Ace. Fully committed and in the driver’s seat. Photo: ASP/Kirstin
You’d hate to be whatever it was that Kelly took his anger out on following the events of the Billabong Pro final in Tahiti. In a judging bungle that went a long way to deciding the winner, the champ was robbed of priority during a crucial mid-heat skirmish with Ace Buchan, and boy was he fuh-uming. In what at first looked like a classic piece of Slater headfuckery, the champ scratched for an inside wave wave under Ace’s priority. Ace took the bait, attempting to block Kelly from the wave, though it passed beneath them both. Nevertheless, as the ASP rule book clearly states, “as soon as a competitor paddles for a wave and misses the wave, he loses priority,” and so Kelly could have expected the priority disc to swing his way. It did not and he was left with nothing to do but remonstrate at the judges with arms outstretched and a few splashes of water. The no-call came at the most crucial point in the encounter.
With sets at a premium and Ace already holding a 9.67 (We’ll get to that. What a wave it was.), Kelly needed a bomb to stay in touch. As it happened, the very next wave would have put him straight back in touch, but it was Ace – still holding priority – who stroked effortlessly in and around a crumbling opening section before pumping through two chambers and being spat out for a 9.2. As Kelly continued to slap the water in disgust, I could only ponder the karmic justice of it all. You’ll remember that Ace felt the unpleasant sting of an ASP fisting back in Brazil when the man in charge of changing the priority discs appeared to conveniently nod off during a wave-catching duel with local favorite Gabriel Medina. The result was a bizarre interference on Ace which gifted the Brazilian free passage through to the semis and left the ASP with the most unaccounted for public bungle since I watched Dane Reynolds have his last-second, heat-winning barrel against Taj in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Quik Pro go unseen by the judges.
In the moments following Medina-gate, a dignified Ace appeared on the webcast to rationally plead his case for a re-run of the heat, which everyone agreed was the appropriate thing to do. It was not forthcoming, and today the karmic gods once more snapped their latex glove. Only this time it was Kelly who felt the cold fury of the fist of omnipotence. It was unpleasant for the champ, and he showed as much in a rare public display of rage. I’m not judging him for it. If you ask me, everything short of posting a picture of your cut lip on Instagram and proclaiming to have “won Brazil’s dignity back” is the right way to air a grievance. I’m more just pointing out how Ace’s cool head and impeccable statesmanship is not doing him any favors in this here modern era of surfing.
It’s no secret that his all important “media profile” has taken a bit of a dip lately. It’s not that he’s done anything particularly wrong, bar for a couple of middle-of-the-road finishes on the ratings and finding himself on a Hurley roster that includes John Florence and Julian Wilson among others. It’s more that modern pro surfing doesn’t really do clean-skin consistent types. (Unsponsored) CJ Hobgood, (formerly unsponsored) Bede Durbidge or (recently dropped) Adriano De Souza will all testify to that. If Ace belonged to a scandal-riddled sport like cycling or rugby league, he’d be held aloft as a monument to professionalism and good sportsmanship. The strong aryan features, the early marriage, the prestigious private school background, the above-average intellect, and the sweet little children’s book he authored would surely have put his credible face across cereal boxes and BP’s latest environmental initiative alike.
The dirty mustache he sported throughout the Billabong Pro seems a step in the direction of the elusive “personality” required for any successful career as a pro surfer, but even better than that was the series of gaping Pacific wombs he came screaming out of in what was one of the great final day runs for an underdog ever. With his future on the line, Ace scalped every big name you’d wanna beat in an event, in consecutive heats–Jordy, John John, Mick and Kelly–before capping it with the most crotch-grabbing-est of under-the-lip-face-slide take offs into a heaving Pacific scoop for a 9.67 and a commanding lead in the final.
It dropped jaws around the world but less so those who’ve seen him wrangle with the meaty slabs that dot the coastline around his hometown on the NSW Central Coast. Ace’s majesty in waves of consequence, like Kai Otton’s (the other standout performer in the event) is no secret down here. He just doesn’t like to talk about it so much. – Jed Smith
