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THE
RIPPER EFFECT:
CORY
LOPEZ GOES FROM FORMER SEBASTIAN PRO FAN TO FUTURE CHAMPION
Watching
Cory Lopez heroically hoist a huge foam check above his head
atop a $10,000 jet ski, it's hard to picture him as a pipsqueak
running around the beach begging pros for autographs. But that's
exactly what he was doing 13 years ago when big-time pro surfing
last pitched its scaffolding at Sebastian Inlet. And if you
think that early inspiration didn't have an effect on him, then
you weren't paying attention as Lopez lithely slipped through
one round to the next at the 2005 Globe Sebastian Inlet Pro,
overcoming upsets (he took a surprising second to darkhorse
Ryan Helm in his first heat) and legends (Slates had to settle
for runner-up come the final) to grab his maiden pro victory
at the place he calls his second home. With the crowd of would-be
pros battling in the water and watching from the sand, you could
almost feel the performance aftershocks pulsing up and down
the beach and passing through future generations. And more than
cash or prizes, in Cory's opinion, it's this ripping ripple
effect that made the contest a winning endeavor. By Matt
Walker/ Surfing Magazine
CL:
It was just rad to be back in Florida competing. We were stoked
to get five days of waves, and of course, the last day we had
chest to head-high surf. You can't ask for much more from Florida
in January. And another good thing was we had nice weather so
people could come down to enjoy it.
ESM:
Obviously, there were all you WCT guys, but beyond that were
you surprised at how thick the talent level got?
CL:
Having everyone there, and having Kelly and the Hobgoods support
it, made a big difference. But I also thought Florida talents
like Ryan Helm and Cormican went off. All the boys put on a
good show and I think a lot of people were surprised.
ESM: You witnessed Ryan Helm's skills firsthand. He actually beat you one heat. Had you surfed against him before? CL:
I grew up surfing with him when we were young, and through
the years just freesurfing. He's always been fun to watch. He's
always just done his own thing. It's cool to see him finally
step up and do some events.
ESM:
The other darkhorse was Cormican. Looking at the final, it was
you, Kelly, Ben--three surfers with WCT experience--and him.
That's pretty cool considering guys like Tim Curran and Damien
were competing. Do you think Cormy has what it takes to make
the tour?
CL:
Cormican's a great competitor. His surfing fits the format for
what's going on nowadays. And with the WQS comps happening in
a lot of smaller waves, he'd have a great chance at qualifying.
I just don't think he's ever going to give it a shot. If you
look at who qualified from Australia this year--that one kid,
the air guy, Kirk Flintoff... You look at Flintoff, and you'd
say Cormican would qualify before him any day. Of course, Kirk
will probably end up beating me this year [laughs]...
SM:
The final almost seemed more like an X-Games expression session
than a big battle.
CL:
Yeah, it was definitely fun. I mean, I've known all those guys
for so many years. It was great to be in a final with Kelly.
And Cormican, you never know what he's going to do. He could
pull crazy stuff and get a 9.0 on any wave, y'know? It was exciting
because the lead changed so many times and there was a big flurry
of waves at the end. The pressure was on, and luckily, I got
that last wave. Now I'm looking forward to getting into the
real deal in March.
ESM:
Longterm, what would you like to see happen with this contest?
CL:
I'd like to see it get a little bigger. Maybe bump it up
to a 4 or a 5-star even. I don't know if they'd let that happen
in Florida [laughs]. But why not? I've seen 5-stars held
in some pretty crappy places. Everyone thinks Europe is so rad,
but they have all these 6-stars there and half the time the
waves suck.
ESM: As a kid coming up in Florida, how important was it to be able to catch these pro events back in the day? CL:
It was cool because back then we had the ASP-East going on and
the Aloe Up at New Smyrna, so we had this whole circuit and
all the pros would come. It was great to watch those guys because
when you're young, you look up to them so much. I'm sure the
kids were just as stoked to have Kelly and the Hobgoods and
everyone there this year. I think that's what makes these events
important for the East Coast. It's such a huge market for the
industry and there's so many surfers. Because all those kids
in California, they grew up watching it. The kids around here
haven't, so they're stoked to finally have that opportunity.
ESM:
Which do you think works better: a series of smaller, more localized
events up and down the coast like the ASP-East or one or two
big East Coast contests with more stars?
CL:
Well, the thing about the smaller events is they help the local
economy and all the hometown surfers get their chance to make
money, which is cool. With the bigger events, a lot of big names
come in and the local guys don't get as good of a seed. So the
smaller contests are good for the East Coast people who get
a chance at making the money rounds. At the same time, once
they make the money rounds in a bigger event, it's that much
better for them. Surfers want to compete against the better
guys. And by having more stars, you get the best guys showing
up.
ESM: Seeing how successful it was at this level, wouldn't you like to see this contest grow to where even more big names would show up? CL:
Yeah, I guess so. But I was just stoked to see everyone support
the event. Getting more international guys would be cool, but
I like watching all the local guys surf. I see all those other
guys on tour all year [laughs]. They don't need to come
to Florida.
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