Joel Parkinson

PIPE, FINAL DAY

PIPE MASTERS FINAL…

Victory shower after beating Kelly in the semi. One more to go... //Photo Jeff Flindt

A SEMI WITH KELLY…

SAN FRAN

Ocean Beach before jet skis.

joelparko.com: What do you know about Ocean Beach?

Joel: I wouldn’t even know what it looked like. But I did Youtube it the other day. That was my preparation for this contest. It looked like a pretty interesting place. There looked like there were some banks here and there, but when it gets big it turns into something else again. It looks like an awesome place when its big and offshore to grab a huge board and paddle out and think you’re out at Sunset. A big breachbreaky Sunset. But I don’t know, that was Youtube. I’ll get there and get to know it I guess.

When was last time you wore a 4/3?

When I needed to. I actually wore one the other morning in Portugal, just a spare one to keep my 3/2 dry, and I wore one in J-Bay for a couple of surfs this year. But for me it looks like San Fran is a 4/3 every surf, with a hoodie.

What boards are you taking?

I’m going to ride something bigger for sure. I got a nice 6’8” I rode in Tahiti, so I’m going to take that. And Adam Replogle’s up there and he said he’s got some big boards, some 7’6”s and 8’0”s if it gets humungous. But, far out, apart from that a few 6’4”s and that’s about it. But in saying that I might just leave them all at home and ride a 5’10” quad.

Your thoughts on there being no skis?

That sucks. It’s going to be really hard. It could be a great event if they had skis, but now it’s going to be pot luck, hope you get out, hope you catch a second wave. It depends how big it is. If it’s four or six foot everyone will be fine and get a few waves. But you see how much skis benefit the event wherever we use them. When it was consistent at Bells this year at eight foot, guys were getting eight waves in a heat, whereas if you were paddling you might have got two or three tops. It sucks a lot of the fun out of it and it becomes a step back into the 90s.

Your thoughts on San Fran as a city?

I’ve never been but I can’t wait. I definitely want to do Alcatraz, and I’ve always wanted to surf under the Golden Gate Bridge just to say I’ve done it. And I just want to check it all out; it seems like a really interesting place.

What are your thoughts on the outbreak of claiming on tour?

I claimed once in Portugal and I was so embarrassed. I claimed a seven, and I just went to myself, “That’s it, I’m never claiming again.”

If Mavericks happens to break while you’re in San Fran would you paddle out?

I’d love to paddle out. I’d love to have a go at it. As long as it wasn’t the biggest day ever, as long as it was only 15, 18, 20 feet I’d love to go and check it out. It still breaks at 10-to-12 foot doesn’t it? I think I might prefer it that size rather than 40 foot. No Dorian days for me, thanks very much.

And your thoughts on the world title?

Well for me it’s all over, which has been kind of liberating in a way. I don’t have to lie awake at night thinking about it now, I can just go surfing. By the looks of it Kelly just has to show up in San Francisco to win. Unless it’s 10 foot and he can’t get out. Imagine that. But then he’d probably go and swap his 5’10” for a 12-foot paddleboard and punch through it and catch one wave and win.

I DIP, YOU DIP, WE DIP…

The after party at Bells…