11th October, 2003

"I'm my own worst enemy," says Andy Irons after a Round 1 implosion, before recovering and setting up a run through the draw and a likely showdown with his arch-enemy.

Though it's thirty minutes long, shot in an old style screen ratio, and tops out at a bandwidth snatching 480 pixels resolution, this comp recap from 2003 is worth a squiz.

The sponsors look all endemic, ain't a Bailey Ladder or Bonsoy Brew Break to be seen. Kelly is fresh back from retirement as a six-time world champion. He's fighting one last battle with his hair line yet letting it all hang out in a floppy brown jacket. A reference to "Kelly's new board" is made but not followed through. It looks wider than the rest, though not as wide as the Wizard Sleeve - perhaps the shift in thinking was just taking root?

When it was filmed, AI was the new world champ though surfing as mercurial as ever: blitzing one comp, fritzing the next. A finals match with Slater was imminent - between Slater and Irons they won nine of the twelve contests in 2003  - though Phil Macca got in the middle of that rendezvous, recording his equal best result.