Remember When Andy Did the Perfect Roundhouse 360?

There’s a certain age at which there is nothing as thrilling as watching someone go absolutely mental on a wave. I would gauge it at: 12. That age where you get hyper-stimulated by everything and your brain is just mature enough to understand how and why it's happening. No actual responsibilities at that age either. So every day is best spent finding something exciting. Something sick. I was 12 in 2007, which is when Taylor Steele’s Billabong-Marketing-Reel-But-Make-It-Amazing vid Trilogy, came out. Immense timing.

There’s a wave in there of Andy at the beginning of his introductory solo section, and it’s the greatest wave ever caught on film. That may not technically be true. But you can prove anything with stats these days, can't you? And for me, that statement wasn’t up for any sort of discussion in the first place.

Here’s how it goes: Andy glides i to a perfect stand-up pit. Andy then glides out of a perfect, stand-up pit. And then it happens: perfect roundhouse 360. Andy doesn’t even bother to look over his shoulder before initiating the turn. Watch it. Just fucking watch it. All day long.

What I’m saying here is, if something stands out and sticks with you, it’s nice to take note of it. It’s nice to remember it — even if that something was forgotten about briefly over the span of twelve years. And that’s what this wave is. And thank you to the always-nostalgic Momentum Files YouTube channel for reminding of it. Because watching this now gives me the same feelings it did when I watched it when I was 12.

It’s a perfect roundhouse 360. It’s the smoothest wave you’ve ever seen. That is all. —James Royce