SAM JONES

18 Y

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Image: Toby Manson

sam jones

Image: Ben Shepherd

Sam is that dude that you love to hate and hate to love.

He’s the grom that charges so much harder than you... than pretty much everyone in the lineup.

On the big days he’s the stand-out and it’s freakin’ annoying as he’s only just turned 18. He has this super relaxed style in heavy situations making it look so easy to be charging when

it’s big or dry, slabbing waves.

What’s worse is his cool and modest demeanour.

When surfing around home at Deadman’s or Winki you’ll be chatting to the guys and they’ll be all like “Hey, there’s Sam and paddle off to go chat with him“. Everyone does it... and

then you do too.

Usually chat revolves around some heavy reef session he’s had, boards, equipment and the like. He’ll usually tell you that you missed it at “6 this morning”. Later on you’ll see a shot on Swellnet or Coastalwatch of him sitting inside a

perfect overhead slab from that morning...lil’ bugger.

His obvious passion is big, heaving pits which sets him apart from other surfers his age and gains the respect of all in the

surfing community.

With the right backing and opportunities Sam could go a very freakin’ long way.

- Blake Rebane

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Imge: Ben shepherd

Last winter I surfed oversize Queenscliff Bommie with a mate. It was a weekday morning and we were the only two out there. It wasn't great - bit inconsistent, funky direction - but Bommie days are rare so we were out there regardless.

An hour into the session a lone figure started stroking towards the bommie from the south. As the figure got closer I recognised it as 16-year-old Sam Jones paddling a Carl Lamaitre shaped 8-footer. SWEL

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He explained he'd been surfing the Bower but decided to make the paddle to the Bommie - by himself mind you, and through 10-foot seas - just to see what it was like. He didn't even know if anyone was out there.

Surfers may come in all kinds and constitutions but it takes elemental desire to chase waves in that way. It's a desire common to all heavy water surfers, and that seems the most natural path for Sam to take. He's always the first out at Deadman's, knows Winki

inside and out, and is starting to spread his wings beyond the Manly reefs.

Sam Jones is still in school lockdown, his university and work life are yet to begin and they could take him anywhere in the world. But Sam's surfing life already appears locked into a fixed path: big, square, and shallow.

- Stu Nettle, 2013

Image: Craig Brokensha

media

NORTHERN CHARGE - DEADMANS - 4.5Mhttp://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2014/08/31/northern-charge-deadmans

T W E N T Y / / F O U R T E E Nh t t p s : / / v i m e o . c o m / 1 1 4 8 4 2 1 6 4

Grab: Alex gray

Grab: Peter Lord

EVERY BEACH HAS ONE.A LONESOME FIGURE CUT AGAINST THE FAINT GLOW OF THE EARLY MORNING.A MAN WHO DRIVES THROUGH THE NIGHT, ARRIVING UNDER THE COVER OF DARKNESS, AN HOUR BEFORE FIRST LIGHT.SAM JONES IS THAT GUY, AT HOME OR 500 CLICKS DOWN THE HIGHWAY!

– STEVE WALL (PHOTOGRAPHER)

Image: Kian Bourke Steer

SAM JONESE: sam.tzones@gmail.com

M: 0438 445 669

Design by :

c r e a t i v e k o o k s . c o m

Image: Ollie Brennan