Hawaii’s
surf studs shine
The wave-riding action
By Greg Ambrose
simply boggles the mind
Special to the Star-Bulletin
Triple-C: Cool, Clear Caffeine Directed by Bill Ballard, 55 minutes, $29.95. Available at surf shops, or call (800) 638-8137OAHU filmmaker Bill Ballard has enough talent in his family to fill a surf video, but he manfully resists the temptation to keep his lenses trained on his wife, Rochelle.
That's a pity. Rochelle Ballard is among the more exciting women on the world professional surfing tour, and recently scored a record pair of perfect 10s for some mind-boggling barrels while competing in Australia.
Had she emerged from another long tube in the now-famous heat, Rochelle would have nailed a trio of 10s and set a record for the ages.
Although Rochelle has enough talent to keep the cameras focused on her alone, husband Bill has opted to scan the field for his latest video. The result is certain to bring some of Hawaii's hottest young surfers to the attention of the surfing world.
"Triple-C: Cool, Clear Caffeine," an alliterative allusion to the natural jolt surfers get from riding waves, is a pure delight that includes many subtle touches amid a maelstrom of incendiary surfing action.
The movie overflows with slack-jaw images of local boys risking their lives while baring their souls pitted deeply in Hawaiian waves of consequence. This is the hottest action from the past winter, temptingly presented by Ballard to make some ache for the fun they had and others regret what they missed.
When the video shifts to fun surf, the kids pull out all the stops with knee-ruining acrobatic aerials, lip-slamming and spinning 360-degree turns, and improbable sections floated with maddening ease.
Thanks to their incredible performances, Hawaii hot shots Bruce and Andy Irons, Braden Dias, Cody Graham, Aaron Lambert, the deranged Little brothers, Ross Williams and a host of others are sure to become household names worldwide.
They are joined by dazzling surf stars, such as Kelly Slater, Sunny Garcia, Kaipo Jaquias and the twin Toms, Curren and Carroll, who show what happens when youthful exuberance is tempered by mastery of their sport.
But the main attraction is Hawaii's snarling, sucking, pitching, peeling, warm and wonderful waves. Still, side trips to Australia and the Maldives remind local surfers that Hawaii has no monopoly on perfect waves.
Masterful editing provides delicious moments, none more tasty than the Waimea shore-break sequence. The classically insane two-man assault on the punishing waves is accompanied by some classical Mozart. The civilized sound of the music contrasts with the savagery of the waves.
A fine touch -- missing from too many surf videos -- is a tribute to wahine surfers everywhere. World champion Lisa Andersen, Hawaii professionals Rochelle Ballard, Keala Kennelly and Megan Abubo and others show that they are more fun to watch than the guys, and can match them maneuver for maneuver.
Footage quality varies maddeningly as it shifts between film and video. But as the broadcast journalism professor lectured his wide-eyed students, "Focus, framing and lighting don't matter when you've got someone telling you where the body is buried."
God controls the lighting at the beach, and Ballard can't be faulted for minor problems with framing and focus. This video clearly shows where the body is buried: deep in the tube on waves ridden by Hawaii's top shredders.
