Surfing competitions!!!

[prjwebb]

I caught one of Occ's heats that he did look pretty slow and tired in, but in another he looked pretty sharp and crisp. I think the tour is going through a mini resurgence of power surfing, kind of like how paddle surfing has made a come back over towing.

What was Heitor riding Chris? I was bummed that Toledo lost early. He's got that wild, unpredictable approach that's fun to watch. I wanted MB to do well too. I'm in a dilemma whether to pick him for Brazil. He did good there last year.

[Chris]

Hey Prj,
Heitor was riding a custom that he worked on with Nev with a slightly reduced rocker bed to accommodate the lowers wave!!

yeah i think they like power, but Michel's 9.27 was power. Full rail work with 3 different maneuvers and a fins out finish. Occy's turns were all the same and not progressive at all, in my opinion anyways. I just get bummed when it seems non-surfing variables influence scores. Like obviously the fact that he is 46 shouldn't earn him ANYTHING.

But that is the curse, and will always be the curse of judging style.

Cheers

[prjwebb]

Yeah I get you. I guess the judges got as excited about seeing Occ back as a lot of the audience.
Would still like to see him back at J Bay.
Heitor's board sounds interesting!

[csarqui]

I think that the judges over scored Occy and we all quietly accepted it because it's so good to see him out there. But if he continues on to more contests then the people will start expecting much more from him.

[buzzy]

I don't agree on the Occster. Progressive manoeuvres are great, but if Occy's bottom/top turn combo is better then it should score better. Since when was good surfing defined by breaking fins free? Have a look at his bottom turns just in themselves. They are still the best in the business by quite a margin. Look how he links directly from one turn to the next...

I like power surfing though. To me, when done well, it takes your breath away in a way fin breaking and stock air reverses don't and IMHO can't.

[csarqui]

I like that the ASP is clearly acknowledging and rewarding rail carves, bottom turns, linking turns, etc... If they only scored the progressive stuff then surf contests would start looking pretty ugly. I watched that movie "The Hot 100" and just lost interest after a couple of minutes. Every scene is a bottom turn into an air reverse. The moves are incredible but I think it gets too repetitive.

Occy's turns are rad and he could compete. But in the last contest he would dig rails in between turns and his approach would become stiff. We'll see.

[iggy]

Billabong Pro Rio
http://wctbrasil.com/rio12/live-gb

[iggy]

Highlights of day1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=u777uiwCtbg

[Chris]

tough one for Michel and Heitor...

[prjwebb]

Fingers crossed for them, and some better waves in round 2. Still annoys me than bong would rather front the $ for this contest over J Bay when really this is the one that is better suited as a 4* event and J Bay as a WT event.