The Fat Black Lip #4

Welcome to episode four of the Fat Black Lip, your biweekly blog where we review all that is dope in the world of surf. Okay, maybe not so biweekly as I think we may have missed a week somewhere along the way. Anyway, it’s been a great couple weeks in the world of surf; Keramas finally came to life on the last day of the waiting period, Matty McG made it rain in Chile, the Duct Tape Invitational was a party, one of our favourite QS events; the Vans Surf Pro Classic is around the corner and more. So instead of scrolling through the gram for the hundredth time today, dive into the Fat Black Lip. The waters are refreshingly cool and will restore your soul.

Cover Image – Alan van Gysen (Chasing Cyclones Feature)

Is the GOAT back?

If you’re under the age of 14 and reading this, hold up, what’re the chances of that? 14-year-olds don’t read! They look at memes of funny cats, play Fortnight all day or watch random Youtubers play Fortnight. Anyway, back to my original point. If you’re 14, you’re probably wondering what all the hoo-ha around Kelly Slater is. Yeah, he used to shred, yeah he has 11 world titles, but now he’s just some bald guy riding weird boards.

Well, let us tell you, you missed how Kelly revolutionised the world of surf; took out the old guys like Gary ‘Kong’ Elkerton, you missed Taylor Steele and you certainly don’t remember the GOAT’s war with the late Andy Irons. There was a time when Kelly and Andy ruled the World Tour. When the other guys were simple inconveniences to a Kelly and Andy final. But at 47 years old, is Kelly back to his old ways?

Kelly made it to the semifinals at the Corona Bali Protected. He even beat event favourite, Filipe Toledo, in the quarterfinals, played some mind games on him a couple of days courtesy of an interview and sent him over-the-falls in their matchup. Damn, we haven’t seen Kelly Slater look this good since he was riding Channel Islands Surfboards. Watching him surf Keramas was like a throwback to Sipping Jetstreams, Barbados, Soup Bowls, sliding into barrels and wrestling the foam ball and oh how it was delightful. 

Matty McGilivary does Chile

Matty McG didn’t exactly get the start he was hoping for this year on the QS, so after the Durban Surf Pro which didn’t happen, he swiftly popped over to South America to take part in the Heroes de Mayo Iquique Pro. One of the standouts of the event, Matty Surfed his way to a respectable third place where he bowed out to Dean Bowen. In his matchup with Ian Gentil in the quarterfinals, which the Fat Black Lip had the pleasure of watching live, Matty pulled out all the stops, landing a sizey blow-tail reverse and laying down some huge man carves. Matty will compete in the Maui and Sons Arica Pro Tour in Chile starting tomorrow. #GetBehindYourBoys

2019 Vans Duct Tape Invitational

The Duct Tape Invitational contest series represents the vision of two-time ASP world longboarding champion Joel Tudor to create a longboard event platform that showcases style and creativity through traditional logging. Possibly the most fun event on surfing’s calendar, the Duct Tape Invitational was held in Ericeira, Portugal this year. It’s a three-day extravaganza geared entirely towards having a good time and watching some classic logging. The event included an epic lineup of musicians, late morning calls so as not to punish the mid-night revelry, shaping events and the opportunity to demo boards crafted by the Vans team. It’s a fresh look at the world of contests and to be honest, it sounds damn fun! I mean who wouldn’t want to watch good music while hanging on the nose? Stay tuned for the drop of the Vans Duct Tape Invitational wrap up video.

 

Monster Combo – The final month

Oh, how time flies. It felt like just yesterday the Monster Combo began. And now we’re well into the final round. So if you’re sitting on footage of yourself beating up some lip, best you submit it quickly. So far we’ve had four different winners:

January: Eli Beukes. Courtesy of a powerful down carve straight into an (almost) full roat filmed by Chris Bond.

February: Joshé Faulkner: A blow-tail drop wallet into a fins free off-the-lip filmed by Wes Lewis.

March: Luke Slijpen: For an array of lip bashes and a massive man carve filmed by father John Slijpen

April: Matty McG: Courtesy of two lightning-quick attacks to the lip complemented by an air revo on chunky closeout section filmed by Grant Clegg. 

The Monster Combo is in its final hour. So if you are sitting on some footage, how about these prizes to light a fire under your ass: R20 000 Cash for overall winner | Channel Islands Surfboard for each month | R10 000 for the winning videographer | A free spot on a Zag trip to Sozinhos Lodge with Beyrick De Vries.

 

The third QS event on South African soil is due to take place this weekend in Lamberts Bay, the Vans Surf Pro Classic. And oh how we love the Vans Surf Pro Classic. One of our favourite events on the calendar, the Vans Surf pro classic takes place at South Africa’s most shreddable canvas. Lamberts Bay or YoYos is known as the West Coast Trestles and that ain’t no lie. Yoyos is as rippable as Trestles but with more power. Huge carves out back and massive rotators on the closeout. Last year Matty McGillivary took top honours ahead of Dylan Lightfoot, the year before, MFeb defeated Davey Van Zyl, this year, however, both Mfeb and Matty Mc G are otherwise engaged and thus we’re due for a new Vans Surf Pro Classic champion. Anyway, keep an eye on the page as we’ll be covering the event live.

Chasing Cyclones Just Dropped!!

Brendon Gibbens, Davey Van Zyl and the Big Bird look a like Bromdog took a strike mission up to a sandspit in Moz. You’re gonna wanna get behond this one. Every year cyclones and tropical depressions hammer the coastline of Mozambique. Increasingly surfers are throwing caution to the wind and riding the coat tails of these weather systems in the hope of scoring perfect cylinders, racing across shallow sand!!

Filmed/edit by Michael Veltman

Words and Images – Alan Van Gysen

 

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