In our
November 2011 issue, CJ Hobgood was blunt about his plans for competitive
surfing in the New Year: “As of right now, I’m not mentally ready to [do the
tour in 2012].” CJ went to Hawaii with no set goals, no aim to try and
requalify, and nothing but a good time in good waves on his mind. But then he
made the quarterfinals of the Vans World Cup Of Surfing at Sunset Beach, and
received a last-minute slot into the Billabong Pipe Masters, where he placed
9th in some of the best Pipe waves seen for the contest in ten years. Once the
dust settled and the ASP tallied up the 2011 points, CJ sat at #24 in the World
Rankings — more than qualified for the 2012 World Tour.
Which left
us in the peculiar position of needing to follow up our in-depth interview with
another in-depth interview. One that looked to go in the complete opposite direction of
the one we had just done. But CJ said he hadn’t made up his mind yet. He was
waiting on decisions from the ASP. Waiting to hear from potential sponsors. Was
there a chance that the 2001 ASP World Champion was going to bypass a spot back
on tour? Well, CJ finally opened up, about his plans for next year, his new
major sponsor, and how his roller-coaster fall and winter might have been just
what the doctor ordered.
ESM: In November, you told us you were
planning on taking a break in 2012, CJ. Now you’re officially back on the World
Tour. How crazy has your head felt the last few months?
CJ Hobgood: I’ve been waiting to answer
that question, because I knew I was going to have to answer it sooner or later
[laughs]. To rewind back, the last time I talked to you I was thinking in my
head that ideally I would at the earliest jump back on tour mid-year, and if
that didn’t happen then I’d jump back on at the end of 2012. That’s what I had
planned out in my head. So I went over to Hawaii and didn’t do Haleiwa, but I did
do Sunset because I got into the Pipe contest and it fell right before.
Including the [ASP Prime] Azores I won, I didn’t think I was going to do three
contests and average close to 4,000 points at each. It doesn’t matter how good
you are, you can’t show up to ASP events and expect to average that much.
Requalifying was not something I was expecting, so when we did that interview
in November, I wasn’t trying to that question.
ESM: But now it’s answered, right? You
are doing the tour next year?
CJ: I am.
ESM: Tell us about the waves in Hawaii.
CJ: I was stoked we got good waves at
Pipe, but it was a tough lineup. I had so many chances to put together some
good performances, but I never did. I was more just getting the job done.
ESM: How about that heat with Julian
Wilson? People were calling his airdrop the most critical of the contest.
CJ: He kept darting inside, and I was
looking at that wave because it was so thick, but it didn’t have that much of a
wall to it. So I was like, “That’s gonna be a crazy drop, but he might not get
that long of a barrel.” I was out the back, so I didn’t see it until after the
fact, but it was nuts. I still always have a dream that I’ll get a great
Backdoor wave and get spit out, but I didn’t do it this year.
ESM: But your Pipeline result still put
you back on tour. Were you anticipating that when you paddled out?
CJ: It was a different place for me,
because I had all these goals leading up to New York, and then after New York I
didn’t have any plans. I constantly had to remind myself, “Just a couple of
weeks ago you had made your decision to not do the tour — don’t get
caught up in what these other people are saying, and just go out there and
enjoy Pipe for what it is.” The whole time I was off I was watching the webcast,
looking at the characters that I’m friends with, and falling back in love with
being a fan first. That gives you a different experience when you go out
surfing. Out in Hawaii, any other person in my position would have been like,
“Gotta make another heat to requalify! I have to do this!” I’ve been in that
situation so many times at Pipe, trying to finish Top 16 or Top Five. I’ve always
experienced competition on that level. And this was the first time I said, “Go
have fun.” I wasn’t trying to get points — if I got ‘em, cool, if I
didn’t, I’d worry about it after the fact.
ESM: So have you processed the last
four roller-coaster months now?
CJ: Me jumping back on tour just
happened a lot faster than I thought it would. Falling off was the perfect storm,
and the flip side of that is with no plans of making heats or winning events I
shouldn’t have been winning it was the exact 180-degree perfect storm in the
other way. So maybe it was meant to be. Maybe I’m here because of those things.
ESM: So you’re not writing a
“Declaration of Independence” from the tour like Dane Reynolds?
CJ: No [laughs], I wasn’t there. I had
a lot of those same thoughts and ideas, though: “What’s my life going to look
like after the tour?” Experiencing that allowed me to get my mind right to
compete for a whole year in 2012.
ESM: What sponsor issues worked
themselves out for 2012? Do you finally have a major sponsor again?
CJ: Last year I was at a stage in my
life where I wanted to surf for something, and riding for To Write Love On Her
Arms was a way for me to give back since surfing has given me so much. I
thought I would just do that and then get a main sponsor for this year, but now
that it’s time for me to go back on tour, and now that I’ve had a couple of
offers… well, I realized I could have taken the easy way out and taken ‘em, and
kept TWLOHA’s sticker down low. But me and Jamie [Tworkowski, TWLOHA founder]
have been talking about where my story fits in to other people’s who’ve been
struggling; it seemed so much bigger than me or Jamie or TWLOHA, so we just said,
“Let’s take a risk. Let’s do this. Let’s go.” Last year everyone was doing the
story, “CJ doesn’t have a major sponsor…”
ESM: But this year you do?
CJ: I do — I have a major
sponsor, and it’s TWLOHA.
ESM: That’s gotta be a first — a
former world champion rocking a non-profit as his primary sponsor.
CJ: I’m so excited to do the tour and
have it feel like I’m doing something that’s bigger than me. It’s a big risk
for me and for them — I could have gone and got more money, played it
safe, and not had to answer the questions, but I would have just been doing the
same thing. That has me feeling really excited about next year. We’re doing
something that we love to do. And with my situation, I see so many other
surfers who I’m excited to help tell their stories, from people around Florida
to people on tour. I know that will keep me energized to really feel like I’m
going on tour with a purpose.
ESM: Give us your thoughts on some of
the ASP’s recent changes: the new schedule with Fiji and Steamer Lane but no
New York, the drug testing…
CJ: When you talk about all those
things it seems like a big change, but for me personally, 2012 almost feels
like a rookie year. In Hawaii I wasn’t planning on being back on tour, so I
didn’t go to the meetings. I needed to enjoy what I was doing — I
couldn’t live in another world where I had any kind of agenda. As far as Fiji
and Steamer Lane go, I’m super pumped. As far as surfing with Kolohe Andino and
Gabriel Medina, I’m super pumped. To see Mick and Joel and Taj bring their game
back, I’m super pumped. I’m like a rookie that’s comfortable in his own skin.
But I almost can’t even dig in to that stuff because my head just hasn’t been
there. Another thing is I’m healthy; I had two concussions and a blown MCL last
year, and from June on I was injured. But I’ve never had an injury that wasn’t
a blessing in my life.
ESM: How about the rotation, which got
voted down?
CJ: It’s six to one and half a dozen to
another. Can we say, “I’ll trade you a Bobby for a Gabriel Medina”? Because I’d
trade you back. You’re gonna get new people on, and you’re gonna lose people
who had a bad couple months or got injured. And if you get injured, it’s hard
to flip that script in six months. Freddy Patacchia beat Mick Fanning like
three times, and he still didn’t make it back on tour! There are pros and cons,
so I think it’s a wash. You’re getting great people, and you’re losing great
people at the same time.
ESM: In Surfline’s year-end Power
Rankings, Nick Carroll mentioned something about your boards, that it didn’t
look like your equipment was perfect at Pipeline. Is that something you’ll be
working on double time before the 2012 season starts?
CJ: It’s no secret that you have to
have a good board under your feet, and some years you’re gonna get a bunch of
magic boards, and some years you’re not. But you just have to push through
those things. I didn’t order a quiver for Hawaii; I was going just hoping I was
going to get into Pipe. I was underprepared, and I didn’t outperform my
underpreparedness. I’m not gonna lie about that. I wanted to take next year off
tour and get the craziest quiver completely dialed in, so it’s definitely
something I’m going to be working on.
ESM: Any other challenges you foresee?
You only spent four months off tour, but your headspace definitely changed a
lot in that time.
CJ: I know there’s stuff that I’m going
to compromise — give up a little in this area so I can gain in other
areas where I need to move my surfing forward. Sometimes you come out smelling
like a rose and looking like a genius, and sometimes you don’t. No risk, no
reward, right?
