Yesterday at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, Italo Ferriera got screwed. Not by Jordy Smith or the judges, but by the rule book itself. Specifically, rule 152.01(b).
The interference call happened mid-way through his Quarterfinal against the South African. Up to that point, Italo hadn’t found the rhythm we’ve seen him in over the last month. Smith was paddling out when Italo turned on one, stroked a few times, and hopped to his feet. Smith, with priority—who probably never would have gone for that particular wave in that particular spot if it weren’t for the priority rule—saw what was happening, spun around, and bounced through the whitewater until he could pop up. Italo, already on the wave, kicked out right away and Jordy Smith continued on unimpeded, scoring a 7.90. In any other lineup, what Italo did would be absurdly respectful, but in a world where priority has a hand in the game, it knocked a score from his tally, effectively costing him the heat. Granted, rules are rules, but in this particular case, rule 152.01(b) is a dumb fucking rule. So what does this rule say?
For heats where priority applies, the priority system will determine which Surfer has priority to a wave at that time. The Surfer with priority has the unconditional right of way and can paddle for and Ride any wave they select. The Surfer’s opponent/s can paddle for and Ride the same wave in any direction and be scored providing they do not;
(a) Hinder the scoring potential of the Ride for the Surfer with priority.
(b) Cross in front of or bottom turn around the Surfer with priority, regardless if the Surfer is up and Riding a wave or in the process of catching a wave.
Clearly, “Cross in front of or bottom turn around the Surfer with priority” puts Italo squarely in the wrong. But (again, in this particular case) that rule makes zero sense. Anyone watching with their eyes open can see that Italo didn’t affect Jordy’s wave in any way whatsoever. Italo was out of the wave before Jordy was standing. His track was buried in whitewater before Jordy had a chance to hit it. The only thing Italo did was force Jordy to go on a wave in order to keep Italo off.
Critics will say that Italo should have straightened out. But watching closely in the replay above, he was already in the process of bottom turning in order to kick out by the time he was PAST Jordy, who had only just began to turn for the wave. It was impossible for Italo to not, “cross in front of or bottom turn around the Surfer with priority.”
I get it—pro surfing is just as much about heat strategy as actually riding a wave. But this looks just like WSL Rule Book-sanctioned cheating. It’s not Jordy Smith’s fault, either. It’s a black and white loophole in a very grey area, and Smith just took advantage of that loophole. Still, though, it just feels… gross.
Rules rein in the chaos. Without them, there could be no professional surfing. But just because a rule is there doesn’t mean it doesn’t need to be tweaked when a problem with it makes itself clear—and this particular instance is a perfect example of that.
