Joel Parkinson is one of a handful of J-Bay juggernauts getting set to compete at the Corona Open J-Bay. Jordy Smith is undoubtedly another. Both are two-time winners at the world-renowned point. Parko's first victory there came in 1999, when he rocked the surfing world by winning the event while competing as an 18-year-old wildcard.
Two of the fans on the beach that day were 11-year-old Jordy Smith and his good friend Damien Fahrenfort. The South African grommets were spellbound by Parko's seamless surfing on the Supertube's speedy walls. So much so that Jordy immediately tried to incorporate as much of Parko's style as he could into his own approach, which seems to have worked.
Today, Joel and Jordy are two of the most dangerous draws at Jeffreys Bay. After Parko won the event again in 2009, Jordy followed up with two wins of his own there in 2010 and 2011. Parko made another appearance in a J-Bay Final in 2014, but lost to Fanning.
This year, Jordy and Joel are both coming in hot. Smith is tied for No. 3 on the Jeep Leaderboard, trailing Matt Wilkinson by a mere 600 points. Parko, meanwhile, has quietly climbed to No. 6, and while he's 4000 off the lead, another good J-Bay performance could throw him straight into the Title-hunt mix.