Watch: John John Florence Comes Out Swinging On Opening Day At Sunset Beach
For as much as John John Florence is rightly heralded for his comfort at Pipeline, the genius of the man's surfing is may be even more evident at Sunset Beach. The wide open spaces and unpredictability of the place demand a combination of endurance and creativity, both of which Florence has in spades.
In mixed up, hard-to-read, six- to eight-foot surf at Sunset, Florence picked up right where he left off last week at the Pipe Pro. Cruising to the highest score of the day at the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach, he dropped two seven-point scores, one for an impeccably read barre. As a result, his innate ability to casually attack big, shifting peaks puts him in the early pole position at stop number two of the Championship Tour.
With more swell looming on the horizon, the forecast for the event plays to Florence's strengths. Sunday is expected to be somewhere in the 15- to 20-foot range, and between his deep understanding of the break and his work with North Shore-based shaper Jon Pyzel, that's a recipe for success.
On the same side of the draw as other event favorites like Griffin Colapinto and Gabriel Medina, Florence's road to the final is hardly a foregone conclusion. And should he make the final, on the other side of the draw sits Jack Robinson and Ethan Ewing, who might be his two biggest threats in the event. But we're long way from finals day and there's heaps of surfing left to be done. That said, smart money is on Florence to wrap up the Hawaiian leg of the tour with the yellow leaders jersey. He's just looking too comfortable right now.
Slater Survives To Surf Another Day At Sunset Beach
With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.