Big is beautiful

There is plenty of footage of the massive and perfect swell that hit Fiji a couple of weeks ago. These are some of the best. It might be in slow motion but when you see people sliding down the face because they can't penetrate the surface you know there is some juice.

Cloudbreak XXL July 2011 from surfreportes on Vimeo.

Tavarua Dreaming: Part Two from Surfline on Vimeo.

Paddling Monsters - 12th July 2011 from Tim Bonython Productions on Vimeo.

Rhinos

Big, big, big swell forecast for the weekend and beyond. Plenty of purple and the odd bit of black on the swell charts.Stormsurf.com has some cool animations and the Naturaliste buoy is already over 5 metres and dropping out.

Home town hero

Jordy has beaten Mick at J-Bay. No home town Brazillian judging here, he was on fire for the whole event.

The event will shake up the ratings coming into the mid year changeover.

Mick v Jordy

Its a Jordy Smith vs Mick Fanning final at J-Bay. The conditions are very average but still surfable despite the wind and rain. Jordy has been the form surfer of the contest so far but Mick hasn't been far behind. Both have racked up big scores in the nine point range.

There is a little gap till the final, hopefully long enough to watch the final quarter of the derby. If not it looks like a TV/iPad combo - thats why you have two eyes !

Bummer

Taj has just lost in round three to Josh Kerr and he is not happy. He was beaten fair and square but with Adriano DeSouza also out he missed an opportunity to get to number one.

Kerr pulled off two "club sandwiches", full upside down, under the lip fins out flips and it was just to much in the dropping conditions. He has become a nemisis for Burrow. Taj had him comboed a few years back in the final at Marges only for Kerr to pull out a couple of massive airs for a nine and a ten and the win.

The non-elimination round four will be in the water soon. The forecast for tomorrow isn't looking great but it has to run regardless.

Bummer

Taj has just lost in round three to Josh Kerr and he is not happy. He was beaten fair and square but with Adriano DeSouza also out he missed an opportunity to get to number one.

Kerr pulled off two "club sandwiches", full upside down, under the lip fins out flips and it was just to much in the dropping conditions. He has become a nemisis for Burrow. Taj had him comboed a few years back in the final at Marges only for Kerr to pull out a couple of massive airs for a nine and a ten and the win.

The non-elimination round four will be in the water soon. The forecast for tomorrow isn't looking great but it has to run regardless.

Dawnie

The Billabong Pro started this morning at first light. With only two days left in the waiting period and only two rounds run there was a need to get going. Luckily there are waves and they are cleaning up and getting better as the day goes on.

No surprises as yet and the great surfers are really showing their class in the last few heats. Julian Wilson got a ten, Jordy was throwing huge off the top snaps and got three barrels on one wave (making two and snapping his board on the last) and Fanning was running at twice the speed of everyone else.

Parko is in the water at the moment and Taj is in the last heat of round three.

The contest is being broadcast on FuelTV for those with Foxtel as well as on the net

Gilmore wins

Steph Gilmore got a little bit of revenge for losing the world title by beating Carrissa Moore in the final of the Roxy Pro. This is Gilmore's best result this year.

New World Champ

Hawaiian Carissa Moore has just been crowned 2011 women's world champion after she made the final and Steph Gilmore knocked out her only rival Sally Fitzgibbon in the semis.

Moore will probably be pretty loose in the Roxy Pro France final against Gilmore later today. The womens longboarders are in the water now.

Moore is one of the new breed of surfers and rips pretty hard. She is at home in big waves and punting in little ones. She was one of the first star surfers to get mainstream sponsorship, signing with Target and Nike 6.0. Her win will help push Nike deeper into the action sports market.

J-Bay

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 !!