Flynn & Daniel Jones Visit SoCal for the WQS

Flynn Novak and Daniel Jones recently visited Southern California to compete in the Trestles WQS event held in San Clemente. The event took place from April 24 – 28, 2007. The waves were not that great during this time period. So what do Flynn and Daniel do to train during waveless days in SoCal?

Flynn and Daniel like to go to The Wavehouse located in Mission Beach, San Diego. The Wavehouse, if you didn’t know, is a standing, barreling wave that doesn’t depend on ocean swells to deliver you a ride. Here’s Flynn in a familiar spot, the barrel.

One of the perks of being a pro is free access to private sessions after hours. One night a bunch of the Matuse team riders (Flynn Novak, Daniel Jones, Tyler Reid, Mason Hartman and Luke Rife) had full reign over the standing wave. Other guests were Shane Magnusson of Maui and local San Diego ripper Ryan Bracker.

Here Flynn gets a nice hack as the flash goes off to capture the moment. No doubt he honed that move on the end section at Pipe.

The night was full of frosty beers, insane maneuvers and hilarious wipeouts. The wave is known to take you out hard if you are not careful. Although the bottom is covered by a thin layer of foam padding it still hurts if you get tossed upside down on your head from 7 ft. up. Watch that rail, the water moves fast and is only about 10 inches deep. Here Daniel Jones carefully maneuvers back into the barrel wearing his 4:3:2 Hoplite fullsuit.

Thanks to The Wavehouse for opening its doors for us after hours. We all had a blast and helped to keep all the riders entertained while waiting for a swell. A small NW swell did filter in for the contest which made for some exciting heats.

As always, wave selection and luck played a huge part in the success of all the riders. Flynn Novak and Daniel Jones both exited in the round of 64. Unfortunately a big south swell never made it to Trestles. A good showing for both riders but we’ll look to see better results when they visit their next stop in the paradise known as the Maldive Islands. A left hander called Pasta Point should bode well for the two goofy footers. Pray for clean ground swell and light winds.