Quikie Pro

A missing superbank and brown water but still some high class surfing at the Quiksilver Pro. Round one of the men has been done and the women are all the way to the quarters.

Taj, Parko, Josh Kerr and Owen Wright all missed out in round one with Slater winning in the heat of the day. He was against Dane Reynolds and Kolohe Andino.

The event is on hold for a midday (local time) call today

QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.50, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 12.70, Taj Burrow (AUS) 11.94
Heat 2: Travis Logie (ZAF) 18.20, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 17.10, Dusty Payne (HAW) 12.07
Heat 3: John John Florence (HAW) 15.00, Kai Otton (AUS) 14.80, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 12.40
Heat 4: Mick Fanning (AUS) 17.24, Willian Cardoso (BRA) 14.57, Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 12.10
Heat 5: Kelly Slater (USA) 16.04, Kolohe Andino (USA) 15.73, Dane Reynolds (USA) 12.34
Heat 6: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 17.76, Joel Parkinson (AUS) 17.73, Brent Dorrington (AUS) 15.37
Heat 7: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 15.67, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 14.97, Tiago Pires (PRT) 13.20
Heat 8: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 15.60, Nat Young (USA) 11.90, Josh Kerr (AUS) 10.13
Heat 9: Julian Wilson (AUS) 12.15, Adam Melling (AUS) 11.63, Damien Hobgood (USA) 11.40
Heat 10: Michel Bourez (PYF) 16.43, Owen Wright (AUS) 15.67, Filipe Toledo (BRA) 14.50
Heat 11: Brett Simpson (USA) 15.13, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 14.76, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 13.23
Heat 12: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 17.93, C.J. Hobgood (USA) 16.63, Glenn Hall (IRL) 15.07

QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Brent Dorrington (AUS)
Heat 2: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Dane Reynolds (USA)
Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Willian Cardoso (BRA)
Heat 4: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 5: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Dusty Payne (HAW)
Heat 6: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
Heat 7: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Tiago Pires (PRT)
Heat 8: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Nat Young (USA)
Heat 9: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 10: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Filipe Toledo (BRA)
Heat 11: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Glenn Hall (IRL)
Heat 12: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) vs. Kolohe Andino (USA)

ROXY PRO GOLD COAST QUARTERFINAL MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Tyler Wright (AUS) vs. Courtney Conlogue (USA)
Heat 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) vs. Alana Blanchard (HAW)
Heat 3: Bianca Buitendag (ZAF vs. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)
Heat 4: Carissa Moore (HAW) vs. Pauline Ado (FRA)

Round one done

They have finished the remaining round one heat in France and moved on to the King of the Groms event. There is a fair bit of swell but 90% close outs.

All of the heats in the main event today were won by the only surfer with a two wave total over 10, except the second last one where no one could get into double figures. Julian Wilson and Owen Wright were the only top seeds losing today.

The industry people talk up the France event every year but it is always crappy. The waves are so flukey that you need as much luck as you do ability to get through. If Europe wasn't one of the traditionally strongest markets for surf ware I'm nor sure we would still be watching this event.

Round Two

Round two is done as well, again in reasonable waves. The only real upsets were Owen Wright going down to the old man power turns of Taylor Knox. Knox is having a bit of a resurgence this year and while he might not throw airs all the time he can out hack the new school. Both Hopgoods are out as well.

Taj is against Adam Melling in the next round and Yadin has a very challenging heat against John Florence. That will be the last heat of the round and if the conditions are right could be a classic.

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.83 def. Conner Coffin (USA) 10.73
Heat 2: John John Florence (HAW) 14.37 def. Evan Geiselman (USA) 13.93
Heat 3: Taylor Knox (USA) 12.16 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 10.60
Heat 4: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 17.63 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 16.93
Heat 5: Julian Wilson (USA) 14.63 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 14.27
Heat 6: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 14.66 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 11.30
Heat 7: Heitor Alves (BRA) 14.50 def. Kolohe Andino (BRA) 14.33
Heat 8: Adam Melling (AUS) 17.30 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 17.13
Heat 9: Travis Logie (ZAF) 12.93 def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 11.77
Heat 10: Brett Simpson (USA) 15.83 def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 12.70
Heat 11: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 16.30 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 15.90
Heat 12: Kai Otton (AUS) 16.50 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 16.27

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
Heat 2: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Alejo Muniz (BRA)
Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 4: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 5: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Adrian Buchan (AUS)
Heat 6: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Dusty Payne (HAW)
Heat 7: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Taylor Knox (USA)
Heat 8: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 9: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Bede Durbidge (AUS)
Heat 10: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 11: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Brett Simpson (USA)
Heat 12: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Yadin Nicol (AUS)

Hurley Pro

Round one is over and it was a good day for the west Aussies with both TB and Yadin Nichol winning their heats.

The waves were nice little peaks made for throwing fins. Big airs were getting the big scores, especially  if they were no-handers. Seems that claiming an air was given a scoring bump as well.

Amongst the others most of the heats went as expected. Parko missed out and will take on Connor Coffin in round two. Coffin will be in with a chance if Parko isn't on his game. John Florence didn't surf well and will take on another wildcard. Owen Wright was just beaten by Yadin by less than half a point and will meet tour vet Taylor Knox. Knox is one of the few remaining power hackers so his future relies on what the judges are picking on the day.

I put some money on Julian Wilson so of course he lost badly and will have a difficult round two against Jadson Andre.

As usual the contest website is top notch with a good webcast (in the middle of the night here) and heat analyser heats on demand. Fuel TV is showing every heat live for those with Foxtel.

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.30, Jadson Andre (BRA) 11.10, Brett Simpson (USA) 7.94
Heat 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.00, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 12.57, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 7.37
Heat 3: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.66, Tiago Pires (PRT) 10.90, Taylor Knox (USA) 8.10
Heat 4: Dusty Payne (USA) 12.47, Kai Otton (AUS) 12.00, John John Florence (HAW) 9.00
Heat 5: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.16, Joel Parkinson (AUS) 12.87, Evan Geiselman (USA) 12.50
Heat 6: Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.60, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 14.60, Conner Coffin (USA) 12.16
Heat 7: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 17.57, Owen Wright (AUS) 17.17, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 11.67
Heat 8: Josh Kerr (AUS) 13.20, Damien Hobgood (USA) 10.63, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 8.00
Heat 9: Michel Bourez (PYF) 16.20, Kolohe Andino (AUS) 13.30, Jeremy Flores (PYF) 12.70
Heat 10: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 16.50, Adam Melling (AUS) 13.57, Julian Wilson (AUS) 9.66
Heat 11: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.30, Travis Logie (ZAF) 15.87, Heitor Alves (BRA) 13.83
Heat 12: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 16.90, C.J. Hobgood (USA) 16.17, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 8.20

UPCOMING HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Conner Coffin (USA)
Heat 2: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Evan Geiselman (USA)
Heat 3: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Taylor Knox (USA)
Heat 4: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 5: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Jadson Andre (BRA)
Heat 6: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
Heat 7: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Kolohe Andino (USA)
Heat 8: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 9: Miguel Pupo (BRA) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 10: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 11: Alejo Muniz (BRA) vs. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
Heat 12: Tiago Pires (PRT) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)

Surf Movie Sunday

Got a busy day ahead so the movies are in early.

Analog have released their latest movie with plenty of waves from around the world.



Mick Fanning, Owen Wilson and others at Trestles. The Trestles Pro starts tonight.



Dean Morrison in the WA desert.



And finally a Greg Long profile for the big wave heroes.

Live blogging

Taj has beaten Parko and moves into a semi against Gabriel Medina. With Slater still in the event this is a bit of a short term blow to Parko but nothing to get very stressed about.

Next heat is Julian Wilson and Owen Wright. Could be another cracker.

Fiji on

The Volcom Pro is on in vicious double overhead Cloudbreak. Luckily round one is non- elimination as it is a very fluky.

Taj had a total of four in his heat and came last. Yadin was leading his with less than a minute to go before Owen Wright chucked a huge cuttie between two tubes.

The webcast is very high quality but the commentators aren't. You can watch it at the normal places, they are about five hours in front.

Taj third

Heat three and Taj suffers from an interference in a heat slow for waves. He gets a second chance against Taylor Knox and Dan Ross goes through.

Owen Wright in the water against Pat G and the local wildcard.

Dane Reynolds has decided not to turn up again.

More of the same

Taj, Slater, OwenWright, Julian Wilson and Jordy Smith are all through to round four. Taylor Knox is having his best contest for ages and new boy Gabriel Medina is also through.

Taj just made it after beating Travis Logie by a fraction of a point. Taj's two scoring waves were short on manoeuvres but those he pulled off were massive. Martin Potter and the other commentator didn't think he got the score on his last wave, a big backhand smash and finished the heat off talking up Logie. Unfortunately for them the score on Taj's last wave took forever to get locked in and wasn't final until seconds after the heat finished.

Logie is one of my least favourite surfers on tour. For years he clung to the bottom rung, barely winning a single heat all year but to give credit where its due his surfing this year has improved massively. He had a third in Tahiti and is only just losing a couple of other heats.

After some fog this morning France time a lay day has been called.

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE REMAINING ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 9: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 12.70 def. Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 12.60
Heat 10: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 12.53 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 6.50
Heat 11: Brett Simpson (USA) 13.76 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 7.67
Heat 12: Kieren Perrow (AUS) def. Chris Davidson (AUS)

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Taylor Knox (USA) 9.77 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 6.50
Heat 2: Michel Bourez (PYF) 13.76 def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 11.60
Heat 3: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 15.34 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 12.00
Heat 4: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 13.83 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 10.26
Heat 5: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 12.56 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 10.96
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) 16.90 def. Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 6.90
Heat 7: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.16 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 13.83
Heat 8: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 12.60 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 8.76
Heat 9: Julian Wilson (AUS) 13.33 def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 7.07
Heat 10: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.47 def. Travis Logie (ZAF) 15.34
Heat 11: Damien Hobgood (USA) 13.00 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 11.34
Heat 12: Owen Wright (AUS) 15.17 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 8.57

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE ROUND 4 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Taylor Knox (USA), Michel Bourez (PYF), Jeremy Flores (FRA)
Heat 2: Adrian Buchan (AUS), Gabriel Medina (BRA), Kelly Slater (USA)
Heat 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF), Alejo Muniz (BRA), Julian Wilson (AUS)
Heat 4: Taj Burrow (AUS), Damien Hobgood (USA), Owen Wright (AUS)

Quikie Pro France

The Quiksilver Pro has started in France. Round one is done and round two is in the water right now.

Taj is through to round three as is Slater, the back from injury Jordie Smith and Fanning. Young guns Owen Wright and Julian Wilson also topped their first heat.

The big casualty so far is Parko, who has just been eliminated by a Moroccan wildcard in a heat where neither had a double figure two wave score.

The waves have some size with sets in the eight foot range. However there is plenty of crap amongst the nuggets.

As usual the Quiksilver webcast is terrible. It doesn't stream properly, keeps stopping and jumping back to repeat the same footage over and over. It didn't happen at the Trestles or Chopes or any contest not sponsored by Quiksilver.

Same again

For the third event in a row Kelly Slater and Owen Wright have faced off in the finals. This time is was Slater showing that he is still better than yet another generation of rippers by riding the winning wave in the last minute and with a mix of air and full rail vertical surfing.

Josh Kerr continued his career season as is now in fifth. Julian Wilson has finally found some form and is starting find his feet (getting revenge on Parko for his last wave loss in round four). Slater has pulled just a little closer to his 11th title and Taj is now sixth and hoping for a miracle. Jordy's injury has dropped him to 8th but he can throw both of these events away at the end of the season.

The next event is the Search in San Francisco.

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES FINAL RESULT:
1 – Kelly Slater (USA) 17.50
2 – Owen Wright (AUS) 16.74

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES SEMIFINALS RESULTS:
SF 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 18.40 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 16.57
SF 2: Owen Wright (AUS) 14.74 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 10.04

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES QUARTERFINALS RESULTS:
QF 1: Heitor Alves (BRA) 12.77 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 12.50
QF 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 17.60 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 11.07
QF 3: Owen Wright (AUS) 15.67 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.67
QF 4: Julian Wilson (AUS) 18.23 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 14.93

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 5 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Heitor Alves (BRA) 12.74 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 9.80
Heat 2: Josh Kerr (AUS) 15.27 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 12.97
Heat 3: Mick Fanning (AUS) 18.23 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 10.27
Heat 4: Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.67 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 12.37

CURRENT ASP WORLD TITLE TOP 10 (After Hurley Pro at Trestles)
1 – Kelly Slater (USA) 44,950 pts.
2 – Owen Wright (AUS) 39,900
3 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 35,400
4 – Adriano de Souza (BRA)31950
5 – Josh Kerr (AUS)30,800
6 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 29,250
7 – Mick Fanning (AUS)28,200
8 – Jordy Smith (ZAF)27,500
9 – Jeremy Flores (FRA)23,700
10 – Michel Bourez (PYF) 22,250

Round four finally goes big

The promises of high performance round four heats was finally met last night. With sets around head height and runners both ways there were plenty of big hacks and airs. Unfortunately the judging continues to baffle everyone and feed the conspiracy theorists (see this post from philosurfical). There seems to be bonus points given to the top 10 (except Bede Durbridge). The judges have obviously decided that anyone can do an air but not everyone can do a reo. Even I can do a reo (every now and then) but I'm will never do an air (on purpose).

Taj was fairly beaten by Adriano de Souza with both going to the air. Julian Wilson couldn't beat Parko's re-entries with am air where he switched the board around, landed surfed goofy, switched back and threw and air reverse. Owen Wright beat John Florence who surfed well in his maiden event (he made the tour due to Yaden Nicols broken leg).

The internet rumours are that the event will finish tonight as the forecast if for a dropping swell.

Head to the website and watch the heats on demand. They have built on the format from the Quikie Pro so you can watch entire heats or any of the scoring waves. You can also select your favourite surfer or only waves over a certain score. And unlike the Quikie it actually works and streams nicely.

UPCOMING HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 5 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Heitor Alves (BRA)
Heat 2: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Jeremy Flores (FRA)
Heat 3: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Mick Fanning (AUS)
Heat 4: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Adrian Buchan (AUS)

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 16.33, Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.93, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 12.23
Heat 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.90, Josh Kerr (AUS) 12.60, Heitor Alves (BRA) 11.77
Heat 3: Owen Wright (AUS) 16.73, Damien Hobgood (USA) 15.20, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 12.46
Heat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 18.06, Julian Wilson (AUS) 17.77, Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.50

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.50 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 12.97
Heat 2: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.50 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 13.10
Heat 3: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 10.27 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 9.57
Heat 4: Heitor Alves (BRA) 11.63 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 11.43
Heat 5: Josh Kerr (AUS) 12.33 def. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 11.83
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) 17.64 def. Tom Whitaker (AUS) 12.93
Heat 7: Owen Wright (AUS) 17.84 def. John Florence (HAW) 17.13
Heat 8: Damien Hobgood (USA) 14.13 def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 8.17
Heat 9: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 15.80 def. Chris Davidson (AUS) 10.40
Heat 10: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 17.00 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 16.80
Heat 11: Julian Wilson (AUS) 14.23 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 9.00
Heat 12: Mick Fanning (AUS) 14.93 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 13.17

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.

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)

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.

Again

Taj has been ripped off again. He clearly beat Slater but was underscored whilst Kelly was overscored.

Taj's first wave had a huge air but got a 6. Then he and Slater had identical waves where they both threw the same moves outside but TB did an extra in the shorie. However Slater gets a low seven when Taj gets a high six.

Slater gets a short barrel and a decent cutback for a high eight. Taj gets buried deep, so deep he was being written off by the commentators then burst out the doggy door for an 8.1. Twice as long, deeper, harder to control and obviously not worth the same !

Taj was not happy throughout the heat and the blatantly poor judging (and worse comments from one of the webcasters) totally ruined what should have been the heat of the day. There should have only been about half a point between them but the result should have been the other way around.

I suppose 100 000 yanks want to see Slater win not an Aussie. And we have to remember that this is the contest where in the 80's they rioted because someone saw some boobs. Maybe the judges wanted to be able to get to their cars after the event.

It will be a Slater v Dane Reynolds final unless Dane fails to make a single move. Like other sports the ASP seems to be heading towards the "it's entertainment so we can attract a mainstream audience and screw those that love the sport because they will watch anyway" direction. Non-surfer might by a t-shirt but they don't buy wetsuits although they don't have the same markup.

Taj seems to always be the victim of these hometown decisions and this is his second this year (it wasn't just Owen Wright who should have beaten DeSouza in Brazil). I think it cost him at least one world title during his career.

Round two

Round two on at J-Bay in smallish and inconsistent waves. The forecast isn't great for the next few days so they have run today.

Taj is through to the next round and it looks like Slater didn't bother turning up.

The current heat between Freddie P and Owen Wright is very slow with only one wave ridden after a heat restart and less than 20 minutes left. It will be interesting to see how much longer they run for.

The event is live on Fuel TV and the web.

The rip off in Rio

The ASP has been in damage mode after the feedback on the judging of Adriano DeSouza's semi against Owen Wright and to a lesser extent the final against Taj.

In the semi Adriano did a big floater and got an eight. His other scoring wave consisted of two standard back hand reos. After a couple of standard turns Owen landed big airs on both his waves, scoring sixes. The judges have released a statement saying in part that Adriano's wave were bigger and his floater was more committed than Owen's air because anyone pro can do an air.

My two cents worth - any pro (and most decent amateurs) can pull off a floater. This one was big but it wasn't anything special and the reason he did the floater is because his wave choice put him on a close out. Floaters have generally been either a linking move, to get around a section or something to finish with in the shoredump. If they are the only move on a wave they generally don't score well because it reflects bad wave selection.

Owen selected waves that gave him room to work and surfed them as well as they could be surfed. Yes they were smaller but wave size is not part of the criteria and the smaller ones weren't closing out. He did a series of moves that were committed, different from each other and used the full potential of the wave. If you ignore what Adriano got for his rides you would say they were awarded scores that were pretty close to what they deserve. Compare them to Adriano and they were high eights.

The waves for the final were pretty bad. Taj's waves were pretty fairly scored but again Adriano best scoring wave was overscored by probably two points. He blew his second move, which was a pretty standard backhand reo and did three identical moves. Personally he should lose points for claiming every wave he catches but that's not in the criteria.

The ASP have made it worse by releasing the judges statement. It just looks like they are making piss weak excuses for why they screwed up. Since the change in the judging criteria it has been almost impossible to work out what needs to be done to get a decent score. I don't like judges deciding that they will score tubes higher at his place, on this bank or tide but vertical moves in this round. Judge how the surfer surfs. If he get a wave a Chopes that suits him doing an eight foot air reverse rather than a tube give him the score it deserves. If he rips the bag out of a smaller wave because it is cleaner and holds up, don't reward his competitor who flukes an out of control move on a close out because its bigger. The ASP are starting to lose more credibility and eyes on their events with the inconsistent judging.

Judge for yourself -






Click here for the statement from the judges

The final word goes to a tweet shown on the ASP web site from Taylor Knox - "I just did a floater .... Winning !!!!!"