If you were watching closely after Italo Ferreira won at Pipeline, you may have noticed something: when he was getting chaired up the beach amid the wildly cheering throngs after he won his world title, under his left butt-check was none other than Jamie O’Brien. He was huffing and puffing his way through the sand, fending off would-be Italo yankers whose outstretched hands threatened to pull the world champion from his human throne.
Jamie is part of Italo’s enormous fan club. Last year, he reportedly was enlisted (along with Shane Dorian) by Italo to give tips and advice on surfing Pipeline. Clearly, it paid off — Italo is now a Pipe Master and a world champ. He’s also one of the nicest, most humble (and stoked) people you could ever hope to meet, so it’s a pleasure to watch him hanging out with Jamie for a quick soft top surf-off at Backdoor. Of course, there’s the usual J.O.B stuff in the episode as well, so if you’re just interested in Italo, skip ahead to the 12:40 mark.
Oh, and if you’re interested in the inner-workings of Jamie O’Brien, give our latest installment of The Inertia‘s new podcast a listen (below). We promise you’ll be surprised.
