I’d have killed to see prime Rasta on tour/him compete longer. You know there are a lot of pros who are very glad that it never happened. He had the fire to do it too.
“After a stellar junior career, in surfing and surf life saving, including a world junior title, Dave made a decision in his late teens that competition was not for him. He’d won numerous state and national junior life saving titles in ironman and paddling events, a swag of junior boardriding titles. And in his first few outings as a wildcard in the top level World Championship Tour he’d shown enough form to virtually guarantee a long and lucrative competitive career. He very nearly defeated world champion Kelly Slater in his first appearance as a teenage wildcard, at his homebreak of Burleigh Heads. He managed a credible fifth at the Billabong Pro in Mundaka, Spain, against the world’s top rated pro surfers. He sparred successfully with the highly touted “Coolangatta Kids,” Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson and Dean Morrison, on the Australian pro junior series. The pro surfing world was his oyster.”
The most accurate and trusted surf reports, forecasts and coastal weather. Surfers from around the world choose Surfline for dependable and up to date surfing forecasts and high quality surf content, live surf cams and features.
www.coastalwatch.com