1. So you were born in south Devon and moved out to north Narrabeen in Sydney when you were ten, how was that?
Yeah it was really good. My Dad didn’t want me and my brother to grow up in Chudleigh near Exeter so he moved us out here. It was really lucky we found a cheap place in North Narabeen on the northern beaches. We got into the north Narrabeen board riders club and then I had the chance to grow up with some of the best surfers in Australia, guys like Chris (Davo) Davison, Nathan (noodles) Webster, Nathan Hedge, the Fitzgerald brothers and the Banisters. It was really good growing up with those guys, I got to learn a lot especially on team trips surfing for the club as the team coach was 2 time World champ Damien Hardman.
2. How long have you been back here in Oz, and how has the Aussie summer been for waves?
Got out to Oz at the start of December from Bali, I was out of the water for a month with a chronic ear infection thanks to the river mouth at Keramas in Bali. I then went out to Mexico for a Carve trip at the start of January where we scored some sick waves and I got back to Sydney at the start of February. Since I’ve been back the waves have been small but fun until the last few days, we scored all time Narrabeen, best its been in years, 6 - 8 foot grinding kegs.
3. So tell us about that session yesterday!
It was all time north Narrabeen with everyone out, Ozzy, Barton, Kye fitz and all the boys. There were some solid 8 ft sets coming through and some really heavy car park rights. Zahn Foxton and a few others were towing into 10 foot pits at south Narrabeen. I reckon we had the best of it. It was pretty intense, I saw you copping some to the head on the inside. My brother was charging, he had a wave that looked like pipe, it was massive!
4. Coming from Narrabeen and having such a large group of top surfers to look up to, is there any one that your regard as your hero?
A few of the guys where I grew up in Narrabeen I really look up too a lot, guys like Damien Hardman and Chris Davison. Davo’s had some tough times, he’s really got his act together now and this year will be his 4th crack at the CT. From beating Slater at bells at 17 years old on a borrowed board with no leggy, to charging massive kegs in Indo with Tom Curren on the old Rip Curl search movies. He’s easily one of my favourite surfers to watch and I reckon he will shock everyone this year, take down some big names and blow up on tour.
5. Have you steered clear of the bush fires that have been ravaging southern NSW and Victoria? Have you ever been to any of the places affected?
Yeah I have been near the places when I used to compete on the junior series down at bells in Victoria, I wouldn’t go down that way now.
6. What would you do if you saw some lads starting a fire somewhere?
I’d beat the living shit out of them.
7. What about all of the shark attacks around Sydney over the last few weeks, someone got their hand chewed off at Bondi the other day and then the day after another bloke had his arm and leg chewed off in the harbour! Do you get freaked easily?
Nah not really, I’m kinda pretty mellow with sharks, I’ve seen a few in my time, you kinda sorta got to expect it. It’s their domain and you’re in it, so if your number’s up, your number’s up!
There’s always a story to tell. The day that north Narrabeen was pumping, and you were shooting water, about 200m up the beach 3 kids were chased out of the sea by a shark. It’s just the norm, it does seem to be a bit more common at the moment though. My mate who lives in Forster was chased out of the sea by a massive great white a week ago. They’re everywhere.
8. You seem to be constantly in the magazines and traveling these days, where has been the best surf you’ve had in the past 6 months.
The last 6 months I’ve been to Mexico, Australia, Bali, France and all around the UK -Ireland and Scotland. I must say that the two best sessions that stand out in my mind are Thurso after the UK pro tour event, it was like 6ft draining barrels. Then in Ireland at Black spot in Bundoran where again it was big right hand draining kegs, where you got that cover shot of me, it was sick. So after all that traveling I still got the best waves near home!
9. Being a UK pro surfer do you have to work or is surfing giving you an income?
No I don’t have to work, I’m lucky enough to have great sponsors like Rusty clothing and boards, Globe shoes and Circle One wetsuits. They support me to travel around the world filming for sections in surf DVD’s as well as doing photo trips for magazines and competing in events.
10. So how much do you get paid then?
I get paid enough
11. Are you able to put any away for your retirement?
Err, hopefully in the next few years I will start to be able to put some away but at the moment I’m doing so much traveling that what I earn I have to spend on trips.
12. Has the credit crunch affected you at home or here in oz?
Nah, hasn’t affected me mate.
13. Are you going to surf forever or are you planning a different career for the future?
No surfing has been my life from day one. My Dad owned a caravan at Booby’s Bay caravan park near Constantine where we used to go on holidays, that’s where I started to learn to surf at around six years old. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do, and to be able to do it now for a living is a dream come true.
14. What’s your average day if the surf’s not pumping
Well when I’m in the UK I’d be hanging out with my chick, or doing a bit of training, running or swimming, or just hanging out with the boys in Newquay. I’m also right into my footy so if there is a game on I’m all over it!
15. So what’s better, English football or Australian rules football?
Australian rules is fucked for starters, I hate that game. Rugby league’s good, I used to play it when I was younger and the team nearest to Narrabeen (Manly Sea Eagles) are current premier champs, I used to go to school with a couple of the boys in the team. But I’d have to say my favourite is English football, I’m a bit of a fanatic. Absolutely love it. I’ve been a massive Leeds United fan since I can remember, my Dad’s a huge Chelsea fan and he used to get season tickets every year when he was growing up in London. My brother is a Spurs fan, so there’s a good bit of rivalry in the house. Whenever there is a game we will all be watching it, whoever is playing!
16. Where’s the heaviest surf you’ve been in?
I’ve had a few hairy situations in Hawaii at Rock Piles, Haliewa and Pipe. However just for pure thickness I’d say Teahupoo would have to be the heaviest spot that I’ve ever surfed.
17. Tell us about the time you went to the World Juniors in Tahiti, I heard because you were the only guy representing Britain you got a whole apartment to yourself.
Yeah that was one of the best trips of my life for sure. I was 17 and got to go there and stay in a five star resort with all the other teams. There was about 4 or 5 in one room and I had a huge massive pimping pad to myself, it was an amazing trip we scored some sick waves for the comp and free surfing at spots like Venus point and Chopes.
18. You and another European kid are the only ones sponsored by Rusty Europe. How did you pull that off.
Yeah me and Vincent Devignact from France are the only two Rusty riders in Europe and it worked out perfect. My previous sponsor Headworx went into administration and literally three days later I got a call from Rusty’s European marketing director Remi Chaussemiche asking if I wanted to join the team and be the sole representative for Rusty in the UK as they were relaunching in Europe. They are really looking after me and are an amazing sponsor, I get to travel as much as I want and just focus on my surfing. They also gave me a section in the bonus section for the new international Rusty movie Changes, which I was super stoked about as its one of the sickest surf DVD’s I’ve ever seen. Kerrzy, Jay Davies and Jamie O’Brien all going mental! My whole section was filmed in Ireland and France in two weeks just before the DVD went to the copiers.
19. What other projects are you doing for them?
I’m off to Samoa in two weeks for a Rusty trip and then I’ve got a Rusty camp in Bali for three weeks in April with all the top Rusty guys filming and doing shots everyday, which should really improve my surfing. I’ve recently been getting some Rusty boards in Sydney shaped by AIDO and they are some of the best boards I’ve ever had, so I cant wait to try them out in some bigger waves!
20. What’s it like being away from your chick and family half the year?
Well pretty much all my family live in the UK, so I get to see them all the time, it’s only my Dad and my Aunty who live in Sydney. This is the longest I’ve been away from my chick and yeah it’s pretty hard. She’s at uni in Bristol and I’m away traveling, so it’s really hard work. But she understands it’s my job, when she finishes uni she will be able to come away with me on trips heaps more.
21. Didn't you meet your chick at the Masked Ball at Porthleven? What's she like? Do they have parties like that in Oz?
Yeah she’s great, I met her at the masked ball, I’d lost all the boys and just bumped into her and hit it off straight away. There’s a few parties like that over here. On the weekend I went to a festival called Good Vibrations and saw Fat Boy Slim and the Presets, it was pretty good. A lot like the SAS Ball but on a much bigger scale.
22. When you visit your old mates in south Devon and you see them with houses and kids, do you wish you'd settled down, or are you stoked that surfing has saved you from a life of family drudgery?
Yeah for sure, when I see all my mates from school in Chudleigh, they’ve got like two or three kids, working the same shit job and they’re just in the same pub every night and every single person knows each other. I do have a laugh when I catch up with them but to get out of there was a huge life saver. I’ve got to say a massive thanks to my old man for that one for sure.
Cheers big AL I owe ya!
23. So do you like having two bases, in England and Oz?
Its perfect really I don’t have to spend to much time at home in the winter, I live in England full time now but to escape those freezing couple of months is perfect.
24. Where’s home then?
I was born in England and I live there full time except for those couple of freezing months, so its definitely home for me.
I’ve been living in Newquay for the past seven years. I have such a sick bunch of mates who rip and are always keen for a surf and a pint. It’s close to my chicks place in Helston and it’s also the perfect base with so many photogs and some really good beachies to surf, and there’s heaps going on all the time!
25. Vegemite or marmite?
It’s a tough one but I’d have to say Marmite
26. Do you wear those tight jeans and daps that everyone seems to be sporting over here?
Can’t say I do mate, I think its just you Will. Hahaha
27. Do you hate the cold British winters?
Yeah I can’t really get motivated enough when it gets that cold, unless I’m in Ireland or Scotland where your looking at a heaving slab with perfect barrels. Then I don’t care if we’re up to our waists in snow, you suit up and charge out there and get kegged off your nut with a big smile on your face!
To go surfing on the beachies in Cornwall though, when its like three foot howling windy and freezing is really tough.
28. Who do you reckon are the best Brit surfers?
Ruben Ash at the moment is blowing up, he’s definitely the one pushing my surfing in the UK, which is really good to see. Russ is always up there too! Also guys like Egor and Nate Phillips are the stand outs on the UK tour. Then you have Cain Killcullen who is the best tube rider and is easily the most under rated surfer around, from pig-dogging 6 foot slabs around his home in Easky, to tearing the back out of Thusro with massive gaping hacks! He’s definitely ripping at the moment!
29. Your bruv is a good surfer as well, is he surfing much at the moment?
Yeah he is actually, he’s back in Sydney at the moment. He’s been working on super yachts in the Caribbean so hasn’t been surfing much, but before that he was working as a surf guide on Lohifushi island in the Maldives for three years. He really struggles to do a decent turn, he’ll love me saying that haha…. but he knows how to barrel ride. He proved that a couple of years ago by winning the best tube award at the Thurso UK pro tour event. He got a full drainer from the start of the point to where you kick out, no one thought he was coming out, even MR B stopped filming it!
30. What’s his job like? I heard he gets massive tips.
He’s got a really sick job, he’s a deck hand on a super yacht and gets massive tips. This year these Russians gave him 17 thousand US for a two week tip. He’s now passed his captaincy course, which will put his wages through the roof and will promote him to first mate.
31. How much of the UKPST tour will you be doing this year?
I’m going to do all of the UKPST, I’ve come really close to winning it a few times now and just got pipped in the last event! But I’m also focusing on doing filming and photo trips, getting a sick section in a DVD is just as important as winning an event! Also getting exposure in mags and surfing the best waves possible. If there is a photo/filming trip somewhere sick where I’ll be getting kegged I’ll be there instead!
32. Who are the craziest party animals on the UKPST Tour? Do you know any X-rated tales about their behavior on the tour?
All the boys know how to have a good time once the event is over! Can’t really name names, but there has been more than one occasion where I’ve been woken up to a certain UK Tour contender urinating either in the cupboard or against the hotel room wall!
33. Who parties harder, Brits or Ozzies?
That’s a close one, really close, they’re probably just about even but I’d say the Welsh tip both of them.
34. What are your thoughts on class A drugs. Any experiences?
Waste of time and brain cells.
35. Do you think there’s a bigger drug culture in Australia compared to the UK?
Dunno, not really, I’d say England. All the clubs in London everyone seems to go a bit crazy.
36. Have you tried tow-surfing and what do you think about it?
Yeah I’ve done it a bit, my best session was when I used to do the Billabong camps on the Gold Coast. I was around 14 and scored 8 ft Currumbin Alley - absolutely pumping!
I haven’t had the opportunity to venture out into proper big tow waves, I’d really like to start getting into that.
You need a decent ski and a reliable tow partner, to get it all set up, I think once it’s all set up and in place you can really take it places. I’d love the chance to step it up a notch and get some serious waves, which I’ll be looking to do in the near future.
37. What are your long term plans and goals?
Well I’ve just signed a two year contract with Rusty and they have some big plans for the near future. Right now I’m just focused on improving my surfing and getting some really solid barrels and the best waves possible. Also, getting some sick footage for upcoming DVDs and nailing some amazing shots. I’d also like to win the British Nationals and win the UK pro tour. For the long term I just want to be the best surfer I can be, and have fun while doing it.
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