ABOUT PARKO

You get the feeling that every day is the best day of Joel Parkinson’s life.

Joel's roadkill diner. //Shorty

The guy’s got it all; the cute-as-hell family, enough mates to populate a small sovereign nation, a top turn that melts butter. It’s easy to understand why the split-watermelon smile has become the Joel Parkinson trademark.

It’s July 1999, and an 18-year-old whippet from the Gold Coast is about to re-write surfing history on the hallowed walls of Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa. After scoring a wildcard start in the contest, the kid from Coolangatta paddles out against the world’s best surfers and proceeds to systematically dismantle them. He doesn’t even really seem to be trying that hard, he’s just doing what he does. The accidental prodigy wins the contest in a canter. A disbelieving surfing world has just been introduced to Joel Parkinson.

A decade later and Parko remains the most naturally gifted surfer on the planet. Watching Joel surf is kind of like watching fire. The Gold Coaster possesses a slinky, hypnotic style that almost disguises just how seismic his surfing really is. Seamless and syrupy, his act is the product of some good surfing DNA, and a childhood spent surfing some of the finest sandbottom pointbreaks on the planet.

While its Joel’s sublime surfing talent that has taken him around the globe a hundred times chasing perfect waves, it’s his laidback groove that has seen him build an army of good friends along the way. Always the lovable smartarse, Joel is simply a fun guy to hang around.

For a bloke possessing such a supernatural ability in the ocean, on terra firma Parko is frighteningly down to earth. He loves his football, fishes away the days without waves, and needs little arm-twisting for a beer with his mates at the Rainbow Bay Surf Club. He’s even got the obligatory bad tattoo on his ankle. Always engaging and up for a laugh, he’ll joke with those he’s just met that the birth date inked on his ankle is in fact his prison number from a Singaporean jail where he was once incarcerated.

Joel married his high school sweetheart, Monica, and they spawned two daughters, Evie and Macy. The three Parkinson girls now form Joel’s pro tour entourage, travelling with him for much of the year. He’s a guy who’s true to his family, true to his friends, and true to his roots. He’s a guy who knows his bum still points south just like everyone else’s.

Only interrupted by family, fishing or football, Joel’s surfing devours the rest of his waking hours. No one loves the simple act of riding a wave more than he does. In surfing he’s done pretty much the lot. He’s won six events at iconic waves like Sunset Beach, Jeffreys Bay, Bells Beach and his home break of Snapper Rocks. He’s had two perfect 10s in a heat at Pipeline. He’s made the ASP Top 5 on six occasions. He’s won the Hawaiian Triple Crown twice, featured in dozens of surf movies, had surf mag covers coming out the wazoo, and had a million words written about him. After narrowly missing out on the 2009 world title he’s currently in training for the start of the 2010 season, looking to go one better.

JOEL LESLIE PARKINSON

Born: April 10, 1981

Lives: Tweed Heads

Loves: Mon, Evie, Macy, family and friends, Kirra, Snapper, yellowfin, the Titans.

Height: 6’0”

Weight: 80kg

Eyebrows: 1

Tour finishes: 2009: 2nd, 2008: 4th, 2007: 4th, 2006: 6th, 2005: 12th, 2004: 2nd, 2003: 5th, 2002: 2nd, 2001: 21st

Tour wins: J-Bay 1999, Snapper 2002 & 2009, Sunset 2002, Bells 2004 & 2009, Trestles 2004, France 2006.

2009 tour: Snapper 1st; Bells 1st; Tahiti 9th: Brazil 3rd; J-Bay 1st; Trestles 17th, France 17th, Mundaka 17th, Portugal 3rd; Pipe 17th