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.

Billabong Pro

The Billabong Pro Tahiti has started in inconsistent head height surf at Teahupoo.

So far all the top seeds other than Mick Fanning are straight through to round 3. Adriano DeSouza scored 19+ in his heat.

It's an early morning time zone for us and you can watch online, through the Billabong and ASP apps or on FuelTV.

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.

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.

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

What were they watching ?

Round one of the Hurley Pro was run overnight in small, slightly fat but contestable waves. The standard of the surfing was good but the judging was completely unfathomable. One surfer seemed to get a seven for some standard reos and someone else would get five for the same turns but an air reverse as well. The only consistencies were that vertical re-entries that popped the fins out the top of the wave were scored high and the top seed in each heat seemed to get the bonus points.

Watch the heats on demand that Parko, Taj, Slater and Julian Wilson won. They all did enough to win but compare their scores with the others in their heats. Jadson Andre in Parko's was throwing fins out turns for no return, yet Travis Logie was getting better scores for rides that I could have pulled off.

The judging just seems to get more confusing every event. One day airs are scored high, next its floaters, then its reos, then airs again, no wonder the ASP struggles to reach their dream of "mainstream audience" appeal. If someone who has surfed for 25+ years and watched competitive surfing for as long can't get close to working out the score then how do they expect a footy fan from Northam to understand it ?

It seems that there might be a lay day tonight but if not and you're up around 11.00 pm onwards then FuelTV is broadcasting plus a good webcast and iPad apps.
HURLEY PRO TRESTLES ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 11.96, Travis Logie (ZAF) 11.53, Jadson Andre (BRA) 11.00
Heat 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 15.43, Heitor Alves (BRA) 14.13, John Florence (HAW) 9.43
Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) 13.66, Adam Melling (AUS) 12.36, Chris Davidson (AUS) 9.80
Heat 4: Owen Wright (AUS) 13.60, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 13.37, Conner Coffin (USA) 11.87
Heat 5: Kelly Slater (USA) 14.57, Rob Machado (USA) 13.50, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 12.40
Heat 6: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 13.67, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 13.10, Tiago Pires (PRT) 12.13
Heat 7: Taylor Knox (USA) 13.70, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 13.50, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 10.80
Heat 8: Michel Bourez (PYF) 15.40, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 11.50, Kai Otton (AUS) 9.83
Heat 9: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.17, Gabriel Medina (BRA) 14.87, Dusty Payne (HAW) 8.77
Heat 10: Julian Wilson (AUS) 17.60, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 13.33, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 12.53
Heat 11: Josh Kerr (AUS) 13.00, Damien Hobgood (USA) 9.90, Daniel Ross (AUS) 6.75
Heat 12: Brett Simpson (USA) 12.40, Tom Whitaker (AUS) 11.94, Mick Fanning (AUS) 11.90

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

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.

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.

Rio girls

The waves obviously aren't good enough for the blokes so they have thrown the first two rounds of the women in the water. That must start to piss you off after a while.

Both West Aussies, Clair Bevo and Felicity Parmenter, have been eliminated already. The heat I watched was pretty slow for waves with most rolling through green rather than breaking. Coco Ho has combo-Ed Maya G, who's style clearly is suited to massive Jaws not pissy, fat beach breaks.

Webcast etc available from Billabong, which means that unlike the past locally sponsored events the webcast is decent quality and with decent commentators. It's on during the day/arvo in France but night time in Bunno.

Bells

Watched a bit of Bells from my hotel room in Naples, Italy. It is on in the very early morning but I have picked up the odd heat before breakfast and some of the heats on demand.

Looks like decent surf for the first time in the last few years. If the men's finals are run tomorrow as planned it will be the first time for a while that the event has stayed at Bells (Winki counts as staying) and run straight through.

Sally Fitzgibbons has won the women's event from Carissa Moore. Steph Gilmore made the semis. The title race could have some contenders this year.

The judging has come under some scrutiny with Bobbie Martinez complaining even after winning against Taj in round two. It is very difficult to work out how some rides are being scored. I don't think one hugeish snap that is on a poor choice of wave or that put you behind the running wall and you kick out is better than a number of hacks down the line. Mick Fannins first 9 in round four was deserving but his second, maybe not.

Final tomorrow. Watch it online or FuelTV.

Ciao

Girls then boys

Round four of the Roxy Pro is in the water to be followed by round three of the Quikie.

Round two for the men was run yesterday. The only real upset was Bede Durbidge going down in the first heat to wildcard groom Matt Banting. Banting get Slater in this round.

Taj has probably the hardest heat of the round against Julian Wilson. If the waves clean up this could be the best heat of the year.

For those with access to OneHD it should be on TV otherwise check out the webcast.

Quikie and Roxy Pros start today

Round 1 of both the Quiksilver and Roxy Pros have run today in mixed conditions at Snapper Rocks.

Taj and Slater are through to round three in the non-elimination round. Taj hasn't lost a heat at Snapper for a while having won the last three events held there. Hopefully he will make it four.

Heats on demand and a webcast are on the Quikie Pro website.

Taj in Quarters

Taj is in the first quarter final in the Breeka Burleigh Pro. The event is on hold for a 12.45 Qld time call.

Watch the webcast here

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.

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

Quikie Pro France

The Quiksilver Pro has started in France but went on hold after six heats to wait for the tide.

Luckily round one is non-elimination with three of the heats being won with scores under 11, including Taj. Mick Fanning won with a 13 but his competitors got 2.24 and 1.96. Even Slater was only able to manufacture a heat total of four ! This might be the reason the contest went on hold.

The waves in France are always crap, always. Just messy, tide effected close out beach breaks. It does make heats a bit of a lottery and the best surfer doesn't always win.

There is the usual webcast and on FuelTV for those with Foxtel.

J-Bay Day Two

Into the second round at J-Bay after yesterday's non-elimination round one. Most of the seeds got through easily in the classic surf and so far today the heats have been okay but no stars.

Although the surf has dropped to about three foot plus it is still cranking and probably better than anything you've ever surfed !!!! Still that hasn't stopped the first ten of the event being scored by Bottle Thompson. With some big carves, a deep deep tube and a floater it deserved the ten. Check it at the heats on demand on the website.

As the day has progressed the size hasn't really dropped but it has become a little inconsistent with some heats being a little starved for waves. CJ Hopgood is the only significant loss so far, losing to Timmy Reynes, who was Parko's injury replacement. CJ is having a horror start to his year with his second 33rd to go with a 17th and a 5th. This means he will hold the 17th for the rest of the year.

Unfortunately some of the South African spectators have brought along those stupid bugle things from the soccer world cup. Luckily they only seem to blow them when a local is in a heat and only Jordy and Travis Logie (who seems to have learnt how to surf this year) left.

Looks like they will run to round 3 heat 5 today and hope for more swell tomorrow. Watch it live on FuelTV or the net.

Margaret River Pro

Call it whatever you want, it will always be the Masters. The Drug Aware Margaret River Pro, a 6 star WQS event, starts Monday after the trials this weekend.


Jake Patterson has fallen from his lofty WCT position in retirement. Not only does he have to enter his "home" event via the trials (which he won from WAs Dave Delroy-Carr) but they spelt his name wrong on the results page of their website.

With the upcoming move to a single ranking system and a short break between Snapper and Bells, this years Pro has some decent heats right from the first round. Just about every heat contains a former WCT surfer and round 1 (the round of 128) has two former world champs (Occy and Sunny). Sunny is up against Bra Boy and big wave charge Mark Mathew, which should make a good heat if there is some swell (the Naturaliste Buoy is over two metres and heading straight up).

This year's Pro is a bit of a family event. The Macauley family have only two entrants, Bronte and Laura, after Dad Dave got knocked out in the first round of the trials. The Gudazkus brothers are here as are brother and sister combos Owen and Tyler Wright (Owen won the Boost Surfsho comp today) and Mason and Coco Ho from Hawaii.

Others of interest in round 1 include Frenchman Patrick Bevan who threw a pile of spanners in the championship works last year in Europe as a wildcard., John John Florence who isn't little anymore and Nat Young, the American grommett not the former world champ.

The WCT surfers are seeded into round two (round of 96). Taj is in the first heat and on a red hot roll. Yadin Nichol takes on Dan Ross in heat four. WA's Ry Craike is in heat 10 with world champ Mick Fanning up against Josh Carr and German Marlon Lipke. Joel is in the last heat of the round against Chris Ward and Dayan Neve. Kai Otten will be one to look out for. The waves suit his style and he surfed well at Snapper. He is against 2008 WQS champ Nathaniel Curran, who must be disappointed with his WCT performance last year.

There's a few big names in the Women. Courtney Conlouge from the US is an amatuer world champ who impressed in big Huntington Beach during the last US Open. Alana Blanchard will be hoping for big waves to show her stuff after a poor 2010 was brightened by a QS win in Hawaii. Bethany Hamilton will return and Erica Hosseini, an American also does media and modelling work is blogging her way here. According to her feed she arrived a few day ago and has had two waves and as many coffees.

There will be a webcast and live scores are available on the event website.