Riptide Magazine

RT EXCLUSIVE: Stakes Is High

Last Updated on Thursday, 26 August 2010 13:25

STAKES IS HIGH
Like the track of the same name by De La Soul and the late J Dilla, Ryan Hardy reckons the “stakes is high” leading into the Sintra event in Portugal, with the world’s best focusing on securing the best position leading into the home straight of the World Tour. Riptide spoke to him this morning to get his take on how the tour has been tracking in 2010, as well as to garner some insider info on who’s looking good.

Riptide :: How has the tour been this year (event by event)?
Ryan Hardy :: Every event’s been pretty good so far for waves, except for Soldiers and Sopelana really. The waves have been at least six foot with sick riding, high scoring heats and a good set-up. I didn’t get to Brazil, but aside from that most of it has been good.

RT :: Has anyone shocked you or caught you by surprise? Have there been any clear standouts so far?
RH :: Jerry Houston’s been a pretty underground sort of standout; he kind of came out of nowhere at Pipe and was just blazing up. The Frenchies – Pierre and Amaury – have both been standouts in all the events.

RT :: It’s good to see that there are a few more Aussies up there in that top 10 bracket than the last few years.
RH :: At the moment especially. Stoney has done really well for his rookie year on tour. I think he’s sitting on a third from Chile, a fifth from Peru, and a ninth from Soldiers. It’s good to see.

RT :: Riders cover a lot of ks on this leg of the tour, darting from Sopelana in Spain’s north, to Sintra in Portugal’s south, then north again to Ferrol. How are you getting around and whom are you traveling with?
RH :: We’ve got a sick travel crew, made up of 10 Aussies in two cars. Car one has BP, Wingy, Jones Russell, Dallas (Singer) and (Brad) Hughes. Car two is Hardballs, Stoney (Jake), Riggaz (Tom), Mitch Woodland and (Michael) Novy. It’s a solid team, and sick fun doing the comp stint and drive through Europe. The roadside stop-offs are the funny part; one minute you’re in Spain, then in Portugal, with different food and a different language, every time you pull over.

RT :: How’s everyone’s Spanglish and Portugenglish coming along?
RH :: It’s funny when it’s all mixed up and you’re trying to learn both. I seem to be playing the translator most of the time, having had a bit of a grasp on a few of them and having visited a few times before.

RT :: How do you think things are looking leading into the home straight?
RH :: Sintra’s the huge decider in shuffling the ratings and setting your path for the remainder of the year. So pretty much you’re either on a downhill path where you’ve got no chance (laughs), or a path towards the light where there’s a chance at the title. You can see here already that everyone’s surfing more, stretching more, working out or doing whatever they can to get an edge. Especially considering that next year might be a top 24 situation, everyone’s trying to make sure they’re super focused and prepared to do their best. It’ll be interesting to see everyone at the next event, ’cause I reckon everyone will be a bit more relaxed and let their hair down a bit (Ferrol has not as many points, and isn’t a grand slam).

RT :: How are you looking at the moment?
RH :: I’m currently 12th, so it’ll have to be a miracle finish here for me – maybe first or second – to have any kind of shot at the title, but on the flipside I don’t have too much pressure, so hopefully I’ll be able to compete well and qualify for next year.

RT :: Whom do you see as the biggest threats to take the title?
RH :: Amaury, just based on his current form and how much he wants it. PLC is probably the next biggest threat, and Wingy’s still a threat in there for sure too. Diego (Cabrera) is well positioned, but not as much of a threat as those three. I think it’ll be hard to beat Amaury.

RT :: How’s the forecast looking for waves? Good, bad, standard?
RH :: It’s actually looking pretty good. Today was the smallest day so far – maybe two foot – but the next few days are picking up and looking good, anywhere between three and five foot with some decent looking banks. Sunday looks kind of smaller – like today – but hopefully there should be some fun waves.

RT :: There’s currently no Canary event scheduled on the IBA tour calendar. Is there any inside word on where the tour showdown is going to be and what’s happening with that final event?
RH :: Nothing’s ever really 100% you know, but I think everyone’s still going to the Canaries and planning for it to happen. We’ve all been talking about it today, so hopefully it’s like 90% on.

RT :: Sweet. Much thanks Hack. Here’s hoping we’re discussing your podium finish early next week leading into Ferrol. Cheers!

Images courtesy of Jones' blog. The IBA reports for the first two days of the Sintra Pro are here and here.