Jordy Smith has just taken out the second event of the Triple Crown, the Vans World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach. In quality waves, the South African manhandled the Sunset lineup, and walked away victorious in a final containing Frederico Morais, Torrey Meister & Tanner Gudauskas.
Over the last three days, as tales of qualification, salvation and devastation swirled in the trade winds, Jordy surely and strongly made his way through the field oblivious to the noise.
Sunset is a wave tailor-made for Jordy. His sizable frame and crafts able to cut through the infamous wonk and wobble that will buck all but the most sure-footed surfer from their board for even the slightest mis-step.
Throughout the event, every time a section was presented to him, Jordy would attack with an ominous ferocity that no one in the draw was matching. The tale would be no different in the final. At the 12-minute mark, and without anyone having taken full control, Jordy absolutely gutter-stomped a hapless section and left the rest of the field dazed, earning an 8.73 and the victory.
“A massive amount of respect goes out to this wave,” said Jordy after the final. “It’s definitely I think the hardest wave to surf on the North Shore. It has so many different moods, and I think it’s about being able to be patient and just accept the mood she’s in for the day and then just try and sync up with her.”
There’s no doubting this romantic strategy worked for Jordy, who after a few rocky years, seems to have stuck a rich seam of form on the North Shore. When asked what had changed Jordy replied:
“I think just understanding what I’m here for and what I love to do and just doing it with a good passion, with a smile on my face and just really enjoying it. With maturity comes a lot of things and I think I’ve just wisened up a bit in my competitive surfing.”
Jordy now has two days to prepare for the Pipe Masters and a shot at a potential Triple crown.
“I’ve never really done that well at pipe,” admitted Jordy. “But I’ve pretty much set my tent up out there at the moment. I’m trying to surf there as much as I can to get better, and tick all the boxes until I paddle out in my first heat out there.”
