Welcome to CUSP (the Currently Untitled Surf Podcast), where Stab writer Michael Ciaramella and Championship Tour coach Stace Galbraith dissect the minutiae of competitive surfing, occasionally in a combative fashion. This is the first episode of our new, contest-driven podcast, so let us know what you think.

For the impatient types:

0:33 podcast and host introduction

2:50 Honolua bay intro

3:48 Mike's conspiracy theory part 1 (Lakey)

8:19 Stace's rebuttal

9:25 Mike's re-rebuttal

11:25 Mike's conspiracy theory part 2 (Caroline)

13:17 Stace confirms that match-fixing happens within WSL events

15:06 Jack Freestone burns Heitor Alves on purpose

17:32 Stace talks Hawai'i

18:51Carissa wins Honolua, Stace offers insights from the ground

20:43 Lakey's missed wave... again

24:53Tyler Wright's triumphant return

29:25 the Tyler wildcard snafu

33:30 Sunset beach intro

34:46 Zeke Lau's Sunset requirement

36:28 the Zeke x Jack collision

42:01 Ethan Ewing's Hawaii performance

43:34 Matthew McGillivray qualification

44:18Morgan Cibilic: where did he come from and what has he done in Hawaii?

50:39 Stu Kennedy: ignorance is not (always) bliss.

51:22 how Stace's numerical mind helped jack freestone get on tour

53:17 Stuart Kennedy pt 2.

54:46 2019 QS qualifiers

57:01 Is the QS a true test of who should be on the CT?

58:50 Pipeline intro

59;26 Pipe predictions

101:55 Do Jordy and Filipe have a chance?

104:56 What about Kolohe?

106:05 CT requalification situation

1:08:36 observations from the Pipe lineup

1:10:04 Willian's declaration of fear

1:12:11 Will fallen CT surfers revert to the QS?

1:14:20 The Olympics: what's its value to surfing?

1:18:41 Kelly & John

1:24:21 2020 CT wildcard options (Mikey Wright, Leo Fioravanti, ADS)