Julian Wilson wins at Peniche Portugal
6 Boards, 3 Fin Combos, 1 Victory for JW
Julian Wilson recently won his first WCT by defeating Gabriel Medina in the final of the Rip Curl Pro at Peniche in Portugal. FCS Fins played a pivotal role in bringing Julian a victory. Julian rode six different boards and 3 different fin setups on his way to victory.
Julian said, “Some heats were all about the barrel while others you had to attack the lip or go to the air. I rode 6 different boards throughout the event so of course I was changing my fins around as well. I was relieved after the event was wrapped”.
“Leading into the final day I was mostly riding the FCS MF-1. I can push that fin really hard, and at Peniche where the waves are steep and powerful you need to drive hard off your fins and weave through the barrel”.
“It was mostly barrels in the quarters so I set up my Merrick as a quad with the FCS JW-1 side fins and the FCS G-1000 centres in the back. The exits weren’t always clean and the quad produced a little extra speed and drive to bust through”.
Then in the semi and the final Julian switched to the new FCS MF-2. This medium size fin is a scaled down version of Mick Fanning’s popular signature MF-1 template.
Julian continues, “I jumped back on my Mayhem for the semi and the start of the final. The waves were changing from minute to minute and with the smaller MF-2 I knew I’d still have control in the pit, but I’d have enough tail release to mix up”.
“In the final I actually buckled my Mayhem so I had to ride my backup JS which had the MF-1 in it. That was actually a blessing because I had to fight through the barrel on my last wave and the bigger fin gave me a bit more control”.
When quizzed about his ability to ride different boards and fins from heat-to-heat Julian remarked, “If you’re constantly switching fins around it becomes even more important that you’re totally confident in your equipment, and I know I can always rely on my different FCS setups”.
The Rip Curl Pro in Portugal marked a solid result for the FCS Global Team with Julian, Gabriel and Adriano making up three of the final four surfers in the event.
Check the video for some further insights from Julian
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