Big waves

Not here though ! I just got out from a twilight handboard in 6" wind chop. There is a rumour of a spike tomorrow but it looks short and really south. The winds don't look great either but it will be worth keeping an eye on.

Meanwhile in Portugal Garrett McNamara has caught some of the biggest waves anywhere ever. It was here that he claimed the world record and this looks much bigger.

Bit of video with very wanky music !

Finals day

Pretty clean conditions for the final day of the Rip Curl Pro Portugal.

Mick Fanning was taken down in round five, giving him a ninth and 2250 more points than Slater in this event. Parko met John John in the quarters and won. This gives JJ a fifth and 3450 points over Slater and 1200 over Fanning.

Parko will meet Gabriel Medina in the semis, with the other between Julian Wilson and the winner of the quarter in the water at the moment.

At this stage the Mick's ninth is a keeper, John John will have nothing lower than a fifth. Regardless of what happens from now on Parko will have nothing lower than a third.

My literally back of the envelope calculations tell me that Parko would have to win to overtake Kelly after dropping the worst two events to this stage.

Kelly Slater - 45 400
Parko - 3rd 43 500, 2nd 45 000, 1st 47 000
Fanning - 43 500
John Florence - 38 600

Kelly's two bad events (really three) only drop his raw total by a small amount compared to the others (especially Parko) who drop big points. His four finals and three wins are keeping him in the race against the consistent but not winning Parko. Looks like it might go down at Pipeline, hopefully in some decent waves.

Insult

It's cleaned up since they went on hold and while it is still inconsistent there is enough tubes to make it fair.

Yadin in the water against an over scored Fanning.

Stupid

Just watched the Taj and Kelly heats on demand. What a joke.

Taj only got two waves in the whole heat, neither much chop. Kolohe got a clean throaty barrel and came out clean so deserved his 7.0. Compared to what was to come it probably should have been an 11.

Kelly's heat was worse. Both surfers had a wave in their two scorers that was a close out barrel that they didn't make it out of. Raoni's was a 3.7 with one judge giving it a 4.0. If there were decent waves he would have been lucky to get a two. He just took off and stood straight while the wave collapsed on his head. He was never ever getting out. His second scoring waves was three little lip hits that I could do and he gets a 5.5 with one judge giving it a 6.0 !

Kelly got a little backhand coverup, coming out clean and got less than the close out he pulled into and almost made out the doggie door. He had more chance that his opponent's 3.7 and got  a 2.67. Neither surfer deserved to win because they shouldn't have been out in those conditions but Slater's made wave was probably a 0.1 better than the Brazilian's.

They put the event on hold straight after the heat.

This ridiculous heat could have cost Slater his 12th title.

Upset

Slater out, losing to Raoni Monteiro. Bad waves cause these types of upsets. Slater's scoring waves were both twos and the Brazilian didn't even get a double figure winning total. Days like this suck badly and aren't good for surfing.

Parko is already through to round four, Mick takes on Yadin in the last heat and John Florence got through last surfing day. Slater will now have to hold a 13th in his final eight scores.

Portugal on

Portugal has started in pretty marginal surf. There is size but it is messy from yesterday's storm. Winning heats will come down to fluking the two good waves a heat. Or if you are Brazilian claiming after each wave (Alejo Muniz) !

Unfortunately as predicted yesterday Taj was sent out to test the conditions and lost. This will basically knock out his slim chances of winning the title this year as he will need to hold a 13th and two 9ths.

As usual its on Fuel TV or webcast.

Hold

The Rip Curl Pro in Portugal is burning through the waiting period. No consistent surf for a few days and now a massive storm is bering down on the contest site. The commentators are trying to talk it up but they are also trying to lay the foundations for a move to one of the back up venues where the wind will be side rather than onshore.

It's day 8 of 11 and they still have the bulk of round three to go. Even though it stays light for ages they still need a solid two days to run the event. It will be hard to squeeze out any extra time as the Cold Water Classic starts in the US on 1st November.

As usual Taj will be in the guinea pig first heat of whatever day they run. He always seems to end up going first and when the conditions are likely to be suspect he draws someone who can fluke a few waves and win. This time its Kolohe Andino who is desperate for any sort of result after not living up to his publicity so far. He is in danger of falling off the tour so will be a danger man for TB.

Yadin has Mick Fanning. The waves could be big and lean toward Mick because his poo stance isn't as suspect as in smaller waves. Parko will have to watch out for Dusty Payne and the rest of the heats are pretty even and could go either way depending on wave size and quality.

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Kolohe Andino (USA)
Heat 4: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Alejo Muniz (BRA)
Heat 5: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. C.J. Hobgood (USA)
Heat 6: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Dusty Payne (HAW)
Heat 7: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
Heat 8: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 9: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 10: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 11: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Bede Durbidge (AUS)
Heat 12: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Yadin Nicol (AUS)

Portugal

Round one and half of round two of the Rip Curl Pro Portugal were run overnight. Jordy Smith was the only real shock elimination so far. Both Taj and Yadin are through to round three after dropping round one.

The waves were a bit mixed but if you got the right one it was worth a nine plus.

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 6.30, Brett Simpson (USA) 5.06, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 3.67
Heat 2: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 14.33, Taj Burrow (AUS) 11.36, Jadson Andre (BRA) 6.73
Heat 3: John John Florence (HAW) 14.73, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 7.34, Kai Otton (AUS) 4.13
Heat 4: Mick Fanning (AUS) 9.67, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 9.70, Dusty Payne (HAW) 2.33
Heat 5: Kelly Slater (USA) 13.67, Dillon Perillo (USA) 6.60, Damien Hobgood (USA) 5.90
Heat 6: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 17.17, Kolohe Andino (USA) 15.36, Pierre Valentin Laborde (FRA) 2.96
Heat 7: Owen Wright (AUS) 16.26, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 11.94, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 7.65
Heat 8: Josh Kerr (AUS) 10.70, Taylor Knox (USA) 7.43, Heitor Alves (BRA) 5.53
Heat 9: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 16.50, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 13.83, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 11.67
Heat 10: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 14.00, Adam Melling (AUS) 11.87, Michel Bourez (PYF) 9.67
Heat 11: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 13.73, Travis Logie (ZAF) 12.83, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 11.03
Heat 12: Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.53, Tiago Pires (PRT) 13.27, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 3.13

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.17 def. Pierre-Valentin Laborde (FRA) 6.17
Heat 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.33 def. Dillon Perillo (USA) 10.37
Heat 3: Dusty Payne (HAW) 12.80 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 10.77
Heat 4: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 18.50 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 17.73
Heat 5: Michel Bourez (PYF) 15.73 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 10.93
Heat 6: Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 15.00 def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 12.93
Heat 7: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 16.10 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 8.24
Heat 8: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.63 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 12.33

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 9: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
Heat 10: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 11: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 12: Kolohe Andino (USA) vs. Tiago Pires (PRT)

Judge for yourself

Does claiming pay ?




Chopes is such a one dimensional wave that judging is so difficult. Every pit that someone makes is basically the same so winning is more pot luck that really beating someone. I don't think Fanning's waves were better or worse than Parko's but I much prefer Parko's smooth style to Mick's poo stance.
Chopes is a world class wave on it's day but is it a world class competition wave ? Especially when we move on to two more barrel riding contests before years end, Supertubos is Portugal and the real left hand tube riding test Pipeline.

Slater close to 11

By making the final of the Rip Curl Pro Portugal, Kelly Slater is a ninth away from an eleventh world title.

After winning two heats with last minute waves Taj had the tables turned when Slater pulled out a 10 in the last minute of their semi. Ironically Slater had joked in his interview after the quarters that he would have to beat Taj in the last minute again after the two have had some epic heats this year go to the wire each time.

The waves and surfing at this event were some of the best I have ever seen in years of watching pro surfing. On the last day most people lost heats holding at least a nine and some, like Julian Wilson, holding a ten ! Even though most scoring waves were tubes it wasn't boring pull ins like Chopes and the easy paddle out meant plenty of waves were caught. Despite the long days the webcast/broadcast was top quality and the commentators did a good job







Taj has moved to fifth with his third and Adriano up to third with his win. In reality Kelly would have to crash very early in the next two events and Owen Wright win for him not to be world champ yet again.

Next event San Francisco. I bet Kelly would love to have win a world title in mainland USA.

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING FINAL RESULTS:
1 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.67
2 – Kelly Slater (USA) 14.73

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 19.50 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.87
SF 2: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 13.83 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12.03

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 17.94 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 17.50
QF 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 18.70 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 7.67
QF 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 17.60 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 17.53
QF 4: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 17.10 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 16.60

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING HEAT 5 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Julian Wilson (AUS) 6.83 def. Chris Davidson (AUS) 3.50
Heat 2: Heitor Alves (BRA) 15.40 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 13.74
Heat 3: Michel Bourez (PYF) 18.93 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 17.96
Heat 4: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 17.44 def. John John Florence (HAW) 17.06

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 17.13, Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.70, Damien Hobgood (USA) 14.10
Heat 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 19.30, Heitor Alves (BRA) 17.20, Chris Davidson (AUS) 13.40
Heat 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.30, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 14.64, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 11.67
Heat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 18.00, John John Florence (HAW) 17.84, Michel Bourez (PYF) 16.10

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 9: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 11.60 def. Travis Logie (ZAF) 8.10
Heat 10: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.56 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 12.30
Heat 11: Michel Bourez (PYF) 16.27 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 14.54
Heat 12: John John Florence (HAW) 17.33 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 16.96

ASP WORLD TITLE TOP 5 (after Rip Curl Pro Portugal)
1. Kelly Slater (USA) 58,150 pts
2. Owen Wright (AUS) 45,650 pts
3. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 42,450 pts
4. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 41,100 pts
5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 40,950 pts

Bazzas

Portugal is pumping again and there are nines and tens everywhere. Currently it is the quarter final between Slater and Alvez.

Already they have finished round three, all of rounds four and five and the first quarter. The current plan is to crown the winner today.

Taj had surfed twice for two wins including in round four where he got a high eight with less than 30 seconds to go. In his quarter he beat Julian Wilson by 0.4 with a nine on his first wave and a high eight in the last minute to match a killer from Wilson that scored a ten.

John John Florence had treated the place like Backdoor Pipe without the consequences and getting shacked of his nut. However he just lost to Bede in a close heat that was starved a little for waves.

The swell is dropping but there are enough waves that almost every losing surfer has at least two eights and every winner a nine.

With Owen Wright and Jordy both out Kelly can put one hand on number eleven with a win.

Six more heats or 250 minutes of water action left. The webcast is consistent as is coverage on FuelTV.

Wow !!!!!

The Rip Curl Pro is turning on one of the best days of pro surfing in ages. The waves are grinding beach break pits breaking a few metres from shore and going both ways.

Round two has finished and they are well into round three. Taj has won both his heats today.

The last heat Kai Otten and Julian Wilson was all time. Both started with a nine. Otten's first wave looked like he had been caught in the tube twice but he busted out for a deserved claim. Wilson backed his nine with one of the biggest waves, a solid six foot plus and a deep, perfect tube ride.

There is another two or so hours of surfing left in a marathon day. They have talked about knocking over the event tomorrow which could see the winner surf six times !

FuelTV and the webcast are amazing.

Round two

Taj through. No upsets yet.

Live on the web and FuelTV

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.

Portugal is go

Round one has hit the water a few minutes ago in some clean beach break waves. The swell is expected to build over the day and Parko has already got barrelled.

Rip Curl's webcast is on and working and it is being shown live on FuelTV for those with Foxtel.

Julian wins

Julian Wilson has just won the Quiksilver Pro Portugal in onshore but nice right handers. He had his opponent Gaberia Medina, combo-Ed for most of the final and kept rubbing it in. He ended up holding two nines as throwing away some high eights. He showed that big vertical moves, flowing cutbacks and floating out with the lip in the shore break still get scored.

Wilson has had a bad start to his year on the World Tour but this result should help him survive the mid season shuffle.

Slater wins

Number ten must be around the corner after KS won the Rip Curl Pro in Portugal, beating the only one with a realistic chance of beating him Jordy Smith.

Jordy nailed a huge Superman air but it wasn't enough to overcome Slater's vertical but fairly conservative approach. However his huge floater was pretty amazing and showed Jordy, who had done one earlier, that he was able to match anything he could muster and make it just a little more critical.

Next event is the Rip Curl Search in Puerto Rico, starting on the 30th. This is a new venue so could throw up some challenges.

Finals Day at Supertubos

Finals day for the Rip Curl Pro back at the primary location. The world title race is basically down to two now that Fanning bombed in round three. Kelly is in the water against Damo Hopgood in the quarters at the moment and the other title contender Jordy Smith has Pat Guduskas in quarter four. Next heat could be a killer if Owen Wright and Jeremy Flores bring their new school game.

Yesterday's round four non-elimination round was held in pretty standard beach breaks. Today is back at Supertubos but its not the classic conditions of the early rounds. Doesn't look like many tubes and if the few heats of round five I watched are the mark, the judges have lost the plot. They scored Damo Hopgood for high for two boring stock standard reos but Matty Wilkinson low for a couple of whacks and a big air because he "didn't ride out of it", despite it being on the last section of the wave, him clearly landing it and standing up in the soup.

The winner will be awarded later tonight. Coverage on the webcast and FuelTV

Taj robbed again

Round three has hit the water at the back up beachie. Taj scored the guinea pig first heat in okay onshore waves.

It seems again that Taj's opponent was over scored on his best two waves. Variety is meant to be part of the criteria but Matt Wilkinson's three decent backhand reos were all the same but he got an eight. His single move air reverse was a six ! Taj surfered big and smooth with big hacks and held the lead for most of the heat with fives but struggled to find a wave in the back end of the heat. He did get a square up with a wave with three massive smacks getting a nine but he needed a 9.1. That wave was probably overscored to make up but it wasn't enough. It looks like another year without a title for TB. Interestingly he wasn't riding a Firewire but a normal (and dented) board.

With the "swell of the century" not arriving the forecast isn't great and the current word from the contest is for the rest of round three today (six more hours) and then small beachies for the rest of the contest.

Round One has finished

The Rip Curl Pro Portugal ran the non-elimination round one in some pretty marginal waves at Supertubos. Taj continued his habit of winning round one heat this year (the opposite of last year) and Slater continued his habit of losing.

Round two is on at the moment in nice waves. Its probably around four foot and offshore, although the size has dropped with the tide. There are some nice long barrels and enough waves to make it fair for everyone.

So far in round two Slater won easily and Jordy is through to the next round. Dane Reynolds and Adriano DeSouza have pretty much fallen out of the race by losing their round two heats. Adriano was beaten by Dean Morrison who was the injury replacement for Bede Durbridge, who just had a baby last week.

The sun is meant to stay up until after 8 their time which will be after midnight here provided the conditions stay nice.

FuelTV are showing the event live and there is a webcast (if you can stand Jodie Cooper's commentary)