Kelly Slater is already in. Who will join him? Photo: Trevor Murphy
The Hurley Pro Video Trials have commenced. Whether you like it or not, the social media avenues of your choice will be flooded with pleas from free surfers, WQS grinders, ‘CT veterans, models and even random celebrities that have nothing to do with surfing, begging for your vote to defeat their opponent in the online popularity contest that is the video trials. Seeing as I opted out of the contest this year, I’m going to weigh in on the draw and give you an unbiased opinion of who I picked and why. Let the fun begin!
Heat 1: Dusty Payne (2941 votes) vs. Caio Ibelli (1257 votes)
Dusty’s first round submission was very solid – power combo at Keramas ending with a unsuspecting nose pick with no mistakes. When you put that next to Caio’s first Lowers wave, there is no comparison. Caio’s second wave, however, is another Lowers clip where he puts together a left including three seamless cracks and then must have fallen afterward because the clip just stops. Caio surfed the wave really well. But since this was a clip contest, Dusty’s banger in Bali defeats a good Lowers wave. Onward!
Heat 2: Messias Felix (2475 votes) v. Albee Layer (2569 votes)
I’m not sure why this heat hadn’t got more attention because both surfers have really unique clips. Albee starts off Round 1 with a banger straight air and full rotation backside reverse while Messias does a passion pop to air reverse combo followed by a backside huck. Not to take anything away from Messias, but Albee wins this by a mile. His sections were way bigger, over reef and both airs landed into the tranny. Messias’ clips weren’t on par because the waves he was surfing weren’t giving him the opportunity of the big airs like Albee. Would love to see Messias at those waves in Maui!
Heat 3: Jay Davies (2151 Votes) v. Stuart Kennedy (1174 votes)
I think Jay’s first slob air reverse was my favorite clip in Round 1. It’s so damn hard to click those things tail high on a section like that and stick them clean. Any surfer out there who tries these airs on a regular basis can attest to that. Stu, on the other hand, submitted some contest clips that are pretty cool but look strange when compared to Jay’s clips. It’s pretty easy to see why Jay led by so much in this heat. If I were making these heats, I would have put Jay v. Albee and Stu v. Messias and made things closer.
Heat 4: Yago Dora (2517 Votes) v. Ian Gentil (2888 Votes)
This was a strange heat for me. I got really excited to see what Yago’s first submission was because he’s quickly turning into one of my favorite surfers at the moment. His clips were rad but not what I was expecting. He picks apart a wave in Salina Cruz on his backhand then has a Cabo frontside air reverse. Ian, on the other hand, got Mexico a little bit better and has some pretty classic point break footage. His second wave did it for me – surfed it super relaxed and got a double barrel. Had to hand it to Ian on this one.
Heat 5: Jack Freestone (3509 Votes) v. Cam Richards (5189 Votes)
This was obviously the one heat that warranted all the attention. Let’s get one thing straight — this contest platform in no way should be a popularity contest even though it has obviously turned into that. Jack posted a Facebook status before the clips went live saying, “I wonder if Jamie Foxx is in the trials this year?” I laughed my ass off. After the launch this morning, he posted, “How is this even real?” after the results went grossly in Cam’s favor. Anyways, I’ve known Cam for around eight years now and I think he’s a super nice kid who surfs well and comes from a great family. But better believe I don’t back how he’s going about these video trials. I just looked at the people who are posting and tagging #ivotedforcamdidyou on Instagram and 3/4 of them are between the ages of 10-16 and seem to have no connection to the surf world whatsoever. Chances are they immediately clicked Cam’s button and logged off and went back to listening to Justin Bieber or whatever. I think we already knew who was going to win this heat — and who will probably win the whole contest — so I won’t bother with a breakdown. It’s just a bummer because Jack could have pulled a double front flip and still would have lost. Sorry Jack, #ivotedforpedrodidyou?
Heat 6: Matt Banting (1883 Votes) v. Carlos Muñoz (4033 Votes)
Okay, now back to heats with plausible outcomes. I was just at the US Open and saw that Matt Banting won the Pro Junior. I actually didn’t watch a single heat of that so I cant really say anything besides he was probably surfing really well. He has two clips from Australia that look like really fun sessions and he does a big backside whip and has another wave with a long barrel where he must have fallen on the cutback afterward. Then comes Carlos where his first wave is okay but god damn, that second wave is what dreams are made of. The grab rail bottom turn/hack combo at Escondita was one of the better things I’ve seen in awhile. I think people are freaking out like me and that’s why he led by so much. Pura Vida, Carlos. You got my vote.
Heat 7: Torrey Meister (1122 Votes) v. Ian Crane (1476 Votes)
What’s funny is that Cam had more votes than both of these guys combined. Well, this wasn’t exactly the most attention-grabbing heat apparently, but it did have two great surfers who would do great at Lowers. Torrey starts out with a really relaxed, rad double nosepick combo then follows with a backside air with a pretty strange landing. Crane comes in with two-of-a-kind. Both hack/blowtail combos. Both really nice, clean, and fast. This is a tough one, so I flipped a coin and it landed in Ian’s favor. It apparently did for a lot of you as well.
Heat 8: Patrick Gudauskas (2102 Votes) v. Alex Chacon (1970)
This was the hardest heat for me to vote solely from the clips and nothing else. I don’t know who in the hell Alex Chacon is, but I’m sold after those two clips. Kinda surfs like Parko but with an updated tech package. Mr. Patrick comes in with a classic right at Lowers then completes the only rodeo of the round. Actually, looking back now, Pat got my vote because both of those waves are really good. But damn, I really want to see more from Alex and that’s why I would have voted for him. It would have been rad to see what his finals bangers would be.
Well, I’m logging off the Hurley site now and am going to have my own video trials down at Lowers. See ya in the quarters!
