Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2016 i Tracks

ME FOR THE OLYMPICS If the Olympics, as its tradition suggests it should, opens surfing up to amatuer athletes then I reckon I'm definitely a chance of making it to Japan in 2020. Although I live in OZ my background is Austrian and I still hold a passport.. I've spent the last decade immersed in surfing and have evolved from a white-water rider to a competent natural footer who can get tubed, hit the lip and occasionally bust the fins. I'm only 25, so that gives me another four years of training, by which point I aim to have my air game down and my boards totally dialled. It will be extremely disappointing if the Olympic committee does not open surfing up to minnow nations that don't have a history…

Whenever the surfing is on I turn the volume down and commentate the heats. I’d really love to give the WSL commentary booth a go, but I’m just a bit too scared to send them in my video resume. How can I overcome my fear and knock Turpel off his perch? – Jacko Wacko, trying to infiltrate the WSL HQ is your first, of many, mistakes. Paul Speaker won't let down the drawbridge, and the moat is crawling with crocodiles, lawyers and endemic sponsor-based Mission Statements. And haven't you heard that it's the internet age dopey, and that every single person with a phone and Wi-Fi code can broadcast anything they goddamn want? If you rate yourself as the new Pottz, drop a clip of your golden tonsils describing a…

THIS YEAR THERE WERE FIVE CATEGORIES: WATER: Shooting from the water truly is one of the most challenging and rewarding disciplines in photography. There’s nowhere to hide and no bluffing it when you’re out amongst it, housing in hand. LAND: It takes a talented eye to capture a truly unique surf image with both feet firmly planted on the ground, and that’s what the Land category is all about. The best surf shot taken from terra firma. STOKE: How do you interpret that feeling that we as surfers all chase? That feeling of flying out of a tube, of standing up on your first wave, of running over the dunes to find the waves are pumping, of seeing a friend get the wave of their life – it’s stoke. LIFESTYLE:…

RUNNING MAN "During a month long stay on 'The Rock', a handfull of friends and I decided to chip in for a run down Jeep from Honolulu for $1K. The only catch was it would only kick to life with a good old fashion clutch start, resulting in many embarrassing push starts from the Pipe car park. Due to standard Jeep issues we arrived late to Pipe this day. That was when I captured 'The Running Man', named after the 80s cult dance. I never found out the identity of the guy in the shot, which is a bit of a bummer." 1ST RUNNER UP JORDAN MAXWELL ALWAYS HAPPY 2ND RUNNER UP MORGAN MAASSEN STEPHANIE GILMLIHE 3RD RUNNER UP RYAN MILLER CJ IN TAHITI 4TH RUNNER UP TREVOR MORAN THE…

Once the shock of Midget Farrelly’s death had passed – we knew he was battling a life-threatening illness but seemed to be winning – I resisted putting down my thoughts until I’d seen the avalanche of tributes that came from all kinds of obituarists, from those who had known him well to those who worshipped him but never knew him. It seemed there was not a lot left to say, but then I began to note the comments on the blog threads and news sites to the effect that this great champion’s passing was that much sadder because he had never been given appropriate recognition in his lifetime. It’s a popular line, trotted out from time to time, but it simply doesn’t weigh up with the facts. I think Midget’s…

ICELAND AIN "It's unusual to get eight days of sun in Iceland. It's even more unusual to get perfect offshore waves for eight days in a row. Having the two coincide is literally unheard of. I've been to Iceland 24 times and I've never seen such a long period of time with more perfect waves then this trip. you are normally constantly searching and driving around the island hoping for everything to line up. Here Dion Agius makes the most of a perfect Icelandic point." 1ST RUNNER UP ANDREW CHISHOLM OVER THE HILL 2ND RUNNER UP BRIAN BIELMANN STILL GOT IT 3RD RUNNER UP WOODY GOOCH MOROCCAN HIGHWAYS 4TH RUNNER UP TREVOR MORAN SHED SOME SPEED…

FROM THE VAULT - GERR VS. POTTZ The legendary altercation between Martin Potter and Brad Gerlach at the 1991 Marui Pro in Japan. Accounts differ wildly as to the cause, but it did involve splashing, board spearing and many heated words. The pair were also ejected from the surf and the heat cancelled. FOLLOW. @worldsurfboardingleague LISTEN - BAD BRAINS - SELF TITLED What do you get when you combine a bunch of religious Rastafarians, the legendary 80s hardcore punk scene and smooth reggae beats? The answer is Bad Brains and a good lesson in epic music. BEHIND PAGE ONE - DUNCAN MACFARLANE This was shot on the South Island of NZ, in a small town north of Dunedin called Kiritane. It was in a little corner behind a headland with…

Midget Farrelly had a dream for surfing and surfers. But it was derailed by the counterculture revolution of the late 60s. Midget went on to personally live out his own surfing ideal, an ideal, which is ironically shared by many surfers of the modern era; to pursue a clean and healthy lifestyle, while becoming an experienced waterman and mastering a variety of different disciplines. Many casualties of the ‘Tune in, turn on and drop out’ philosophy of the 60s and 70s fell by the wayside, while Midget continued to hold his course and stay true to himself and his beliefs, right until the very end. The media fawned over Midget when he became the very famous public face of surfing in the early 1960s by winning the Makaha competition in…

STANDING TALL "This is Francisco Porcella at Teahupo'o. That morning at Teahupo'o was unreal! Small but really west and glassy as hell. It had not been raining for quite a long time and the water could not be more clear. It was some rare conditions. Even thought water is always clear in Tahiti that day was next level. With the water being so clear and the ocean being so glassy, I couldn't resist and spent the whole morning shooting underwater. I came out with a bunch of amazing pictures form that morning. This one of Francisco probably describes best how good the conditions were." 1ST RUNNER UP RUSS ORD SEE THROUGH 2ND RUNNER UP WOODY GOOCH RASTA FLYING 3RD RUNNER UP TOM PEARSALL WHERE TO LAND? 4TH RUNNER UP MIKE…

In the end it was undisputed. Thousands of banging surf photos were entered from around the globe with competition tight for the four individual Salt categories. They were decided by popular vote but the big one, Photographer of the Year, was awarded by an expert judging panel who zeroed in one portfolio and one name: Duncan MacFarlane. If you’re unfamiliar with the name you’ll probably know his work: artistically composed, beautifully lit, photojournalistic-inspired. It’s dazzlingly good and frequently published. Duncan shoots it all - land, water, portraiture, action, lifestyle, fashion, travel – and all of it like it was his chosen niche. According to Pete Tarras, photo editor at Surfing: "Duncan's point of view gives us the real version of a life of the modern surfer… [His style] is off…