| 
 Well,
the QS is over for another year, and what a marvellous break up day they had.
As we've noted, this Hawaiian season has been one of the worst on record. The
normally reliable storm factories of the Northwest Pacific just hadn't fired up
this year, and what swell was making its way into the hallowed reefs of Oahu's
North Shore was medium sized, junky and from the north - not the diet that give
our Triple Crown venues Haleiwa and Sunset that sleeky sheen we know and love.
Much to the relief of the transient pro-surfer population
of the North Shore - a group who, let's face it, are pretty dangerous if they
haven't been drained by hours and hours of intense physical exercise - four or
five days back, the swell maps started showing areas of red and even black up
off the Kuril Islands. Yesterday, this swell finally made landfall on the Hawaiian
Islands, and beautifully groomed walls started winding through Sunset Beach's
complex of peaks and bowls. With each heat, the wave height slowly ratcheted up
until by the final we were looking at as good as it gets 10-12 foot pure Hawaiian
juice.  In
the final were three of the usual suspects - Andy Irons, of course, the undoubted
master here on the North Shore, dominant in all his heats; Joel Parkinson, surfing
his beautiful lines; and Fred Patacchia, an Hawaiian reveling in primo conditions,
alone on his backhand. They were joined by the South African man-child prodigy
Jordy Smith, who at eighteen years old had lucked his way into this contest as
an alternate but whose progression to the final was anything but lucky.
Jordy
has had a big year. Those of us who have watched the Australasian Junior Series
over the last few years have seen a lot of Jordan Michael Smith. There's always
been talent - when you think of Jordy, think of big powerful old school carves
coupled with a major league aerial attack - but he rarely fired against our juniors.
Last year in particular Ben Dunn - now firmly ensconced on next year's WCT - toyed
with him cruelly in heat after heat as the vagaries of the seeding system put
them together every comp. You might have thought that this would have left some
psychological scars, but Jordy is a tough, resilient bastard, full of the traditional
'bok quiet arrogance and unshakeable self-belief. This year
he's put in two stunning performances. First off, a third as a wildcard at the
WCT event at Jeffrey's Bay that blasted him into the collective consciousness
of the surfing public, and second, his exuberant, masterful journey through this
contest. In the semis, he had beaten the unbeatable Andy Irons into second with
some glorious moves, and when he opened the final with a 8.67 - a series of big
man-hacks off the lip on a serious 10 footer - garnished with a grom's flourish
(a chop hop to reverse, for chrissakes), it looked like the unthinkable was about
to happen.  But
then no-one expected the piece of brilliance that was about to go down. Joel Parkinson
had started his heat with a solid, workmanlike 7, but was well behind the newbie
when one of the bigger sets of the day peaked up in front of him. Parko took off
very, very deep on a legitimate Hawaiian-style 12 footer, and drove a massive,
sustained bottom turn (the bottom turn is everything at Sunset) around an avalanche
of foam to slingshot off the lip. A little double pump mid-face turn put him straight
into a tube the size of a small house, and the last move, a maximum speed, close
out re-entry on a pitching triple overhead wave, sealed the deal. As Parko emerged
from the foam, no one needed to hear the score to know they had witnessed perfection,
and Parko's reaction was more joyous shout than claim. You simply can't surf Sunset
better than that.
 By
contrast, Andy Irons was lost in a line up that wasn't doing what it was meant
to, which was, of course, to present him with the waves on which he could display
his brilliance. The more he hunted, the more out of synch he got, and the more
his annoyance mounted. There was nothing, however, that he could do, other than
congratulate Joel as they paddled in. While he still leads the Triple Crown, the
title the Hawaiians rationalise as being the equal of the world championship,
Joel has made the race a lot tighter.
With Sunset done
and dusted, and the WQS paraphernalia packed up for the year, we now have our
final placings. We've got 16 certain qualifiers, and three others whose future
depends on which, if any, of the potential double qualifiers come to the fore
at Pipe. In for certain now are Manly goofy Kai Otton and Brazilians Neco Padaratz
and Rodrigo Dornelles. Waiting to see how the cards are dealt at Pipe are South
Africans and current CT'ers Travis Logie and David Weare, along with our own Luke
Munro.  For
Travis to qualify, Victor Ribas needs to hold his position on the CT. Travis (and
I'm sorry, but this gets very weird) can also qualify if he also qualifies on
the CT, in which case because he has double qualified, his spot goes to the next
in line, Luke Munro.
David Weare moved up enough to give himself
a chance, ousting Kirk Flintoff from the snowflake hope in hell position at 19,
but fell an agonising one heat short of what he really needed. Davey qualifies
if and only if Victor, Travis and the longest shot, Troy Brooks, all qualify through
the CT at Pipe. Realistically, Troy needs 2nd for this to happen. So
on we move to the Pipe Masters, the granddaddy of them all. With the North Shore
switched finally into winter mode, the forecasts are for relentlessly massive
surf for the foreseeable future. Things could start Saturday morning our time,
so be good and check your webcast for action religiously first thing every morning.
You will not be disappointed. | 
