Julian Wilson is considered one of the top young guns of surfing. Just last year, after receiving a wild-card entry, Julian stunned the surf community when he beat Kelly Slater in his first round heat at the Quiksilver Pro. Right there, anyone who didn’t know the name “Julian Wilson” received a rising welcome.

Julian Wilson’s career is going straight up. Yet despite his fast rise to surf stardom, Julian is taking his sweet time and smelling the roses. He competes on the WQS, but doesn’t participate, nor cares to, enough to qualify for the WCT. In fact, Julian admits he wants to compete on the main stage only when he’s ready. He’s still having fun, and knows that time is on his side.
 
I caught up with Julian on the greens, a typical destination for surfers when the waves are flat, right before his season came to an early end when he blew out his ankle after taking a bad step in a sand bar. Despite the injury, there’s no doubt that Julian is going to be one of the next generation’s top riders on the tour (for part one of this interview, click here).

BNQT: Are you single?

Julian: No, I’m not.

BNQT: Besides your home breaks, where’s your favorite place in the world to surf?

Julian: Bali’s really fun. I really enjoyed going to Bali. A lot of different waves, and they’re all really good quality, in warm water. It’s hard to beat Bali.

BNQT: You have a reputation on the tour as being one of these guys who, regardless the size of the board, you can instantly transition from one to the other, short to long, and dominate both. How did you become so good at all disciplines?

Julian: Well, my whole family surfs. My mom, my dad, and my two older brothers. I was pretty much a water-baby. I just went straight-out and surfed when I was three. I guess it’s just in my blood. (Laughs)

BNQT: Do you have memories of your first time surfing, when you were only three?

Julian: Yeah, vaguely. Just of me getting pushed into waves by my dad. I can remember it being really scary.

BNQT: When you get these wild-card entries into WCT events, how do you usually do?

Julian: The first time I got a wild-card entry, I beat Kelly (Slater) in my first heat, which was pretty cool.

BNQT: How’d that feel?

Julian: (Excited) It was one of the best feelings I’ve had yet!

BNQT: Did Kelly give you the double-pat on the butt afterwards?

Julian: (Laughing) No, there wasn’t really any words exchanged after that. I think he might have been a bit shocked.

BNQT: How competitive is Kelly (asked rhetorically)?

Julian: Yeah, he is. He’s unreal. He’s like a shark.

BNQT: How’d you do in the next contest?

Julian: In the next one, earlier this year, I knocked out Pancho Sullivan in round two and then got beaten by Mick (Fanning) in round three. It was a good experience.

BNQT: You’re pulling off these crazy upsets, knocking out these heavy hitters. How come you’re not more amp’d to be on the WCT?

Julian: I’ve got plenty of time. I’m not too worried. I’m just pacing myself.

BNQT: Do you have a map-out, or a thought as to when you’re actually going to attack the WQS to try to make the WCT?

Julian: Yeah. Next year I’m going to be filming, and doing a few events. And then the year after that I’ll be on the ‘QS, working it out. Pretty much trying to qualify in the next year or two.

BNQT: So 2010 will be the year that Julian Wilson explodes onto the scene. One of your main sponsors, Quiksilver, named a pair of boardshorts, the Bleeker Boardshorts after you, and they said you helped design the shorts.

Julian: Not so much me, but my mom did. She puts all the artwork on my surfboards, and she did something cool on one of them that they used for the Bleeker Boardshorts.

BNQT: Who are all your sponsors? Who’s paying all your bills?

Julian: Quiksilver, Red Bull, Oakley, Blackline, and LSD Surfboards.