Slater rode Simon Andersons to victory in almost every event this year. Simon doesn’t shape epoxy.
It is a step in the right direction though if Kelly is using them in free surfs and liking them then it wont be long until he feels that he can dial the shapes to do what he wants and feels confident enough to beat everyone on them in a contest. One thing is for sure though on this, no pro will ride them in contests until he knows for certain that the judging criteria and most importantly his mind will not work against him.
Look at Kieran Perrow, shot to the top 20 one year then starting riding Salomons and can’t even requalify. I am not stupid enough to draw a direct correlation here but there is one thing that he may have learnt, too much time in R & D and too little time surfing practicing for contests riding contest boards and your results will suffer. The abilities of all of these guys (except Kelly and Andy) are within a microcosm of each other and it’s generally a psychological advantage (and a few waves) that wins the contest. To be riding something completely different and lose is a mind screw for them that’s why they keep it tight. I mean Andy rang Simon the day after Kelly beat him and ordered 10 boards… Stay the same and you only have yourself to blame.
As for the Pros and PU, I’d say that there will be a whole lot more US pros on Aussie boards this year, we have foam, we have 7 of the top 10 on Aussie boards right now anyway and one thing is for sure that these guys will not want to ride anything different to what the leaders are riding. There is a long way to go for the tour to change. But there may be some boards painted with stickers on them just as Bert has said.
As for Sunny, he rode a surftech with FCS H2’s this year at the Quiksilver Pro in a couple of heats, he didnt win but I tell you what let me do one turn as powerful as his in my life and I will be stoked. He also picked up 10 JS’s and 5 DHD PU’s while he was here.