Matt Wilkinson, pro surfing’s most celebrated good time guy, now has a pre-heat work out to rival that of Sally Fitzgibbon. Wearing his coveted yellow jersey Wilko was busy switching on the core, activating the fast twitch muscle fibres and getting the new look rig ready for those explosive backside whips. Not long before he’d been on the public deck making jokes with his mates, reminiscing about the time he sent one of them out to surf an expression session for him in his jersey. The smile and the goofball antics haven’t disappeared but the key element in the resurrection of Matt Wilkinson is that he has now learnt to shift focus when it comes to a heat.
“I’ve found out how to switch between what I normally do and heat mode,” he explained after a convincing victory over Kanoa Igarashi. Wilko blazed through the Bells bowl on a bumpy, windblown six- eight foot Sunday afternoon. He attacked the lip with total confidence, later explaining that the key to his approach involves being precise about where he aims his turns. “I draw out the bottom turn and eye off the section I want to hit.” On a couple of waves Wilko also utilized the grab rail bottom turn to excellent effect. While the rail-paw approach off the bottom looks dramatic, Wilko indicated it’s as much about function as aesthetics. “I feel like if I need to get tight or I’m going to skip out I’ll grab the rail through the bottom turn.” One rail-clutch swoop led to a huge, free-fall inside hook that was punctuated with a hair-flick landing. The turn had Occy written all over it in more ways than one.
The scary thing for the competition is that Wilko’s surfing is probably better suited to Bells than it was to Snapper Rocks. “ I love surfing here,” he said like a kid who wanted another ride at the fun-park. “I love having big sections to hit and tricky waves just make surfing more fun.” While the vertical snap was the signature turn at Snapper the tail whip is coming in to play for Wilko at Bells. The key to him securing another big result is ensuring that he comes at the lip at different angles and adds a dimension of variation to his high-speed wafts. With colonel Kolohe and his mo’ dispatched from the event by a whisker, Wilko’s beloved yellow jersey is definitely looking much more cosy. “I’m use to the pressure of re-qualifying but I’m enjoying the pressure of keeping this jersey way more,” Matt quipped.
Wilko keeping nimble. Photo: The EdMeanwhile, with Wilko serving as the Australian front-runner it allows Julian Wilson to quietly chip away at his own title aspirations. After surviving a slow, high tide heat against Miguel Pupo Wilson was adamant that he was doing everything within his power to be a contender.
“I’m at a point where I feel I’m working the hardest I have to achieve my goals and dreams. I had a great year last year, I was in contention for the whole year and was able to be in it with Mick, and obviously Wilko is leading the ratings now and I don’t feel the weight of Australian expectation on my shoulders, I just feel like it’s a personal achievement. I want to surf my best in each heat and surf smart and stay in the events for as long as I can because everywhere we go we surf epic waves with one other guy or two other guys. I like to look at it as the better I go the more waves I get to catch.”
When quizzed about the dynamic between himself and new coach, former WCT surfer, Jake Paterson, Julian suggested it involved sticking to simple surfing principles and basic psychology.
“I think the main thing we work on is being on the right waves. That’s what it all comes down to. Everyone can surf pretty dam well on tour and it’s about giving yourself the best opportunity… and obviously he’s just a good sounding board for whatever head noise I have going on and things want to talk about.”
Julian’s second round loss at Snapper was a major disappointment and we didn’t really see him turn it on in his first two heats at Bells. From here on in he will have to take it up a notch to stay in touch.
For the battered Brazilians Italo Ferreira was the stand out, floating to victory on a suicide section in the dying moments against Seabass in full flight. Italo is full of contradictions. He loves fried chicken and lightweight Varial blanks and he rides waves of consequence like someone who grew up surfing them (which he didn’t).
Importantly he has the ability to make his lightning fast lip-kisses work in both tiny and treacherous surf. The words “What About Italo!”were uttered by fans and critics more than once on Easter Sunday and nobody will be too eager to draw the flamboyant backside surfer in upcoming rounds.
