In very tricky and dangerous low tide afternoon conditions at...

In very tricky and dangerous low tide afternoon conditions at Padang-Padang Beach in Bali, dark horse Kane “Dogbite” Faint (yellow) put his years of experience to work to pull into and fight his way out of a couple of throaty barrels that got him the win at the Rip Curl Cup.

Young Ketut “Mega” Yoga Semadhi (red) was pulling out all the stops in the 4-man final, dropping in and able to get super deep with his smaller physique, and even pulled off a massive floater on a solid 10-foot face. Bukit local Made Lapur was essentially surfing in his own backyard, making it look pretty automatic to just drop in and make a couple turns to get set up and then letting the lip cover him up. Wayan “Betet” Merta was having difficulty with waves selection in the final, but is always a threat and could have pulled off a big scoring maneuver at any time.

Made Lapur (white) pulled out to an early lead with 6.67, then Betet (blue) had a chance to get even but didn’t make a big floater. Lapur’s next wave got him a 9.5 and a lot of cheers from the cliff, seemingly sealing his position in first place. Mega’s first wave had closed out on him but he was not to be denied on his second, dropping almost straight into a barrel, and then exiting to carve a huge cutback before slotting into another barrel on the inside. That got him an 8.33 from the judges and second place. But at about the halfway point of the final, Kane Faint locked into a super sick barrel that fought him the whole way, but he somehow clawed his way out for a perfect 10. He followed that up with a 5.5 and a 3.3, before sealing his win with an 8.5 on his last wave. Lapur’s last wave earned him a 7.7, cementing his 2nd place finish. Mega continued to aggressively attack each wave, but by the time the horn blew he was waving his arms for help, as it appeared that he had sustained a rib injury and was then taken back to the beach in the Zodiac.

Back on the beach, Faint was asked about his thoughts paddling out into the final. “I was just stoked to be in the comp, it was great fun, and I was so stoked to be in the final. I was actually really surprised that I made it that far. But I pretty much just treated it like any other Padang session I surf. It didn’t matter to me who was in the water really, I just tried to pick off the best waves and surf them as good as I could.” He added, “Just before the final I did an interview and said ‘I’ve had fun the whole comp but I haven’t gotten a 10 yet, and hopefully it’ll come in the final.’ When I got that wave I didn’t know if that was it or not, but I knew it was good. I’m really stoked at getting a 10 AND winning the final!”

The Rip Curl Cup Padang-Padang is the longest running ISC event in Indonesia, now in its fourth year. The event requires a substantial waiting period in order to run, due to the fickle nature of the wave. When the conditions are just right, Padang-Padang is without question one of the most picturesque, heavy, yet rewarding waves in Indonesia, the Asian equivalent of Hawaii’s Banzai Pipeline.

Rip Curl would like to thank all the ISC crew, competiors, Padang Padang locals, Banana Boat, Da Kine and Light Surfboards for their great support throughout this event.

Results:

1) Kane Faint (18.5 pts)
2) Made Lapur (17.2 pts)
3) Ketut Yoga Semadhi (15.57 pts)
4) Wayan Merta (9.93 pts)

Added: October 1, 2008
Producer: Rip Curl
Copyright: Rip Curl
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