For fans, the Corona J-Bay Open was a bit of an up and down affair. Aside from starting when most of us were dead to the world here in the States, the dreamy, right-hand point break gave up its gorgeous, rippable walls in ration for competition. And those walls were inconsistent in size, sometimes offering up a small pocket requiring precise turns in a limited area, other times – like in the finals – J-Bay would show it’s true face.
Nothing is truer than the fact that Gabriel Medina has proven himself again the tour’s most ruthless competitor. He became the first goofy-foot since 1984 to win at J-Bay, on his way using his clutch combination of a no-holds barred berating of the lip and a slick, on-call aerial game that has helped cement that ruthless reputation over the last half-decade. Taking down Ryan Callinan, Owen Wright, and Kolohe Andino on his way to defeating Italo Ferriera in the final, Medina lurks at Number 7 – having won all the remaining events on tour before – in a title race that has become interesting following the loss of front-runner John John Florence.
Save John John, Medina and Slater are the only surfers in the top ten with world titles. Kolohe Andino, who took over the Number 1 spot this week (barely squeaking past Deivid Silva before bagging increasingly impressive heat wins on his way to the semis), seeks that elusive first, which would lift a gorilla-sized weight off Brother’s back as the San Clemente icon has yet to take out an event on tour. But he is the first California man to wear the Yellow Jersey, or even hold the ratings lead for you ASP types, in who knows how long? Even the WSL doesn’t seem to have a handle on that juicy little nugget (we asked, we’ll let you know when we hear). Could it really be Tom Curren, 1990?
Taking over the Number 1 spot in the world, Carissa Moore sealed up her first win of the year in dynamic fashion, lapping the field in some sense with her aggressive approach. Enviable swooping carves, hard digs under the lip, Moore looked prepped and ready for the slog in the back half of the year as she seeks a fourth title.
But it’s gonna get spicy. The top four women are separated by 700-ish points at the moment with Sally Fitzgibbons, Steph Gilmore and Lakey Peterson all in the hunt as well. But when fully engaged, her equipment dialed, Carissa Moore is tough to bet against with arguably the most progressive bag of tricks on tour.
