Once on land, the quarrel snowballed with other people getting involved. Photo: Jacob Willcox//screenshot
A tiff in the water at the Margaret River Pro between Yago Dora and Jacob Willcox spilled over into the car park. Rumors have swirled about what transpired, but finally Willcox has come forth with his full recollection of the incident.
With about 24 minutes remaining in the round two matchup between Dora and Willcox, Dora, with priority, turned to paddle for a wave and made contact with Willcox, who was sitting underneath him. Two judges thought it was an interference, but three did not, so the heat went on without penalties. Dora spent the majority of the remaining time in the heat, directing body gestures of disbelief towards the judges’ tower.
Ultimately, Dora won the heat, but that didn’t squash the quarrel. It continued on the event staircase and in the parking lot.
In a new vlog on his YouTube channel, Willcox told his side of the story.
“I’m paddling across, kind of looking at this wave,” Willcox said. “I wasn’t interested in the wave. Yago sees me trying to look at it. He turns and paddles over my back.”
Willcox admits that he made the mistake of being too close to the surfer with priority. Still, he took offense, assuming that Dora paddled towards him on purpose.
“I was disappointed at the time because I thought it was a straight-up interference,” he said. “Because he intentionally paddled into me and we made contact. But the one thing I thought was going to be playing in my favor, I felt like it was super obvious he changed direction and paddled into me.”
After the heat, Willcox said he waited for Dora at the top of the staircase to talk it out, but the situation escalated as others got involved.
“Yago’s manager starts pointing at me, saying sh#t to me,” Willcox said. “Then Filipe’s (Toledo) manager comes and starts getting involved on the stairs, too. Looked like he’s a jiu-jitsu kind of whiz.”
As the argument continued at the car park, members of Willcox’s posse got involved when they saw that he was outnumbered. Willcox said no one on his side got physical or pointed fingers, just standing with him in solidarity.
Eventually, the dispute got resolved, but Willcox didn’t see Dora again that afternoon. So the next morning, Willcox invited Dora to his house to talk it out.
“They came over. It was a super respectful chat,” Willcox said. “Yago’s manager apologized. Me and Yago broke down what had happened in the water. And then we just moved on really. It was all sorted at that point for me. Would I have a beer with him? One-hundred percent. So no grudges over here. Good battle.”
Willcox has mentioned that Dora is one of his favorite surfers, so, by the looks of it, it appears that this drama is over if these two are to ever face off again in a Championship Tour event.
