"The call has been made." "Well sort of." "We're not sure."





Restaurants is waiting patiently to take center stage and spin out six- to eight-foot perfection for hundreds of yards for three days straight. Not only will there be barrels, there will be big turns -- and lots of each on every wave. How can we ignore that?



But then there is the gladiator spirit alive and well in all of us. Deep down -- or maybe not so deep at all -- we want to see these guys shaking in their trunks, pushing the outermost limits of their courage then getting absolutely annihilated for it. Carnage! Blood! Balls! We want to see them take the beatings we would never dream of taking...and then call them cowards if they pull back.



Fair enough. They're supposed to be the best surfers in the world. But what all the people behind making the call have to worry about -- both those that have to go head-to-head with this monster swell, and those that just have to make sure it's broadcast to the world -- is that the fans actually get a contest.





"If Cloudbreak really is going to be as big as everyone is saying, we'd have to run, like, hour-long heats just to get enough waves ridden." --Surfer's rep Kieren Perrow

"I don't think there's an issue with any of the surfers not wanting to paddle out at big Cloudbreak," says Surfers' Representative Kieren Perrow. "It's just that when you're talking about a contest, it's an entirely different story."Perrow uses Code Red day at Teahupo'o as an example. "There were a lot of huge waves ridden that day, but people don't realize is how much time there was between those rides. If Cloudbreak really is going to be as big as everyone is saying, we'd have to run, like, hour-long heats just to get enough waves ridden."The reality -- as much as we like to hate it -- is that Perrow has a point. Even if the forecast is a few feet off and five knots less gusty, running thirty, even forty, minute heats at Cloudbreak will more than likely result in at least a couple restarts and some long, actionless viewing on the webcast, allowing for that one commercial to be played so exhaustively that you'll surely go bat-shit crazy."I don't think anyone wants to sit around and not see any waves ridden," reasons Perrow.And here's a little secret: All of the judging and broadcasting equipment in the tower at Cloudbreak has already been boated back to Tavarua, where event staff have set it up for a morning start at Restaurants."The call has been made," deadpans ASP Tour Manager Renato Hickel. "Restaurants is going to be firing, and I think the guys want to surf there."Hickel, however, is not really a part of the group making that decision. In fact, neither is Perrow."Everyone thinks I'm always there for the call," says Perrow, "but that's not always true. [Here in Fiji] it involves the Contest Director Matt Wilson and Richie Porta (Head Judge), and the surfers who are up in the first several heats.""I am open and accessible to any surfer that I see and that is interested in having the discussion about what we are thinking and what we might do," says contest director Matt Wilson, via e-mail. "I have had many of these conversations over the last few days...and we consult and listen to advice and opinion from a range of stakeholders, including...those with exceptional local knowledge, like (Tavarua Co-Owner) Jon Roseman."And as much as Wilson and the entire event crew would like to just bounce between Cloudbreak and Restaurants effortlessly (a distance of 2.5 miles), the logistics involved in an ASP World Tour a la 2012 is no small process. Especially out here in the middle of the South Pacific.When I motored up to the tower yesterday at Cloudbreak, the event crew had piles of equipment weighing hundreds of pounds being winched precariously from the tower's top two floors down to a skiff bucking and listing on the shallow water below. It was an imperfect -- not to mention dangerous -- process on that creaky wooden structure, and one that would consume several hours of precious surfing time come Friday."It may only take an hour to break down," one staffer told me, "but it'll take another three to boat it back and forth and get up and running."While Wilson emphasizes that "the basis of any call is always the surf -- first and foremost," he does concede that "there are peripheral logistical issues to consider ...[but] we would be ready to go within two hours (not three, as suggested above)."Hence the reason Hickel suggests the call has been made. As much as we'd like to label the competitors as small-wave pansies, for most of them, putting on a good webcast is a priority.I do not kid. Except for Matt Wilkinson maybe, who readily admits that the last two days of sunny, placid conditions have been paradisaical, but that on Friday "we're gonna die!"To prove to the world that the pros weren't afraid of the big stuff, I suggested to Perrow that there be a camera poised on the tower or on a boat all day out at Cloudbreak, beaming the live paddle -- and tow-in action -- you know, for a little brutality between the perfection and that pesky commercial. I pointed out that for his part, Kelly Slater had a bag of fresh teardrop Merrick guns delivered today, clearly stating his enthusiasm to go big."Not a bad idea," said Perrow, who was knocked out on Monday by Ace Buchan and is thus free to charge. "That's probably where I'll be when they make the call."**EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is an updated version from the original. This version incorporates the position of 2012 Volcom Fiji Pro Contest Director, Matt Wilson.+++*Editor's note: one of the questions we asked surfers in the event preview was: "Did last July's giant swell change your opinion of what should be ridden or how to ride Cloudbreak?"Here's what some said:"I don't think we'll surf waves like that in a contest, but in case we do, I'm gonna have to buy a gun board from someone." -- Tiago Pires"That was crazy watching those guys, because that wave when it gets big will drag you so far. So I can't even imagine how much punch that swell was packing." --Damien Hobgood"That day for sure was the biggest you can get Cloudbreak, so you would've needed a giant board and pretty deep breaths! Definitely Restaurants was pretty fun that day!" --Miguel Pupo"Helped me a lot as I don't have much experience here. I'm only 18 years old." --Gabriel Medina"I hope it's not as big as that!!!" -- Wilko"CB is so heavy when it's that big." --CJ Hobgood