After a Covid-enforced break for a couple of years, the world’s most opulent surfing event was back on in the Maldives in late August, thanks to the generosity of the Four Seasons Resort and the organisational skills of Noosa’s own Ross Phillips, chief executive officer of Tropicsurf.
The Four Seasons Challenge is an invitational event in which six chosen world class surfers get an all-expenses paid trip with partner to the luxurious resort on Male Atoll for a week of eating, drinking, decadent massages and lounging by the pool, plus the odd ride out to the reef on the Four Seasons Explorer to do a bit of competitive surfing.
Oh boy, do the serious surf media people have a field day with this one, lux being a word that pops up in most reports.
But you won’t find me canning it, no sirree.
Look, I’ve been to the Maldives a few times, I’ve explored the atolls on the boat and I’ve had lunch at the resort, so I’m not complaining, but I’ve always wanted to attend the Challenge and despite years of pitiful pleading and grovelling, never have. This year would have been a good one to be at, too, featuring the core members of the Momentum Generation, who are closer in age to me than most surfers on tour, and include a couple of old mates.
For the couple of years at the turn of the century when we house-sat a mansion on the Bidart slopes overlooking the Bay of Biscay for Quiksilver Europe boss Harry Hodge, the Momentum Generation used to come and stay in the big house for the duration of the European contest season while we were on the other side of the pool in the guest bungalow.
Kelly Slater, Shane Dorian and Taylor Knox were among the regulars.
I was at a meeting in London one day when I got a call from Slater.
“Phil, do you know where Taylor is? I just got home and I can’t find him.”
I replied: “I’m in London, Kel, but if you walk around the estate calling his name, you’ll probably find him.”
Kelly didn’t seem amused.
But I digress. In the Maldives a week or so ago, it was the GOAT, fresh from a pretty good showing in Tahiti and, surprisingly, experiencing the Maldives for the first time, up against Knox, Dorian, Rob Machado and Ross Williams, plus local wildcard Iboo, on singles, twins and thrusters. A few of my all-time favourite surfers right there.
A couple of them might have packed on the pounds even before attacking the infamous Four Seasons buffet, but what the hey.
From the vision I’ve seen, they were all still more than capable of smacking a lip or tucking into a barrel, particularly in a deal like this, where the pressure is off, the water is clear, warm and inviting and the waves are nothing but fun.
If you’re interested in the results, and none of the competitors seemed to be, accept Kelly who can’t help himself, Slater won the single fin, Dorian the twin and Slater again in the three-fin, giving him overall bragging rights, like Kelly needs them.
I trolled through the highlight reels and didn’t see much of Iboo, the local, but what I saw was pure class. Hitting the lip backside at his home break, big smile on his dial. He’s the real winner.
Finals forecast – who knows?
Today (9 September here but 8 in California) is the opening day of the wait period for the one-day WSL Finals series at Lower Trestles, so it may all be over and done with by the time you read this, but assuming that’s not the case, let’s take a quick look at the swell forecast, five days out on Father’s Day.
And the forecast is… no one knows. Seriously. There’s a pretty good south groundswell below Tahiti that should be hitting the SoCal coast right about now, creating long interval waves in the shoulder to head-high range for the first couple of days. If you’re old and slow like the author, you might think this is just about perfect Lowers, but the world’s best might be looking for a bit more meat.
They might not get it though. As I write, the WSL is talking about the strong likelihood of running on one of the first two days, and what I can see from all available forecast sources is a building swell with light onshores on opening Thursday, then shoulder to head-high and strong offshores on the second day, Friday 9 (our Saturday) with a slightly bigger pulse Saturday with glassy to light onshores, depending on who you believe. A betting man might chance it for overhead glass on the third day, but the WSL is not a betting man.
My call is they’ll run their Friday, our Saturday, and in those conditions, I’m calling it Fil Toledo and Carissa Moore. I know, boring.
