We recently interviewed Shaun Payne just minutes after his Xcel Pro Showdown at Supertubes win, and he had his golden moment to thank all the sponsors and diss anyone he wanted to. He took the opportunities presented to do just that – thank his sponsors and diss his boet – fairly subtle (It was just a matter of time before the natural order of things came into being. There is only one real Payne surfing force, etc.) But still a diss. Thing is, Ryan has won two of the events and came pretty darn close to taking the hat trick, so we thought it only fair that he had a chance to air his views on the whole palaver as well. Ryan Payne, this is your life.
Zigzag: Brotherly love or not? Were you stoked with your boet winning or were you just bitter coz you lost?
Ryan Payne: A bit of both hey. He was surfing better than anyone all day, so he deserved it, but coming second is like scoring your sister…
Eueegh. Poeffies! Moving on, a hat trick is something radical in sport. Now you can’t get one – the best you can do is be three times winner. You must be gutted to have lost the opportunity to your boet?
Who says I can’t win the next three? But yeah, it’s been a hard pill to swallow. This year was probably the hardest of all the years so far, with Wazza being fitter than ever, Dale – who’s been on fire, Dylan coming off a silver medal at World, and the inclusion of Dan Thornton, Nicky Godfrey and of course Brother Billy definitely meant I had to up my game. When I squeaked through Wazza in the semi, the hat trick was all I was thinking about. Spilt milk now and back to the drawing board.
Ryan carves during this year’s Xcel Pro Showdown at Supertubes.
Shame. We feel for you, we really do, but who is the more intelligent of the two of you? We have polled so many people but the answer is not as clear-cut as we thought it would be.
Kak man, I’m way smarter, case closed. Who said otherwise? I’ll box them, HA.
Way smarter. Case closed. Do you think that surfing terrible lefts in Sea Point in freezing water and kelp and no lips to hit and no barrels and human turds floating in the water was good training for Supers?
When you live in CT after living in EC, you realize how much better the waves are up the east coast. It definitely took its toll in Easter – I came up to JBay for the swell and realized that if you don’t surf Supers often, you forget how to ride it well. Luckily I came back for that swell, because I sorted that problem out before the event. If I hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t have made the final… And Sea Point isn’t THAT bad, it’s not Supers though…
If you decide to stay in Cape Town, how many years do you think it will take before you are no longer eligible to be in the event?
As long as Badger and Tucky keep on getting invited back I think I’m safe. If they stop getting the nod, I’ll have to show more face up there and start sending Koffo and the crew birthday and Chrissy presents.
Tucky? Where’s that man? Do you think your accent has changed since you’ve been in Cape Town? If so, how?
Nope, I have a fat tongue that gives me an annoying lisp, not even CT can change that, but I do find I say mountain more often…
Ryan busts out a frontside air up the west coast. © Wilkinson
A lot of people seem to move to Cape Town and then pick up weight. Comment?
Not me, I’ve lost 6kg. But winter has just hit, so we’ll see after winter. FYI: I’m not Jevon, we both have lisps and big noses, but I’m younger and better looking.
Shew! Let’s see what Jevon has to say about that. What board did you ride for the event?
I rode my trusty 6’2″ round tail Firewire Direct Drive. It flies out at Supers. The carbon rods along the rails are joined to the Future’s fin box, so when you push hard, the carbon rods react to the fins – in laymen’s terms, when you bottom turn, you push on the fins, the rods flex due to the pressure on the fins and bounce going out of the bottom turn giving you more drive. Hence the name, Direct Drive.
OK well that’s going to get you some sort of incentive from your board sponsor. As subtle as a brick. Tell our readers about your integrity. If you found a briefcase of money containing U$10,000,000 on the beach at Queens, and no one is around, but if you take it a Chinese guy (in China) will fall off his bike and die. Will you take it?
I’m sure at least one Chinamen (in China) dies every day in a bike accident? I think you guys know where I’m going with this. If not, the answer is yes, I’ll take the $10mil briefcase. Who wouldn’t? If someone says no, they are lying, I’m just trying to justify my selfishness. HA
Ok serious Joe for a moment. Why didn’t you put soap on your brother’s board before the final? He was surfing so much better than you…? Were you trying to be noble and beat him on surfing alone, or did you just have a doff moment?
I tried, but he was in the semi after me and went straight into the final and his board was with him the whole time. I couldn’t do it prior to the semis either, but in hindsight, I think I should’ve.
How do you think Shaun is going to do in the VonZipper Superheat? Think he can beat those other guys, or was it just a fluke that he won and got in?
If he surfs like he did during the Xcel Pro Showdown, there may be a new nemesis. Or we’ll pay some dodgy fellow to go Pro Clubbing (like seal clubbing, but with the top 34) the day before the event starts, then Shaun goes straight into the event skipping the Superheat. Anyone know any dodgy fellows?
If you could change one thing about surfing in South Africa what would you do?
I’d change SA Champs back to what it was in the 90’s – One 7 day event with everyone from Boys (U15) to Vets in the same event. To go forward, you need to know where you came from. How can a 10 year old look up to a 16 year old?
Food for thought. Well, thanks for your time, and good luck for winter in the Cape. As Bill Murray’s character Phil Connors says in Groundhog Day, “It’s going to be cold, it’s going to be grey and it’s going to last forever!”
Goodbye.
