CT finale headed for epic showdown in Hawaii
So there he was, The Offsider, tackling another typically big dance card over Labour Weekend. Events included the opening meets for the two local speedway clubs, a major regatta featuring over 160 boats sailing from Auckland to Russell, rugby/ netball pa wars-style tournaments both east and west, and a huge community fishing contest fundraiser.
In the end, he set the controls of the sportsmobile for the deep west to cover a trolley derby. The place he was going to always felt like you were stepping into a bygone era, although things had already become weird when an icecream truck rolled down the empty street outside The Offsider’s gaff on Saturday afternoon chiming Greensleeves.
With such a busy long weekend, it was almost a relief to see the fantastic spell of surf enjoyed on the local points throughout September and the first two weeks of October finally dry up, allowing him to focus on other areas of his life which had started to fall into neglect. Matters weren’t helped in that regard after striking a rich vein of rotten luck which included the washing machine breaking down, the stylus on his turntable snapping off due to his clumsiness, and finding a speeding ticket in the letter box. Champagne problems? Perhaps, but they were just the tip of the iceberg
. . . Must have lied when he was young, or perhaps October in the Year of the Disquiet (Earth) Dog was just not a good time to be a Dauntless (Wood) Dragon.
Moving on, it was exciting to see the hunt for the world surfing title going all the way to the wire following the completion of the two European legs of the men’s championship tour . First up, the Quiksilver Pro France was wrapped in thoroughly righteous surf earlier this month with Julian Wilson N Australia emerging an undisputed winner as well as earning the only 10 of the event (for a massive air which was the only move he did on one hapless wave in the semi-final). But it was Ryan Callinan G Australia who stole the show with a clinical, powerful display of precision surfing. Callinan claimed the highest heat score on the first day of competition courtesy of some eyepleasing layback snaps, scalped the likes of Felipe Toledo N Brazil and Jordy Smith N South Africa en route to the final, and gained a whole new legion of admirers in the process. So impressive to see a wildcard coming out of nowhere and dealing to some of the highest-ranked surfers on the planet, particularly in such bhutty waves.
Next up was the Meo Rip Curl Pro in Portugal, which was won by Italo Ferreira G Brazil early on Sunday morning. The final was a bit of anticlimax with the forecast rising swell failing to show. Proceedings turned into an aerial dogfight rather than the much anticipated barrel fest. Notable was the proliferation of goofy-footers at the business end of the comp — winning all four quarter-finals — while Ferriera’s win assured the world title race will go to the final leg in Hawaii as well as making it eight wins for the Brazilians from the 10 legs completed to date.
France and Portugal certainly added to what has been an up-anddown year for good surf on the men’s CT. Sure, Gold Coast, Keramas and Brazil were pretty decent but then you had Western Australia called off prematurely due to fears of a shark attack, Uluwatu not quite living up to its promise, and the ever popular Cloudbreak dropped to be replaced by the controversial wave pool.
The tour will wrap up in traditional fashion at Pipeline in December. Which is yet another touchy subject
. . . Anticipation of the final leg is being accompanied by an unsettling awareness Pipe is not going to be on the agenda next year thanks to a unbeatable combination of administrative bungling, localism and dubious political machinations. It’s something along the lines that the WSL — in wanting to take advantage of the North Shore winter swell season arriving later each year — couldn’t get council permission to have Pipe open next year’s tour — only to subsequently lose the rights to have the break on the 2019 circuit in any way, shape or form.
Back here, The Offsider has yet to meet anyone prepared to foretell whether our winter of relative discontent is about to become a glorious summer following whispers that the balance had tipped in favour of a faint El Nino pattern. All he could do was wonder if the giant magpie which perched belligerently on the washing line on the back lawn last night, its black and silver plumage flecked with streaks of gold from the setting sun, was a harbinger of good waves.
After all, it was time his luck changed.
■ The Offsider is Age sportsbuster Francis Malley. Respond at sports@northlandage.co.nz