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As the summer round of Innersection kicks of we give you our first impressions and tell you what to watch and what not to waste your precious gigs on. |
As voting for the summer round [a note to all the Seppos: believe it or not you’re not the only hemisphere in the world] of Taylor Steele’s Innersection kicked off yesterday at exactly 5pm a couple members of the Tracks team grabbed some beers and sat down to melt some megabytes [much to the exasperation of our IT guy Steve] and perhaps witness the future of surf movies in the making.
Ry Craike, one of this month’s Innersection contenders, setting up another mindblowing manoeuvre on a recent Tracks trip to the Telo Islands. Photo: smithy liquideye-whs.comAnd while we reckon you really should watch them all and make up your own mind, there might be waves in your corner of the world over the next few days and so here are our initial impressions to help keep you in the water and off your computer this weekend.
– First of all, we had high expectations – this is the second last chance people, and you know some big guns are going to appear at the 11th hour, so if you want in and you’re not one of the top five surfers in the world we reckon you probably should’ve put everything you had into this round – and were a little bit letdown. Not so much by the surfing, there’s some incredible surfing going on, but just by a lack of:
1. All-round packages (filming, surfing, editing, song etc.) and
2. Absolute mindblowers.
Maybe our expectations were unreasonable, or maybe we were just bitter drunks watching the distance between us and the ‘pros’ further widen by the passing second. Either way first impressions are just that.
– Also lacking is personality (aside from a few exceptions) and the hi-def we’ve come to know, love and expect. It’s just my opinion but Dion was one of the only guys to do this so far and I reckon he got robbed.
– That said there is clearly some wheat and some chaff and of the 27 videos the top 10 shouldn’t be too hard to find.
Here’s ours (in no particular order and not locked in stone)
Kerr
Ozzie
Marzo
John x2
Craikey
Gudauskas
Nate Yeomans
Granger
Dingo
Mad max
But when we moved onto the subject of top 5 there was very little agreement going on.
– And finally, if Spring was the nature round then Summer is the round of Desert Point, with the point featuring, in many shapes and sizes in a good portion of the best sections.
Here’s a super quick review of each section (alphabetically) so you know what to waste those gigs on.
Anthony Walsh: Starts with a surprise as Walshy does half a dozen mod-col-turns we’ve never seen him do before. Then, backs it up with some of the bigger waves you’ll see in a no-assist-allowed competition. (Good chance for top 10.)
Brendon Gibbens: Biggest surprise of the round for us. Never heard of the kid from Cape Town before now and he’s got the full bag. Not a lot of variety wave-wise but that just makes his completion rate even more impressive. Would love to surf some of those spots. (Good chance for top 10 and possible dark horse for the 5 if SA get behind him.)
Christophe Allary: Another pretty impressive unheard of. Probably suffered with us for coming straight after Gibbens. But can hunt a barrel, stick airs and thrown down some nice turns. (Probably not a top tenner but this’ll help raise his profile for sure.)
Clayton Marzo: Bullshit. Hiding behind foamballs, near-double rotations, mad-man backside off the tops at Honolua Bay… just watch it. (Shoo-in for top 5.)
Dane Zuan: A nicely put together section for a team vid or something like that, might threaten top 10 but don’t think it’s quite enough to make the final Innersection cut. (Possible top 10 but seems popular so have a look and decide for yourself.)
Daniel Jones: Knows how to get barreled. Knows how to turn with style. Great clip for mere mortals to relate to and froth on but don’t think he’ll be joining his bro in the final movie. (Might make the top 10 on style points.)
Dean Morrison: Good variety of waves from the man who sometimes seems to have trouble pulling himself away from home. Impressive section. Not sure if it’ll appeal to the typical Innersection audience but we loved it. (Still reckon it’ll make the top 10 but probably not top 5 unless us Aussies get behind him… hint, hint.)
Dillon Perillo: Manages to make junky surf look fun with some stylish surfing but probably would’ve benefited from getting to a few better spots. Really liked it but for some reason didn’t quite hit the spot. (Maybe top 10 but not the 5).
Granger Larson: The manchild. Just got back from a trip with Granger and know that he’s got a lot more in the tank to polish his section if he makes it through this round. Bit unfortunate that so many of the Maui boys (Clay, Larson, Ian Walsh) have entered the same round, short of a ‘Maui Miracle’ I think the Island’s local population will only have enough power to get one through (Clay). (Possible top 10, not 5.)
Ian Walsh: Speaking of… Like the other Walsh (no relation) awesome to see him throwing down some crazy turns and laying down a really impressive section sans- his superhuman big wave exploits. One of the better attempts at personality this round (it didn’t take much) but we know that he’s got a lot more where that came from. If he comes back next round (which we hope he does) our advice is to lay it on thicker. (Really solid section but will miss top 5 because Maui will be using their votes to lock in Marzo.)
Jalian Johnston: Awesome guy – google him and find out about his ‘low impact lifestyle’ and ‘sustainable designs’ – but not really Innersection material. (Don’t think he’ll make the 10 but hopefully this gets people looking into how he lives.)
John John Florence: We had really, really high expectations for this section. And it came pretty close. It’s an awesome section and he’s a sure thing for the top 5. But he’s either keeping some in reserve or having trouble wrangling virgin footage because the shots we get sent of this guy are mindblowing and this section isn’t… quite… there… yet. (Top five, no question. Probably battling for number 1).
To be continued Monday…
