several months, maybe a couple years, ago, there was an article by miki dora in a surfers journal about his idea of a surfing contest. its probably the best idea for a surfing contest i have ever heard of, or at least the most unique or pure.
im sure some of you have read it. surfers may only ride completely biodegradable surfboards, no wetsuits or leg ropes involved. the contest takes place at j-bay, and the surfer who rides the wave the furthest wins. turns dont matter, tubes dont matter. you have to go from takeoff to landing as far as you can, and you win if its further then everybody else.
i was looking at surftech website the other day for no reason at all and there was a link at the bottom right hand corner called “wheres wingnut”? its a link to a wingnut diary or something, and wingnut talks story of him going to surf the dora style contest. his boards are on the website as well and they look interesting. it looks like a good sesh.
i was so excited to see that it actually went down. dora would have been proud. if any of you have any footage or photos from the contest, post them here!
i know a couple of peple that srufed in that contest-which was won by the mongoose- M. Munoz.apparently they didn’t strictly adhere to the rules as set forth by da cat, which pissed a few folks off…
it actually seems like a real sorry excuse for the way it was supposed to be. there should have been more then 3 surfers, i bet a lot of people would have gotten really into it.
I agree. It sounds like they just did the thing for TV, which definitely does not seem to be in the spirit of what the originator intended. At least there weren’t any food stalls.
Mickey Dora was/had the greatest ever, Anti-mall model.
Who will ride (and last testament) that coffin of balsa when I go to that waiting room all cloud-like and ethereal… Oh lord vacuum bag me, OH LORD so that I may better serve my fellow Swaylokians. I am blade-runner all ready for my HISTORY as yet unwrit. Corpus lu-tee-um, corpus schlamaz, schlameel, Hosenfefer incorporated. Hope I flex/spring. Count down to the BA. That cutback ain’t pretty. Walk with me. I’m in, but Dale will win…
We ain’t ready, the OC, I’m still working on the stretch-five.
Having read throught he surfermag blurb on the event, I would have to say Dora would at least have a private smile at this project. Certainly one could look at the film project as being the antithesis of what Dora wanted…but going up against authority is someting he was legend for. What the project itself may well be is kindling. You start a big fire with a small one. In a largely illiterate society/generation used to MTV (Music Tele Vision) chop shot visuals without substance (music!) a nifty little film project provides excellent stimulus.
Just the fact most responses here are unsatisfied with the result of this last offering shows this project is already working in that manner. So maybe others can do it more or less faithfully to the wishes as stated by Dora. Someone puts some money behind it and gets the permits and holds it at Rincon, or for God’s sake Malibu, where the original idea was in some ways put forth in the 70’s.
The idea from back then was to go fast; this one to go green. Combine them. It is a challenge to innovation. Without striving there will be no improvement in this arena or any other. To bastardize Edward Abbey, if you don’t stir the pot once in a while all the scum will stay on the top.
I happened to be J-Bay at the time that those guys were there. I’m not connected in any way to the project, but I did get to talk to the contestants after. I’ll list some of my observations. Remember, I’m only a 3rd party, but feel free to ask me anything else about it. I feel kind of funny telling what are essentially someone else’s stories, but everyone involved was so cool and open that I’m pretty sure they won’t mind.
The day of the Dora thing was a big day. Not crap your pants big, but pretty big. Really big and challenging on a heavy wood board. The rocks at Supertubes are super nasty. Going leashless would have destroyed the boards on the first wave, so that was a concession that they made. It was really crowded from the Billabong contest that had just ended and from the situation that was happening with South African Airways at the time (on strike, all flights cancelled). Lots of pro types were still in town. That day was really cold and windy. Super windy. Just getting out on those boards is quite a feat. They didn’t wear wetsuits so Mickey wore on old wool sport coat he had gotten in Scotland. Wingnut wore a leather vest or something like that. Just a crazy undertaking on what was a very challenging day. I missed watching them paddle out and surf. I was there earlier in the day and later in the day but somehow I missed the actual event which I really regret, so the rest of this is from stories told by the folks in the thing. They make the decision that this day was the day for the contest, so eventually Mickey, Andreini and Wingnut are on the rocks at the top of the point waiting for a lull to paddle out. There weren’t many lulls, but Mickey just charges it and gets out first. Andreini and Wingnut wait and are still standing on the rocks when Mickey paddles for and takes off on what turns out to be the biggest wave of this big day at Supers. Mickey and Shaun Tomson go for this big set wave and are up and riding with Mickey in front. Shaun does the really, really cool thing of waving Mickey on and straightening out to get worked in order to let Mickey have the wave!!! Mickey rides it all the way through Supers and past Impossibles on the biggest wave of the whole day. Andreini and Wingnut evidently turned to each other and say, “I guess we don’t have to paddle out now.” They do, though, but I guess Mickey’s wave was the story. He keeps on riding and gets obliterated in the rock fields at Impossibles. Gives me goosebumps just reliving the telling of this. He must have been just destroyed. He said his legs were all kinds of cut up. He’s 67, man!!! And charging!!!
The board Andreini made was beautiful. Beyond beautiful. I’m super stoked to just get to look at it. I was coming down with a cold so I missed seeing the other wooden boards but I hear that they were also beautiful. I think I remember saying that Mickey made the whole for the leash and the fin screw out of abalone. I’m not sure about this, though. Everybody that I met involved with this whole thing was super, super cool and made me happy that I’m a surfer. That says it all for me. I can’t wait for the movie.
There were some other Swaylockers that were there that could add more. Speak up fellas?
I happened to be J-Bay at the time that those guys were there…
So based on what Jay just posted, we have a 67 year old guy catching the wave of the day at J-Bay on a homemade wooden longboard wearing a woolen sportcoat among what the photos show as other eccletic sportswear items…the whole package goes against everything the surf industrial complex insists upon: against conventional wisdom and inbred notions about fashion, function, and age.
Dora would have loved it…if anybody involved with the film project reads this I hope you consider also using the new Swaylock’s shopping network to sell dvds here.
Swaylock’s - helping to question authority hour after hour!
They do, though, but I guess Mickey’s wave was the story. He keeps on riding and gets obliterated in the rock fields at Impossibles. Gives me goosebumps just reliving the telling of this. He must have been just destroyed. He said his legs were all kinds of cut up. He’s 67, man!!! And charging!!!