By Craig Jarvis
Supertubes, Friday, July 18, 2025, 7:00 am. The swell had arrived.
It was pumping. Six-foot, with some rogue eight-foot sets. We had arrived in the dark and claimed one of the large benches on the beach. I had a group of five or six girl groms, on the hunt for competitors’ signatures and vests, along with a few other parents, friends, and surfers from my neighbourhood.
It was solid out there as the sun started peeping. After a while, one or two sets washed quite far up the beach, so we decided to manhandle the bench slightly further up towards the berm to keep us out of the way of marauding sets. As the first heat of Tyler Wright and Gabby Bryan took to the water some spectators set up their camping gear, deckchairs, cooler boxes and braais (BBQ’s) directly in front of us, partially obscuring the young girls’ views, ready for their day.
The next big set came roaring over the rocks, and we all lifted our feet up as the surge washed under our bench, while the new arrivals in front got totally swamped. Semi-chaos, with bags washing away, deck chairs sinking, a cooler box slowly drifting, and some soggy cellphones. After some shrieking and salvaging, they moved on, looking for a higher site. Not long after, the next crew arrived, saw the gap in front of us, and moved in, blocking the kids’ views and talking loudly. We remained silent, the young girls giggling a bit….
“Twiggy, what time’s high tide?” I asked the three-time world big wave champion, who came down to say hello.
“Just after nine-thirty,” he said.
I checked my watch; it was creeping towards 8 am. Finals Day at the Corona Cero Open JBay. This was going to be fun…
Speed and Power, but more Flow.
When it comes to witnessing the best surfers in the world on one of the best waves on the planet, there is not much room to criticise their performances. However, if we were to analyse the surfers who are the most pleasing to watch in perfection, then we have room to move.
When Supers is pumping, there is speed on tap. There is so much momentum on a standard wave, and there is free acceleration on a double-up.
There is also so much power pushing back on a strong swell like finals day, leaving very little need for surfers to exude extra power generation. It’s more about utilising what’s available and not overpowering any turns or sinking too much rail. Match power with power, yes, but hold back enough to let the wave’s energy push back.
So the element that separates these surfers is that of flow.
The surfers who showed the best comprehension of flow, over what was quite an incredible event, were the most pleasing to watch.
Flow Maestro’s
That’s why we never missed a heat when Sean Holmes paddled out back in the day, nor did we miss any heats of Andy Irons. Joel Parko had some of the best appreciation of flow at Supers, along with Mick Fanning and Stephanie Gilmore.
Jordy utilises some of the best flow methods ever. He has a few more tricks, with such a deep knowledge of the ‘bonus section,’ that tricky section that runs from the edge of the car park to the gully. Jordy would impress all with his flow, up until the Carpark, and then switch it around to a lip game and blast four or five critical turns and a close-out on the bricks – the big scores would follow.
Not this year. Sometimes waiting for one of those reef-hugging waves that he loves can take longer than the time allocated in a heat, and result in handing over a yellow jersey.
O’Leary drew magical flow lines on some of his waves, and apart from a minor conflict of power in his semi, was channelling Cronulla flowmaster Occy throughout the event.
Jack Robinson epitomised flow earlier in the event, reminiscent of some aspects of Sean Holmes’ minimalist approach to Supers. No double triple bottom turn pumps, no three-stage cutbacks and bounces. Smooth connectivity, energy conservation. Speaking of which…
Stamina
It was gruelling out there today.
“I did like a hundred turns, and I didn’t know what the score was,” said O’Leary after his quarter against favoured Ethan Ewing, clearly fatigued at the end of the wave.
“I’m not even doing any sort of warm-ups,” said Griffin Colapinto, “I just need to save every bit of energy I can.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty exhausting out there,” said Gabriela Bryan after winning her semi against Caroline Marks.
Still, while the surfers pushed through physical weariness, a massive crowd of people gathered on the beach to support them, despite the bone-rattlingly cold southwesterly squalls. A cold front was moping its way up the east coast, with sulky skies and grey pouts of drizzle and wind, but still, the people came.
JBay in all her glory
The live feed cannot capture the vibe or the electricity on the beach, even though there were no South African surfers left in the event. It was by far the biggest crowd ever seen here. JBay is one of the Championship Tour locations that has started to show a glimpse of the dream of bringing surfing to the masses. South Africans have been flying and driving here all week, and JBay has been busy.
Even a distinguished old chap from St. Francis, with a tenuous connection to surfing, having once seen his daughter compete in a bodyboarding contest, phoned me to ask about the conditions, totally frothing. “I’m on my way!” he shouted. “How’s the parking?”
WSL CEO Ryan Crosby, in attendance, would have seen it all and witnessed the incredible scenes of JBay. This venue embodies what the Championship Tour is all about. It should never be removed from the tour again.
Molly Picklum
Molly was a popular winner in her semi against Caroline. They are both pretty awesome, but Molly endeared herself to the locals.
“She would paddle up to the girls, and chat to them in the water and paddle out with them all together,” said a mom on the beach, looking after her 13-year-old and her two friends. The trio has been venturing out at The Point, and Molly wholeheartedly embraced the groms.
Men’s Semis
Griff also has a large following in South Africa. His big barrel at the end of his semifinal against Yago was asking a bunch of questions. Huge claims and loads of screaming, but he needed an 8.76 and was awarded 8.33, ultimately placing him in 6th on the rankings.
The second semi was O’Leary v Filipe Toledo. There’s an old saying, ‘never tell anyone when you’re shifting gears in life,’ – there is new energy in O’Leary’s surfing, new confidence in interviews. His first crucial wave exuded perfect flow. Three massive backhand hooks linked by an absolute economy of movement. He caught an inside rail on the way down on what would have been an excellent score. Not that he cared. His next wave was the wave of the day. Opening up with a critical hook, before a sweet technical backhand barrel. He followed this with a series of blistering hooks, and a final crack that had the beach screaming, and Dog Marsh jumping up and down like a happy golden retriever as a 10-point ride was announced and he advanced over 3-time event champ Toledo.
Women’s Final
Molly’s connectivity and flow in JBay were the first points of difference in the final. At the same time, Gabby’s trump card was her inherent power. Molly had a slim lead, but Gabby hooked into a bomb and leaned in with some intense carves to get into the lead with a solid 6.93.
With 30 seconds left, a set loomed for Pickles. The first one feathered outside, and she ducked under. One more wave in front of her. 10 seconds left. We held our breath.
Molly. Didn’t. Go.
“Noooh!” the crowd roared, deprived of the drama of a possible buzzer-beater. We watched the wave. It started off frothy, but cleaned up and reeled down the point, as empty as our disappointment. Molly thrashed the water in anger. Gabby was the deserving event winner, her third victory of the year and her top-five inclusion banked.
Men’s Final
A rare goofy final. Yago Dora had been on fire throughout the event, opening up with a seven. O’Leary replied with an 8.17, with his growing confidence. Still, Dora is a JBay maestro, and with nerves of steel, he sneakily won priority over O’Leary as the clock ticked.
“I just thought, ahh no. That’s it,” said O’Leary. “Then that wave came, and I was like, ahh no, again.”
With 19 seconds left, Dora paddled into the last wave of the tournament. He needed 8.44. The wave had all the potential, and then it didn’t. He surfed it through Supers and through Impossibles, past the free-surfers, with a close-out turn near Tubes. Still, it wasn’t enough, and the popular JBay magician, Connor O’Leary, took his first CT win, one that everyone will remember.
Following the theme of one of the tour’s good guys, O’Leary dedicated the win to his wife. “This is for my wife, who is back at home with our three-month-old,” said O’Leary.
“It feels like pro surfing has won today, ” said WSL commentator Jessie Starling, perfectly framing the mood.
Indeed.
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Corona Cero Open JBay
Current Championship Tour Ratings.
