SURFING Magazine, ASP, 2014 Fiji Pro

BULA! The 2014 Fiji Pro

Chief Druku warmly welcomes the top 34.

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HEAR THAT? There are a lot of things that make Fiji a favorite amongst surfers on tour. Our favorite: Not listening to beach commentary for four straight days. No constant rambling or exaggerations to fire up the crowd. Not once will you hear “another huuuuuge re-entry!”. And we can’t tell you how refreshing that sounds.

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2014 FIJI PRO

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CONTEST OVERVIEW

GIRLS

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LA DIES FIRST

GETTING LOOSE

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EARLY ROUNDS

LAY DAYS & FREE SURFS

LATE ROUNDS

W H E R E H EAV E N CA N T U R N I NTO P U R-

IT COU LD BE WORSE... A LOT WORSE

TH E PODIUM IS LONELY

GATO RY R EA L Q U I C K

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FINAL

WCT RANKINGS

N AT YOU N G VS GA BRIEL MEDIN A

AFTER TH E END OF TH E 2014 FIJI PRO

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Advance your surfing at these nine waves

# 8 2014

Advance your surfing at these nine waves

# 8 2014

Shangri-La, Xanadu, Avalon, Eden. There’s a hundred names for Paradise, but let's just call it “firing.” Africa. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ

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EDITORIAL Editor | ZANDER MORTON Creative Director | CHATO AGANZA Photo Editor | PETER TARAS Assistant Everything | JIMMY WILSON Art Director | NOA EMBERSON Online Editor | BRENDAN BUCKLEY Editor-at-Large | TAYLOR PAUL Editor-at-Large | BEAU FLEMISTER

PHOTOS Jimmicane (unless noted) Stuart Gibson Shane Dorian Kirstin Scholtz/ASP Steve Robertson/ASP

WORDS BY Jimmicane Brendan Buckley COVER: GABRIEL MEDINA, THE MORNING OF THE FINAL. PHOTO: JIMMICANE

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THE BATTLE CONTINUES s u r f i n g m a g a z i n e . c om | #tigervsbear

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YOU ARE H ERE 2014 FIJI PRO 011

BEFORE WE BEGIN...

IS THIS HEAV E N ?

Nope. It’s not even close in terms of geography. But figu-

disconnection from the “real” world. Divine, indeed. The

ratively, it may very well be. Tavarua and Namotu are two

islands are usually reserved for rich white people, honey-

small islands that sit a couple clicks off Fiji’s main island,

mooners and Fijians who aren’t too afraid of the wild, wild

Viti Levu, and couple more clicks off a reef named Cloud-

western culture. But from late May to early June, they were

break, which happens to be arguably the best wave in the

reserved for the WCT.

world. Soft white sand. Warm blue water. Even a feeling of

Namotu. P H O T O : S T U G I B S O N 012

2014 FIJI PRO LADIES FIRST…

HEY! HE DIDN’T DRINK THE KAVA…

Common chivalry tells you to hold the door open for a

Kava (piper methysticum) is quite the popular plant

lady, but what’s the verdict on a window? The ASP held the

in Fiji. Kava roots are mashed up to create a beverage

Women’s WCT window open May 25-30 and they waltzed

known for its sedative properties and gruesome taste

right into a proper swell. In fact, it was far better than what

(think dirty dish water mixed with soil). Each year dur-

the men received. The surfing was a little hit or miss. OK, a

ing the opening ceremony, the Fijians pour Kava for all

lot of miss and not so much hit. Still, hits included Stephanie

the competitors. During the festivities this year, Gabriel

Gilmore packing a closeout, Malia Manuel doing that turn and

Medina spit his out — much to the dismay of Kelly Slater.

Sally Fitzgibbons making it out of a big ol’ tube. Misses includ-

The old king tattled on the young prince and they gave

ed Lakey Peterson not catching a wave in her heat, Nikki Van

him a refill, which he also spit out. Nat Young simply got

Djik trying to eat the reef and the too-many perfect sets that

skipped in line and his Kava bowl was never filled. Ga-

went unridden. But, all things considered, it was a successful

briel and Nat were the only two guys who didn’t drink

event and a lunge (OK, maybe baby step) in the right direction

the Kava.

for women’s surfing.

AND, LASTLY, THE SURFING...

IF IT’S CLOUDBREAKING, DON’T FIX IT…

The average age of the semifinalists in Fiji was 22.5.

In years past, the men’s competition has run at both

That feels good, doesn’t it? Nat Young (22), Kolohe Andino (20),

Cloudbreak and Restaurants. Not this year. This year, it was

Gabriel Medina (20) and Michel Bourez (28) made up the final

Cloudbreak or bust. The swell never got big enough to book

four. No Mick, no Parko, no Kelly, no Taj and even no CJ Hob-

the Restaurant, but that didn’t matter. Cloudbreak served

good. So that’s what fresh air tastes like.

up four days of proper fun surf.

WORLD TITLE SHUFFLE They say that if you put your ear to the ground, you

sults, but already has two throwaway results (25,13) in his

can hear the buffalo coming. And after Fiji, three buffs are

tally. He has left himself no room for error. And then, of

stomping and storming towards the finish line. Gabriel Me-

course, Kelly. Kelly has been the most consistent surfer this

dina, Michel Bourez and Kelly Slater are all poised for the

year; there’s nary a throwaway in his score line (5,3,5,3,5).

2014 World Title in different ways. Gabriel currently leads

With events like J-Bay and Tahiti coming up, Kelly should

the rating, with two wins and few average results (5,9,13).

be considered wildly dangerous to his foes — but we’ll just

Michel is practically immaculate with his top 3 (1,1,3) re-

have to see what Gabriel and Michel think of that.

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LA D I ES F I R ST. . . DOES IT STILL C OU NT AS C H I VA L RY I F IT’ S AC C IDE NTAL? Tatiana Weston-Webb is the youngest girl on tour (via injury wildcard).

She gave Carissa Moore a run for her money at pumping Restaurants and packed the biggest barrel of the expression session — which earned her $15k and the GoPro Challenge win. PHOTO: STU GIBSON

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At Bells, Nikki Van Dijk’s charged face first onto the dry reef end section, and at Cloudbreak she repeated the feat. This time, though, with a sharper consequence. PHOTO: KIRSTIN/ASP

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Tyler Wright doesn’t go left often, but when she does, Alessa Quizon watches. PHOTO: ROBERTSON/ASP 017

MAJOR TURN ON

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Laura Enever. P H O T O : R O B E R T S O N / A S P

She knows what she’s doing. She knows exactly what she’s doing. Kauai born and bred, Malia Manuel teased Cloudbreak with the best turn of the event. P H O T O S : K I R S T I N / A S P

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Either bottom turns like Sally Fitzgibbons’ (top) are making a big comeback, or Stephanie Gilmore’s wave (bottom) was a closeout. Sally with her 2nd straight victory. P H O T O S : R O B E R T S O N / A S P

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WAR M -U PS GET T I N G LO O S E There is nothing wrong with Namotu Rights. P H O T O : S T U G I B S O N 022

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THERE ARE

LEGIT DUDES WHO WEAR THEIR LEASH ON THEIR FRONT FOOT: Matt Kechele, Guilherme Herdy, & Jon Roseman

PHOTO: SHANE DORIAN

Hey, if it’s working...

PHOTO: STU GIBSON

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The early bird gets...

THE EARLY BIRD GETS...

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F--k the worms, Nat Young showed up to Tavarua early and got a result, $40k and waves like this.

PHOTOS: STU GIBSON

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What family vacation looks like for Shane Dorian. Not too far removed from Disneyland when you really think about it. P H O T O : S T U G I B S O N

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HUNGRY? Restaurants. Serve yourself.

PHOTO: SHANE DORIAN

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EARLY WHERE HEAVEN CAN TURN INTO PURGATORY REAL QUICK

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ROUNDS

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Mick Fanning.

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JUST RELAX...

Gabriel Medina surfed through the early rounds with ease. And no, we will not make a laid back reference.

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Does Kolohe Andino look worreid about Dion Atkinson’s board? Poise is one of Brother’s many strenghts.

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HIGH ON LIPS

Floaters: Ace Buchan’s anti-drug.

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Throwing away a score like this is just wasteful. Michel Bourez on a Round 3 heater, earning an event high 18.70 total.

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Josh Kerr, Jordy Smith and John John Florence (and hopefully no stonefish).

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Jordy Smith lost to...

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Filipe Toledo.

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Fiji is an interesting place for a high-profile event. Every morning the judges and crew head to the tower; their journey heavily dependent on tide and swell. Low tide equals walking a couple hundred yards on the reef dodging seasnakes, while high tide equals boating right up to the scaffolding.

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TANGLED UP IN EMERALD

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That’s the song, right? Or was it blue? Kelly Slater doesn’t care either way. He does, however, care about the 2014 world title race he’s wrapped up in against a pair of 20-something year olds.

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Glen Hall broke his back here last year.

This year, he broke Josh Kerr in Round 2.

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Seabass and a badass. Kai Garcia.

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SWING FOR THE FENCES

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Or the channel. There hasn’t been an event in 2014 in which Freddy P. hasn’t gone down swinging. In Fiji, Fred experienced another narrow loss, this time by 0.53 to Gabriel Medina.

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LAY DAYS & FREE SURFS IT COULD BE WORSE. A LOT WORSE.

So that’s why Fiji water is so damn expensive. P H O T O : S T U G I B S O N

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Up and at ‘em with Miggy, Brett, Alejo, Nat and CJ.

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Bure 6 party wave! Kolohe Andino coming within inches of making sashimi out of his roommate John Florence’s achilles.

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Time is money.

At $417 per day to stay on Tavarua, each minute on the island will cost you $0.29. At that rate, the five minute walk to the restaurant from here will cost you a cool $1.45.

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Bure 6:

John, Kolohe, and Dino. Closest to the Restaurant.

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Who needs Heat vs. Spurs when you’ve got Sebastian Zietz and Nat Young vs. Brett Simpson and Kolohe Andino?

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Miguel Pupo

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Kelly Slater and Kalani Miller

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WHO’S BEHIND THAT?

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The man behind the Go-Pro challenge is also behind the foam ball. Anthony Walsh.

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Sierra Kerr, member of the Pink Helmet Posse.

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Tony Hawk built a mini ramp on Tavarua. It doesn’t get much use until the Kerr family is in town.

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CJ Hobgood serves up both a beautiful carve and tennis ball. And Bobby Martinez just doesn’t know how to feel.

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Freddy

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Patacchia.

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Namotu owned it this year. Bigger fish, bigger parties and the biggest trophy. Bede Durbidge and Kai Otton ain’t eating salad tonight. P H O T O S : S T U G I B S O N

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36 CANDLES

And how many beers? Taj Burrow celebrated his 36th birthday on Namotu during the event. So did everyone else.

“Gimme five Parko!� P H O T O S : S T U G I B S O N 079

Dave and Buster ain’t got shit on this. Game time on Tavarua.

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CLOUDBREAK

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Ahh, we get it now. Miguel Pupo.

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4- S E M I S

LATE ROUNDS

Show this kid the money! Kolohe taking a page out of Johnny Manziel’s claim-book.

A F EW G O O D P O I N TS

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Q: HAS THERE EVER BEEN SOMEONE MORE DETERMINED THAN ADRIANO DESOUZA?

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A: No, probably not.

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Ryan “Bad Boy� Miller, Sean Doherty and Fletch making a run-of-the-mill webcast update for field reporter Ronnie Blakey not so run-of-the-mill.

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Go ahead, blindfold him. Nat Young, eyes wide closed and heading for the final.

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Despite this incredibly long floater, Joel Parkinson lost to Adriano De Souza in Round 5 and called it “A wave catching competition.� Well, yeah Joel. It kind of always is.

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Gabriel Medina.

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Aloha also means “Goodbye”.

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And you thought Uber was cool...

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A RAINBOW’S END

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Folklore says there’s usually a pot of gold here, but Kolohe Andino found nothing but bronze in 3rd place.

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NAT YOUNG

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FIN 100

GABRIEL MEDINA

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The Tavarua vs Namotu rivalry hit an all time high during the final. Nat Young gave team Tavarua something to cheer about with his first wave, an 8.17.

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Passion paddle 105

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Two minutes later Team Namotu went apeshit when Gabby dropped this 9.87.

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AND IT WAS ALL MEDINA AFTER THAT. Brazil’s first ever Fiji Pro Champion.

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Somewhere, not so deep down, Nat probably hoping it stings Gabriel’s eyes.

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WCT R A NKI N GS AFTER THE END OF THE 2014 FIJI PRO

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Gab r i e l M e d i n a M ic h e l B ou rez Ke lly S l ate r Taj B u r row Jo el Pa r k i n s on Ad ria n o d e S ou za N at You n g M ic k Fa n n i n g Ko loh e A n d i n o Jos h Ke r r Jo rd y S mi t h Jo hn F l ore n c e Be de D u r b i d g e Ju lia n Wi l s on Owe n Wr i g h t Filipe Tol e d o M igu e l Pu p o S e ba st i a n Z i etz

WOME N’ S 1 9. Fred Patacchia 2 0. CJ H obgood 2 1 . Adam Melling 2 1 . Mitch C rews 2 3. Adrian B uchan 24 . Travis Logie 2 5. Kai O tton 2 5. J adson A ndre 2 5. Tiago Pires 2 8. J eremy Flores 2 8. Tiago Pires 2 8. A lejo Muniz 2 8. A rtiz A ranburu 2 8. D ion Atk inson 32 . G len H all 33. Matt Wilk inson 34 . R aoni Monteiro 34 . B rett Simpson

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Ca r issa Mo o re Sa lly Fitzg ib b o n s Ste p h a n ie Gilmo re Tyle r Wr ig h t Ma lia Ma n u e l Bia n c a Bu ite n d a g La key P ete rs o n Dimity Stoyle La u ra En eve r Co u rt n ey Co n lo g u e Co c o Ho Alessa Qu izo n P a u lin e Ad o Jo h a n n e Defay Nikki Va n Dijk P a ig e Ha re b Ala n a Bla n c h a rd Tat ia n a Westo n -We b b

BIGGEST JUMPS

BIGGEST SLUMPS

Gabr i el M ed i n a : 4 places F ilip e To l ed o : 4 p l aces Kai O tto n : 4 p l a c es B ure 6: 3 p l a c es

CJ Hobgood: 4 p la c es Josh Kerr: 3 p la c es M iguel Pupo: 3 p la c es M att W ilkonson: 3 p la c es

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U P N EXT

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NEXT STOP 2 0 1 4 J- BAY O P E N S O U T H A F R I CA J ULY 1 0 -2 1

YOU ARE H ERE 2014 FIJI PRO

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