Showtime at the Surf Ranch

A week ago, Julian Wilson had never been to the Surf Ranch in Lemoore. With plenty of motivation from a completely new CT format, world title points on the line, and a high performance playground unlike anywhere else, he packed his boardbag full of regular shorties and a few spicy options in our new tech, and left early enough to try anything he wanted in the wavepool before the rest of the circus got to town.

Right from Julian's first warm-up, his favourite board was a HYFI Air 17. The construction's extra speed and pop matches the wave perfectly, plus, JW was always going to be looking at the ramps more than any other section.

After a full day of testing, Jules understandably wanted to try a few more HYFIs, so we asked our USA sales manager Dayton to bring in some stock boards and see which one felt best:

Traktor Team Tahiti Quivers

Julian, settling right back into the lineup at Teahupo'o. Photo Ryan Miller

Ryan Callinan Flairing in Fiji

After spending a lot of last year injured, Ryan's already back winning contests and dropping banger edits like this one from Jack Taylor (film) and Kai Neville (edit). 

Julian on fire at Uluwatu

Jules, back at world number one after making the Ulutwatu CT final. Photo Ryan Miller

Dusty Payne in Relentless

Dusty, in his element for the most personal film he's been a part of yet - Relentless. 

All In at Pumping Keramas

Ryan Champion in Chiba on HYFI Air 17X

Ryan, back where he belongs on his way to the podium at Chiba. Photos WSL

Get set for Bali

Last time the CT rolled into Bali, Parko was crowned King of Keramas including two 10 point rides along the way. Whatever happens this time around, you know it'll be entertaining. Photo WSL

Kai Hing in Morocco

From spending an Australian summer out of the water with a torn ACL, to scoring the tail end of a pumping Moroccan winter, our mate Kai Hing has had to adapt a lot over the last few months. Now, his focus has shifted from contests to just chasing good waves with friends, mixed with whatever weird and wonderful experiences they can find on each trip. With everything you'd expect after a month long odyssey in the Taghazout region, Monster Children summed up this clip perfectly - tagine, hash and pumping righthand points.

Early round fireworks in Brazil

Mikey, showing why he's taken more scalps than any other wildcard on the CT so far this year. Photo Trevor Moran