Tahiti & the World Title for 2016

So a friend asked me the other day if I’d seen the forecast for Tahiti? Tahiti I thought, I’m not even sure who won the last event or what the last WSL event was??? I’ve been busy of late and if I wasn’t working or surfing I’d been sorting out life stuff. And If I’m totally honest watching live surf events, or keeping up to date with who’s leading the rankings and surfing well has been well of my radar.

So look I did, and the forecast seems promising, I always hope the Tahiti event will get decent swell, it's nice to see the top guys getting some serious tube time in heavy barrels. It looks like Monday may be the day to tune in.

So the low down so far...

Kelly isn’t doing so well, currently sitting 19th, he didn’t fair well in the first 3 events (probably concentrating on his next venture, gods knows what that will be, taking over the WSL no doubt). Though after skipping Rio he seems to have found some form, I’m sure he’ll post a good performance here.

Wilko is topping the leader board, it would appear he’s been surfing consistently well especially in front of home crowds.

John John is close in 2nd and coming into some good form of late, could be a contender here and a strong contender for the title if he keeps up this kind of consistency.

Gabriel’s hot on John John’s heels he’s hungry as ever to win and claim at all costs.

Mick is in contention sitting in 5th and he’s not even competing this year, or is he? He appears to have only surfed the events he wants and doing quite well at it, if he did a 2 or 3 more events and won them would he win the title? Food for thought, mathematically improbable?

Most of the other guys are round about where you’d expected them to be except for the surprise Italian sitting in 30th? Seems fishy……Leonardo Fioravanti, I will have to investigate this fellow!!

My money is on Slater winning if the conditions get heavy. Let's find out what fellow Surf Bunker contributor and founder James has to say on the Tahiti Pro.

SB: Hey James, how’s things? Been getting any good waves recently?

James: Summer is not a great time for waves and no crowds in Europe Rich, but I have been finding a few corners here and there. We have been getting a few solid (ish) pulses giving us a taste of the autumn swells on the way we hope.

SB: What do you think of the forecast for Tahiti? Could things get tasty?

James: It is THE event that we want the swell to show up for. I mean ideally for all the events, but there really is nothing better than watching the guys take on serious Tahiti. To answer you Rich, we will all be praying and whilst Monday looks like the bump to me, it still is not looking monstrous. That's what we want. Dirty. Heavy and dangerous.

SB: What captivates you about this event and makes you tune in?

As I have just said, it needs to be a good size to be exciting, there is nothing worse than seeing someone go to turns on this wave. No doubt the Medina will try an air just because its him but it really is all about the barrel here.

The attractiveness comes from the commitment you need on this wave, it is more like a hole in the ocean and in fact (to get geeky) I believe it is not classified as a wave but as something called a ‘Hydra’. I will let you look that up instead of boring you.

Its a difficult one for us in Europe to watch as you can watch about 4-5 heats of the day before bedtime if you want to get up for a surf in the morning, it will need to be amazing to keep me up.

SB: Who do you think could win the event based on what you’ve said about the forecast?

James : I've seen what others have said about this, I reckon you should forget Kelly. I am a massive fan but until he sorts out his funk and maybe sells some more SD surfboards there will be no podium finish there. He has lost his mojo and might make the quarters, that's it.

You mentioned Leonardo earlier, I would watch out for this kid to impress here, also Julian, Jordy and of course the infamous and defending champ Jeremy Flores.

SB: What about the wild card Bruno Santos, you reckon he could cause an upset again this year?

James: Yep, he is always dangerous, he seems to have a natural rhythm out there and let's not forget he beat Kelly here in 2010 and went on to take out the event. He's mega dangerous and needs to be stopped early.

SB: Who’s you money on for the title?

James: Haha, the magic question. With such a year, who really knows, you would need a crystal ball to figure this one out. Say who ever you want?

Anything can happen on the European leg which will set things up for a Pipe finish. That's my prediction, down to the wire at Pipe again. Not Matt Wilkinson, I will say that definitely and I don't think it will be a Brazilian either.

I can tell you the next person I want to win the title just to watch the speech and that would be Mason Ho. Of course he has to qualify for the tour first. Watch Mason's interview after Pipe.

Amazing and come on Mason!!!