The leading storylines going into this year’s Van’s World Cup at Sunset Beach were all about the crop of ‘QS surfers vying for qualification on next year’s ‘CT. By the end of it all though, Jordy Smith stole the show. Even with an appearance at the Billabong Pipe Masters on deck, the win at Sunset is a satisfying feather in the South African’s 2016 cap. Currently ranked third on the Jeep Leaderboard, Smith has a win at Trestles, a finals appearance at Bells and a semifinal run in Portugal. It’s been an impressive run for Smith that would undoubtedly come with more buzz if John John Florence hadn’t wrapped up top honors so convincingly in 2016.
“In the beginning of my career I had a super good relationship (with Sunset) and then I don’t know, she just went super sour on me for a while,” Smith said after his win. “A massive amount of respect goes out to this wave,” he said in another interview later that day. “It’s definitely the hardest wave to surf on the North Shore, it has so many different moods.”
