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The Zag received word from Twiggy, who is over in California at the moment chasing swells up and down the coast, that he and the rest of the Saffa crew had just scored some epic waves over at Mavericks on Thanksgiving Day before he jetted off down the coast to the infamous Todos Santos which lies off the Baja Coast. Here he traded waves with a crew of guys including 9 x World Champion, Kelly Slater. While Twiggy caught some of the bigger, cleaner waves of the day King Kelly was surfing some large waves of his own on a tiny 5'6".
 Twiggy went on to tell us that he and Kelly swapped boards halfway through the session. Intrigued as to how it went, we had to find out more...so we bombed off a few more questions to him. Read the interview below then check out the full story of the Todos mission as featured on Surfline's website by clicking here. Then take a look at Twiggy and Andy Marr's giant waves at Mavericks on the previous day by checking out the slideshow here.
Besides these two sessions featured on Surfline have you been getting any waves over in the USA?
It's been really fun over here since I arrived. Myself and Greg have been very active in trying to find and surf some new locations. I have spent most of my time north of San Francisco and have had some great surfs at places that cannot be named.
Mavericks looked like it was pumping, were they contemplating running the Mavericks comp?
It was pumping and if it hadn't come on Thanksgiving day I am sure they would have run the event. Mavericks has blackout periods during this time and X-mas to New Year but it's going to be a long winter so I don't foresee a problem with the contest going this year.
Besides yourself and Andy Marr were any of the other Saffa’s getting bombs out at Mav's, and how was that session for you?
Simon Lowe had a bomb and was claiming the best wave of his life. Bertish was as mad as ever and took some severe beatings and James Taylor and Mike Schlebach finally got their chance to see how heavy Mavericks is once it gets to 20ft. But Andrew for me was the Saffa standout and his surfing was as smooth and calculated as ever.
The following day after you surfed that large swell at Mav’s you headed down to Todos Santos and scored some super clean, large waves there. What was that like?
After Mav's, Todos seemed pretty tame as it was only 12ft with a few bigger sets but it was amazingly clean and perfect and we could really push ourselves after the intensity of Mavericks. I have been down there a few times and it gets just as heavy as any of the other major big waves but this time it was just great to be able to see how deep and steep you could get without the fear of bodily harm!
I see that you and Kelly had a board swap out there. What did you think of Kelly riding such a short board out there and how did he perform on yours?
I think it's great, he was ripping on the 5'6" and it was inspirational to say the least. The guy is such a strong paddler and I learnt much from observing his technique. I have been working on my equipment intensely the last few years with Baron under the Country Feeling label and have just launched my Twiggy Model range for guys who want to surf bigger, heavier waves and it was awesome for me to get some feedback from Kelly on how the 9'0" felt. He liked it and that gave me a confidence boost to go ahead with what I've been doing.
Did you give the 5’6” a go in those waves and if so, how did it go?
I did and it was very interesting. My Twiggy Model boards are very similar to what he has been doing with his smaller boards with the wide point pushed forward and the emphasis on paddling up front and performance in the back half so it was great to try a board that was so cutting edge. My range of boards are from a 6'0" to a 9'6" and are designed for barrelling was from 4ft - 20ft with the idea being you can ride a shorter, high performance surfboard in heavy waves. But I don't think I'll thrown a 5'6" in there just yet....ha ha
As for the rest of the Northern Hemi winter, what are your plans...just keep chasing swells?
My life right now is all about the charts and where I need to be on any given swell. Hawaii is about to flair up so I'm off to Oahu tomorrow for the Eddie opening ceremony (you can watch it online) and then waiting on that monster in 100 hours to see if they run either the Jaws or Eddie events....Exciting times ahead!!
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