A LITTLE wobble on a throaty barrel threw Gisborne/Mahia surfer Ricardo Christie off his board and out of contention for the 2018 Championship Tour.
The Gold Coast-based former CT surfer will be ruing the missed barrel attempt yesterday on his second wave at Sunset Beach during his round 2 heat of the Vans World Cup of Surfing.
The 10,000-point-rated event is the final Qualifying Series event of the year.
Christie needed to place third or better in the competition to propel himself from 25th to inside the top 10 on the QS and guarantee CT re-qualification.
He opened the heat with a solid 6.33 (out of a possible 10) ride and was looking at home in double overhead right-handers.
Shortly after that wave, he took off deep on another solid wave.
In his trademark style Christie launched into a deep bottom turn, carving through the choppy surface as if it were soft butter, and laid into a full rail, roundhouse carve in the vertical pocket.
He followed the turn the whole way around before tweaking back into the power source.
It was the Ricardo we all love to see.
As powerful as it was, the turn also placed him in the perfect position for a throaty little barrel on the inside.
As he pulled into the stand-up pit the wave opened up wide and began to breathe. This was it.
It looked like Christie was going to make it out clean before disaster struck.
The wave began to wobble and collapse around him as the force of the Pacific Ocean came down and threw Christie off his board, and with it sank his 2018 CT re-qualification dreams.
For the turn alone he scored a 5.33. With the barrel and a clean finish he was looking to score at least an 8.
With his opening wave it would have shot him to the top of the heat, and if all things had turned out the same, he would have won that heat and be resting up for round 3 tomorrow.
That wave was only 10 minutes into his 30-minute heat. There was time to come back, and Christie almost did so, taking off on a wave with less than a minute to go and needing only a 5.78. He scored 5.37.
Brazil’s Raoni Monteiro won the tight heat, posting a 12.66, while his fellow countryman Luel Felipe also progressed to round 3 with 12.10.
The top two progressed.
Australian surfer Soli Bailey (11.80) was third and Christie was fourth on 11.70.
2019 could be Christie's yearChristie looked good this year, with decent results in both good and bad waves.
He won his first QS competition, the Martinique Pro, in six-to-eight foot wedging right-handers and had a strong fifth-placing at the US Open in soft reform close-outs.
If he can keep that form but just work on some consistency, 2019 could be his year.
Back home the wave drought continues, with some slight relief potentially later this afternoon, but only at specific locations.
Most surfers have been holding out for a decent fix for the past six weeks. Some have even completed their entire withdrawals and moved on to things like painting their homes and gardening.
Others have been keeping the cravings at bay with the odd longboard or drastic mission up or down the Coast (or country).
Looking further out there is not too much to get excited about but there is potential for a bit of east swell at the end of next week and into the following week.
I don’t want to jinx it but then I am feeling so freaking wave-starved I am just going to bank on that, because what else can I do?
Hopefully the little boost in south-angled swell today will stick around for the Tauawhi No Violence Longboard Classic on at Makorori tomorrow. The event was postponed from two weeks ago due to horrendous conditions.
It is an awesome event to get behind as it supports the Tauawhi Charitable Trust, which backs the Tauawhi Men’s Centre in helping raise awareness about and preventing family violence.
It is open to all ages at a cost of $40 for open and older surfers and $20 for those under 16. The speedos/bikini event is free.
The major spot prize is a longboard while other spot prizes will be awarded for best Hawaiian shirt and wildest hat.
Register at Tauawhi Men’s Centre, 71 Peel Street today. Registrations can also be made at the event.For more information, contact Tim Marshall on 027-5586-362, or check out the Tauawhi or Moananui Longboardriders Club Facebook pages.See you out the back.