Laurie Towner heading south
Laurie Towner
Dylan Longbottom has been shaping my boards for over 20 years and is one of my closest mates. He’d just finished a new quiver of big-wave boards for the winter swells in Fiji, and I was waiting for the right South Coast window to catch up and share some waves with him.
When a powerful South Coast low formed, almost cyclonic if it were further north, Dyl called, knowing there’d be waves to test the new boards as the system tracked out to sea. I jumped in my car and drove over night and as predicted, it was wild when I arrived and in the 20-foot range with a crazy devil wind up the face.
We tested the Fiji boards on a big, open-ocean left-hand bombie, and I took some of the largest waves I’ve ever had land on my head in Australian waters. As the swell eased, we headed north and scored clean tubes near Dyl’s shaping bay. I was stoked to finally get to surf these waves which i have had on my bucket list.
Here are a few shots from those sessions.
‘Hanging and surfing with Dyl when there is swell you know there won’t be any down time. Up in the dark every morning and going all day. His energy levels are like no one I know ! It's really good to be around that kind of energy when there is a swell because you know you're going to make the most of what ever is in front of you.’
‘When the swell arrived it was big and windy we didn’t know where to surf. I said to Dyl lets surf that wave and pointed to a bombie out to sea. I wanted to paddle one and jumped off the ski straight into this set wave on the head.’
📷 Rick McClelland
‘After paddling a small one I realised I was way under gunned and the wind created moguls coming up the face from the howling southerly and rain squalls.’
📷 Rick McClelland
‘It would have been awesome to paddle this wave with less wind. It’s a little hard to notice in the images but it was howling.’
📷 Ben Bagley
‘On the backside of the swell, conditions cleaned up and we managed to find some nice waves’
📷 Luca Salisbury
‘Dylan at 51 years old and still going hard in heavy waves. Its so inspiring to see. He puts so much time and energy into all his team riders and mates when there is swell. I get so stoked to see him jag a bomb.’
📷 Ben Bagley
‘Navigating a crowded line up and picking the right wave is always tricky’.
📷 Luca Salisbury
‘I have always wanted to surf this wave . It was nice to score it on my last surf before heading to Dyl’s factory to pick up new boards and start the long drive home.’
📷 Ben Bagley
