Hurley Pro starts now

The Hurley Pro at Trestles is just starting with the trials final. After that it is straight into round one.

The conditions look nice but the swell is small. Jordy is still out and Dane Reynolds isn't coming.

This is the first event since the mid season cut. Bobby Martinez and CJ Hopgood are gone and three rookies are in. WA's Yadin Nicol is meant to be one of the but had given his spot to John Florence due to a Artois injury. He had worked so hard to make the tour it must be very disappointing.

Webcast and decent iPad app are available. Hopefully the webcast is better than Quiksilver's attempt in New York

Owen + $300 000

For the second event in a row Owen Wright and Kelly Slater have fought it out for the title. However this time the young Aussie was successful, easily winning after a blitz in the first few minutes.

Slater holds onto his number one spot and moves a little further away. After his first win on the big boys tour Wright has moved to number two.



QUIKSILVER PRO NEW YORK FINAL:
1 – Owen Wright (AUS) 17.90
2 – Kelly Slater (USA) 14.53

QUIKSILVER PRO NEW YORK SEMIFINALS RESULTS:
SF 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 19.07 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 18.33
SF 2: Owen Wright (AUS) 14.84 def. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 9.63

QUIKSILVER PRO NEW YORK QUARTERFINALS RESULTS:
QF 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.77 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 14.37
QF 2: Kelly Slater (AUS) 15.50 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 15.00
QF 3: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 12.10 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 10.10
QF 4: Owen Wright (AUS) 12.93 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 12.44

ASP WORLD TITLE TOP 10 (After Quiksilver Pro New York):
1. Kelly Slater (USA) 34950 pts
2. Owen Wright (AUS) 31,900 pts
3. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 30,200 pts
4. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 27,000 pts
5. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 26,750 pts
6. Josh Kerr (AUS) 25,600 pts
7. Taj Burrow (AUS) 25,250 pts
8. Mick Fanning (AUS) 23,000 pts
9. Michel Bourez (PYF) 20,500 pts
10. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 19,700 pts

Again !

Taj has lost to Slater again despite holding a nine and leading with just over two minutes to go. The margin was less than a point.

Needing better than a mid seven Slater has taken off on a decent sized wave, pumped for speed and blasted a huge air 360 landing no hands and claiming. For that single move he got a 10 ? It didn't deserve a 10 but was probably a high 8. Taj came back with another nine but it just wasn't enough after the overscore.

Owen Wright is in the water now against some Brazillian. I hope he wins. If he does expect the final to be won above the lip. I won't be awake to see it.

Slater wins quarters

Slater has beaten Josh Kerr by half a point in another close final. Both went to the air but Slater lucked into a deep and clean backhand barrel.

This means that TB and KS will face each other in another semi. Taj will be keen on avenging his loss at the US Open a few weeks ago when he was underscored in front of a big crowd.

The webcast is so dodgy it is impossible to watch. It seems to stop everytime there is a wave about to be ridden. It then jumps backwards and shows the same footage over and over. Its really disappointing as the surfing is so good and the webcasts from Billabong at J-Bay and Chopes were so good. I even tried my computer and two different iPad apps but neither worked very well.

Taj to semis

Taj has just won his semi by less than half a point. His last wave won it with less than a minute to go.

The webcast is still crappy and choppy but try and watch Slater and Kerr in this semi.

Finals Day

Final day starts in a few minutes in New York. Taj is first up against Jadson Andre. Slater is the only American left in the contest with the rest of the spots filled by Aussies or Brazillians. He will take on Josh Kerr who has been racking up huge airs and nine pointers all contest. Watch his round four heat for his "varial", punting, spinning his board under his feet and landing goofy (he is a natural). He followed it up with a huge alley oop.

With Parko out and Jordy not competing Kelly can consolidate a bit of a lead, especially if he wins. Taj can also make up some points after a couple of bad results.

Potentially one of the best heats is the fourth quarter between Owen Wright and Julian Wilson. Both will go big.

Looking at the webcast it look like there are still waves and at the moment it is offshore.

Bobbie is disqualified

The rest of round two and some of round three was run in slightly bigger but messier waves in New York last night. It was pouring down with rain at times and the event (like the US Open tennis) has a break mid morning to let it pass.

Bobby Martinez won his heat and gave a heart felt post heat interview where he expressed his disgust at the state of the ASP and the mid season cut which happens after this event.

“First of all, I’d like to say (an the ASP are going to fine me) ‘cuz I don’t want to be a part of this dumb f***ing wannabe tennis tour. All these pro surfers want to be tennis players. They want to do a halfway cutoff. How the f*** is somebody who’s not even competing against our caliber of surfers ahead of 100 of us on the one world ratings. They’ve never been here. They’ve never f***ing made the right to surf against us, but now we’re ranked upon them. Come on now. That’s Bullshit. That’s why I ain’t going to these stupid contests no more. This is my last one because FTW, my sponsors is here and I just tell it like it is. This is my last one and I don’t like tennis. I don’t like the tour… Who gives a f***? You know what I mean?”

“I’ve been here before. I love this city. I’ll tell you right now, if my sponsor wasn’t here, I wouldn’t be here for this dumb contest. ASP? They f***ing…surfing’s going down the drain thanks to these people.”

This has been his line for a few weeks and he does have a point. He doesn't think that someone on the world tour should be dropped because someone on the lower level, who never surfs against the best in the world happens to get a better one world ranking off that tour.

There is the odd surfer like Owen Wright or Julian Wilson that you think could go straight to the top level tour but even they have struggled in the big time. When you look at the ratings people like Bobby, CJ Hopgood and Freddie P might be dropped for some no name Brazillian who can throw airs and claims in hip height surf.

Regardless of the truth of the matter he was disqualified for "damaging the image of the sport". It will last until the ASP can decide if to ban him for the rest of the year. It is probably academic as he will miss the cut and is not likely to chase points in the prime events.

The ASP emailed Bobby his suspension notification. It seems to be spiralling out of control at the moment. There apparently will be no Triple Crown in Hawaii this year, the womens tour has already finished and the top surfers are choosing not to turn up to events. The judging is inconsistent at best and the administration seems to wander between press releases that make matter worse not better (eg: remember this one after the Owen Wright "commitment" debacle in Brazil or click here to see their email to Bobby). The ASP need to be careful as their core audience is starting to get annoyed and will start watching something else.



On the positive side Taj is through easily to round four but will probably draw his nemesis Josh Kerr. Being a non-elimination round their might be some big airs being thrown down. Mick Fanning lost to Freddie P this morning and Slater got a walk through due to Bobby's naughtiness.

The event is on now and rumoured to finish tomorrow. It is still brown and small enough for you to imagine that Bunno could hold its own world tour event. The webcast is patchy again.

QUIKSILVER PRO NEW YORK REMAINING ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 5:  Josh Kerr (AUS) defeated Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Bobby Martinez *Will not be surfed. Martinez disqualified from competition.
Heat 7: Mick Fanning (AUS) lost to Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
Heat 8: Kieren Perrow (AUS) lost to Alejo Muniz (BRA)
Heat 9: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Heitor Alves (BRA)
Heat 10: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 11: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Brett Simpson (USA)
Heat 12: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. C.J. Hobgood (USA)

Taj finally overscored

Taj has won his round one heat in New York, beating Pat G and Bobby Martinez. The waves look like a good day in Bunbury, muddy, brown and hip height. Most of us would struggle to get past the first section in the offshore mush.

Taj got a big score for a single air and then probably just a little overscored on a couple of backhand hacks. Regardless he deserved to win (Pat was overscored too) and he will have no problems in both the small conditions and if the waves pick up. The forecast is for a rising swell from a hurricane that is travelling along the coast.

As usual the Quiksilver webcam is a bit patchy and there is no live coverage on FuelTV.

New York New York

The Quiksilver Pro New York starts tonight. First call is around 10.00 pm our time so most will have to watch via heats on demand.

Plenty of injuries with Jordy Smith the biggest. He obviously hasn't recovered from his broken ribs caused by big Chopes. This has given Travis Logie another event as an injury wildcard.

QUIKSILVER PRO NEW YORK ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS), Brett Simpson (USA), Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA), Dane Reynolds (USA), Gabe Kling (USA)
Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS), Patrick Gudauskas (USA), Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
Heat 4: Owen Wright (AUS), Jadson Andre (BRA), Bobby Martinez (USA)
Heat 5: Mick Fanning (AUS), Heitor Alves (BRA), Asher Nolan (USA)
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA), Daniel Ross (AUS), Balaram Stack (USA)
Heat 7: Adrian Buchan (AUS), Alejo Muniz (BRA), Cory Lopez (USA)
Heat 8: Bede Durbidge (AUS, Chris Davidson (AUS), C.J. Hobgood (USA)
Heat 9: Michel Bourez (PYF), Raoni Monteiro (BRA), Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 10: Damien Hobgood (USA), Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Tiago Pires (PRT)
Heat 11: Adriano de Souza (BRA), Josh Kerr (AUS), Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 12: Julian Wilson (AUS), Kieren Perrow (AUS), Taylor Knox (USA)

Slater wins again

Kelly has just won the Billabong Pro Tahiti, beating Owen Wright in clean overhead surf.

In his 61st final Slater held a nine and high eight to win by just over a point. Owen had a nine and a high seven. Slater took a couple of poundings including going over the falls backwards as he tried to hustle Owen towards the end of the heat.

With the rest of the top six losing early Kelly is back in the title race after missing J-Bay to stay in Fiji.

The next event is in New York starting later this week. The event infrastructure is being rebuilt after having to be taken down due to Hurrican Irene.