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Stu Kennedy Crushes Kelly In A Sci-Phi Moment

A lesson in how to beat The Boss.

As a blanket of grey descended on snapper rocks this morning the air was heavy with the scent of upsets. Sebastian Zietz’s last minute power weaves were enough to dispatch Julian Wilson to the world title wastelands, while Stu Kennedy’s blonde ambition forced Kelly to wonder if he’d got the balance between Chia seeds and banana boards.

“He’s the boss and he’s probably not happy he just got beaten by me,” quipped Stu Kennedy after defeating Kelly. Kennedy was of course making reference to the fact that he’d just won against Slater on a board that carried the nascent Kelly Slater designs logo. The whole thing felt a little like Kelly had nurtured a baby lion only to have it come back and eat him.

Kelly is due to release the Sci-Phi model to the surfing masses with Lennox Heads shaper Dan Thompson. It’s actually the same model board that you see Kelly riding in his prolifically viewed wave pool clip. However, while Kelly and Dan have a solid professional relationship, Stu and Dan’s connection goes back longer than a Lennox Point right. Stu grew up surfing Lennox with Dan and suggests that although Kelly may have the patent on the board, he and Dan certainly invested a lot of energy in getting Stu’s version right.  “I think me and Tomo have worked harder on it than him (Kelly) probably. I’ve surfed this design way more than he has but it is really cool to have him on board.”

“Either way it’s good for the company, hopefully we can get more sales and make the company bigger,” Stu eventually stated, sounding like a shareholder who has his own vested interest in the brand.

While the board dynamics make for interesting fodder in a Formula One Team kind of way, Kennedy deserves credit for much more than his choice of equipment. When asked how he prepared mentally for the heat against Slater, Stu pointed to his love of performing on big stages and also his renewed faith in pre-heat play-lists. “I thrive on the bigger guys, I always have. It’s always pushed my surfing way more …  I haven’t been listening to music before heats but that one I did, I just wanted to be real fired up … I had Grinspoon going.”

The challenge for Stu moving forward will be to learn how to perform at his best without being fuelled by the psychological energy of the underdog.  He certainly proved he can hold his nerve against Slater. The clutch moment in the heat arrived when Kennedy was holding a fragile lead with a 6.23 and 4.5. Stu watched Kelly paddle in to a wave, chasing only a mid range score to haul him in.

It seemed to be one of those “Oh no, here we go again,” moments with Kelly pouncing on the lead just when you thought the other surfer had an edge. However, Kelly’s wave had a milky lip and despite riding it almost to Greenmount, he never really  had the opportunity for a dramatic turn. Still, Stu could only assume that Kelly was now in front when he paddled into a wave in the same set. While Kelly had prodded at the foamy lip with his Webber banana board, Stu looked like he was surfing in a different genre on the Sci-Phi – two fully committed snaps with slide-tail articulation preceded an inverted, grab-rail reverse that was the perfect blend of power and progression. Starved of steeper sections Kelly looked like he was surfing in accordance with an antiquated criteria that rewarded length or ride and multiple turns while Stu was making it easy for the judges by going extra large on far fewer moves. The subsequent 9.5 had the supporters in their ‘Stu Crew’ shirts screaming loud enough to be heard back in Lennox.

Stu Kennedy's Sci-Fi winning board. Stu Kennedy’s 5’7″ Tomo/Slater Designs Firewire Sci-Phi board.

Post-heat Stu was adamant that tactics had played a part in addition to underdog adrenalin. “I saw that one that he got was real foamy at the start. I’ve been watching every heat and pretty much every wave this week and the first one of the set has pretty much had foam on it til it got past little Mali. I wasn’t too scared that he’d get a massive score but it is Kelly Slater.”

Kennedy’s ejection of Kelly from the contest forces the eleven-times-champion to further question how committed he is to playing the role of the WSL’s ultimate middle-aged role model. Bizarrely, he may stand on the sidelines and cheer for Stuart as he rides KS designs in the next round. Conversely Kelly will ponder the validity of his decision to ride the ultra-rockered Webber board. One anonymous shaper in the crowd was heard to loudly discrediting the design. “Those boards just don’t work unless you’re in a completely barreling wave. As soon as they hit a dead spot they just stop.” Despite the heavy criticism there is no doubt the bananas inspire moments of brilliance, but the infamously pudgy Bells faces certainly won’t lend themselves to Kelly’s curvier inclinations and once again we are all left asking. ‘What will Kelly do next?’

A huge thanks to Isuzu for providing the Tracks team with vehicles for the 2016 Quiksiliver Pro Gold Coast.

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