Occy is on a bull run. Photos: YouTube//Screenshot
When most people make a list of the greatest power surfers, Mark Occhilupo is definitely on it. If they’ve made a list that doesn’t include him, that list is incomplete. Occy’s not an air guy. He’s a guy who wants big barrels, big open faces, and big, powerful, gouging turns. That kind of surfing requires a certain type of surfboard, and Occy’s lastest favorite stick in his quiver is the JS Bull Run.
“I’m not into the wide noses,” Occy says. “But this doesn’t make it look like that. I reckon there are a lot of people who are like me. They want to ride it to get the advantage, but they don’t want to look like one of those people.”
That last part was said slightly in jest — let it be known that yucking someone else’s yum generally sucks — but you get it. It’s what everyone’s looking for: a board that catches waves easily, doesn’t bog, flies over the flat sections, and works both in the pocket and in the barrel. That’s the dream, and as impossible as it may be, if you’re lucky you might get pretty close. For Occy, the Bull Run is about as close as he can get to a perfect surfboard.
“I’ve been riding it for a few months,” Occy says. “It’s amazing. It just feels like it goes so fast.”
For a long time, Occy stuck to the Raging Bull, which has been his tried, tested, and true model. Generally, he rides a 6’3″ or close to it, so shaper Jason Stevenson decided to make something for him that would shake things up a little, but not too much.
“We know that Occ surfs more than probably anyone,” he explained. “I see him out at two-foot Dbah on his 6’3″ Raging Bulls and Bull’s Eyes, and I just wanted to make something with a full nose — just something for him to get out there and whip around on and have some fun.”
Although it was made for Occy to surf on those groveler days, as is often the case, Occy decided he liked it too much to only ride it on smaller days.
“I just got stuck riding it,” he laughs. “It was like, 4-5 foot and I was still riding it. It was going better than my normal board. If I was still surfing competitively, I think I’d be riding this board!”
That’s high praise, isn’t it?
