Brazil had literally stopped to watch the final moments of the decisive race of the Formula One season while Bede Dubridge ignored Jeremy Flores in the Hang Loose final at Praia da Vila.

All eyes and ears were glued on the dispute between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa, including the ones in the scaffolding, and Massa guaranteed his sixth victory and hoped than Lewis would place no better than sixth.

With three laps to go, the universe conspired for Brazilian’s success, Massa awaited the checkered flag at the front, while Hamilton was over taken and bitterly held the sixth position.

Meanwhile, with ten minutes on to the final heat, Bede had closed the deal, with a 8.33 and a 9.43.  Of course Jeremy (allez Mimi!) had beaten that score twice during the event (in the quarters and on the 3rd round) but against Bede, the man who never trembles, the man who makes few mistakes and has the luck on his side as a mascot, against Bede there was nothing Flores could do.

In Formula One, only a few seconds separated Massa from a champion’s eternal glory, a mere few seconds...

That’s when it all happened

Massa took the flag, people on the beach threw their caps up, celebrating, cheering... And Hamilton in sixth, wait!  Hamilton takes advantage of a bad move by Timo Glock and overtook him gaining the fifth position and conquering the world title.

- Shit!

I remembered Chris Munro straight away: the Brazilian event shouldn’t even exist, at least on the paper, he says.

Well some say it’s exactly on the paper that it should exist in reference to easy drugs sold in papers here in Brazil. If it wasn’t for the Brazilian leg, what would become of the average surfers who, depending on a good placing at Pipe, would be lost?

Like, for example Ben Bourgeois, Jordy Smith, Dayan Neve, or Timmy Reyes (did you see the wave he surfed last year at Off The Wall?).

Where else would two Frenchmen make a semi final?

Not in France, with that unbridled passion for foreign surfer, not in Australia with their overoptimistic patriotism and specially not in the US, with Americans still upset with the fact that the French didn’t support Iraq's invasion.

It’s in Brazil also that the Top 45 have the chance to curse in English and and praise in Portuguese.

In English, Brazil today is synonymous to crappy waves, tendentious judgment and rowdy crowd.

In Portuguese, it’s a beautiful country, with wonderful people (girls) and not-so-bad waves.

Slater became world champion twice here.  Occy, Fanning and Sunny also ended hard dreamy years here in Brazil.

Taylor Knox, the rail master, has his only victory here, super talented Kalani Rob also.

Brazil has been the land of Taj, now it belongs to Bede.

After the prize ceremony, BD approved the crowd’s roar and jumped into his fans arms with a can of beer in hand.

Bede is a good guy, in his blog he confesses he’s startled with the absence of so many top surfers in the Brazilian event and says that it never went through his head missing the chance of competing – and winning an event.

This guys lucidity is moving.

by Julio Adler

A Cup For Taj

Did Raoni get through?

He was up against Taj, man...

I heard the above dialog while passing through the press area in the Hang Loose scaffolding. The answer was so firm that sounded like the the result was as certain as death.

It's not quite like that.  Raoni when focused and determined is a phenomenal surfer, with much more "volume" on the wave and power than Taj.

This time though Raoni was lost in the heat. Taj surfed in a devastating way, reminding us of the Taj we considered destined to be a World Champion, way back in the late 90s, still in the WQS trying his luck.

Something happened and prevented him from achieving our wish and his dream.  The long haired and witty boy from Western Australia, trained by ex competitor Mitch Thorson; who flew, span around and was so precocious that allowed himself to decline a place conquered in the WCT because he wanted to finish his studies and though he was too immature to join the fight in the top 45.

Twice runner up, Taj was always close to achieving definite glory, 2nd (98 and 2007), 3rd (2003), 4th (2006 and 2002), 6th (2004 and 2000), 7th (2005)... Almost.

Almost, like Horn and Elkerton.

What motivates a guy to come to Brazil with the title already decided and without the presence of his greatest rivals on the Tour?

No Slater, Parko, Andy or Mick.  Not even Bobby or Dingo.

The question was made:  I want to win an event.  In Trestles they didn’t let me win, though I know I did.

I love to come to Brazil, said Taj to Bruno Bocayuva from the Woohoo Channel, one of the few journalists able to formulate an intelligent question without the aid of someone else.

At the other end of the ranking , Dan Ross finally reached an eighth of a final, taking out Chris Ward; and in the battle of the Micks, Pikon had the better over Campbell.

Bede Dubridge, unwavering, beat Alejo Muniz in a heat that seams to repeat itself, Bede surfs the best waves, Bede doesn’t make any mistakes, Bede wins – but doesn’t impress.

BD is the current version of Damian Hardman, a guy who’s cold and maintains his calmness under pressure, with almost studied moves and a good technique.

If they don’t open their eyes, the top 5 will have to get used to the company of Bede for some time.

In the tenth heat, as we say in football, a six point match.  Damien Hobgood, 30th and Tiago Pires 31st in the ranking, both needing urgently a good result to guarantee a place in 2009 (Tiago is almost in through the WQS), battled it out in a warm heat until the end when Tiago woke up and gave Damien a run for his money in what looked like an easy victory.

The judgement didn’t favour the Portuguese very much and he’ll be going to Hawaii chasing a good result at Pipe.

Talking about the judgement and its incredible elastic criteria, they really tried but nothing could take Bernardo Pigmeu’s win over Taylor Knox.

Once again the invitee’s wave evaluation was modest compared to the WCT member.  Marco Polo buried Kai Otton’s chance to leave Brazil in the top 10 and Leo Neves sent Jordy Smith home with chances of not qualifying for the WCT, depending on a good result at Pipe and hoping that backdoor breaks perfectly – or that Campbell, Powers, Pikon, Dingo, Alves, Damien and Pires fail.

Tomorrow, to our disappointment, Leo and Polo are up against each other on the first heat. It would be good if the Brazilians didn’t have to face each other before the eight of a final, on the other hand, it guarantees a Brazilian in the quarters.

by Julio Adler

I'm not sure, but the impression I have is that Ricky Basnett goes into the history of the ASP as the first surfer to not make it through a single heat  in the season.

Heitor Alves was the man responsible for Basnett's massacre yesterday, in waves completely blown by the powerful and cold southern wind.  Heitor is one of the most respected surfers on the tour today, serious and concentrated, he's admired for his excellent form, creativity and speed in
the water.  Some point him, with some exaggeration, as the best Brazilian to ever hit the WCT.

The fact is, with waves like that, Heitor is one of the favourites.  In the most exciting moment of the day, Pedro Henrique made Jordy Smith sweat his jersey with a modern and electrifying surf, just the South African's weapon.

Pedro made the beach stand with aerials and tail kicks on set waves while Jordy chose the worst waves and did what he could (and sometimes what he couldn't).

The judges, judging the weight it would have in Jordy's career a loss like that, another 33rd, the third in his so awaited debut year on the tour, made all efforts possible to interpret Smith's wave with almost unbearable benevolence.  Almost, because Jordy can pull some incredible moves in shitty waves, like a huge aerial that scored him close to eight.

Pedro had his waves judged like any wild card, always a tad under a Top's score, after all, says the judge's collective consciousness, wild cards are wild cards.

by Julio Adler

Look how certain decisions can be highly costly to someone. Kieren Perrow is the top 45's representative to decide if conditions are decent enough for a WCT event.

Kieren, together with head judge Perry Hatchet and event director (here at Imbituba, the ex ASP judge Renato Hickel) decide if conditions are  good enough for a nice day of competition and on Wednesday, with good waves, way better than in France and the first day at Mundaka, Xandi was beaten by the aussies.  It's probable that Kieren didn't want to compete in the first place and didn't find it hard to convince Perry. 

The result: we didn't have competition on Wednesday, 3-4 feet, offshore, lined up.  Today, Friday, almost the same size, messy, Kieren fell victim to Jano Belo, a specialist in conditions like these.  Kieren holds the fourteenth position on the ranking and looked to place higher here in Brazil to achieve the top ten and arrive at the Pipemasters easy for next year. 

I'll explain: in 2009, the top ten will have their comfortable positions unaltered while the six other components of the top 16 will see their positions vary according to their results. 

That means that the top ten just wait with their arms crossed while the "commoners" struggle it out down there.  Now excuse me because Fabio Gouveia has just hit the water against Timmy Reyes (another one with a rope around his neck). The day will be full of surprises...

by Julio Adler

The second edition of the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro, the Brazilian leg of the WCT, has just kicked off.  There were twenty Brazilians on the first round, of which only five got through to the third round – the others will face the reppercharge.

 Marco Polo, Marcio Farney, Bernardo Miranda, Hizunomê Bettero and Leo Neves were the Brazilian surfers who got through to the third round.  I liked to see Hizu in the heat.  He had the attitude and felt the taste of what could be his reality next year, in case he confirms his qualification after the Hawaiian QS events.

In the reppercharge all Brazilians are up against foreigners.  Let’s see what happens and hope the Brazilians do well.  One heat that caught my attention was Jordy Smith’s, one of this year’s attraction.  He was winning his heat with a 9.5 and a 7.67.

At the end of the heat he committed a childish interference disputing a wave against Aritz Aramburu and, not happy enough, he commited another interference against Simão Romão.  Ending with whatever chances he had of advancing directly to the third round.  Jordy joined the WCT with promises of great performances and with one of the best contracts in the world nowadays. 

However, on this first year he didn’t achieve great performances and his ranking position is not too comfortable.  At the moment he’s on the 22nd position and a good result here would be of great importance for him to stay at the elite.  The South African doesn’t have enough points to qualify through the WQS.

As it is known, most of the top WCT surfers didn’t make it to Brazil.  Many of them alleging injury problems. Watching the first round heats I started thinking about the absence of so many top surfers.

I began to imagine the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament without the presence of the top players, or the Formula One without 30% the top drivers.  Do you think this kind of thing happens in these sports?

If it doesn’t, what’s the reason?  Could it be the money involved?  Could it be the heavy fines to punish these attitudes, or maybe there’s more professionalism in them and the entity that guides them.

The nine-time champion Kelly Slater, the great phenomena of our sport, didn’t come either.  With all his history, it’s hard to understand this attitude.  Coming from an ordinary surfer would be easy to understand but from Kelly – who knows what’s going on and certainly knows the difference between an event with or without his presence, and he weight of his name.

I know about all the fatigue and how he must be fed up with so many events, but if he’s still there chasing world titles he should attend all WCT events.

Would this be a protest by the surfers because of the prize money?  Kelly’s presence would be important for him, his sponsors, the Brazilian surf market, and mainly to the fans he conquered in Brazil along his career.

Last year, when Taj, Kelly and Mick were still fighting for the title, they were all here.  This year the title has already been decided...  I’ll place a question: What kind of commitment do the surfers have with the ASP and their sponsors?

Do you think that behaving this way they’re going to get higher payments?  What do marketing managers of great companies (outside of surfing) think when they see the elite and the greatest icon of the sport not attending an event of the WCT?

See you guys.

by Paulo Kid

It’s crazy all these absences from the Brazilian WCT this year.  The heat sheet changed about four times!  An in one of these it almost f*cks me up, because the last time I saw it on the internet my heat was due Monday afternoon.

Soon after, there was another change.  On the way to Vila, I got a call from David Husadel, ex pro and one of the organisers, saying that my heat (that before was the third of the day) had changed and would open the contention.  In a couple of jumps, one to get out of the car and the other to get in the water, there I was battling it out against Taylor Knox and Ben Bourgeois.

The guys surf really good, showing they’re on the WCT roll.  I was lost in the heat, didn’t connect with the sets and had the wrong board, I “made it” to the reppercharge.  But in this heat I absorbed the mistakes to make it through the next one.  The wave at Vila is hard because it is at the same time fat but with quite some volume.  The board I used was a bit narrow.

The nose diameter didn’t help me scale the lip.  Next time I’ll use a wider one, for sure, so I can take advantage of the speed.  Yesterday many electrifying disputes went on, with five Brazilians winning their heats and Jordy Smith committing two interferences after scoring a 9.5

In the first one I thought: Well the guy is winning by far and must be good in Maths, because even with the interference he was still ahead.  In the second one I thought: Shit, now I think he made a Mathematical mistake, he’s in agony, doesn’t care or he’s crazy because with the second interference he went from first to third.

Arritz “Jaburu” won, with Simão Romão in second.  Today I dawned in the line up, together with my son Ian and Pedro Husadel, David’s son.  Even advancing to the third round, Mick Campbell was in the water training.  The sets were sparse but the bigger ones had about 3-4 feet.  I asked Campbell what he thought and he said it was surfable.  But, we had to wait for the eight o’clock call.

To resume it all, there were many competitors training and just “going for it”, but the decision was that the event was postponed and would possibly skip a day (Thursday), since strong winds were predicted for tomorrow.  Well, at least the forecast for Friday is good.  Then, the contest will fire up.

by Fábio Gouveia

The day could be resumed in a manoeuvre by Raoni Monteiro, he flew high, violently, controlled. Bede Dubridge, the man in fourth place in the ranking and who not so long ago was biting Slater's heels (well... Let's not exaggerate), the white Fijian had just surfed a right-hander with maestri, applying his moves with the usual precision and finalizing with an aerial.
Nine points.

By that time, the heat was settled.  Damian Hobgood, who's not in a good situation on the WCT, lead with certain ease.  Raoni and Bede needed a low score, less than seven. With his nine, Bede not only took the lead but also put some pressure on the other competitors.  Raoni chose the worst wave possible, fat, with no wall, no possibility of the high score he needed.

The first manoeuvre was a bit crude, a turn to speed up... And speed was urgently needed, the wave ran away from him and he chased it, and chased it, and chased it and "pow".
Up he went!

Once up there, Raoni grabbed his board with care, using both hands, span almost all around his axis and landed dry, perfectly - punch in the air.

Eight points.
One manoeuvre.
Eight points.   

Bede had done about five manoeuvres, all beautiful, well executed, even with a certain risk with the aerial in the end, and even with all that, four or five big manoeuvres (why not?), he scored just one point more than Raoni with his one manoeuvre.
Think about it.

by Julio Adler

The scaffolding at Praia da Vila is ready and all we need is for “Zimba” to show all its potencial (let last year’s waves come again!!) so the best surfers in the world can give their show.  Yeah, as it is known, many gave up on the competition, including nine times world champion Slater.

The way is now clear for surfers who need to better their positions in the ratings and won’t need to face the “monster” Slater, as well as the always dangerous Fanning, Parko, Andy, and Bruce... Adriano de Souza is in fifth and can take an important step towards a result that Brazil hasn’t seen for a long time (Victor Ribas was third in the world in 1999; and Fabio Gouveia fifth in 1992). 

Fabio, always ready, received an invitation and, at 39, enters the field to reencounter many of his old “partners” on the Tour (Taylor Knox, the Hobgood brothers, Michael Campbell, etc.) and face the new genaration lead by Adriano and Daney Reynolds. 

In this blog, apart from me, Julio Adler, Paulo Kid and Fabio Gouveia, share their thoughts and opinions about the Brazilian leg of the WCT with internet surfers around the world.  The “T bone“ at a click. I hope you like it, comment it and take part in it. It was thought and structured to gather first class content. 

Surfers profiles, promos, photo gallery, news, videos and podcasts.  While the event doesn’t start, I’ll post some old time photos related to the Hang Loose Pro Contest.

Keep in touch!

by Nancy Geringer