Safetosea

A couple of days ago I received my much awaited copy of The Surfers Journal. This edition more anticipated than usual as I knew it had an article on the Musica Surfica event.

As expected a very Derek view of things... my first reaction was "Huh?" but on reflection the lad exists on another planet, and a very special one at that.

My view, for what it's worth as someone who saw pretty much every minute of every session from the land, is he was pretty accurate in his assessments, bar a couple of things. First, he underplayed where he was at relative to everyone else. Too modest.

Because his passion for the finless experiment runs so deep, on the modern finless he is a phenomenon. He handles the alaia well, amazingly so, but his bag, clearly, was in that world that he owns.

Richard Tognetti. I think Derek underplays his ability by rating it as average. Richard's surfing played second fiddle (did I say that?) to his violin for many years, so his level on a finless is a testimony to the extraordinary focus he possesses.

Tom Carrol, the guy's athleticism, and the focus he brings to things is what separates "us" from "them". Tom went from flailing to sailing so quickly, and as Derek said, really favoured the wooden boards.

Tom Wegener and Sage Joske ruled the alaias, however, but Derek did forgetfully neglect to mention anywhere the other Joske, the little brother, Heath. Heath is red hot, and one of the most beautiful sequences in the film is captured by Jon Frank as he sails by on the 12 ft parabolic railer.

So.. for your viewing pleasure... a nugget or two...