• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

31/07/2009

Riding waves in Japan is about timing, speed and making music. The hottest contest longboarders surf right in the pocket, just off the beat to make things interesting. Syncopated surfing is not about stating the obvious, but pulling off the unexpected through improvisation. Necessary silences are suddenly punctuated by perfectly timed clusters of notes as vertical turns, or a single shimmering note suspended in space by walking to the nose, and hanging ten, creating intense space. A fresh four foot swell was ringing out a melody against a bottom bass at Long Beach, Tahara, today. A winner would be sealed in the long raking lefts – back to back action offered a gruelling day for surfers, organisers and judges. Phil Rajzman, Taylor Jensen, Harley Ingelby, Bryce Young, Colin McPhillips and Alexis Deniel sang their way to victory in the closing heats of round one. Sunlight pierced through the smoky sky for round 2, and an offshore wind organised the loose threads of sets. Eduardo Bage, Duane deSoto, Keegan Edwards, Bonga Perkins, Antoine Delpero, Phil Rajzman, Harley Ingelby and Colin McPhillips hit the right notes to join the band in the quarter finals.

The audience was wringing out sweat for the quarters and semis under a heron-blue sky as the day turned sultry and the wind died. The long, sinuous waves picked up in size with the tide and the beat intensified. Duane and Bonga drummed out Eduardo and Keegan to meet in a killer semi final. A solid opening pennant-shaped wall swept in, pulled on a green skin that split at its ridge, and Duane took off to savour the wave’s raw meat. He landed two huge off-the-lips as if at the eye of a storm, in a still patch of ocean, the movie reel flicking over, the screen gone white, and advanced to the final in spectacular form. Despite their excellence, Antoine and Colin lost in the quarters, as Phil and Harley progressed to the second semi. Harley’s long rides were filled by snappy moves that left the faces with watermarks. His cat-like agility showing exquisite timing and torque would reach perfect pitch in the final.

The sea was veined with greens and pale blues for the deciding final. The music was hot. Harley smacked rim-shots as the lip cracked down the line, like a drummer suddenly moving into double time. Duane charged back into centre stage, racing up the faces in honking solos, cutting back and hitting the nose with poise. Harley unpacked his cymbals once more, splashing them with rapid footwork, a hang ten, cracks to fraying lips, hooking back and finally hitting the sand as a final flourish on the snare drum and first place. The solos were over. Both Harley and Duane played the waves rail to rail, footstep to footstep, and pulled off explosive, committed surfing and improvised brilliant music against the Japanese sea-score. It was a pleasure to watch and listen to the performances. Hearty congratulations to number 1 and 2 on the 2009 Oxbow WLT.

For more information, photos and live webcast log on: www.oxbowpro.com