Great photo sequence. You can clearly see Greg wants to turn, but Garrett is fading, and leaves him nowhere to go. I don’t think there’s any doubt gmac is the cause of the problem here, but as far as blame, thats a different story. It does appear that Garrett is clueless about Greg’s presence behind him, and even the photog seems to have missed it at first.
Even Mark Healey said its hard to be aware of whats happening right next to you out in that environment. But he also allegedly said something to the effect “100 miles out and you still get faded”, referring apparently to the fact that gmac took off in front of Greg, who had priority, and then faded back boxing Greg in.
I am curious if the “jet-powered” nature of Garrett’s board was in any way a factor, some obviously think so. FWIW, it appears the jet assist may have been a help in getting gmac into the critical spot, but didn’t appear to be any help getting him out of it (he ate it too). Apparently Greg hit his board when he went down and it knocked the wind out of him on impact, followed by two more monster waves with no breath in between, and a safety vest that failed to inflate.
Thats a pretty hardcore group out on a day like that, 100 miles out at
sea, putting their lives on the line, so I have no doubt that they will
assess this situation and deal with it accordingly, regardless of what
the rest of us think. Right now all the people who were there, including Greg, seem to be wording their comments pretty carefully as regards blame. I’m gonna withold judgement and let the guys who were there in person decide according to their code.
Today you got it right, yesterday you had it backwards. The “thanks GMac” was sarcasm, and the kook reference was to Gmac.
Good link, it explains it pretty well, swells coming out of deep ocean water nothing slowing them down, then hitting a shallow submerged island 20 miles long, pretty scary situation out there in the middle of the ocean!
“I am curious if the “jet-powered” nature of Garrett’s board was in any way a factor, some obviously think so”
Except for him, every surfer out there is riding a premium big wave mega-gun custom shaped by one of the worlds best gunsmiths for exactly what they are riding.
Conversely, G is getting paid big $$ to ride and put into as many heavy waves as he can a factory produced motorized surfcraft that no big wave rider in their right mind would get near unless they were drawn in by the $$ incentives.
Looking at various footage of him riding these beasts in various big wave lineups, and the motorboats always seem overly tracky and poorly responsive compared to high performance guns.
So was G really fading, or just stuck tracking down the face?
bottom line - G chasing the $$, willing to put his life on the line to get paid, and due to his reckless behavior,other lives as well.
Saw footage of G spin his SUP mid face out towards the shoulder on a macker at Mavericks, attempt a take off, and get pitched, his SUP just mowing down the two riders who had taken off deep in the bowl and were just coming out of their extended turns. One got seriously banged up by the SUP, was picked up by a rescue sled and taken in.
“Sorry, didn’t see ya.”
Big waves have consequences enough without having to factor in a knucklehead on a motorboat.
Well, that is another perspective. Not the “jet powered” nature of the vehicle that was the issue per se, but the fact that it was an off-the-shelf design, ill-suited to the very unique nature of the big waves out there at Cortes. I hadn’t heard that before, nor was I aware of the SUP incident. Wonder if the SUP was a promotional situation involving a product that gmac was endorsing, as well.
Regardless, I would think that the incident would have a negative consequence for the ‘jet powered’ people, it certainly puts their product in an unfavorable light.
Product and marketing wins in the man vs machine capitalist society. You are the byproducts. I am a lone ranger. A toast? To Paul Bunyan! Down the hatch. xo
probably won’t stop sh*theads from buying them and motoring out to the lineup. I have yet to see someone paddle out with one, and am sure I won’t be happy when it happens
kinda like leashes…these things encourage people who have no business paddling out to do otherwise, and when their motor quits or their leash breaks, they are screwed and can’t swim worth a damn
nothing against leashes, but I feel they often are depended on way too much and provoke dangerous situations
Hmmm… I saw this after seeing the photos on surfline, and it looked to me like gmac kooked out on Greg L. big time, but that’s just me.
Looking at the motodrive shots from above it looks like gmac was unaware of Greg and, for what ever variety of reasons, didn’t initiate a turn towards the sholder…
I think the leash thing is a bad comparison - there are plenty of situations you really want to have one, and it has nothing to do with a surfers ability to swim. I mean, I’m guessing you’re one of the old school guys who rides peeling waves like Mala where leashes aren’t only un-necssary, but outlawed. I just recently broke my board on a more-than-double overhead wave in the bay this weekend. The currents and the moving water were so powerful you can be sure I was damn grateful I still had the broken half of my board to paddle in on or I would’ve surely been bashed on the rocks. Another guy snapped his board and caught his leash on the reef shortly after my incident and was not so lucky. He ended up having to remove his leash and swim in through the gnarly surf, took him about 45 min to get to shore and he nearly drowned - and the guy was an excellent swimmer.
Certain situations really require a leash. Saying that they’re prompt people who otherwise would have no business out there to surf is like saying seatbelts prompt people who have no business driving a car to take to the road
I think you got me wrong. I wear leashes about 10% of the time…it’s a personal preference to go without I guess and I have nothing against those who wear them frequently. thing that gets me is how many people cannot swim out of situations that they put themselves in so they rely on a 1/4" thick piece of plastic to keep themselves from certain death. I’ve seen many broken leashes, and the majority of people who end up losing their boards look like they are going to die… I’m not an oldtimer, nor am I opposed to leashes, it is just that i feel leashes have given sh*tty swimmers a weak safety net to depend on, and with out leashes, many people who have no business would quit the first time their board got beached.
As for the comparison… I in no way think the motorized surfboard will catch on like the leash, but some similarities that I see are that the motorized board will form bad habits amongst its users, promote overconfidence in situations that a weak swimmer should not place him/herself in, and endager the lives of its users when the equipment malfuncition. seatbelt analogy is poor in my opinion. don’t want to start a leash debate with my original post
I strongly disagree. it’s a very good comparison. The leash has allowed people to paddle out in conditions and spots they otherwise would stay away from. It also allows those with virtually no skill to blow a ride and get right back out where they can blow another wave. Furthermore, the leash has contributed to the decline of the fine art of kicking out. Unskilled dilletantes just jump off their board without even attempting to hold on to it. I have seen plenty of injuries caused by someone depending on their leash. Had they made an effort to kick out, or held on to their board, the other person would not have been struck.
Would you care to state which “situations” those are?
People surfed Waimea, Pipe, Sunset, Honolua, Haleiwa and whole lot more spots without a leash for ten years or more. There were no fewer injuries and drownings back then, and I dare say the numbers were lower. People who didn’t feel really confident in certain conditions didn’t paddle out. Not the case anymore. They trust their leash to make up for their lack of skill.
The only time I wear a leash is when the water and air are freezing cold (below 45) or at one or two spots that will eat my board if it washes in. On an average day at my local spot I will swim after my board less than twice in a three hour session. Also, there are times when strangers paddle out and remark about my lack of a leash. Usually, they try to sell some kind of “safety” BS to me. I tell them that 1) I know how to surf 2) I hold onto my board and 3) If they don’t like what I’m doing they can simply f**k off. Don’t come into my back yard and tell me how to act.
Can you tell this is a touchy subject for me?
If some of my older friends and including myself didn’t wear leashes we’d be at home more. That’s a certain situation where they’ll be more than happy to tell you to go plant yourself in the sand on the beach. I’ve been pummelled, way more than once for a three wave hold down. We’ve had 1" redwood 3 stringers snap like popsicle sticks at Makaha. I’ve swum in from outside more than I care to remember exactly, with limp leashes too. Experience and age has taught me to take my leash more often than I care to and if some of my older buds don’t bring one it better be a picture perfect day. A leash argument has no relevence to this particular incident unless Mac was trying to unravel it from his ankle so he could turn.
Dude, I advise you go start a kook cord thread. Or tell me how cool you look swimming for the board those two times a session. Second thought, fuhgetaboutit.