US-JAY

Will Hayden-Smith

Video from this session in Passport, the ASL DVD on sale with the current issue. Pic Shield

2010 hasn’t gone according to plan for Jay Davies. Last time we spoke, in January, Jay was planning on kicking arse in a coupla big points QS events, getting close to the World Tour via the new one world rating, and nailing a 50K Airstrike air. Unfortunately Yallingup’s biggest human’s ankles gave out under sheer weight of monster punts on a trip through the Mentawais a couple of months back, and he’s been outta the water ever since.

The break has given the kid they call Hulk a little timeout from the whirlwind freesurfing life to do plenty of rehab, launch a blog, and ponder where the hell he’s heading next. Turns out that’s gonna be the States.

We though it best we caught up with the supersized surfer to hear about his California dreamin’.

Dizzle what’s up?
Not much. Played nine holes this morning ’cos I’m not really surfing right now. I tried to hit a few balls but there it was a hurricane out there. There was a 40-knot sou-westerly and rain was bucketing down, the course was like a water park.


Sick air JD, give us a high five. Pic Rusty on Facebook.

Tell us about your busted feet.
Well, the first one happened on the second day of the Kustom Airstrike trip, so for me the whole mission was pretty much a write off. I landed on it, compressed my left foot towards my knee and chipped a bit of bone off my ankle too. It didn’t blow up at all and felt kinda minor, so I kept surfing on it. I strapped it a coupla times but after a few surfs it just kept locking up. I had crazy amounts of pain through the joint and decided I probably shouldn’t surf on it again.

On the last day everyone was surfed out except Josh Kerr, who was frothing. Bankvaults had a little wave and he talked me into getting out there, so I strapped my foot and went out to get a couple. It was barrelling so I was like “I won’t go for airs, I’ll just stand there and get pitted.” Of course, the wind turned and was perfect for airs. I got a little barrel and was sweet, went to do an air, my board came off my feet and I tried to land it anyway. As I came down my right foot landed awkwardly and went right through the stringer.

I one hundred percent thought it was broken, I couldn’t walk, I was fucked. I was cursing myself for going surfing, I shouldn’t have even been out there because my left foot was already blown out and now I’d fucked my right foot too. I got wheel-chaired through the airport, had x-rays and operations and seven weeks later I’ve only had a couple surfs. It’s still not quite a hundred percent, so it’s been a while since I felt normal on both my feet.

The Kustom Trip


There’re a lot of guys hurting their knees and ankles doing airs. Are we gonna see a generation of surfers crippled as a result of all these boosts?
Yeah, maybe. The other day I was talking to (West Oz wondergrom) Jack Robinson’s old boy and he was saying how Jack’s knees are already giving him a bit of grief. He’s only 12 years-old and not fully developed so he might get stronger, but kids these days might have to start training at the age of 10 to prevent blowing their knees out. I was watching Jack and he was going mad, doing proper inverted air-reverses.

We hear you’re moving to the States.
Yeah, Rusty has a sick house in Newport and said I could have a room, so I’m gonna throw myself in the mix over there. I was meant to go a month ago for the Lowers contest but still wasn’t surfing, so I put it off till July 1st. I’ll pack up shop here and who knows when I’ll come back? I’ve got an American passport so anything could happen, I could live there for the rest of my life, who knows? I haven’t thought too much or gotten excited about moving there yet, I’m looking forward to getting back in the water more than anything (laughs).

Jay in WA


Fellow West Aussie Yadin Nicol moved to the US a coupla years back. Have you spoken to him, or was he your inspiration or whatever?
Not really, I kinda always had it in my mind. That’s where the surf industry is blowing up. When Yadin moved over there I thought it was a good idea. He made a name for himself and because you’re an Aussie you stand out every time you open your mouth which helps. It will be good to surf and hang with Yades and a few other guys I know when I’m over there too.


Davies pulling his best tube-head. Pic Rusty on Facebook.

Once you’re back in the water are you gonna be focusing on photos or contests?
I’ll definitely be concentrating more on competing than anything. I had a good seed at the start of the year, but because of this injury I’ve missed so many events I might not be able to get into the big events once it’s all re-seeded. The plan is to get into a couple of six stars, get a good seed again, do a few events in Europe and hopefully be ranked high enough to get into the Triple Crown events in Hawaii.

Do movies like Modern Collective make you wanna nail killer video parts?
I’d love to get a sick movie section but I reckon you can still do that while doing the QS. I mostly want to get good waves, get fit again and do the odd event so I can have a good seed for the Primes next year. I woulda liked to do that Innsersection thing, but I’ve been out of the water for so long I don’t have enough clips to put anything together. I’ve got a little bit of stuff, but I’ll save that for my blog.

More JD


Tell us about elsegoodproductions.com
I’ve got a place on this street on Yallingup hill called Elsegood Avenue, where I’ve lived with a few of the boys for the past six years. It’s only a little shack but it’s been the best place for us to hang on the beach and surf everyday. It’s seen some pretty crazy shit go down so it’s the perfect name for the blog ’cos it’s not just for me, but for all the boys. If you go on the site a photo of the house is the first thing you see.

Thanks Jay, go mad in the US.
Cheers mate, I get there just in time for the 4th of July, straight in the door and into a hell party. All time!