Tracks November 2015

At face value their portfolios look very similar. Both are revered shapers and goofy foot tube aficionados who became icons of the 70s and 80s. Similarly, they each ascended to guru status at two of the world's preeminent waves. Lopez will always be the messiah of Pipeline, but close observers generally give Grub McCabe the nod as The Lord of the Jungle in G-land. Despite the similarities in their respective resumes and their shared experiences at G-land, Lopez and McCabe took very different paths in life. Gerry has always had the aura of the whispering Zen master who elevated himself to a higher plane of consciousness through his pursuit of yoga, healthy food and the art of graceful wave sliding. With the benefit of slick US marketing Gerry became a…

“We call it the pie hunt,” begins Kai Otton as he explains the events leading up to this wave a few clicks south of his northern beaches abode. “I won’t surf in Sydney that much at all but instead save it up for a little strike mission north or south and just live off coffee and pies for three days.” Hailing from Tathra on the sapphire end of the south coast, Ottz grew up on a stable diet of bakery treats and heavy water. So when the whiff of a fresh south swell was on the horizon he was the first to be marshalling the troops at dawn. “You know you're in for a good laugh and some serious sunburn on these trips,” says faithful lensman Troy Simpson who was…

Teahupoo didn't deliver for three-time world champ Mick Fanning, in either wave quality or result. After his shock round 3 loss to Aritz Aranburu, he decided to jump on an early flight home. Roughly eight hours later, Mick arrived back in his hometown of Coolangatta with an unusually clear schedule, small waves and a lot of unused Tahitian adrenaline onboard. That's when his phone rang. On the other end of the line was good friend and Maroubra madman Mark Mathews, who'd seen something stirring in the Southern Ocean off Tasmania and was enquiring if Mick wanted to join him to chase a piece of it. "I was just hanging at home after getting knocked early in Tahiti," explains Mick. "I've talked with Mark in the past about chasing a swell…

It's an issue that has people divided and politicians vexed – how to resolve the Northern NSW shark problem ? Tracks recently hit the road and travelled to Lennox Head and Ballina to speak to members of the community about the recent spate of shark attacks in the area. There have been five shark attacks since February – one fatal – along with numerous incidents that have remained unreported and have been shared anecdotally around the community. The short documentary gauges the impact of events on North Coast communities and considers some of the proposed alternatives. The Fatal Coast features varied and different views and opinions from a broad cross-section of spokespersons including, professional surfer, Adam Melling, Ballina Mayor, David Wright, Southern Cross University Marine Biologist, Doctor Daniel Bucher, Air…

If you put a pair of speed dealers on 14-year-old grommet Mikey McDonagh and threw him on a narrow 6'2 with a toxic purple spray, you'd be forgiven for thinking you were watching Mick Fanning, circa-99. And much like the three-time World Champ, this Lennox Head grommet has been nabbing wins since he was 11-years-old. However, similarities like this get made every time a new kid comes through the ranks, and Mikey wants to be known as more than Mick's doppelganger anyway. He wants be known for his own list of skillsets and achievements; which at the moment is growing rapidly. Check the results: 1st at the 2015 Skullcandy, 1st in the 2015 Occy, 1st at the 2015 NRMA Schools Titles, 2nd at the 2014 Aussie Juniors … you get…

While down here in the land of Oz we complain about a short-lived cold current brought in by a north-easterly wind on an otherwise pristine autumn day, people are surfing in onshore slop, in 13 degree water wearing 6'5' wetties, hoods and booties in southern Finland. Surfing has spread to the most unlikely nations, from Dubai's wave pool, to Munich's standing river wave in the man-made Eisbach River, and even to swell-blocked and ice-clad Finland. A few years ago I stumbled upon the Finnish Surfing Championships (yes they have their own yearly national comp) taking place in south-west France. Being from a Finnish background myself – and lucky enough to hold a dual passport – I found myself strangely eligible to enter. No doubt the women in my division thought…