullify the 9.07. With a single point between them Adriano was forced, for the first time this year, to allow someone else to don the Gold.
Carissa Moore won the Swatch Women’s Pro after taking out the rookie South African Bianca Buitendag but not before destroying Dimity Stoyle (AUS) in the semis in less than challenging California chop.
The Hawaiian, along with Fanning, leaped up the Jeep leader board pulling on the yellow jerseys as they climbed the podium. Both are strong in the Atlantic and it can only help the pair solidify their 2015 title runs and their third and four titles respectively.
Come on Europe lets show them how it’s done!!!
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