As I write the competitors in the trials event are bashing lips and boosting airs over at D’bah. D’bah is a solid four foot and providing a very worthy platform for high performance surfing – particularly when you have a stacked trials event with the likes of Taj Burrow, Connor O’Leary and Matt Wilkinson taking part.
The scarcity of sand at the black hole of Snapper Rocks puts the WSL in a tight spot, but they will still be very reluctant to run the contest at D’bah. Queensland tourism is one of the major sponsors of the Quiksilver Pro and despite being synonymous with Gold Coast surfing, D’bah is dubiously located on the border with NSW. In any case it does not have the sex appeal of an iconic point like Snapper Rocks, Greenmount or Kirra. Squashy little D’bah just doesn’t sell a Queensland holiday or the Quik Pro in quite the same way as the fabled points. The WSL need sand Quick not an event sinking in Quicksand. That said, D’bah is currently going off in a peaky, beach break kind of way and from a fan’s perspective (live and webcast) it will provide the kind of dance floor that allows the surfers to showcase all their moves.
We bumped into Michel Bourez walking down Boundary street and he suggested that although nothing had been made official it looked like the WSL would buckle and go to D’bah for the start of the event. Up on the point at Greenmount some of the coaches were singing a different tune as they sent their surfers out to do battle with salty old longboarders and highly skilled loggers who were relishing the one-two foot tricklers. There was even one wizened old local gobbling up waves at Greenmount on a mal with an electric motor. Seth Moniz and Jadson Andre were out there doing their best to link sections, but you would definitely rather see them unleashing on a thick D’bah wedge. One of the coaches was adamant that the WSL would do everything within their means to avoid a move to D’bah for the main event and that’s why he was running his training session at Greenmount.
At this morning’s official Quiksilver Pro press conference there was no mention of a definite location as a bloated Snapper struggled to even crumble in the background. WSL CEO, Sophie Goldschmidt, suggested it was a, “A bit like the first day of school.” There was certainly someone skipping class. Gabriel Medina was distinguished by his absence, while Steph Gilmore, Julian Wilson, Lakey Peterson, Mikey Wright and Sally Fitzgibbons all showed up to put on their best smiles for the press. The Brazilian media were particularly disappointed that their world champion was not present.
Meanwhile former WCT surfer and one time Quik Pro event director, Troy Brooks, suggested if the southerly current kicks in by this afternoon then things might be looking a whole lot more rosy by the weekend. Fingers crossed the Sandman sends a dream to the Quiksilver Pro. D’bah is a way better option from a surfing perspective at this point, but a move there will feel a lot like detention for a WSL that wants to make a big impression in the first week of school.
