WHO WON? TOM CURREN vs. MARTIN POTTER at Haleiwa

Curren vs. Pottz in the finals of the 1991 ASP World Tour Wyland Pro at Alii Beach Park in Haleiwa, on the Noth Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, marked a clash of perhaps the two most impactful surfers of the era.
Who do you believe took the win?
The backstory:
In 1990, Tom Curren won his third world title, returning from semi-retirement, and surfing through the trials with no seed to win 7 events, the first and only time anyone has ever won a world title from the trials.
With all Curren's accomplishments, he surprisingly still had never won an event in Hawaii. His stated goal was to win not only the event, but the Triple Crown, one of surfing's most prestigious accolades: the highest overall points leader from three events- The Pipeline Masters, The World Cup at Sunset Beach, and The Haleiwa event.
The next season,1991, Curren surfed just 10 out of 17 events, once again growing disinterested in the tour with his goals shifting towards scoring epic waves and experimenting with unique surfboard designs.
In October '91, Maurice Cole made Curren two boards, a 7'3" and 7'8", both with heavy rocker in the nose and tail and a deep reverse vee bottom contour and flat tail.
The boards were shipped to Hawaii, and customs there lost them. Then, the day before the ASP Haleiwa Wyland Pro customs located the boards. Maurice drove like a madman from the contest area to The Kui Lima and back, fetching the boards and handing them off to Curren just in time for the contest. He rode the board in the contest, but without putting his sponsors stickers on the board, which proved to be a costly decision. Curren explains:
A couple days later, Tom paddled out to Backdoor on the 7'8" and layed down one of the nicest carves in the history of surfing, beautifully captured by legendary photographer Tom Servais.
In 1991, two years off his world title in 1989, Martin Potter was on a mission to change pro surfing with a much more aggressive style of competition surfing, incorporating technical high risk power moves in his heats. The face off of Potter vs. Curren was highly anticipated as they made the finals of the event.
Surfers:
Tom Curren
Martin Potter
Tom Carroll
Johnny Boy Gomes
Gary Kong Elkerton
Simon Law
Tony Moniz
Richie Collins
Dino Andino
Narrated and written by:
Tony Roberts
Music:
John Cipollina
Brian Grossman / Max Ryder
Additional Sources:
Maurice Cole mauricecole.com
Tracks Mag tracksmag.com.au
Surfer Magazine surfer.com
#realsurfstories #surfhistory #tomcurren

[@marcmelpo972]

As much as I LOVE Pottz, Curren was in a league of his own... He still is, actually!! What a bloody LEGEND 🔥🔥

[@frankied9577]

Two of my favorite surfer's. Pottz power and speed Curren style and flow definitely changed modern surfing..both true legends

[@spliffmcgriff]

Pottz is the missing link between then and now. His surfing is insane. Surfboard evolution was in full effect around this time with bottom contours, etc. Fun throwback. Yew!

[@FromTheMosh]

Turns looked so amazing on those bigger boards

[@nicktrueman224]

I love surfing bigger boards. But I can get away with it being 6ft2. They are just so much fun and generate allot of speed.

[@artsurfliteratura]

My two favorite surfers

[@ikaikaboo]

that worked out great for OP.....

[@shacktime]

Where’s Op now? Dead. And they sealed their own fate when they dumped Curren at a time when Curren was THE penultimate surf guru.

[@ryancornett7916]

I can to comments to write the same thing. Shame on whoever made that decision dumb ass business move

[@shacktime]

@@ryancornett7916 Wall Street don’t surf.

[@barefootmedia648]

So who do you think was the very last surf guru?

[@shacktime]

@@barefootmedia648 No such thing as the last surf guru… or last surf movie😉

[@barefootmedia648]

. @shacktime Right, it's just that penultimate means second last, so I was wondering who the last was.

[@samueldsadtler3410]

TR.. another quality video! Back in the day.. ❤@ the end w/ Curren & family kiss's Happy V - day 😘 Shakka , Shalom 🤙, ✌️

[@davecalneggia6285]

... Ahhh the nostalgia " ... Cheers brutha 🙏

[@bluedoggum8373]

Tom doesn’t get enough credit imo. He completely reshaped surfing. Put on split screen tom curren and Ethan Ewing if you want proof. At least some of Tom’s surfing is in every great modern day surfer imo

[@tzt1182]

JBG claiming a floater. Those were the days.

[@williamhanley7031]

Good for you Tom. Stickerless . Also , most people these days don't think you can turn anything over 6 feet. Look at that turn on the 7'8. C'mon guys. Real speed required real boards

[@ryanwild8614]

Super thin with a ton of rocker helps!

[@michaelstrauss6587]

7'8' Superlative! The best board in my entire life was a 7'8" not too different than the one Cole made for Curren. Jim Weldon of Oceanside CA custom made it in the mid 80's for me. He made it exactly as I asked....wish I still had it.... ....or at least the template.

[@DenisKennedy-jf3iw]

I found a 7'8" Cole of that design and vintage in a pile of used boards behind Jorge Vicente's shop in Haleiwa. Mint condition, the thing rips! He sold it to me for $100. "It's good to get rid of it," he told me, "Nobody wants that thing."

[@johnnyheidi2839]

Pottz born in the north of England now that make ya tuff

[@dennisdevalle9501]

good stuff TR good times of surfing

[@joedirt8625]

Rad..Thanks TR

[@davel4708]

Is that Ravishing Rick Rude in the background during Curren's interview at the end?

[@xroadwalker]

Cut the music 😂

[@davel4708]

@@xroadwalker One of my favourite wrestlers. He was the ultimate troll.

[@Steve-hs5le]

Tommy good boy of Surfing. Pottz Johnny Rotten of Surfing. Pottz shreds 🤙

[@perkoshapes]

I saw op started selling in Indonesia shops ,i never of that story about op

[@jksinorbit]

OP was a big brand....not anymore.

[@maxfish4770]

That first TC pic at back door must have got out, had it on my bedroom wall

[@RealSurfStories]

Indeed- it was widely published. It did not make the cover of Surfer magazine because his board didn't have logos.

[@springfieldbearpatrol2937]

Wins the title surfing mostly on that 6’8” 🏆

[@newvisionsignworks6312]

Johnny boy crushing it

[@tonyallen8626]

I don't think there boards were quite big enough

[@levaetraztransporte7621]

CURREN E POTTER era muito brabos fora o CARROL SLK esses caras surfaram D+ Vida longa a eles

[@RealSurfStories]

PARA ESTA ERA, todos os tres FORAM A+

[@dogworldonline1189]

Curren and his rivalries with Pottz and Occy shaped surfing from early 80's to early 90's

[@ironphil62]

👍🍺

[@mackash]

OP. haha.. A cheap Kmart brand now. How ironic. Goes to show, 99% of surf brands are crabs. They all are. Now we have WSL and lolly pop energy drinks running the grab.

[@catinthehat8412]

pottz got me in to doing airs curren style

[@bobbybabsonjr787]

Wonder what big company is next to go down the drain ? Op ended up in Walmart then tanked.

[@chrisr7692]

It's gotta be a draw.... too close to call for me. C

[@bluedoggum8373]

The thing pro athletes don’t understand yet, is they *are* the product. They don’t need corporate sponsors. Who on earth isn’t going to show up to watch gab Medina vs John John Florence at a pipe heat? They could do this all on their own, and garner sponsors, and create their own brands. We don’t need to be slaves to corporations and it wouldn’t even be that hard imo

[@rotsen995]

Yeah until you’re broke and can’t travel to all the destinations!

[@bluedoggum8373]

@@rotsen995 why would they be broke they’d be getting tons of views on KZbin or websites or wherever. Views = revenue and everyone in the world wants to watch these guys. Viewers care nothing about corporations.

[@rotsen995]

@@bluedoggum8373 you know that what pays for views is sponsors right ?

[@rotsen995]

I get where you’re coming from but that shit is not that simple!

[@bluedoggum8373]

@@rotsen995 yes it is. Tucker Carlson is doing it rn. Why did he need some huge corporation to spit the news? Turns out he didn’t. Any athlete or musician could do this

[@chrisnomad]

Jonny Boy float to flex in bright pastels with porno music playing in the background...pure eighties!

[@xisotopex]

JBG ripping!

[@jonasm3812]

Great to see the rippers of my day, my ears bleeding for the horrible guitar riff playing non-stop.

[@RealSurfStories]

That's my good friend who made this music. Tunes are subjective. It's not what I listen to but I do think it fits well with the footage. Thanks for the feedback.

[@martijnandriessen8073]

hahaha i was thinking the same about the guitar....suits the era tho

[@user-ft4mu1jt2r]

I would of given Pottz the win, & did you see what Tom Carroll was doing..

[@francus7227]

I lived and surfed with all of these guys for four years 87-91 .... ESPECIALLY Johnny Boy. This silly contest doesn't prove anything. JBG was so much better than these guys..... Really? He was better than EVERYONE. Nobody was as deep, as often. Nobody carved as hard. Nobody was as fast..... G.O.A.T. ! ! !

[@bryantotten2757]

Potter got robbed

[@jeffg4686]

@4:48 - pottz gouge. two of my favorite surfers growing up. Along with names with tom carroll, cheyne horan, ronnie burns. so many good role models in the sport. I figured out why. It's so small, that if you're not, you get shoved out!