The Drop

The written word apparently still has a pulse, as a few unkind refrains on stabmag.com led to CT veteran Adrian 'Ace' Buchan calling out CUSP co-host Michael Ciaramella on Instagram this week.

This is a pilot for a new podcast on the Stab Podcast Feed, which has stolen the name of an old podcast on the Stab Podcast feed. The Drop (2.0) is a mix of conversations between the Stab staff about most compelling stories from the previous week in surf. Stories covered in this episode are: 00:49 Surfer Dies After Shark Attack At Rainbow Bay, Coolangatta With Ashton Goggans and Stace Galbraith 09:09 Recap of the week in surf With Danny Johnson 13:58 Which CTers Just Hopped On A Sneaky Boat Trip To The Ments? With Taylor Paul 28:25 John Florence Unveils His New Brand, Florence Marine X With Sam McIntosh 49:19 Noa Deane's Electric Acid Surfboard Test With Ashton Goggans

Did you know that WSL World #5 and recent Surf100 champ, Kolohe Andino, often rides his least favorite boards in competition? Why is that, and what has it done to his surfing? Mike and Stace investigate.

When Dane speaks, we listen.

Surf100 runs tomorrow and Stace and Mike have the keys to get you three free surfboards. Listen and hit them with your best offer in the DMs. Also, we're joined by Surf100 star Ian Crane, who's been up to some interesting business endeavors of his own.

The WSL just revealed their new tour plans for 2020 and beyond. Stace Galbraith and Mike Ciaramella have some thoughts! Topics covered: Will the QS and CT really be able to run in Hawaii this Triple Crown season? Which Tour surfers are anti-vaxxers? What's this about a mid-year cutoff?!

Jake 'Snake' Paterson has a notoriously firm rump, hardened by years sand dune runs and sitting out the back for the wave of the day. While that wave didn't always arrive in his allotted half-hour, Snake always made great use when it did, taking down the Pipe Masters and Jeffrey's Bay event (x2) against admittedly superior surfers. After a decade on the Tour that was successful by most any measures (did you know Snake was once a single heat away from winning the World Title—true!), he moved onto team-managing for his long-time sponsor Quiksilver, then spent the last decade or so coaching the next gen of competitive hell-raisers. (Remember the Zeke vs. John heat at Bells? Who do you think was in the (native) Hawaiian's corner?) Alas, one of competitive surfing's greatest minds has decided to hang up his orange hand towel and head to more UV-friendly pastures, taking over the CEO position of sunscreen brand We Are Good Times Inc. Since the Stab CUSP is one-half comprised of CT coaches (hey, Stace) and almos

Kolohe Andino joins Mick Fanning for the latest edition of Unplugged. They pontificate the biggest changes in the WSL over the past decade: a new look tour climaxing in a final single-day event to crown a world champion. For a video version of this discussion click here: https://youtu.be/KhgexCNZLCM Stabmag.com

This week, 'RISS' star Carissa Moore joins Stab Unplugged with Mick Fanning, who chips away at her armor of optimism in an attempt to mine hidden truths. While relatively unsuccessful (Carissa's armor is forged of triple-plated steel), it was fascinating to hear a three- and four-time World Champion discuss what motivates and derails them, competitively. For Carissa, it's a lack of self-focus. For Mick, it's stoplights and compensatory wetsuit runs. We also asked Carissa if there was any truth to the rumor that she pays local coaches to block for her during freesurfs at CT venues. Hit play for a verbal chess match! To see the video version of this conversation click here: https://stabmag.com/stabcinema/what-derails-carissa-moore-unplugged/

Stace and Mike are joined by a surprise guest who makes the argument for jet skis as a justifiable fetish. The boys also discuss which surfers will come out of Covid stronger than they went in and whether or not the WSL will run events in 2020.

For the third episode of Mick Fanning and Stab's interview series Unplugged, Mick and Stab's Sam McIntosh linked up with Gabriel Medina from his current location in Maresias, Brazil. Mick and Sam were able to unravel the famously mysterious Medina. Here's just some of the things we learnt in this interview: First job: No shit, Gabe Medina used to park cars as a six year old. The biggest waves he’s ever surfed have been in a jersey. Subject: Little help? The Pipe Masters forecast was looking huge and Gabe asked Mick Fanning how to surf Pipe. Via email. Gabe regrets the Caio Ibelli drop-in in Portugal. "Isn’t he a dickhead?" Mick Fanning talks his flatmate’s response when Gabe was coming to stay. He knows absolutely nothing about surfboards except he likes em big. “I ride the same size as Jordy" Gabe is the only surfer on tour who likes Lemoore. “They should hold the whole 2020 tour there,” laughs Gabe.

In this episode, Stace and Mike meet with the WSL's Chief Brand Officer, Dave Prodan, to talk about the League's proposed changes, the public's overwhelmingly negative response to those changes, and exactly what is the WSL's core identity (as we can't seem to put our finger on it). Here's a breakdown, for the impatient type: 1:00 How the WSL is structured as a business 4:30 Does the WSL represent "surfing" as a whole? 7:30 what does Dave's job entail? 8:30 what is the WSL's core identity? 10:40 is the WSL a profitable business? 12:20 will the WSL cut down the number of surfers on the CT? 14:15 7-day event windows? 14:30 how will the WSL continue to elevate female surfing? 16:30 what's the plan with the QS? 23:00 how does the WSL feel about the negative public response toward their new plans? 28:00 what will the new tour calendar look like? 30:40 would Kelly Slater have more or less titles today if the WSL's proposed changes had been in place since Slater started on tour? 33:40 will JJF suffer most from t

In this episode, Stace and Mike discuss the WSL's proposed plans for the 2021 Tour and what their idealized versions of a CT would look like. Radical upheaval is the general consensus.

Stab founder and CEO Sam McIntosh gets into the weeds with WSL CEO Erik Logan on the future of surf competitions and content.

After two decades in the game, there are a few commonalities you can always rely on when dealing with a-grade talent: the first is that you need to be prepared to do plenty of waiting. Once a time and day were set for the interview, both surfers committed to a firm time date: 8am Tuesday in Australia and 12pm, in Hawaii. It was 7.53am and my laptop wouldn’t kick over. Frozen. A few resets and it whirred to life. It was 7.57am when I finally tuned into Zoom. There, both Mick and John were in full swing. I’m not sure what was more disarming, that these guys were so punctual or the fact that they’d already dived into the joys of cycling, and the fact that John needs to embrace lycra because it’s a “game-changer.” The goal of this call was simple: two see what can be distilled when two surfing world champs riff about life at the top. This is our second iteration of the series. We had some feedback from the first episode with Ronnie Blakey and it was that we lacked a clear explanation of what was actually g

The Stab CUSP is back like a chicken with no head! Because surf comps are officially on hold til mid-2024, Stace and Mike have had to change the angle of the aptly-named Stab CUSP (Currently Untitled Surf Podcast). This week they'll be discussing the surf industry at large and whether or not it will survive our current recession. Because neither Stace nor Mike know anything the surf industry, they enlisted the expertise of Sam McIntosh (Stab's founder and noted media tycoon) and Mitch Crews (professional surfer) to walk them through surfing's current commercial status and its outlook for the future. Here's a brief rundown of events. 0:00 intro 2:00 Gold Coast update 4:50 Costa Rica update 6:40 surf industry update 11:30 Sam McIntosh intro 12:45 Sam on the surf industry 31:30 Sam end, Stace analyzes 33:50 Mitch intro 36:55 Mitch on the realities of being a "pro surfer" in 2020. 55:58 Mitch end, boys analyze

The Stab MIC: Jamie O'Brien by STAB

In episode two of CUSP, Stace and Mike talk about the highly contentious Pipe Masters finale. Topics covered include: Italo's dominance, Slater's ageless mastery, and Medina's q antics A more detailed look at their discourse, here: 0.00 intro 2.00 pipeline breakdown - Italo 14.00 Wildcard seeding, Billy Kemper 16.50 Gabby & Caio Interference 23.30 Unsportsmanlike Rule 26.50 Is Gabby above the law? 32.00 Do we change the drop in rule? 34.20 Getting comboed, should it even happen? 38.41 JJF v Medina Rivalry 41.33 Who wins the 2020 Title? 42.50 Kelly & JJF Olympics and Kelly chat 44.44 Kelly retirement 47.05 Kelly Late entry to sunset 49.16 Chin Wag Section - Performance drugs in surfing 53.28 Weight in surfing 55.40 Using lighter equipment, is it better? 1.04.10 Q3 Biggest Hassler at events? 1.08.51 Biggest Hassler not on tour 1.14.40 What the score? Q1 Gabby crying 1.18.47 Q2 Blocking on insta

Welcome to CUSP (the Currently Untitled Surf Podcast), where Stab writer Michael Ciaramella and Championship Tour coach Stace Galbraith dissect the minutiae of competitive surfing, occasionally in a combative fashion. This is the first episode of our new, contest-driven podcast, so let us know what you think. For the impatient types: 0:33 podcast and host introduction 2:50 Honolua bay intro 3:48 Mike's conspiracy theory part 1 (Lakey) 8:19 Stace's rebuttal 9:25 Mike's re-rebuttal 11:25 Mike's conspiracy theory part 2 (Caroline) 13:17 Stace confirms that match-fixing happens within WSL events 15:06 Jack Freestone burns Heitor Alves on purpose 17:32 Stace talks Hawai'i 18:51Carissa wins Honolua, Stace offers insights from the ground 20:43 Lakey's missed wave... again 24:53Tyler Wright's triumphant return 29:25 the Tyler wildcard snafu 33:30 Sunset beach intro 34:46 Zeke Lau's Sunset requirement 36:28 the Zeke x Jack collision 42:01 Ethan Ewing's Hawaii performance 43:34 Matthew McGillivray qualification

The Stab MIC: Morgan Maassen by STAB