If at any point you decide to walk down the beach here at the Ballito Pro presented by Billabong, you will encounter the who’s who in professional surfing (besides the GOAT that is). You walk past coaches, parents of rising stars, filmers with lenses you could sell on Gumtree to put down a deposit on a small property in Muizenberg, sports psychologists, multiple boards and enough wax to last you for the next five years. And if you walk far enough, you’ll eventually come across Mikey February. No coaches, no film crew, no sports psychologists, just a simple umbrella to house him, his girlfriend, and his two boards. On his way to his heat he has to walk past the fan fair, the crazy whistling coaches, the team managers, the overhyped rising stars, the whole circus. But Mikey knows, all you need is two scoring waves in 30 minutes. And you don’t need no circus for that. And that’s exactly what he did. Two solid scoring rides to take out the great state of California’s rising star, Griffin Colapinto, and into the quarters he went.
Mfeb brought the heat against California’s rising star, Griffin Colapinto. © Cestari
Davey van Zyl was caught in the middle of a battle between two heavy weights, Ramzi Boukhiam and Jordy Smith. Like an introvert hanging out with two loud extroverts, it felt like Davey was struggling to be heard in his round 4 matchup. But that’s a part of growing up. Sometimes you’re ganna encounter what might seem like insurmountable tasks, and you’ll have to figure out a way round them. But we know Davey’s ability, and his rail game is second to none, perhaps next year we’ll see the smiling assassin find a way around his more media hyped opponents.
Davey Van Zyl’s smile is intoxicating, but his rail game is to be feared. © Cestari
Could this be Willian Cardoso’s CT qualification year? I feel like we’ve asked that before… Willian looks like a grizzly bear, he walks like a grizzly bear and he surfs like a grizzly bear. He’s not particularly quick or aesthetically appealing on a wave, but what he lacks in aesthetics, he makes up for in a tree trunk like heavy back foot. The waves at the Ballito Pro presented by Billabong have suited Willian’s style, particularly on day 5, and Willian’s not one grizzly bear to look a gift horse in the mouth. Every gift horse he’s received, he’s sliced it up, dried it out and made a mean lean Biltong, to the adoration of the judges. Willian’s in the quarters, lets see if the grizzly bear can get to the honey on top the tree.
If William had to kick you with those tree trunk like legs, you’d fly into the next millennium. © Cestari
After Jordy’s round 5 heat he stated “There’s nothing quit like a QS guy to keep you on your toes.” That’s hilarious! The Billabong Pro Ballito has over 100 competitors all scrapping around trying to make heats. They pray before heats. They kiss the sand after heats. They eat only the finest super foods. And they avoid soft drinks like they’re Satan himself. And Jordy has the outright audacity to say that. But when you watch him surf, you understand. The big man just cruises through heats. Today he tried a full rotation alley-oop which he didn’t land, a 6 foot floater, which he didn’t land and a full rotation alley-oop which he landed but the judges didn’t like. So he went back to basics. Simple, clean, flawless surfing. It’ll take a rampaging Mikey Wright high on a Jimi Hendrix guitar solo to unhinge the man.
QS competitors are like small speed bumps for Jordy. He simply slows down, rides over em, and then carries on. © Cestari
Stay tuned for more updates of the event.
What an entertaining read! It’s like I was right there!