JOEL: THE PRE-BELLS INTERVIEW
Posted in Photos, World Tour
Joel in The Bowl. //Photo Jon Frank
You got a good feeling about Bells this year?
I’m really excited, for sure, especially with the forecast looking pretty good right now. I’m pumped to get down there and leave the coast here for a while and start travelling.
Is Bells an old boys’ wave? Can Bells be a forum for progressive surfing?
With Bells it’s less of a progressive wave, more of a traditional wave. But it depends on your definition of progressive. It’s not a progressive wave in terms of boosting airs, but it can be a progressive in terms of the lines you draw across it. It’s a hard wave to get all high performance on. There might be a section here or there, but the majority of the time, even last year when it was as good as Bells gets it’s still a hard wave to ride. It’s a difficult wave to find a good line on because it’s always changing, wave-to-wave and even while you’re on the wave. It’s not like a Snapper wall or a wave at Trestles or something like that that you know what you’re getting. Bells is a constantly changing thing.
What’s the secret to surfing Bells well?
Shit… you’ve just got to pick and choose where to surf hard. You can’t surf the wave hard from start to finish. You need to pick your moments, then know when to back off and let the wave do the work for a while. Managing your speed is the key. It’s one of those spots where you’ve got to be picking the right wave and turning at the right time. You can get the best wave out there, but if you’re timing is off on the first turn it all seems to go pear-shaped from there. You can’t force Bells, you have to let it happen.
Is Bells like an old bike? Can you just get back on it after 12 months of not surfing it and get straight into the groove?
I’m coming down a couple of days early to warm up, but Mick’s quote is the best one I’ve heard in regards to Bells: “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.” You have to adapt a lot as the days roll on. It changes. The tide, the wind, the swell, wind it can all change so quickly that keeping a groove on is hard.
How they going to trump last year’s contest?
They can’t trump last year… not for me anyway (laughs). Footage from last year keeps popping up all the time and I find myself having to get away from it because I don’t know if it can be that good again. You can’t convince yourself that every heat is going to be six foot and offshore in the Bells bowl.
Paddling out for the final – 50 years, good waves, your best mate in the final with you – did you sense you were in the middle of something magic?
Yeah, but magic disappeared for a while cause it took 15 minutes to even get out, Mick and I both got smashed. But it really did feel like there was something going on last year. I think paddling out with Mick knowing it was the 50th year and I think paddling out against by far the best surfer of the event and my good mate, it was like, “Who’s writing this script?” I was hoping whoever was writing it had a good conclusion there for me.
How do your boards change for Bells?
Maybe a bit more length and definitely different fins. For me fins are the key. A raked fin really seems to work for me out there. They seem a little drivier. They’re the fins Occy rides out there.
You’ve won Bells three times now… is it a place you count on for a result? Do you need a result at Bells?
I guess a result here sets me up for a good year. Because I’ve had a good track record I kind of expect something out of myself there, a final or a semi or a quarter, whatever. In past years when we’ve had to surf some crap up and down the coast, but it’s such a different vibe when its held in the Bells Bowl. The whole feeling of the place changes.
Do you feel the better the waves the better your chances?
I’d like to think so. The Bells Bowl, I mean, I still don’t claim to know it at all, but the more you surf out there the more you understand it.
Whose your biggest threat at Bells this year?
I’d say Mick and Taj, going on form. I mean, Mick surfs Bells Bowl better than anyone.
And it’s an interesting point for Kelly too. Brazil’s next and if he doesn’t bag a result at Bells he might not go…
Yeah, I hope so! (Cracking up). I mean, Kelly probably doesn’t even know if he’s going to Brazil. But he’s no slouch at Bells, he’s got three of them.
He’s got four.
There ya go.
I was interested in your thoughts on what you’ve seen of John John this year.
He’s looked insane. He’s been unbelievable.
Could he do something at Bells?
He could do anything, anywhere. His carving was amazing at Margies, his railwork, it’s all good. But he’s never surfed Bells, so that will probably sort him out. It’s a tricky spot to jump in cold. Sometimes you see the waves when they’re good and you think you’ll win with two nines, but you can end up winning with one six. It can be a real unknown kind of a place. If it goes to Winki it gets a little more squared up, but at Bells you just ever know what’s going to happen.
Have you got a bolter… someone who might surprise us at Bells?
For some reason I reckon Yadin Nicol. I think the wave and the forecast will suit him.
With the history of the place, and your own personal history at Bells, is it hard to paddle out and think it’s just another heat and another contest that needs to be won?
The history and the vibe of the place follows you out into the lineup. I love it. It’s like no other contest.
And is there a particular Victorian you’re looking forward to catching up with?
Brooko for sure. It’ll be so good to catch up with Troy and the family. I haven’t seen that much of him since he moved home to Torquay, so hopefully he’ll take me to all his secret waves while I’m down there.
