2.1.08 DANNY FULLER INTERVIEW
How was your outlook coming to Oahu this year? I am excited to come to Oahu every year for the winter. I arrived to Oahu at the end of October. I was surfing a lot and I got a lot of really good boards from MB surfboards.
How were you preparing yourself to be ready for this year for big waves and the Pipe Masters? One way is I go to the Quicksilver performance house here on the North Shore, which has mixed martial arts, yoga, and intuitionalists. I am also getting used to my equipment because 75% of my boards are quads. I have been working really close with Michael Byrne to develop the fastest board, and we now have the Fuller quad pro model.
Tell me about the hype or talk was the night before the contest? The talk was all about how bad the conditions were.
What were you thinking when you woke the morning of the Contest? When I woke up I couldn’t believe they were running it. But no matter what the conditions were I had to stay psyched.
Since you didn’t surf the first day of the event and were seated into the 2nd round what did you do to stay psyched? I bailed with my girlfriend and surfed somewhere else. There was nothing to watch anyways besides Andy Irons he had some really good waves in his heat early in the morning.
Who did you have for your first heat draw? Mick Lowe. It was actually his last contest he was retiring. It sucked that the waves were so bad being his last heat.
But you ended up getting a 9.5 in your heat? Yeah well it still being small there are some windows and there will be a couple of sets. The winds changed before my heat and I saw Ky Otten get a 9 and I said I wanted a 9.
How did you end up getting your big score to advance out of that heat? I ended up sitting with priority and a wave came from deep, it was a good thing I chose my quad instead of my thruster. I was debating which board to ride and I went with the quad.
Why was it a good thing you went with the quad? Because I was really deep and I don’t think I would have made it out of the barrel.
Being it was Mick Lowes last contest did you have any mixed feelings for him losing or you winning? No! I just felt bad for him that the waves sucked for his sake being the last heat of his career. I would have been stoked competing against him in big Pipe cause he is a definite charger.
What was it like for your next heat? My next heat was against a Brazilian and it was the last heat of the day. I was watching the waves get worse and the winds turn on shore. There were no barrels and I only got one score. I wasn’t that disappointed by losing out because of how the rest of the comp was. The waves only got worse and they held the semi and finals at Off The Wall. I still would like to of won of course but it was just a bad time for Pipe and that’s what I like to surf. Also I know that there is the Back Door Shoot Out and The Monster Energy Pro coming up. Plus I am m sitting here looking at this insane quiver I have for when the waves break.
