Reading Time: 6 minutes
It all begun on a Sunday afternoon a few months back. WSL’s Australian Commercial director, Scott Hargreaves was at home flipping burgers for the family and sipping on a Four X. The phone buzzed and when he looked at his screen he saw it was Occy and figured he’d better answer.
Occy had got wind of the fact that Tom Curren was in Australia and Occ was hell-bent on staging another heritage heat with his long-time rival. When he first blasted onto the scene as a cannonball of blonde ambition in the early 80s, Occy went 4-0 up against Curren. “He made us all suffer,” Tom told me in a recent podcast interview. Curren eventually pegged him back and Bells was the scene of their fabled 1986 semi, which secured Tom Curren his first world title.
Occy’s request for a rematch at Bells came right when the WSL had been trying to reduce the number of sideline events in the Bells contest window. With the mid-year cut looming over Bells like a poised guillotine, the CT surfers had insisted that they wanted fewer interruptions. No ‘grom-search’ heats that might potentially take up valuable time in good conditions or get in the way of vital practise sessions.
But who could say no to Occy Vs Curren? Even if it was the third incarnation of their heritage rematch (it was one apiece in heritage heats and 10-9 overall to Occy before today’s heat)
As for Curren. He was in Australia happily touring the 25th anniversary of his cult classic film, ‘Searching for Tom Curren’. With son Pat on back-up guitar, Tom would play a few of his own tunes before each screening, and then participate in a Q and A after the movie. My role was to ask Tom the questions before a live theatre audience. It begun as a loose, freestyle format without a hint of competitive steam, but by the time the first screening took place there were whispers (mostly thanks to Occy) of another heritage heat with Occy. Up on stage I had to press Tom about the rivalry and the rumours of a rematch. It was simply too good a talking point to avoid. “Well, I haven’t exactly committed to anything yet,” he said evasively on stage one night. Meanwhile, Occy was roaring ahead like his raging bull namesake. “I’m not really meant to say anything but it’s happening,” he claimed when I phoned him. “I’ve been getting channel bottoms shaped for the heat and surfing heaps.”
By the time the Bells window kicked off it was official and there was no backing out for Tom, who by this stage was having fun with the idea, while seriously hinting at riding his bizarre 5’5” board that featured ultra-thin rails and low volume, offset by mounds of foam crudely piled onto the deck to add buoyancy.
On the Monday before the event both Occy and Curren attended the 80th birthday of Rip Curl co-founder Doug‘ Claw’ Warbrick. I watched on as Occy was quick to approach Tom at the dinner, in what was perhaps a subtle psyche-out move, but they posed for photos together and it was obvious that their friendship, as well as their rivalry, was genuine.
When iconic Australian band ‘The Sunny Boys’ played a surprise gig at the party, both surfers gravitated towards the front of the stage. In the unofficial dance off it was the more introverted Curren who cut loose with reckless abandonment. A few days later there was another lead-up industry event that played out like a pre-fight press conference. Occy had apparently employed more gamesmanship and relished the chance to engage a little pre-contest banter.
The two surfers had been promised good conditions by contest organisers, but a glance at the horror show forecast revealed that there would be no dream scenario with six- foot steel-cut lines and light offshores. Instead the two titans would be tossed into wind-ripped Bells that looked messier than a floor covered in trampled Easter eggs. Truth told their epic ’86 heat had been held in crumbly Bells conditions too.
And so it was that Occy and Curren paddled out minutes after Steph Gilmore nudged out Lakey Peterson in a nail-biter. Steph lingered in the lineup, keen for a ringside seat to the action. Occy, now 56, was riding a roundtail, channel bottom as promised, while Curren (58) had taken a kind of each-way bet on equipment. It was a Channel Islands Black Beauty remake under his arm (the same board he rode in ’86) as he walked down the fabled stairs but the two side fins were far from conventional and were shaped like pea pods.
Despite the alternate rudders, Curren’s first wave felt like it was ripped from the 1986 playbook. Face-tickle bottom turn and a crisp vertical snap followed by one of those melting caramel carves where Curren bends his torso in that distinctive way that makes you wonder out loud – ‘how does he make that turn look so good?’ He traversed the Bells flat sections without a kink or a hop and the whole performance had all the style and panache of the heat from almost 40 years ago. The judges dropped a 7.67 and out at the contest you could almost hear Occy’s teeth grinding through the lantern jaw.
Occy floundered on his first ride and for a moment it looked as if he may have been the architect of his own embarrassing failure. He’d set the whole thing up, talked a big game and then capitulated in front of the big Easter crowds. However, he drew confidence from a ride where he tossed his nuggety frame at the lip and rode out of a solid backside snap. The mid-range five put him back in the heat. When the next meaningful wave came his way, Occy was more confident, clutching a rail as he sailed through a stretched-out bottom turn and loaded up the channel bottom. When he exploded out of the lip, the Bells crowd reacted with ooohs and aaahs and various onomatopoeia responses. As Occy rode out of the turn the long blonde locks trailed and the fingers were spread in a way that suggested they were having their own private celebration. The WSL production team hit the replay button about twenty times, and the turn got even better in slow mo’. The judges dropped 8’s and suddenly Occ was in the lead. Curren was arguably surfing better all round – more complete – but Occy had blasted him out of the water with two big turns. When the hooter sounded, Occy’s atomic power and instant dramatic effect had triumphed over Curren’s grace and choreography. Truth be told, in sub-par conditions both surfers had probably exceeded expectations. However, it was Occy, the eternal showman, who had staged his own event and walked away with the win. As he accepted the prize, a remake of the Simon Anderson 1981 thruster, he was buzzing just like the teenage kid who had blasted onto the world stage all those years ago.
Both surfers had earlier agreed to auction the boards they rode to mental health charity, ‘One Wave’. Keep an eye out for details. You can also expect the WSL to keep the heritage theme rolling with other past legends from the men’s and women’s tour called upon to pull on a singlet and relive past glories.
Heritage Heat Results
Mark Occhilupo – 13.50
Tom Curren – 12.84
