Surfing on and on

It has occurred to me that Kelly Slater has been universally accepted as the best surfer in the world for as long as I've been surfing. Slater first won the title back in 1994, which was probably a year or so before I first stood up on a surfboard. In the intervening 15 years, Slats won another 8 titles and notched up a bunch of other accolades - he was the first surfer to get 2 perfect 10 point rides in a heat, he's won (considerably) more CT events than any other surfer, claimed a record 6 Pipeline Masters titles, and don't forget he nailed Pamela Anderson, Gisele and Cameron Diaz, among others. (For an illustration of the sheer excitment of the Slater/Anderson hook-up - see below.)

Over the same period, my greatest surfing achievement was probably surviving a gnarly hold down in Bali - and let's just say my dry land conquests don't include any supermodels...

I know I'm not exactly saying anything new here, but it is phenomenal that one man has been so dominant for so long. And it's not just that he wins all the time - he is simply the best surfer in the world, and by a margin, in my opinion (for what it's worth). And the other thing about Slater's dominance is that it will come to an end - surely he'll stop at 10 and let someone else have a go - and what happens after that? Well the good thing, at least if you're a top 15 surfer, is that the field will be wide open in a way that it has never really been while Slater has been kicking everyone's butts. Andy's title trilogy can, in part, be attributed to Slater's semi retirement, and no-one else has had any sustained time at the top. There are so many good surfers just waiting for Slats to step aside - Parko, Taj, CJ, Mick, Andy as well as some of the new boys - any one of them could win it. But the reality is that Slats doesn't have a true successor in the form of one standout individual who is way better than all the rest - Fanning was the prodigal son for a while but his talent just isn't as mercurial as Slater's. I'm glad that the other boys will get their chance once King Kelly abdicates, and he'll probably remain the best well after he stops competing (Tom Curren managed it, after all). But it would be nice to think that somewhere the next Kelly is just waiting to be discovered.

On a semi-related theme, Russell Winter has been the most successful British surfer over almost the same period (poor old Spencer - never quite made it). And he was seriously successful at a time when no other British or European surfers seemed to be able to make it into the top grade. Given the utterly unoriginal nickname of "British Bulldog", Winter was the first European, let alone British, surfer ever to qualify for the WCT, staying on the tour for several years and occasionally giant-slaying in heats (he famously beat Slater at Sunset) but never quite getting the limelight for it.

That said, and with the greatest respect to a man who has defintitely achieved more than any other British surfer (unless Pottz counts, of course) he's one of those surfers who isn't that great to watch - he has a low, aggressive style, not unlike Sunny Garcia, that is functional but not necessarily graceful, progressive or inspiring. Maybe that's why he always struggled with sponsorship and ultimately never quite made it to the higher echelons of the Dream Tour... Incidentally he apparently still harbours ambitions to re-qualify for the WCT, but personally I can't see it happening (sorry Russ).

Younger British pros like Alan Stokes and Reubyn Ash enjoy way better sponsorship than Russ ever did, but none of them has achieved what Russell has, and, frankly, I wonder if they ever will. Arguably Stokes, Ash etc have had their shot at the big league and it just doesn't look like they're ever going to make it. We now have a bunch of European hotshots on the CT, but no Brits - who is Russell's successor? The top 100 places in the WQS rankings for 2008 contained not one British surfer - so it seems we have a long way to go.

I'm encouraged to hear about the Surf Solutions trips to Hawaii, taking our young groms out there to cut their teeth in surfing's lion's den (it's not as if they're going to master their tuberiding in Cornwall). Hopefully that kind of effort will reap dividends when those kids start out in the WQS and who knows which one of them will step into Russ's shoes and be given some lame nickname by the other pros. Maybe British companies like Animal should be doing more to nurture talent and provide opportunities to those who might succeed - after all, it's in their interest, as well as ours...