Shaun and I at the dawn of pro surfing.
Shaun has always been the consummate professional that single-handedly changed the perception of surfers as lazy, party animal, beach bums to professional athletes. Shaun spent 14 years on the World Tour and has continued to make a living at the surfing lifestyle in many other ways. He was the first surfer from South Africa to make a mark in surfing history. Footage of him turning and driving inside the tube from Off-the-Wall that was showcased in a movie called “Free Ride” remains etched in the minds of many surfers from earlier generations.
As the rounds progressed, the surf never improved. This was extremely frustrating because hundreds of people had gathered here on world-famous Ipanema Beach curious to see how we surfed 30 years after first coming to Rio. The contest organizers had a backup spot on hold but for some reason unbeknownst to me, refused to move the contest.
The other standouts from the first four rounds were as I expected, Rabbit, Michael and Cheyne. Rabbit won almost every heat with his methodical and calculated, style of surfing. He’s not a standout in the free surfs, but is reportedly still one of the best tube riders at home on the Gold Coast, and knows how to get the best waves and perform to the judge’s criteria.
Michael Ho, at 5’ 5” is a surfer relatively small in stature yet big in skill and style. I have been competing against him since the early 70’s, as we worked our way together through the amateur ranks of Hawaiian surfing. He is a highly skilled tube rider that can perform well in small waves all the way up to the biggest at Waimea. He is still an invitee into the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational on hold each year until the waves reach the twenty-foot minimum required to run the contest. Michael has won the Triple Crown twice, the Pipeline Masters once in 1982 as well as the Duke and the World Cup in Hawaii. He’s been one of the most consistent performers of the last three decades on the North Shore. Michael’s daughter Coco is one of the top women in professional surfing today and his son Mason is also a rising star. Michael spends much of his time traveling and coaching his daughter.
Cheyne Horan is an Australian surfer who was runner-up in the world ranking four years in a row from1978-1981. He’s a talented surfer who has always ridden unconventional boards and surfed them very well. He spent 18 years on the World Tour, with his greatest asset being a well-rounded surfer. Like Michael Ho he can ride well in any size of surf.
After our round robin was complete the top scoring surfers advanced into the Quarterfinals. I unfortunately did not make the cut this year, as I had not performed well. So, I took up my camera and proceeded to document the event as the Quarterfinal rounds begin.
In the first Quarterfinal, Shaun Tomson took on Ian Buchanan from New Zealand, a newcomer into the Grand Master division that had been consistently surfing very well in the small surf in Rio. Finding a wave to perform on was still the most difficult thing. Shaun got a couple of small ones but was never really able to show his true talent. Ian managed to get the better waves and received slightly higher scores to advance him to the Semifinals.
The next heat was Cheyne Horan against fellow Aussie, Glen Winton, a goofy footed small wave specialist riding a wide fish style board well suited for the small conditions. Glen was able to generate more speed and execute more maneuvers, moving him ahead in the competition.
The third Quarterfinal was a great match up between Rabbit and another Australian, small wave specialist, Terry “Richo” Richardson. He was the winner of the first Masters event held in Fiji at Cloud Break in 1997, He’s an excellent tube rider and magnificent in small left-hand beach breaks. Richo, who now works in a mine back in Australia, has been putting in a lot of training time in Brazil surfing very fast and loose, looking hungry to take home another Masters title.
This was an interesting heat to watch as Rabbit got some decent little waves and went through his entire repertoire of turns and cutbacks. Richo, on the other hand, got the longer lefts, generated more speed and flow, intermixed with old-school 360s, which in my opinion, made the most of the small waves. However, the current ASP judging criteria has been refined to reward more vertical surfing with no regard for length of ride or the old-style 360s. So, as the scores appeared, every wave Rabbit rode scored better than Richo’s.
In the last Quarterfinal, we saw a clash between Michael Ho and Simon Anderson. Given the conditions I would have quickly put my money on Michael. And as this heat began Michael quickly got started by getting a couple of small wave rides under his belt, a strategy that had been winning most of the heats.
