Back in California last week we drove up to Santa Cruz where I had planning meetings with the World Surfing Reserves executive for Noosa’s dedication as the tenth World Surfing Reserve next February.
I hadn’t been to Santa Cruz for more than 20 years, when Jeff Hakman and I did a memorable West Coast book tour for Mr Sunset, covering every surf town between San Diego and San Francisco, but it was great to see that the town’s rough-around-the edges charm hasn’t faded. Santa Cruz is one of those American coastal resorts where they’ve turned a perfectly fine bay into a rather garish amusement park, but if you can overlook the roller coasters and the hot dog stands, there’s a lot to like.
The constant soundtrack of barking seals might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I rather like hearing them loving life, and lolling around on the platform built for them under the pier. And then of course, just up West Cliff Drive you’ve got the world class wave of Steamer Lane, and inside its bowling right there is the friendlier longboard setup of Cowell’s Beach. Just down the other end of the bay is my favourite of Santa Cruz’s many surf breaks – Pleasure Point.
On this occasion there wasn’t a lot of time for surfing as I had a full day of meeting’s with the WSR, which is headquartered not in Santa Cruz itself but a dozen miles further north up the dramatic coast along Highway 1 at a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it town called Davenport. I did blink and I ended up having to seek directions at a jam factory further north, but eventually I found World Surfing Reserves and the global headquarters of the Save The Waves Coalition in a repurposed 80-year-old fruit juice factory nestled against the cliffs and looking out over a wild and woolly lineup.
From this base CEO Nik Strong-Cvetich and his small team – including recent hire Trent Hodges, who will be guiding our Noosa team through the final stages of our stewardship plan – manage not only the existing WSRs but also the 100 or so applicants from around the world now on file. In addition to this, the sister NGO Save The Waves works at protecting coastal ecosystems around the world in partnership with local communities, utilizing a unique combination of protected areas, economics, and direct action.
The direct economic benefits of having a world class surf break in your community (known as “surfonomics”) has given Nik and his team leverage to achieve good outcomes in many places where a majority of non-surfing residents were not even fully aware of their blessings. In Noosa, a town that grew on the back of its surfing potential, most people are aware of what we have, but Noosa World Surfing Reserve’s Professor Javier Leon has been working for several months on documenting the economic benefit as part of our stewardship plan, and the results will startle a lot of people.
Steph’s perfect day
Back home in Australia last weekend, I was with Layne Beachley and Kirk Pengilly at the Captain Cook Festival at Town of 1770 when the news came through from Bali that the amazing Steph Gilmore had chalked up her 30th world tour victory with a perfect 10 in pumping waves at Keramas.
As soon as Layne had finished giving a motivational talk, I told her that Steph had pipped her record 29 career victories. Few surfers have ever been more competitive than Layne, so it took her about 30 seconds – one for every one of Steph’s wins – to digest this, then she said: “Good on her, Steph is amazing.”
And Steph is also now on top of the leaderboard with a good chance of passing Layne’s record seven world titles this season. But Layne is philosophical about that too, and there is a catch. Last September in the Azores Islands Layne won the WSL world masters’ championships, which is recognised as an official professional world title. So technically Layne still has the edge.
The performances last Saturday at the Corona Bali protected were nothing short of amazing. While it was wonderful to see the sublimely talented Kanoa Igarashi claim a maiden tour victory for Japan, I felt a bit sorry for France’s Jeremy Flores, whose career I’ve been following since he was a 10 year old cutie who would greet you with a kiss on both cheeks. He’s had some ups and downs in his pro career, but right now he’s at the very top of his game, and I thought his power gouges in the pocket in double-overhead waves could have been rewarded a little better.
And what can you say about 47-year-old Kelly Slater, who surfed so brilliantly to dispense with Filipe Toledo but couldn’t find an exit from his barrels against Igarashi. As we watched the replay of the Toledo quarter final, 47-year-old Layne Beachley said: “He’s never going to give up, is he!”
If his performance at Keramas is a guideline, I certainly hope not.
