“My dad was on the ski in the channel, telling me not to go,” Jasmine tells me, recalling a wave that didn’t look like much – until she went for it anyway and scored a perfect 10. “But sometimes you just go with your gut,” she continues. “It’s just a special feeling, I can’t explain it.” Jasmine Studer, born and raised in Bali, started surfing Padang at 12. It’s where she got her first proper barrel.
For Westen, the story started even earlier – on his first day surfing Padang at just 10-years-old, he already had his first barrel. “Yep, I was there with my hands wide open,” he tells me. “I even made it to a magazine cover with that barrel.”
The Rip Curl Padang Padang Cup, inaugurated in 2004, has become that iconic day – the perfect showcase for what Padang can offer. While the early years saw a handful of local champions, Westen’s win marked a historic moment, ending a long drought since Mega Semadhi’s win in 2016. For the women, Jasmine made history as the first-ever Indonesian woman to win the title, in only the third year women have competed in the event.
Making it into her fourth year of the cup – one she won, one where she made the finals before Moana Jones Wong took the title, and one that never happened – Jasmine is quietly confident this time around. “It wasn’t by surprise, but just the pressure of being from Bali and growing up here,” she says, reflecting on her win. “And it wasn’t about who could get first, it was more about who could get the sickest barrel, who could get the best wave. And I love that.”
This year, though, the stakes feel different. “There’s definitely gonna be pressure,” she admits. “But nobody knows this wave better than me. There’s a reason I won last year. I’ve been surfing this wave longer than most of the girls. So yeah, I’m really excited.”
Westen, meanwhile, is chasing a repeat. “Definitely a lot of pressure, but I keep telling myself I’ve won it before and I could do it again,” he says. “So I’ll just try to do the same thing, keep it there.” He continues, “My whole life growing up, watching Padang, and the pros and the legends there. I’d be caddying for them in the channel, psyching them up. And now, we’re all grown up and everyone’s in it – which is super cool.” As for who might stand in his way, Westen doesn’t have to look far. “I’d say my homeboys for sure – Varun and Rajo, all those guys,” he says. “We all grew up together.”
Growing up on the same wave, it turns out, comes with its own advantage. That local knowledge is something both surfers point to as their edge. “People that have grown up surfing Padang since they were young, they know what the waves are like – what swell direction, tide, and wind are good for it,” Westen says.
Jasmine agrees, though she’s quick to note how hard that knowledge is to earn. “To have a connection with the wave, you have to spend so much time out there, or you’re just guessing,” she says. “I’m grateful we had the warm-up sessions – it’s hard enough to get a wave out there without knowing what the swell will do come event time.”
“I think I have an advantage, just knowing where to sit in the lineup – where it barrels.”
Alongside her preparation for Padang, Jasmine has also been training for the Asian Games where she’ll represent the Indonesian national team. Her fellow tuberider/best friend Kya Jo Huer will also join her in Japan after their showcase at Padang.
For Westen, the goals extend past Padang too. Hoping to go back-to-back, he’s also looking at some WSL events down the line. He also speaks fondly of surf travel: “I love surf trips too — just going and surfing perfect waves. I love that.” Westen recently also released a short film, Dark Horse, made by him and his friends about his journey as a surfer, from surfing with his dad, his biggest role model to him winning the padang cup.
Speaking about the name, he says, “Actually, that name wasn’t for me. It came from the boys – we were sitting in the studio, down to the last part, trying to figure out what to call it. That was the hardest part. We were all just sitting there, and then one kid – I can’t remember who – said ‘Black Horse.’ I said, nah, not Black Horse. Then someone else said, ‘What about Dark Horse?’ And I said, hey, we could do that.”
“Well, I guess I’m dark, so I don’t know,” he says, laughing.
Westen will face a stacked field of 15 surfers, all chasing the same two perfect waves. Jasmine’s side of the draw is just as loaded, with seven other women in the running for the same title she’s defending. On the men’s side, the likes of Taj Burrow (AUS), Craig Anderson (AUS), Mason Ho (HAW), Tosh Tudor (USA), Bruce Irons (HAW) and James Kusitino (FJI) will all be competing. On the women’s side of the draw you have Australia’s Ruby Berry and Lucy Darragh, who will be joined by Eweleiula Wong (HAW) and Sky Brown (GBR).
With the lineup set and the waves finally cooperating, all that’s left is for Padang Padang to decide. As they say – it’s on when it’s on.
