Greg Long had another great summer in South Africa.

He spends every summer in the southern hemisphere and while he was there this year he finished second in the 2008 Red Bull Big Wave Africa to good friend and rival Grant “Twiggy” Baker. But didn’t leave empty handed, he also caught a massive barrel that is a sure XXL award candidate.

He chatted with the Register about his summer holiday and the barrel ride. Here’s Greg in his own words.

Q: What kind of expectations did you have going back to S. Africa this summer. I mean, you’ve had a really good year, and you got to go back with stickers on your board for the first time in a while.

Greg: I look forward to coming to South Africa every year.  This was my eighth year in a row, and each time I have spent anywhere from 2-3 months.  It is really starting to feel like a second home for me.  

From a surfing standpoint I was more excited and motivated than ever.  I had been out of the water recovering from a broken foot, ear surgery, and a torn hamstring the three months prior. I came to Cape Town before the winter had really kicked into gear this year in order to regain my focus and start working my way back into the surfing groove. 

My first three weeks here the waves were very small which was a blessing in disguise.  I spent the downtime training extensively while making sure all my equipment was dialed. My first session back in the water came about during my second week and I felt so rejuvenated…like a little kid again.  Having just signed a new contract with Billabong gave me even more motivation to get back in the water and charging again.  During the height of winter down here the question isn’t if you are going to get a big swell, but when.  After my first few weeks I had rebuilt my strength and confidence and was ready to go.

Q: Were you kind of surprised that the Red Bull contest ran so quickly after the start of the waiting period?

Greg: As we all know you cannot predict mother nature.  There is no telling when or where the next big swell is going be but to be honest I wasn’t surprised at all that we got a big swell the last week of July.  The South Atlantic had been uncharacteristically quiet for the month and June and most of July and it was only a matter of time before things picked up. 

Looking back at previous years, there has always seemed to be a big swell to come around end of July as well.   That it happened again this year did not surprise me.  
Q: Tell me about the contest and I want details about that barrel.

Greg: In the end I was pretty happy about my performance in the event.  There had been a horrible flu going around Cape Town the weeks prior and I was one of many unfortunate victims.  The day the event ran was actually my first full day out of bed in over a week.  Had it been the day before I don’t think I would have been able to compete.  I was pretty excited to make it to the final while catching probably the best wave of my life along the way. 

My first heat of the day started off a little shaky.  Within the first five minutes I got cleaned up by a massive set and broke my magic 9’6” that I had from the previous year.  I quickly grabbed my back up board which I had never ridden and made my way back into the lineup. 

Within another five minutes I found myself scratching for the horizon once again in attempt to avoid yet another massive clean up set.  I barely made it over the top of the first few and ended up perfectly in line with the last and biggest wave of them all.  I remember it having the longest wall stretching all the way to the channel and actually doubting that I could make it.  Dungeons is a very shifty and difficult line-up to navigate and very frequently, we get stuck dropping in behind the peak and not completing our rides. 

The waves this day were absolutely massive and having watched the three heats prior I knew that a lot of people weren’t catching their two waves.  In some heats people didn’t even catch one.  I knew I could at least get to the bottom of this wave and get a score…anything to get the ball rolling, so I flipped around, put my head down and paddled my heart out.

It gave me a relatively easy entry but when I got to my feet I could see I need to set my rail and get down the line.  I began angling from the top and watched as that long section from the channel seemed to back off and double up.  From then, I instantly knew that this thing was going to unload and I had two choices…either I straighten out and get bulldozed or I take the high line and go through this thing.  It’s not often you are presented an opportunity to get barreled on such a large paddle in wave so why not try.  Usually the end result is a not so pleasant beat down, but for some reason, as I was pulling up into this thing, I never  doubted that I could make.  I think that’s what saved me in the end. 

As I was inside, everything went perfectly quiet and still.  I could see nearly every boat and ski in the channel and just set my sights on the upper right corner where I knew my exit was going to be.  As I was nearing the end, the wave seemed to flare one last time, almost as if it was giving me an escape path, and then spit me out into the channel.  I instantly had that euphoric feeling…you know, the one that only a surfer knows? Hahah.  That was the turning point for me in the contest.  That wave seemed to put me perfectly in tune with the ocean for the rest of the heat.

My semi final went well but I had to work hard for the waves that I caught.  It seemed like every other set we were getting caught inside of.  The two or three that I wore on the head really took the life out of me. 
In the final I started off with a bang, opening with a great 9.5 ride.  I had over half an hour to catch one more good wave, and I would have sealed the deal, but things just seemed to fall apart. 

I made one tactical error where I kicked out of a wave when another competitor turned around underneath me.  I figured I had plenty of time to catch another one so I let him go.  When I turned around I was looking directly into the face of one of the largest waves I think I’ve ever been cleaned up by.  The lip was coming down hard and I was sitting on ground zero.  I was drug underwater the entire length of the lineup by that one wave and flushed into the deep water on the inside they call “shark alley”.  The water safety eventually picked me up and I slowly made my way back into the lineup. 

My “plenty of time” to catch a wave had turned into “not enough” in the blink of an eye.  In the last ten minutes there was one final set but I was unfortunately out of position.
 
   That was one of the best days of big wave surfing of my life and I was so stoked that Twiggy won.  I don’t think anybody would disagree in saying that nobody deserved it more than him that day.  It was amazing to be part of a session where the limits of what you can actually paddle into and ride are being pushed so dramatically.

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