Joel Parkinson superbly off the top to win his round three heat. ©ASP/Robertson
Has it dawned on you yet how special that win was?
I don’t think so, not yet anyway. You had a feeling though that with all those legends back at Bells and with the waves so good that it would be a special year to win.
Was that the best Bells you’ve ever surfed?
I think so, for sure. We’ve probably had Bells as good before, but not over that period. When you surf Bells you might get one good day, but after five days of it you get into a good rhythm and you can start fine-tuning. By the end of the contest and the end of the swell everyone was ripping.
You’re always saying how Bells is the kind of wave you can never master; did you feel like your surfing evolved at all over the five days?
Definitely. Also with the consistency of the swell you never felt too nervous about really going for it, because you always felt like you were going to get another chance. There were plenty of opportunities to go for it and fall because there was almost always another set. You could kind of throw caution to the wind and go for it. I learned a few things, going off what the judges were scoring. The judges were liking my wraparound cutback so I started using it a little more. If there wasn’t much going the wrap was still there and scoring. But Bells is one of those waves I really love to surf. It’s a real rail wave and it has that snowboarding feel, especially at that size. I love feeling like I’m hanging on by my toes and just carving. I guess my relationship with it was always good, but it’s definitely got a lot stronger over the past few days.
To read the rest of the interview follow the link to Joel Parkinson’s website: joelparko.com/photos/joel-talks-bells/
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- Joel Parkinson superbly off the top to win his round three heat. ©ASP/Robertson
