Judging absolutely anything in wave riding is completely subjective. Waves, style, even board performance are all really determined by the eyes of the beholder, which is why there will never be a universal agreement among us about the merits of competitive surfing.
There’s no real unified system for determining the “best” of us, we’ve just subscribed to this idea that one guy won pretty much every title at the highest level of the competitive sport for a long time and so that’s that. But what about the most entertaining? Can you possibly argue that anybody offers more entertainment value than Mason Ho? No, you can’t. You could try but you’d be wrong. We typically hold our breath when the guy’s on camera with a microphone put in front of his face, knowing something hilarious is going to happen. Or amazing: “Did Mason just cross step his way to the nose while doing a floater?” Yes, he did. Watch it. Re-watch it. Then watch some more.
Mason Ho: Great Surfer. Great Entertainer.
