1. We’re Back

Thank goodness the tour has returned to J-Bay. According to Martin Potter at the pre-event media launch the ASP event is here to stay. Supertubes is a genuine world class wave. It’s long enough that surfers get a chance to show their whole repertoire and has sections conducive to airs, shacks, vertical hacks and open face slashes. And club sandwiches. The J-Bay Open is what they mean when they say world’s best surfers in world’s best waves.

2. The Cooly Kids Rule the School

What is all this talk of a changing of the guard? Yeah the Brazilians are doing well and guys like John John and Kolohe are the future but when it comes to the pointy end Mick and Joel are always there. This time they were the last two standing; not for the first time, not for the last. When the playing field is literally the best waves in the world the cream will always rise to the top.

3. The World Title Race Just Got Interesting

This was a real chance for Medina to stake his claim to the 2014 World Title; especially after the round three exoduses of three top-ten surfers (Kelly, Nat Young and Bourez), but he blew it. Instead we now have three surfers on two wins a piece (Medina, Fanning, Bourez) and a span of contenders with consistently good results within striking distance of the crown. Parko sits at number two without a win and Taj added a fifth place to his collection of keeper results. Jordy; who’s been looking in great form most of the year has slipped to 12th. J-Bay was a big chance for him to claw his way into that group of contenders. How good will it be if there are six or more guys in the running going into Pipe?!

4. Is Kelly Losing His Grip?

The short answer? No. This was the first event this year where Kelly didn’t make the finals. He didn’t surf a great heat when he needed to against an in-form Wilko. But he looked as good as ever in the first round. He knows what he’s doing, even if we never will.

5. The Goofies Can Surf

The J-Bay Open saw some incredible backhand surfing go down. The likes of Owen, Wilko, Freddy P, Medina, CJ and co. can obviously hold their own in speedy right-handers. Now we just need an all-time left-hand point on tour to turn the tables on those haughty natural footers. Hands up who wants to see a Fanning backhand crack?

Jeremy Flores’s sarcasm and verbal barrage to the judges may have cost him his place on the 2015 world tour.  

6. Jeremy Flores Has a Bad Temper

Looking at the replays one could make a convincing argument that Jeremy Flores had good reason to be unhappy with the way the scoring went in his round two loss to Seabass. But whether or not that justifies storming the judges’ tower and raging like a shark with a salt allergy is another matter. The ASP have decided that it was very much not justified and have slapped him with a US$6,000 fine and banned him from competition until August 27 (after Teahupoo and The US Open). Had the ban come at a less critical time in Flores’ year then the punishment would seem just. But J-Flo is ranked 31 after J-Bay and badly needs a result to requalify for next year’s tour; now he has one less opportunity. Further; exclusion from the US Open prevents him earning qualification points in case he needs to fall back on them. That little tantrum shouldn’t cost Jeremy Flores the 2015 world tour, but it might.

7. Judging Will Always Be Subjective

Someone explain how Wilko could’ve surfed that 9.77 against Parko any better. No one does backhand foam-climbs like that. Must one get barrelled at J-Bay to get a ten? For the most part the scores seemed pretty good. They started the scale low on finals day; handing out threes for what most would consider the wave of a lifetime, and allowing plenty of room to move. The biggest issue seemed to be the time the judges took to deliberate. Sometimes surfers would be left without knowing the score required to take the lead for an unreasonable amount of time. They’d sit there and let mid-range-scoring-potential waves go by only to find out they need a four and the sea’s gone flat.

8. Round Four Sucks

Maybe it’s unfair to analyse the shortcomings of round four after the context we saw it in at J-Bay, but it really did suck. Round four took place just after Jordy’s loss to CJ and most of the crew on the beach were too shocked to pay attention. It was like the organisers wanted to get the round out of the way as quick as possible and without anyone really noticing. It was surfed at average high tide Supers. It just felt like no one was really interested; with nothing at stake and below-par waves it’s hard to see where the interest is supposed to be.

9. Who Needs a Step-Up?

The wave at Supertubes is so perfect that it allows one to ride a standard short-board even when it gets big. Saturday was just that little bit bigger than big yet when most would be reaching for their step-ups the pros stuck with a standard shorty or went up only an inch or two. Can you imagine someone dominating maxed-out J-Bay on a 5’11” twenty years ago? With the best scores going to power-carves and barrels you’ve got to wonder if it would really be that much of a hindrance to ride a 6’6”.

10. Timeless Will Always Be Timeless

Would Curren’s ten have been a ten in a real, 2014 heat? Who cares? Man, that thing was a scorcher. Seeing Curren carve a hero’s path down the Supertubes point was a treat for the oldies and a lesson for the young’uns (under 30ish). What was even better was free surfing with him and Occy on lay days and getting intimately acquainted with the buckets they regularly throw.