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Damien Hobgood’s Gone and Done it Again

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 1 June, 2006 : - - The rise and rise of Damien Hobgood -- another great chapter in this young man’s life work with victory in the 2006 Globe WCT Fiji. The stats don’t even do justice to this effort. Take into account the fact that Damo was cruelly taken away from the ’05 edition of the Globe through injury incurred in the Final at Teahupoo and we have a winning streak at Cloudbreak.

It was in 2004 that brothers Hobgood came to the fore in the Pacific leg of the Foster’s Men’s World Tour, CJ winning at Chopes and Damien posting his maiden ’CT victory at Cloudbreak. It was very nearly an all Hobgood Final at Teahupoo in ’04, Hedgey playing spoiler on that occasion.

This time around the planets seemed imminently aligned, especially after CJ took care of a rampaging Bobby Martinez in the Quarters and Damo eliminated a victory hungry Andy Irons in the first Semi Final. It took yet another sensational rookie breakthrough performance to arrest the Hobgood juggernaut.

Shaun Cansdell, inspired by his own landmark 5th at Bells, tore through a class field enroute to the Final, defeating Bede Durbidge, Taj Burrow and CJ Hobgood in an epic final day. Damien Hobgood’s route involved wins over Darren O’Rafferty, Tom Whitaker and three-times World Champion Andy Irons.

I tell ya, when this guy gets in a winning frame, he delivers an irrespressible competitive focus. Hark back to last year. He was in seriously devastating form at Chopes, pushed the envelope a bit hard trying to reign in a perfect Kelly Slater (20 out of 20) and got nailed trying to sneak out of a grinding barrel that would have halved the points deficit if successful, missed the next two events, one as defending champion, Fiji, the other on another left breaking reef, Reunion, before resuming.

The Floridian was #2 when benched and took a couple events to surf his way back into form, but once there he arrived at Hossegor with the contest head on, kept the World Title race alive by eliminating Kelly in ’A’ framing 8’ kegs to reach the Final, then went on with the job, scoring a marvelous victory in Brazil, a win that was somewhat overshadowed by Kelly’s historic clinching of a record 7th ASP World Title.

It may be a purely rhetorical subject now, but in retrospect I have strong suspicions that Damien Hobgood would have firmly injected himself into the Title race had he not gone down. The Globe WCT Fiji win elevates Damo to the Top 3 on the Foster’s Men’s World rankings, and with three keeper results under his belt has laid the foundations for a tilt at surfing’s holy grail. I can’t speak highly enough of both Damien and CJ.

Apart from being outstanding role models and pros thru & thru, they are exceptionally gifted surfers. They basically own the Pacific leg. Total dominance in 04, Damo made the Final at Chopes in 05, CJ the "Restaurants" Final, both losing to Kelly (okay, so they don’t own this leg completely!), then 1st & 3rd yesterday at Cloudbreak.

Another interesting stat, the Hobgood’s both recorded their poorest Pacific leg results recently at Teahupoo(equal 9ths), losing epic clashes with eventual finalists Bobby Martinez and Fred Pattachia Jnr. Theirs was definitely an air of atonement around Tavarua in the aftermath of yesterday’s efforts.

What an incredible run by the rookies. The first four events have yielded fantastic results for the ’Class of 2005’. Bobby Martinez and Adriano de Souza podiumed the Quiksilver Pro, Shaun Cansdell 5th in the Rip Curl Pro, Bobby, Adriano and Pancho Sullivan Top 10 after the Aussie leg, Bobby Martinez smashing the Billabong Pro Tahiti and now Shaun Cansdell claiming runner-up in the Globe WCT Fiji adds up to a resounding collective push by the rookie brigade.

After Tahiti I was thinking that we could just about etch in the name Bobby Martinez on the Rookie of the Year trophy, but whoa, this season is still young and we can look forward to many more challenges to the established order. The Globe WCT Fiji was blessed with great surf and excellent calls from seasoned campaigner Steve Robertson.

Walking into classic swell made the early decisions to run rather clinical, getting the format down to a one day package was a clever objective, the initial swell cycle did not have four days left in it and there was no major swell in the forecast window. The trick was to jag the best single day on offer.

The process involved here requires a triumvirate of daily decision making by the Contest Director, the ASP Head Judge and a designated Surfer Representative. They meet in the morning, check the swell before them, cross reference information at hand regarding surface conditions, tidal information, swell direction, then weigh that against swell and wind forecasts for the remaining event window.

The elected day to hit the GO button was a beauty, crisp morning offshores, gorgeous 4-6’ lines wrapping down Cloudbreak reef, the distinct possibility of light winds well into the afternoon a blessing in light of the program. Fourteen heats and a Final is a big ask, to then request perfection on all fronts requires some serious prayers before bed time.

Those fortunate enough to witness the days action via the web were treated to a superb webcast, stimulated greatly by insane surfing on one of the earth’s true wonders. The traditional surf-off between the Tavarua boats, represented by Damien Hobgood, and the Namotu boats, represented by Shaun Cansdell, showcased a wonderful spirit of friendly rivalry between the islands, captured magnificently during the closing stages of the Final.

The Globe WCT Fiji wrapped up a wonderful Pacific leg. The loss of defending champion Kelly Slater to injury was a big blow going into Fiji, but even this chasm was overcome by an event that was brilliant in every facet. And if Damien Hobgood has a 12 match winning streak going at Cloudbreak/Restaurants, then under the rules of engagement Kelly will go into the 2007 Globe WCT Fiji with a 6 match winning streak alive. Now there’s something to chew over a couple of Foster’s.

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Source: ASPWorldtour.com

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