Kommetjie’s Michael February is looking ahead to a big year on tour in 2015. After a solid start to his Qualifying Series campaign at the Hurley Australian Open, where he made the Round of 24, Mikey bowed out in the first round at the next event in Newcastle.
M-Feb, flying back home…
But the ups and downs of life on tour make him a stronger competitor, and he returned home to take the win at the Quiksilver Get Free event at Long Beach just over a week ago.
We were hoping to chat to the champ shortly after his victory, but M-Feb has been a busy man preparing for his next assault on the QS (plus the waves around home have been cooking). We did finally manage a quick chat this week to hear his thoughts…
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Zigzag: Mikey, well done on your victory at the Get Free event. It must have felt good to win in front of your home crowd?
Mikey: Thanks so much! Yeah, I was super stoked to take out the win in my hometown. I hadn’t won an event in ages, so it felt good to win again. It was a rad weekend!
Mikey, swooping to victory at the Quiksilver Get Free event at Long Beach.
You got back from Australia recently, where you were contesting your first leg of the 2015 Qualifying Series. Did you score waves? Some good times?
Well, besides a few sneaky trips down the coast in Newcastle, we didn’t get amazing waves. But it was still fun. After getting knocked out at Newcastle, I stayed for a few extra days and hung out. Had an epic time over there.
Who did you travel and bunk with? Were there any cat fights?
(Laughs) This trip was really cool, because for the first event pretty much the whole Zaffa crew stayed together for a change. We also had the best joint right behind the contest sight. For the next event, I stayed with my really good mate, Davey van Zyl, who I’ve been staying with at pretty much every WQS event.
Mikey, manhandling Manly on his way to the Round of 24 at the Australian Open.
You got a keeper result at the first event and a throw away at the second. What did you think about your results?
Starting off my year by making the Round of 24 in the Hurley Australian Open felt really good and was a huge confidence boost for me. Unfortunately in the second event I lost in the first round, which was obviously upsetting. But it’s one of the most positive starts to the year that I’ve had in a long time, so I’m just going to keep pushing.
How was the rest of our Saffa crew looking?
Everyone is ripping and definitely up there with the top guys. I mean, Dale had one of the highest heat totals in Newcastle on the second day of the event. One thing that has definitely been a huge difference is the support everyone has been giving each other. In Manly everyone was down at the beach for each others heats, and you can see how much value it adds.
The ZAF crew, winning and losing together at the Hurley Australian Open.
And the standard of surfing from the international crew? Who was standing out?
The standard is so high! In Australia, as it’s one of the first QS legs for the year, you can really see how hard everyone has been working and pushing themselves in the off season. Kolohe Andino was definitely a standout for me. He shreds on the WCT in the best waves, and in Manly he was grinding in the small waves we had and was killing it.
When is your next QS event?
The Martinique Surf Pro starting 21 April. Martinique is an island somewhere in the Caribbean. I am surfing a QS3000 over there. Up until then I am going to get my new boards dialled in, keep training in and out the water, and just try keep the good vibes going.
Shot Mikey. Good luck in Martinique.
Thanks guys.
M-Feb tucks in near home last week.
Watch Mikey and Slade Prestwich ripping it up in ‘TV Party’:
