Jamie was invited to compete at the Teahupoo Trials in Tahiti this year, but opted to come to Bali instead and surf in the Rip Curl Cup. The 27-year-old from the North Shore of Oahu has been in Bali for a couple of weeks now. He spent the first three weeks of the waiting period pulling into heaving beachbreak shacks in Mexico, filming for his new movie, and keeping an eye on the charts in case Padang turned on.
Padang Cup
“The Padang Cup is a special contest to me because the waves are so perfect and the people are so great. Most of the time you’re stressed out in heats, but in Bali the waves never stop coming. I’ve never had so much fun in a surf contest in my whole life!**”
Bukit vs. Kuta
Jamie says of the Bukit. “I like it when the surf is good, but when the surf's flat I tend to lose my mind up here.”
“Down in Kuta you can just hop on your bike, cruising down the roads, trying to do jumps and wheelies, skids, scaring dogs. It's a pretty entertaining place.”
The irresistible allure of shopping in Kuta
“I don't even like to shop, but I end up buying all sorts of stuff every I come to Bali. Every time I go home, it's like 'Why did I buy all this stuff?'”
Who is JOB?
Jamie spent most of the summer surfing and filming down in Mexico, adding to the already epic project that is his forthcoming movie, 'Who Is JOB?' The movie has been in the works for a long time. Trailers and teaser videos have bee released sporadically over the past year, but surf movie aficionados are still waiting desperately.
“Basically,” says Jamie, “it’s out when it’s out!”
Why getting barreled is still fun
Jamie has arguably spent more time in the barrel than anyone on the planet in the past decade. Does he ever get bored of getting so barreled?
“Every year, every session, every day – if it's barreling, it's a good day. My motto is: If don't make it, then that was a good thing. And if I almost barely didn't make it, then it's a good thing. But if I made it really easy and could have gotten more barreled, then I kind of blew it.”
