"Michael Peterson, Shaun Tomson, and Bells '75," by Geoff Luton, Surfing magazine, August 1975

For the factually minded, here are a few details on the actual structure of the Bells contest. First, there are only two divisions: the Open Men's and the Women's. Both divisions are judged by means of an objective points-for-maneuvers system based on the original American Pro system.

In the Open Men's this year there were ­12 invited surfers. These were Michael Peterson, Peter Townend, Peter Drouyn, Ian Cairns, Midget Farrelly, Nat Young (all from Australia), Larry Bertlemann, Reno Abellira, Jeff Hakman, Gerry Lopez (Hawaii), Shaun Tomson (South Africa) and Rick Rasmussen (U.S.A. mainland).

All invitees are seeded directly into the contest proper. There is also a qualifying group, which is limited to 72 surfers. These are divided into 12 elimination heats of six surfers apiece. The first three surfers out of each heat then proceed to a second elimination round of 36 surfers. This round is divided up into six heats of six. Once again the first three surfers out of each of these heats then go on to join the 12 invitees in a final group of thirty surfers.

Ideally, the surfers in this final group will surf it out during at least three rounds, surf permitting. Otherwise, the final results will be based on points accrued in the number of completed rounds—that is, one round, two rounds, or whatever. In other words, points are accumulated from each completed round and the winner is the surfer with the most points on the board after the final round. Simple, huh?

In the Women's Division there were only four invitees this year. Sharron Weber (Hawaii), Kim McKenzie, Gail Couper and Judy Trim (all from Australia). The ladies also have a qualifying section which is limited to six entrants who compete in one qualifiers' heat. The first three from this heat join the four invitees in the final group.

DAY ONE, FRIDAY. Following a week of quite reasonable pre-contest workout surf at Bells and nearby but necessarily nameless spots, it was no great surprise to anyone but the permanently pessimistic to wake and find a small but clean four- to six-foot swell marching into that famous reef-bay lineup at Bells. It wasn't what you would call classic Bells but at least it was contestable and sufficient to put the 72 qualifiers through their paces on of all days, Good Friday.

With Mother Ocean coming through for most of the day in the wave department and Mother Nature providing support with a clear and sunny sky, contest officials were able to breathe a welcome sigh of relief and go about the business of staging both qualifying rounds. Of the 18 surfers to emerge from this section, there were but a handful of new names and few surprises, with the possible exception of Simon Anderson who failed to qualify. On closer inspection Simon was found to be suffering from a badly jarred ankle, the legacy of a painfully mistimed backhand re-entry at Simon's home beach of North Narrabeen the week prior to Bells.

DAY TWO, SATURDAY. By the grace of good karma and the prevailing full moon conditions, the surf transformed itself overnight into a straight and clean six- to eight-foot groundswell. So without even a 'praise to Allah', it was straight into Round One of the contest proper, minus Nat Young, Larry Bertleman, Reno Abellira, Gerry Lopez and Rick Rasmussen, all of whom failed to show (much to the relief of five anxious Aussie alternates).

Fortunately enough, for the sake at least of the odd acid stomach here and there, the surf maintained its basic quality throughout the five first round

heats. Then, after the smoke had finally cleared from a hot and intense i day of no holds barred, go for it compe- 1 tition and all the necessary calculations ' had been made and double checked, i pre-contest favorite and double Gun- < ston winner (not to mention current i American Pro champion and lad to ( watch in the future), South African i Shaun Tomson emerged an early con- 1 test leader, slightly ahead of the incred- 1 ibly consistent Jeff Hakman. Mark < Warren and Michael Peterson were 1 conveniently placed in the field at third < and fourth respectively. (

Day Three, Sunday. Once more, with karma very much on the side of the contest organizers and contestants alike, the surf picked up even further to average out at around the eight to ten foot mark, with the occasional twelve foot sneaker to keep that old adrenalin pumping. The day wasn't without its customary contest hang-ups though, overhead groundswell or not.

Almost predictably, the wind started out as a light offshore but as the day progressed it got stronger and stronger, in true Islands tradition, until it finally swung sideshore and virtually blew the place out. Still, the organizers managed to get through two complete rounds, thereby taking full advantage of the sizable swell while it lasted.

The most impressive surfer of the day was probably young Waimea Bay veteran Mark Richards who carved it up in a manner that earned him over 2000 points for one of his two rounds including one boggling Bells beauty that netted young Mark over 700 points for the one wave. On paper, though, Tomson was still comfortably in front with Cairns and Hakman looking to be the big dangers. Peterson was further back in the field, some 500 plus points behind Tomson and some skeptics and fellow competitors had already made the fatal mistake of writing him off.

Day Four, Monday. As is so often the case in professional surfing contests, the last day of competition is almost invariably a gigantic anti-climax. And this year at Bells was no exception. It went something like this.

The waves in the morning were still averaging around the eight foot mark and were quite reasonable. So despite the heavy rain and depressingly chilly conditions, round four of the contest got under way pretty much on schedule. Everything was proceeding quite smoothly until around the third or fourth heat when surface conditions began to deteriorate at an alarming rate.

Luckily for Michael Peterson, he drew the second heat. Surfing like a man possessed by a borderline dose of lethal energy, Peterson waved and wiggled, powered and pivoted over and under every available inch of wave space, pulling out all the stops as only he can, to amass well over 2000 points in surf that could be best described as average.

Tomson, on the other hand, drew the third heat. Possibly because he was fairly well out in front and perhaps lulled into a false sense of security, be chose to cruise, to play it safe only to find, like so many surfers before him, that just when that elusive first prize check seemed to be certainly his, a phenomenon by the name of Michael Peterson had come from no-where and snatched it right out of his sweating, outstretched hand.

1975 Bells Beach Rip Curl Pro

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