The last contest on the WQS was in Brazil, at Itauna, just north of Rio de Janeiro. I’d never been there so I was excited, not knowing what I was in for. I was traveling with a mate from Manly, Nick Riley, for the final two ‘6 stars’. It was his first time to Brazil and he was a little nervous after hearing a lot of ruff stories about the crime that happens in the favillas (slums, to you mono-lingo’s). And having no good stories of my own meant that I didn’t have anything that could coax him outdoors.

Itauna is on about the same latitude as our Gold Coast so it’s very warm. It sits on a peninsula pointing due south and cops every bit of south swell heading up the coast. The week we were there didn’t drop under 4 ft, maxing 8 ft at one stage. The set-up is a little like our beloved North Narra which had Hedgey in a bit of a spin. There’s a huge rock outcrop at the north end and the lefts run down the beach like a semi-perfect, left point break. On the other side of the rocks is a super heavy, below-sea-level right hand “keg”. The locals call it, ‘The Back Door’ and it’s as heavy as any 4ft slab I’ve ever surfed.

We had an awesome time in Itauna even though neither of us nailed a solid result. And Nick didn’t get robbed or murdered which he’s pretty frothing about. haha

The Masaii Hotel. Nick didn’t get murdered here. And, we had a clear view of the event

While The Waldorf might have a Picasso hanging in the foyer, The Masaii had this. So cool, and Nick couldn’t stop rubbing it

The contest area at Itauna. The event was sponsored by a well known, local soft drink company

The line-up … could have been worse

If he doesn’t bail within the next 20 metres, this guy is going to be taking scars from a drag over a large barnacle encrusted rock that soon won’t be hidden by wash, into the next life

Life near the fast lane

Anyway, who needs Curly?

Dayyoof x

We arrived in the studio this morning to find some video from team captain, Dayyan Neve. ‘Dayoof’ recently smeared blue war-paint on his face, then pulled on a 3/2 ‘Firewall’ neoprene kilt and a pair of asbestos lined budgie smugglers before heading off with fellow hard-men, Sunny Garcia, Chris Ward and Jon Jon Florence in search of some polar barrels in Scotland’s iceberg littered, North Sea. See if you can guess what bits had fallen off by the end of the session?

Slab Hunting from Allyn Harper on Vimeo.

Dayyan Neve reports on recent happenings from the big blue:

This is the first time since the Pipe event in Hawaii that I’ve had the chance to sit and jot down a few things about what I’ve been doing and what’s in store for the not too distant future…

Pipeline was FIRING!!! Perfect 6-8 foot Backdoor and Pipe… Not that many people get to surf waves as good as it was that event with only a few other guys out in the line-up… I got a few crackers during the four heats I surfed on the way to a 9^th place, which was all time…. Though the best memory I can take from the event was when I surfed my heat in the 4^th round with Taj (man on man) we paddled out to the line-up completely frothing out at how good it was, Bede Durbidge and Kieren Perrow were in the heat before and with the overlapping heat system it meant that there were only four surfers in the water… We all had a little giggle between ourselves at how lucky we were to be Four Aussie Mates out at pumping pipe!!! At that moment Slater paddled by on the way in from his last heat and in a Aussie accent said “ Four Aussies at pipe…. It’s the Bronzed Aussies!!!!”

After getting some of the most perfect waves I’ve ever had out there Taj ended up beating me and going on to win the event over Kelly…

I came home for Christmas with my girlfriend, family and Rello’s and even attended my mate Goughy’s Bucks on a golf course in the Hunter Valley where after a whole year off drinking, my rubber arm was bent and I couldn’t say no to a few Bourbon & Cokes with my mates…

I spent a few days just north of Forster with good friends Muzza and Koto over New Years relaxing and eating good food, and giving myself time to think about the year ahead ‘competitively’…

Since I’ve been home I’ve been training hard with a Personal Trainer from ‘Manly Surf Club’ Cam Coglahn to get Fit and focused for the WQS season which is starting for me at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast mid way through Feb…

So with the training and with Mambo’s & HS’s continuing support we should see a solid performance from me in this years WQS..

Dayyoof x