Boarding House, Episode 3: Politics, Punching, and Partying

Whatever you call those things that go around surfers’ ankles to keep their boards from getting away, you’d better fasten yours, because a lot happens in this episode of Boarding House. Holly and Veronica (“VK”) bicker and - you won’t believe this - Sunny actually punches someone. Shocking, isn’t it? OK, so it isn’t shocking, but at least Sunny’s reason wasn’t “he looked at my wife” this time. Maybe this experience is helping him to grow as a human being… nah.

As the show opens, Chelsea and Holly check out Sunny’s Hawaiian Pro trophy. VK gives him a peck on the cheek and says he made winning look easy. The group is watching a sports update on television and most cheer when Sunny’s name is announced - all but Holly, who is standing apart from the group looking longingly at the television. Her desire for victory is so very apparent.

Holly calls her Dad and talks about Sunny’s victory and her competition tomorrow, when she’ll battle 5th-ranked Chelsea in the first jewel of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. Ranked at 20th, Holly isn’t expected to do nearly as well as Chelsea, but says she’s looking forward to competing against her.

“Chelsea is cool,” says Holly. “Chelsea rips way harder than I even thought that she ripped.”

Holly tells her father that she has to go to bed and get some sleep for her competition in the morning. As Holly turns in, we see Sunny, Raina, VK, and Danny head out to the Red Bull House for Sunny’s victory party. Sunny, whose knee mustn’t feel too terribly bad, is pedaling a bicycle with Raina on the back. Props for not driving when you’re going to drink, but isn’t that hard on the ol’ knees and back, Sunny?

A montage of drinking and partying includes a few grunting, snarling impersonations of Sunny - complete with boxing moves. Sunny’s a surfing legend, but he seems to have an even bigger rep for beating people up. The intimidation factor seems to work quite well for Sunny, but more on that in a moment.

Next we see Myles lying on the couch watching news about the high surf warnings. He’s depressed about his performance in the first competition. In voiceover, Myles says he’s been replaying the waves that wiped him out over and over in his head, but ends on a philosophical note, saying, “ You gotta pay your dues, gotta make sacrifices, and you gotta persevere.” He makes reference to his wonderful fiancée Chaney, who backs him up 100 percent. Myles comments to Chaney that he’s tired and she mocks him, saying, “Oh, let’s see: surf, eat, sleep; surf, eat, sleep.” It is a tough life you’ve got there, Myles.

News comes that the Roxy Pro competition is on for the afternoon, and Holly says it’s the first “money round.” She says she’s nervous and wants to do well, but knows that chance and weather play a huge part in competitions.

“The weird thing about surfing is that it’s so much dependent on luck,” says Holly. “Whoever gets that good wave is going to do so much better. And that’s almost what allows you to be a little more calm, because it’s not just your performance, it’s, like, the ocean.”

Outside, waxing her board and preparing for competition, Holly talks to VK. VK tells her to “tear it up,” or she’ll be disappointed. Then she asks Holly if she’s seen a pink and blue bikini that was in the bathroom. Holly responds jokingly that she probably took it because she so wants to be a Roxy girl that she’s just starting to steal the equipment. VK takes the ribbing good-naturedly and walks away.

Chelsea, who’s also preparing for the competition, says she’ll be stoked to make it to the finals this year. Last year, we learn, she came in third in the competition. Again we hear Holly talk about what an amazing surfer Chelsea is and how much she hopes to learn from her.

Later, at Haleiwa Beach, Holly prepares to compete against some of the world’s best surfers in the quarterfinals. She says she wants to do at least as well as Chelsea.

Holly says it’s weird to hang out with Chelsea because she’s always asking herself how she measures up to her. It’s also frustrating to surf with Chelsea because she surfs so well.

“She’s rad!” VK says of Chelsea. “She’s a legend already and she’s just 19!”

So two legends are living together in the same house? It’s getting crowded in there, but Chelsea’s ego doesn’t take up too much space, I’ll bet. She says Holly’s motivation is a great thing to have to do well in surfing, and that she can’t discount anyone in this competition because everyone is surfing very well. However, she does say that she wants to try to beat defending World Champion Layne Beachley in this heat because she wants to be the world champ someday.

Holly and Chelsea hit the water with Layne and Kim Wooldridge as competition. When the horn sounds, Holly is the first one charging. She gets a nice opening wave and is off to a good start. Chelsea grabs the next wave. Her ride is stronger, better and faster than Holly’s. She gets a good long ride that shows “incredible skill,” according to the announcer. The judges call it a 5.83.

Next, a near-perfect wave puts Layne in first place, then Kim moves into second place, passing both Chelsea and Holly. Never one to give up, Holly grabs the next wave. She gets off a beautiful bottom turn and a big move off the top of the wave before she goes down. Then the ocean goes flat, and with 10 seconds remaining both Chelsea and Holly charge waves. Unfortunately, they both go down with a crash and they’re both eliminated from the competition.

Chelsea takes the loss hard. She’s quite depressed right after the heat and calls herself a loser as a friend hugs and consoles her. Holly takes the loss with a grain of salt. She didn’t get good waves, she says, and if you get out of rhythm, it’s over. She says she rode the wrong board and made some strategic errors. She tells us that while some think surfing is an outlet for emotions, it can often be the cause of negative emotions for pro surfers. When you’re a pro, your money and everything else depends on your performance, she says. That changes surfing for you, and can make it quite frustrating.

Next, we see gorgeous shots of Myles surfing a practice session at Sunset Beach. He says, “Surfing is something that gets under your skin, and once it does get under your skin, you can’t stop. You always have that feeling for the ocean and wanting to merge yourself with the ocean and just be one with it.

We learn that Myles and friends Pancho Sullivan and Liam McNamara have formed a group of local Hawaiian surfers to improve the status of the local surfers. The Hawaiian Tour’s setup makes it tough for local surfers to qualify, Myles says. “We live here and surf here all year long and then we have the top 44 surfers come in and tell us we can’t surf in their events.”

Randy Rarick, the executive director of the Vans Triple Crown - and one of the most relaxed and casual looking men who ever served as executive director of anything - explains that the bigger surf in Hawaii allows four surfers out at a time instead of the two that touring surfers are accustomed to. Competing with four men gives locals a bit of an edge because tour competitors are only used to dealing with one surfer, not three.

Sunny says that he thinks the local surfers should have to go on tour to enter the events, just like he did. He said there’s not enough time to run a 64-man event, as Myles’ group has suggested. Apparently, there would be time for a 64-man event, which would allow 16 locals to enter the competition, but it requires four men in the water.