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Quik grabs from around the grounds at the Quiksilver Pro – Kelly Slater, The Wilsons, Dean Morrison and more. |
Around The Grounds. Words and Photos Ben Whitmore/Nikon
Dingo’s Chariot
During the trials for the Quiksilver Pro, all eyes on were on local hope and former World Tour veteran, Dean Morrison. Dean knows Snapper better than a fat kid knows his way around a donut and locals converged on the contests site en masse sporting t-shirts in support for their fellow Coolangattian. What were cheers for Dingo quickly turned to gasps as he suffered a fairly hefty knee tweak, he soldiered on in the water but when it came time for an imminent ‘run around’, Dean was unable to walk. A chariot appeared in the form of two local shoulders to run him back up to the Snapper keyhole for the paddle out.
The Ultimate Entourage
We’re not talking Vinnie, Johnny, E and Turtle either. The Wilson clan are all on hand for Julian’s first event as an official elite World Tour member and with his face now plastered across 20-odd Nike billboards throughout Coolangatta I’m sure the pressure would well-and-truly be on. You can’t beat having family in your corner though and we spotted Nola Wilson with her trademark smile and umbrella and grabbed a shot.
Crowd Factor Infinity
Bear’s shit in the woods and Snapper is crowded, these are two facts of life we must accept. However, each year seems to see more heads bobbing around in lineups around Cooly and this year is no exception. From the balcony of the Tracks house you can sit back, laugh and occasionally quiver at the amount of drop ins. The average number of people dropping in is around seven, so if you’re the bloke on the inside, you’re toast, if you’re a body boarder dropping in at D-Bah, there’s a good chance you will have a surfer sizing your back up for landing.
Two Holes in the Draw
The first is Dane Reynolds. Dane is fresh out of knee surgery and is kicking back at home recovering. The hole his absence has left however, is still gaping. Dane’s reckless abandonment towards the wave at Snapper will definitely be missed. The second hole in the contest draw is the loss of Andy Irons. Although Andy hailed from the Islands of Hawaii, the Gold Coast was like a second home, and although it’s been four months since his death, there is still a big void around the contest area that would normally house Andy Irons and friends for the first event of each new season.
From the Tracks observation deck with Luke Kennedy
Baptism of Fire
Being a wild card isn’t an easy call up. Sure you have the opportunity to claim underdog status and surf with a nothing to lose approach but you have to do it against a top seed. That’s the way the draw is structured for wildcards. It was thus that 16-year-old Matt Banting found himself in the formidable company of Kelly Slater. Banting bolted to the lead and for a time it seemed he might claim the shiniest and most prized scalp in surfing. However, after a slow start Kelly switched to over-drive, relying on his signature forehand slash to do the damage. Banting may have a bright future but The King is certainly not dead. The quote of the heat belonged to Nick Carroll. When Kelly switch-footed through a section at the end of the wave, Nick was moved to make a reference to his brother. “ What a lot of people don’t realise is that Kelly Slater is actually Tom Carroll.” Perhaps Nick knows something we don’t. Is it Kelly’s intention to make a switch-foot world title his final legacy?
Board Busker
Entrepreneurial initiative deserves recognition and the young girl pictured had probably the most innovative way of scoring a board I’ve ever come across. The ambitious young Cooly Kid had fashioned a rough stage from a patch of grass, beside a busy sidewalk. As the crowds streamed past she pulled out a slickly choreographed little routine, which she’d obviously spent some time working on. Equipped with nothing but a beat-box, a money-hat and a sign, which read ‘Busking for a Board’ she was making a killing. The girl deserves a board for her efforts. Other grommets take note.
Best of Everything
Determined to make the most of the thousands of eyeballs on their contest area, Quiksilver have installed a photo-driven market campaign, which lays claim to the best of everything – ‘best fun’, ‘best wave’, ‘best event’, ‘best surfers’ etc. There’s also the Godzilla-sized billboard, which features a shot of Kelly and Steph Gilmore – Quiksilver didn’t miss a beat there, given Steph only signed a little over a month ago. The billboards and stickers are plastered all over the contest site and surrounding area, and for the most part make for an engaging addition to the setting. However, in the spirit of taking the piss, every campaign is ripe for the picking. One lateral thinker got a hold of a sticker and couldn’t resist the opportunity to make a public statement about what they thought was ‘best’. The photo tells the story.
Adding to the irony, the sticker appeared in a prominent setting, alongside a massive poster of a squeaky-clean Julian Wilson.
