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.

J-Bay starts

First round heats have started at the Billabong Pro at J-Bay. The waves are small and the wind side/onshore and pretty inconsistent.

Taj has to surf in round two after not getting through his heat. At least he turned up which is more than can be said for Kelly Slater who decided to stay in Fiji and surf massive waves. He is expected to make round two but you never can be sure.

Coverage on the web, iPads, iPhones and FuelTV for those with Foxtel.

I'm finding it very hard to watch J-Bay, the Roxy Pro, the Tour de France and the footy all at once !!

Boo

Regional WA gets ripped off on their sports coverage again. The ASP is celebrating a deal with the 10 digital sports channel One to broadcast some of the 2011 World Tour, starting with the Quikie Pro later this month.

That means no TV coverage for us in the country and another sport we don't get to see. Ok it was only available to those with Foxtel but I do !!!!!!!!

The webcast will still be running so we'll have to make do with that.

Currently there are two star events, one at Burleigh and a prime in Brazil. I watched a little bit of the Burleigh event this morning. The waves were pretty crappy, small, fat and onshore and the name surfers don't start appearing for a few rounds yet. If there are wave the weekend will be good with surfers of the calibre of Taj, Occy, Fanning and Parko all in the mix.

Pipe Masters is over

The Pipe Masters and the ASP Championship Tour for 2010 is over. Jeremy Flores won in small (by Hawaiian standards anyway) and inconsistent Backdoor.

Flores beat a red hot Slater in the semis by point something as both got a nine and a seven.

Parko won the Triple Crown for the third time despite losing in the mid event rounds. Taj made yet another finals round before going down to Flores.

The 2011 season sees the full implementation of the new world ranking and the change over of surfers a couple of times during the year. It will be interesting to see who can keep their spots for the whole year and which gumbbies will find themselves yo yoing between the two tours. It is likely that the top surfers will do more prime events making it harder for Braziliians to use their butt wiggling styles in their local QS events to make the dream tour.

Interestingly it appears that lots of pros are rushing to the airport to leave the islands. Not that long ago everyone stayed well into January with February still crowded and turning it on. Maybe Hawaii isn't big enough anymore.

Hard

It's hard to find the energy to blog about surfing when it is so flat. Today the harbour buoy was reading a massive 12 centimetres, that not even half a primary school ruler!

The Pipe Master has started. They run this weird double heat format with two heats in the water at once. On one hand it is good because heaps of waves get ridden but it can be a confusing.

The top half of the 'CT surf in the next round. Even though Slater has already one the world title there is still plenty of interest as people scramble to make next years tour.

The waves were ok today. No real Pipe bombs, more Backdoor rights. The rip and the wind made it difficult but there were still plenty of decent waves.

Fuel TV are broadcasting live or you can catch a webcast via either the Triple Crown, Billabong or ASP website or on you IPhone or IPad using the ASP or Vans apps. I set my iPad up next to my work computer and watched a few heats this morning.

Ten

Kelly Slater has won his tenth world title overnight. Not happy with that he went on to win the whole event and score a perfect ten in the final.

Slater is the best surfer ever not just in contests but everywhere. Expect the next few months to be about whether he retires or goes for 11. Considering how many events he has won this year he could probably do it easily.

Another rumor is that he will enter (and win) the flegling big wave world tour.

Taj made the semis and had the only other ten of the contest with what has been described as the longest tube at Middles ever.

Steph's fourth

Stephanie Gilmore has just won her fourth world title by making the semis (just).

The waves are onshore but contestable. The women should finish today with the men possibly starting later.

Search

Round one of the men and rounds one and two for the women were completed last night in the Rip Curl Search. Both round ones were non-elimination and no real surprises.

From a WA view point, Taj lost a close heat and will have to front in round two. Clare Bevo continued her recent good form winning her three surfer heat and going through to round three.

Slater had the best round one score in winning his heat. Jordy is also into round three.

The other possible world champ Steph Gilmore is on her way to a hat trick with yet another round win.

The call for today should be soon (they are 12 hours behind) but the long range forecast isn't great.

Searching

The Rip Curl search event has started in Puerto Rico has started in nice waves. The men have been thrown out on the first day of the waiting period.

Heat three starring Taj is in the water at the moment and is leading the heat early. The waves are getting cleaner as the morning sickness starts to wobble away.

Everyone is looking at Slater to win his tenth title sometime during this event. Jordy must make the finals to have any chance to take it to Pipeline but would still need KS to lose early. An interesting stat - over his long career Slater has won an event every four events !

Usual places to watch the event - webcast and FuelTV (or the ASPtogo iPad/iPhone app)

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)

New guard wins in Portugal

Carissa Moore has won the Rip Curl Pro by beating Steph Gilmore. Between them they have won all bar one event this year. Gilmore is set for another World Title but Moore may be the competition she needs in the next few years.

The final were held at a backup venue in waves that were decent and with good size. Although she is small, WA's Clare Bevilaqua, who had a great event finishing third, was taking waves in he quarter final that was easily double overhead. Although the size was there they were a bit fat and sectioning and not giving much room for big vertical whacks. It was a bit like a brown version of the left at Marge's.

The big storm predicted has apparently hit and the swell has jacked. One of those European news programs on SBS had footage of big waves bashing the coast but who knows what they were saying ! The men are set to run today at Supertubos if the wind backs off.

Portugal for men and women

The Rip Curl Pro is on in Portugal  with the women in the water. WA's Claire Bevilacqua is currently in heat four of round one.

The waves look ok, decent size and offshore but they don't seem to allow huge moves.

The swell forecasts show a massive blob in the swell window and they are starting to talk it up as storm of the century !

Rip Curl have a decent webcast and the men will be shown on FuelTV.

Mick wins

Mick Fanning has just beaten Kelly Slater by a combo score in the final of the Quiksilver Pro in France. The swell had jacked with the tide and it was a solid double overhead breaking onto a shallow bank. Looking at the waves you can see how the French invented the guilotine !!!

Slater pulled off wave of the event in the semis. After taking off under the lip and his board sliding tail first down the face the olny people that thought he had made it were Kelly and the cameraman. Ten points and no claim.






Mick lucked into two surfable waves but took a massive wave on the head and broke his legrope. He deserved the scores he got, especially his last wave but I have two complaints, Mick claims like a Brazillian and has the worst poo stance on the CT.

Mick will go to third, Kelly will stay at number one but with a larger buffer over Jordy. However when you consider that the worst two events are dropped (and there are three left) Kelly pulls away. On my adjusted scores he is 42500 (with his worst two results a 9th and 17th leaving nothing lower than 3rd), Jordy 33750 (drops a 17th and a 5th leaving three 5th, a second and a win), Mick 32000 (dropping 9ths but keeping two 9th in his score), Taj 30000 (having to hold a 17th in his score line) and Dane 28500 (dropping 17th and a 9th but having nothing higher than third). Kelly and Jordy can both afford to have another bad day, especially Jordy whose second lowest score is a 9th but Taj must make finals and hope the others bomb.

Next event is the Rip Curl in Portugal on Thursday. Current rumour is that there will be swell from week one. Supertubes is much like France - closeouts with the odd epic tube, expect plenty of claims. This is the replacement event for Mundacca which has failed to deliver for the last few years.

Slater does it again

Five scored above five to end with an eight and a nine and Michel Bourez comboed.

Clean long tubes and a couple of doggy door exits that would have killed lesser people. If you watch his nine you can see the red singlet look like its about to get thrown over the falls but he comes out.

Its very un-Australian but I hope he gets his tenth world title this year.

Ace vs Perrow in an all Aussie quarter final. Ace is the last goofy left in the event.

Too much choice

There is too much live sport right now. I'm flicking between the test match in India, the AFL Grand Final and the finals day at the Quikie.

Swell is big and clean but still thumping. Paddling out is hard but the jet ski is struggling even more. It looks like a crazy beach break version of Pipe and Backdoor

Slater v Bourez just hitting the water at the moment.

Finals Day

Just the finals to run in France. Slater has Michel Bourez, who should have beaten him in round four. If he wins he will get another heat on one of his rivals as Fanning and Jordy battle each other in quarter four.

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Daniel Ross (AUS) 16.40 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.33
Heat 2: Taylor Knox (USA) 8.77 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 7.23
Heat 3: Brett Simpson (USA) 11.34 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 10.30
Heat 4: Owen Wright (AUS) 16.27 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 6.23
Heat 5: Michel Bourez (PYF) 17.00 def. Chris Davidson (AUS) 8.83
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.53 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 13.60
Heat 7: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.84 def. Gabe Kling (USA) 2.60
Heat 8: Jadson Andre (BRA) 15.83 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 12.60
Heat 9: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 12.67 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 9.77
Heat 10: Tom Whitaker (AUS) 8.90 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 7.10
Heat 11: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 13.50 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 8.66
Heat 12: Mick Fanning (AUS) 11.27 def. Luke Munro (AUS) 5.50

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Brett Simpson (USA) 10.67, Daniel Ross (AUS) 10.53, Taylor Knox (USA) 6.40
Heat 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 16.20, Michel Bourez (PYF) 15.63, Owen Wright (AUS) 9.26
Heat 3: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 13.40, Jadson Andre (BRA) 8.37, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 6.73
Heat 4: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.93, Tom Whitaker (AUS) 7.10, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 2.83

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE ROUND 5 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Dan Ross (AUS) 15.07 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 10.50
Heat 2: Michel Bourez (PYF) 8.30 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 6.50
Heat 3: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 15.23 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 10.86
Heat 4: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.50 def. Tom Whitaker (AUS) 2.97

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE QUARTERFINAL MATCH-UPS:
QF 1: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. Daniel Ross (AUS)
QF 2: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
QF 3: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
QF 4: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Jordy Smith (ZAF)

Kelly Houdini !!!

Slater has pulled another classic escape act in round four. Michel Bourez was on fire early with some big turns and a bazza or two. Slater was comboed and with a total just over one with the heat half done. Owen Wright was never in it as he wasn't getting any decent waves.

Then Slater picks up a full stand up tube followed by a massive floater where he spent more time free falling than in the lip. The 8.5 put him back into the game.

Michel took an impossible dumper which was so powerful it snapped his Firewire, a task most trucks can't do. While he was trying to get in against a rip that looked like a river, Slater locked in another barrel, came through the curtain and the threw an air reverse for a high seven and the heat. He might have been just a little overscored but he has done enough to deserve it.

Slater to the quarters, Owen and Michel to round five.

Jordy Smith has just free fell into a deep pit but was whacked when he tried to sneak through another section.

The waves are still good but the rips are massive and moving through the lineup. With the "small"  9 metre tide running out the good waves are moving around between banks and the paddle out is getting difficult.