If you thought John John Florence might be content to kick back and sip Mai Tais and go sailing (his other passion) all winter after claiming title number two, you were wrong.
The world champion flew into the Gold Coast earlier this week, accompanied by his life-long shaper shaper, Jon Pyzel, and filmer, Eric. John John’s Coolangatta strike mission coincides with a week-long swell and he has already made his presence felt on the points, surfing alongside usual suspects Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson and Steph Gilmore.
As an indicator of how serious he is about this year’s title quest, John John is in Oz to try out a bunch of boards. Some reports suggest he has as many as 17 Pyzel shooters to decipher on this trip.
Meanwhile, back in Hawaii John has embraced the foil-boarding craze. Shaper, Jon Pyzel has recently been obsessed with building and riding paddle-in foil boards and John John has joined him on a number of of his outings in Hawaii.
In the surf yesterday Steph Gilmore suggested there was a rumour bouncing around that John John was going to ride his foil at the Superbank on dark one night.
Earlier this morning John John was in more regulation surf mode. While most of the masses were waiting for the water to drain out, John John was content to test-drive a few craft in the chubbier, but still rippable, high tide conditions. His filmer, Eric, was posted up under a Pandanus tree, minding the boards while John did hot-laps.
The swell is forecast to grow through the day and into tomorrow. No doubt
there will be a few magic, John John moments over the next couple of days.
Who knows, he may even launch the foil beneath a pale moonlight?
