Surfing World Magazine August 2016

“ONLY THOSE WHO WILL RISK GOING TOO FAR CAN POSSIBLY FIND OUT HOW FAR ONE CAN GO.” – T.S. ELLIOT Phew, for a while there I was starting to fear the Internet might have killed the carpark legend for good. Y’know our one about Barry Dunlop, the only bastard mad enough to surf our bombie in the great storm of ‘74? It was that same year the full moon tidal surge washed a dead cow up the flooded main street of town while six bull sharks took turns ripping great chunks out of the thing. Anyway, that storm, nobody had ever seen the sea so giant and angry. Baz had somehow got through the shorey and paddled the two miles out to the bombie, and everyone had gathered on the…

The best surfing I’ve ever seen went down last summer at P-Pass, the world class right reef in Micronesia. P-Pass is open to the same Pacific swells that fire into the Hawaiian Islands every December through to about February. It’s basically firing the whole time the Australian East coast is onshore dribble for months on end. When we arrived on this trip the first day was only 3 foot but the next day it went absolutely crazy. Big crazy bombs all over the place. Then the day after that it settled down to a casual 6-8 foot and was perfect again. I flew home after that. It was only a three day hit and run mission and I scored some nice waves, but it was on that big second day…

GET READY FOR The Olympics What? It’s already time for the Olympics? August 5-21, set your televisions to Bruce McAvaney and enjoy the second greatest sporting spectacle in the world (after BL’s Blastoff, obvs). With debate about Kelly Slater’s wave pool raging and being seriously considered as a viable surfing venue, the Rio Games might be the last time we can argue hypothetically about surfing being included one day. When we’re watching Australia vs USA in the 4x50 metre freestyle, we can discuss who will make the ultimate four man Australian surf team, (Fanning, Wilson, Freestone, and Callinan for mine). When we’re watching the finals of the archery, we can discuss who the Aussie surf team would come up against in the US, Brazil and mighty German teams! You can…

Tom Carroll X2 World Champion As a little bloke I’ve always had to weigh the situation up. If I feel like the person is dangerous I’ll leave the water. There are always waves around the corner to enjoy without agro ruining it. Shane Dorian Big wave hunter Organize everyone else to take turns fading him until he goes in. That’s pretty obvious. Rob Machado Pipe Master, Drifter Kill ‘em with kindness...Or just paddle in and wait for him to burn out. Wayne Lynch Evolutionary Try and explain to him what his behaviour pattern is and if he relaxes and fits in with everyone else he’ll have just as good a time. Simon Anderson Pipe Master, Photographer Get a local to tune him and keep the vibe nice for those who…

There’s a common belief in modern society that to be a truly great artist one must suffer from anxiety, poverty, drug addiction, mental illness, self loathing and radical bouts of venereal disease if one is to be taken seriously. It’s one of the main reasons I’ve never aspired to be a truly great artist. How can I be when muffins make me happy? Don’t get me wrong, some of my favourite artists of all time have been insane depressed junkies, it’s just that some of my other favourite artists of all time have been happy-go-lucky life loving vegans. The question is, can you really create a masterpiece without suffering for your art? We’re gonna try it out today. Step 1. The first thing to pick is a subject. I have…

Icy cold cover… Simon Anderson ’81 by Aitionn Gonzo Aussie comp leg report… HYPERDRIVE - Once a year schizoid scribe Mario Murdiella is stricken with a bout of latent italic cosmosity as he attempts to tell it like it was. So 80s story title… The Yearly Dose of White Line Fever. Vibey travel opener… “The bemo thundered over the potholes up the hill toward Uluwatu. The dawn mist floated in the valley below, with only the palm tops and volcano inside.” – Gary Crear Cynical contest report… “These months are not totally blessed with a true aura of surfing as the individual know and loves it. The contests and their incumbent sideshows are usually an antithesis of what draws most people to surfing in the first place. There’s a sense…