Tracks Quotes of the Month
June has been another big month for surfing. There was epic swells in Indo, Namibia and Mex. It wasn’t so epic in Fiji, but Wilko and Connor were. And as usual Tracks was all over it like flies on a watermelon, reporting breaking news, delving deep into the treasured archives and posing questions that matter. So we’ve compiled the best of the month quotes from a mix of surfing superstars, jaded journos and opinionated punters that graced the site in the last 30 days.
“Last year it was just a whirl wind I had no idea it was coming, I honestly didn’t feel like there was any chance I could keep it and was kinda freaking out even though I was pretty excited to just be in that position.” Matt Wilkinson. It seems last year’s yellow jersey was like a cheap suit; a bit tight around the gut, loose on the neck, rode up the back. This year as Wilko builds on his win in Fiji, it fits like a shell on a crab.
“We’d motor up the river at first light and surf four different sections of the river in a two-hour session. Some of the waves we could ride for thirty minutes at a time.”Anthony “Yep” Colas on the discovery of a new river bore in Myanmar. Sounds appealing, doesn’t it.
“There were audible groans on the clifftop as he fell out of the lip and bounced along the face before being flung into the washing machine. It was ugly, but it was perfect. The head finally bobbed up, somewhere down near Pinballs, he managed a few weak strokes and was flung ashore in the pounding shorebreak. Bruce staggered up to Command HQ, chucked his gun on the grass and held out his hand for the cash. “That was great,” said the unit director. “Almost perfect. I think we can get it with just one more take.” Phil Jarratt trawls through his surf-cranium hard drive in The Masochists, Marty McFlying us back to the time Bruce Raymond earned $200 for a pin drop at 20-foot Waimea Bay when filming Big Wednesday.
“I’d go an inch or two bigger than your Sci-Phi, ah I don’t know, the same litreage and all that kind of stuff. So, yeah, actually I do know.” Stu Kennedy talks through his new pro model for Firewire the SKX.
Stu Kennedy – Tomo SKX Tracks Production from Tracks Magazine on Vimeo.
“Out in the lineup, you look back to shore and can’t help but feel a measure of pride. Like you’ve tasted a glory no one else has on this morning, gone one up on the world because you found a little pocket of joy where others weren’t game to look.” In a piece titled Surfing Alone, Tracks ruminates on the solo surf. There is nothing like surfing alone, unless of course you get hit in the head and knocked unconscious. Then it sucks.
“There’s hardly ever any waves, and Perth has very few things when it comes to fun. It’s not exactly the fun capital of the world. A wave park would be like fun.com. We’re dying for it.” In an article by Tom de Souza titled Perth Surfers Need a Pool To Get Pitted local surfer Troy Bottegal begs for artificial waves. Fuck dude, you’ve got Cables, what more do you want?
“That gives me time to administer a quick DNA test to Ethan Ewing. The test reveals he is not Andy Irons. This is not quite on the scale as the time I discovered that the Hobgoods weren’t related, but shocking nonetheless.” That was me, not in Fiji. Who said surf journalists just make shit up?
“Mick grew up as this rakey little stick figure of a kid on a perfect righthand sandbar and he’s had to learn how to surf big slabbing lefthand reefbreaks.”Parko talks up his mate Fanning, although the same could be said for himself, especially after his semifinal finish in the Outerknown Fiji Pro.
“Will surfing become uncool? Certain aspects of surfing will be uncool to certain people, depending whether they define themselves as a futurist or a savage.” Emily Brugman poses a tough question in her piece titled Brave New World. In the book of the same name, it ends with a description of the hanging of the protagonist, John Savage. “Slowly, very slowly, like two unhurried compass needles, the feet turned towards the right; north, north-east, east, south-east, south, south-south-west; then paused, and, after a few seconds, turned as unhurriedly back towards the left. South-south-west, south, south-east, east. …” Does that help?
The way he has lived his life as a surfer has inspired so many others, including this writer, that we’ll slide quietly over the bizjets and shopping centre appearances, and remember, simply, as he enters his golden years, that Wayne was (and is) the first free surfer who made a difference. Forget Rasta, forget Dane, forget Noa, Creed, Margo, Rob, Jamie O and all the rest. Phil Jarrett remembers, the first, and greatest, free surfer, Wayne Lynch.
