Gold Coast Dream Tour 2007: An American Down Under

Day 3, March 1, Opening Day of the Men’s main event, Round 3

Bobby Martinez, Luke Munro,

Heat #3

In an earlier heat the Brazilian rookie Leonardo Teves pulls an upset in the closing seconds.  The Brazilian hunger is clear in his fully committed maneuvers.  He’s a Hercules of a surfer, which the announcers don’t get quite right when they claim, “He looks like a gorilla.  Um, ah, I mean, he’s built like a gorilla.”  That’s better, guys.

Heat #5

Parko is dominant.  He is so fluid his surfing almost looks slow, but when he connects three sections down the beach it’s apparent that he’s simply perfectly in tune.  He is the clear winner of this heat.

Heat #6

Bobby Martinez is on fire in his opening heat of the 2007 season.  The explosive rhythm that he’s perfected at the Cove in Santa Barbara is in full display.  Rookie of the Year last year, winner of two events, and one of Slater’s favorite young guys, there’s little doubt that Martinez will be defining the sport for years to come.

The announcers:

John Shimooka has a clear and upbeat delivery, a sort of fusion of positive Hawaiian vibes and the California lexicon.

By Heat six the blustery onshores have finally relented, the blazing Queensland sun has broken through the cloud bank, and the forerunners of the looming Cyclone swell are arriving.  The morning’s heats were a mixed up disaster, but such are the whims of the ocean, the ever changing arena of professional surfing.

An entire village has been constructed o host the Gold Coasts’ most important surf contest.  A Roxy Quik Café, a Samsung Mobile technology station, and of course a merchandise tent.  Almost all the salespeople are from Melbourne and Sydney.  “The Queenslanders are out on the beach, “ quipped Nin, the head of the operation.  “That’s where I’d like to be!”.  Fortunately Nin took a liking to me, and she slid me a day pass to the viewing balcony.  Perfect. . .  Free beer and water until 10 PM.  That should sort me out.

The merchandise at the 2007 Quick pro was predictable.  It was really a missed opportunity to create striking and artistic shirts.  The Pipe Masters T-Shirts are a prime example of how memorable surf contest merchandise can be.  Unfortunately, Quiksilver took the safe and conventional route, and just printed shirts with the label slanted in confusing ways, and one with a map of the whole Continent of Australia.  That would be like holding a surf contest in Santa Barbara and printing a shirt with the whole Continent of North America.  It’s meaningless and misleading.  They should have shown an aerial view of the points or a land profile of the wave, or anything but a map of Australia.

The contest is only partly about the surfers.  It’s also just a ten day long beach Carnival-girls, grommets, tourists, backpackers, van people (me), everybody’s here.  From what I can tell, it’s not so different from a five day game of cricket.  There’s a contest stream of commentary and there’s action intermittently, but most people are just enjoying the sunshine, watching the strange behavior of their fellow humans, and checking each other out.  It never seems to begin or end, and the athletic action is always surrounded by music, parties, concerts, films.  Every contest is also a festival.  It must be hard for the pros to focus in that environment, as many a burnt out surfer could surely attest.

Andy and Lindy walk by.  The Prince and Princess of pro surfing hold court, as Andy gets accosted by camera wielding fans, and Lindy prettily stands buy and greets various Hawaiian big men.  Soon Andy is being pursued by some gawking Brazilian goofball, snapping photos without Andy’s permission.  It’s not Hollywood, but surfing celebrity looks like an occasional burden.

Taj Burrow and Chris Ward have it out in Heat 7, which should be the ultimate U.S.A.-Oz battle of the New School.  Unfortunately, despite the home town crowd’s hopes and expectations, TB is off.  He chooses short waves, falls too soon, and tries radical but unsuccessful maneuvers.  This West Oz phenom is brilliant, as everyone knows who saw “Step Into Liquid,” but it looks like he’s still got work to do on his contest formula.  That’s the early appraisal.  But then, in typical TB fashion, he bursts through with a flash of inspiration in the last minute, pulling a huge aerial, five explosive snaps, and finishing it off with an aerial reverse.  He takes the heat from Trent Munro, and reminds the field that he’s always a threat..

Heat #8

Kelly Slater, local wildcard Julian Wilson

Slater starts with a 7.00 uppercut on the competition.  He holds the lead, but loses his board, which can be a tricky proposition in the relentless rip of Snapper.  Julian Wilson is Quicksilver’s wildcard invitee, and he’s been hyped as the upstart star of Young Guns III.  His wave selection looks a little iffy for a local, but when he lines up an inside wall he tears it to shreds, and puts himself within striking distance of the Big Gun.  It looks like Julian has tapped into some of the Champion’s endless speed reserve, as he flies over section after section through Little Marley.  Wilson takes the lead and the battle is on with Slater.  Wilson is jockeying and fighting hard to protect his lead, and Kelly falls on a routine slash.  Just five minutes to go and Wilson is hoping to pull the upset of a lifetime.  The entire home town crowd is behind him, biting their nails.  Four, three, two, one:  Julian Wilson upsets the World Champ in the highlight of the contest so far.

Heat #9

Andy Irons, Dale Richards

After the Aussie kid takes down the World Champ, the Coolie crowd is riled up for another major upset.  Dale Richards won the wild card spot by surfing inspiredly through the trials, and he’s now got the heat of his life ahead of him.  I’ve seen Dale out in the last week at Snapper, and the kid is all poise and strength.  He holds his shoulders back and his head high as he backside bashes every section in sight.  AI is a competitive animal, so this should be good.

Ten minutes to go and Dale Richards takes the lead with a solid five point ride in a mid-sized wave.  He’s not waiting for anything.  Ten minutes to heroism.  Of course, everything gets mixed up.  Greg Emslie puts in solid moves and takes the lead.  A frustrated but mercurial Andy Irons creates a barrel with his body and shreds the wave to a solid second.  One minute left and the waves aren’t coming.  AI digs one out anyway and shreds it to bits.  Will it be enough?  No.  The dark horse of the heat Greg Emslie takes it, and AI and Dale Richards will have to duke it out in Round 2.

Heat #10

Announcers: “Heat #10 ll be another crackah.  It’ll feacha Mick Fanning, Adriano de Souza, and Jayke Pattahson.  He’s gonna be intresting to watch, Ah reckon..  It just doesn’t stop heah.”  The Aussies are back on the mic after the Hawaiian/California interlude, and it’s most welcome.  “Welcome to the Quiksilvah Pro presented by Samsung!”

Who’s here?  Who’s not?  At the bottom the grommets of course.  Bare foot, bare chested, sun-bleached blond.  These are the kids that surf every day, worship the pros, buy the mags, drive the corporate industry.  They’re just little dudes, but they have a lot more power than they know.  They’re already initiated into the brotherhood.  All they have to do now is surf forever.

Is it presumptuous to think these events are gathering cries for the community?  I don’t think so.  There is a real shared experience in surfing, that is so profound, so sensuous, so unique, that fellow surfers can easily be fast friends.  All of our hearts beat to the same oceanic pulse.  Of course there are as many kinds of people as there are surfers, and we have no claim to moral purity, but there is a mellow and satisfied humility that comes from spending a life in the sea.  It’s a positive community.

De Souza is electric.  He’ll single-handedly shake up the tour.  He attempted two massive aerial 360s, and was just one reflex away from success.  He’s got the fire.

Occasionally the commentary cuts out so the previous heat winners can undergo online interviews.  It’s funny to watch what happens.  People forget there’s a contest, don’t really understand what’s going on, and it just turns into a beach day, with a few guys hanging out in the water.  Which is essentially what it is anyway.  And then suddenly, the Aussie accents and the punk music return.  “Welcome back,” they cry!  And we’re on.

Fanning takes it easily.  De Souza needs a 9.5, and Paterson is combo-ed.  The Coolie kid is right at home.  This is his break, and he’s made that clear.