Huntington beach is awash in red, white, and blue after Griffin Colapinto defeated Jake Marshall in the All-American final of the US Open before a screaming North-American crowd.
A pair of high sevens was sufficient for A CT slayer like Grif’ to get the job done over a QS grinder like Marshall. Liam O’Brien and Callum Robson were the best of the Australians, both of whom made the quarter-finals. The result sees Marshall move to number two on the QS rankings while O’Brien is slotted at number three, meaning both are in a strong position to qualify for the 2022 CT. Colapinto has already secured his position on the 2022 CT by finishing sixth in the CT rankings this year.
In the women’s final Caitlan Simmers of The USA defeated Gabriel Bryan of Hawaii. One could argue that was also an all US final.
One defining feature of the entire event was the infamous Huntington Hop, an essential tool in the kit for transitioning between the outside section and the bonus-points shorey at Huntington. At Pipe you have to be able to ride the barrel, at Bells it’s all about big carves in the bowl but at Huntington you are never going to win without a solid hop.
Below is a breakdown of the variations on the hop used by competitors throughout the event. Compiled by Tracks official manoeuvre consultant, Chris Carvemaster.
- Carve hop – graceful & flowing carves, the result is pleasant and eye pleasing…almost artistic… (critical factor in Colapinto’s victory)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUO1WHXlFs7/ - Straight up and down hop – fierce and aggressive approach. Looks like it could result in tired quads and a creased sled.
- Tick tack hop. Smaller hops, smaller up and down movements, with a small variation of left to right…hops tend to get quicker as the money turn approaches…
- Double hand wave hop…combining any of the above hops with waving of both hands parallel in a forward to back motion…simulating a double hand paddle stroke in the water, but in the air..hypothesis yet to be proven…
- Defeated hop – a quick trim and wrong line quickly turns to a vigorous exhausting hop…as the wave fattens out to nothing…
