Last night’s Surfer Poll Awards celebrated the year’s standout performances in the world of surf. Instead of rating surfers for their contest results, Surfer Magazine tallies the votes from fellow surfers and fans voting online. Criterion usually encompasses style and personality in and out of the water…and the awards show had plenty of both.
With the buzz from the richter scale swell due to detonate on the opening day of tomorrow’s Pipemasters, nervousness and gitters added to the pressures of speaking to the crowd of over 1,000 legendary attendees. Security was tight, but any north shore security guard gets distracted by hot chicks just long enough to slip past. Peligroso tequila loosened up the nominees, and the speeches ranged from shy, to high, and hilarious.
Emcees Sal Masacala, and Freddy Pattachia didn’t hold back any punches as they used the industry’s inside jokes against everyone on stage. Carissa Moore dedicated her award to WCT mens surfer Dusty Payne, and the gal pal jokes kept coming. But he wasnt the only super fan of the womens tour, many speakers mentioned their displeasure of not having a Womens Triple Crown of Surfing on the in Hawaii this year.
The big suspense of the evening was whether Dane Reynolds or Kelly Slater would take the No.1 prize, but Dane settled for second yet again. All awaited his quirky, awkward comedy relief and he didn’t disappoint, ” I surfed pipeline today…that was a humbling experience. I saw the Pipemasters heat draw today…that was also quite humbling. Jamie (O’Brian -Pipemaster) have mercy on my soul, please. Thanks to everyone who voted for me because lets face it, I’ve made it pretty hard to be a fan of me this year.” Dane also took the award “Best Digital Short” for his aptly named flick “Lost Interest” shot during his no-show period on tour this year.
Kelly accepted his 17th poll-topping award, thanking the Miller family, cracked what we think is a joke, then gave his expert analysis the conditions for the 2011 Pipemasters, “I saw Jamie O’Brian at pipe today and he said if WaveJet paid him 20K, he’d surf their motorized surfboard during the conteest. But, there’s about 100 ft of sand on the reef that shouldn’t be there. Hopefully it get washed away before the swell, because right now the wave doesnt know where to go.”
After the show, everyone headed over to the new Surfer Magazine bar at the Turtle Bay Resort where the girls again stole the spotlight…this time on the dancefloor.
Here’s the final results from the 2011 Surfer Poll Awards
Top 10 Male Surfers
1. Kelly Slater
2. Dane Reynolds
3. Owen Wright
4. Julian Wilson
5. Taj Burrow
6. Mick Fanning
7. Joel Parkinson
8. Jordy Smith
9. Andy Irons
10. Bruce Irons
Top Five Female Surfers
1. Carissa Moore
2. Coco Ho
3. Stephanie Gilmore
4. Alana Blanchard
5. Sally Fitzgibbons
Movie of the Year
Year Zero
Best Barrel
Alex Gray -Teahupoo Uncut
Best Cinematography
Come Hell or High Water
Best Digital Short
Lost Interest
Best Documentary
Splinters
Best Performance
Josh Kerr -Kerrazy Kronicles
A.I. Breakthrough Performer Award
John John Florence
Heavy Water Award
Nathan Fletcher -Teahupoo Uncut, Get-N-Classic
Worst Wipeout
Rodrigo Koxa -Teahupoo Uncut
Watch the 2011 Billabong Pipemasters live Dec 7 here