Halfway through the waiting period I’d just about given up on Bells, and if it didn’t improve beyond the dismal forecast, I wasn’t going to bother writing about it.
Well, hell’s Bells, the old girl not only delivered, she delivered a couple of the best performance days I’ve seen, either on the box or in person, since 1981. Of course, the best days rarely arrive for finals day at 3pm on a Sunday, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is the memory of when Huey shone his divine light on Bells Beach, and that was on Anzac Eve at Winki Pop and Anzac Day on the Bells Bowl.
Claimed by Swellnet’s dependably accurate Steve Shearer as “the best competition day of the year so far”, Thursday at Winki provided clean, long lines edging up to just overhead and began with the consistent Molly Picklum having a shocker against Luana Silva. Pickles opened with a typical flourish which almost went into the excellent range, then seemed to fall apart with bad judgement calls every set robbing her of a backup while LuLu cruised to the win and a quarter final berth.
It was a morning of surprises with the veteran Sally Fitzgibbons taking out ratings leader and reigning world champ Caity Simmers, Coolum’s Bella Nichols eliminating her rookie buddy and wunderkind Erin Brooks, and Hawaii’s BettyLou Sakura Johnson beating the out of form Caroline Marks.
In the men’s round of 32, Ethan Ewing looked like a bell-ringer all the way in a flawless victory over fellow Aussie Ryan Callinan, while wildcard Morgan Cibilic underlined his return to form by knocking out 2024 Bells champ Cole Houshmand and, in the nail biter of the day, Italy’s Leo Fioravanti took out Mexico’s Al Cleland Jr with a buzzer beater.
Anzac Day revealed a pumping swell at the Bells bowl and conditions which varied through the day from quirky to sublime. At times in the afternoon, with sunlight streaming from the edge of a leaden sky, it looked almost supernatural, like a Barrie Sutherland lineup shot I have on my wall. But the day began with local trials winner Xavier Huxtable smashing an out of sorts men’s ratings leader Italo Ferreira, and California’s Jake Marshall producing career-best surfing to eliminate Joao Chianca and Felipe Toledo to look dangerous in knocking out Aussie rookie George Pittar.
Into the round of 16, and Ethan Ewing did it again with a near perfect heat score to defeat a rampaging Connor O’Leary, while Morgan Cibilic continued his magic run to knock out Fioravanti.
The magic spell over Bells had to end, and on Saturday we had strong onshores, squalls and lumpy, bumpy sets. But there were sets, and more predicted. In the concluding heats of the round of 16, Jake Marshall continued his dream run to dispatch Yago Dora and Jack Robinson ended Toledo’s with another classy performance.
In the women’s quarters the biggest surprise was Bella Nichols’ elimination of the form surfer of the tour this year, Gabby Bryan, while in the men’s, Kanoa Igarashi produced similar shock waves in taking out Ethan Ewing, the best surfer of the event to that point, but couldn’t find the rhythm.
Finals Sunday was bigger again and just as washy. It didn’t look like fun, but there were some diamonds in the rough if you could pick them. And after a slow start, Bella Nichols did, taking out Tyler Wright in the semis and Luana Silva in the final for her first and well-deserved bell.
The men got down to Cibilic falling to Igarashi and Jack Robbo taking out Griffin Colapinto in the semis, and Robbo’s cool, calm approach and wave smarts seeing him home against Kanoa in a rough, tough final.
As the tour moves to the Gold Coast next week, Jack Robbo sits comfortably in third place on the men’s rankings behind Italo and Ethan, while Bella has moved up to fourth in the women’s behind Molly. The remaining two events of the Oz season are going to be vital.
Tim Bain wins Ma and Pa
Meanwhile, on the Sunny Coast, Sunshine Beach shredder Tim Bain took home the big Easter egg at the 51st running of the Pa and Ma Bendall Memorial, held in lively conditions at its ancestral birthplace of Moffats.
For Tim, who turned 20 earlier in the year and has been a heavy hitter for Noosa Boardriders Club since his early teens, his $2000 win in the pro men’s open is the biggest win of his career, topping his victory at the 2022 Rip Curl GromSearch. He currently sits at #44 on the WSL Qualifying Series rankings, but watch this space.
