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 an 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

Confused at the Hurley Pro

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

Owen Wright plus $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 dat

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.

Bobby 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)

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.

New York

The Quiksilver Pro New York starts tonight. First call is around 10.00 pm our time so most will have to watch via heats on demand.

Plenty of injuries with Jordy Smith the biggest. He obviously hasn't recovered from his broken ribs caused by big Chopes. This has given Travis Logie another event as an injury wildcard.

QUIKSILVER PRO NEW YORK ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS), Brett Simpson (USA), Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA), Dane Reynolds (USA), Gabe Kling (USA)
Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS), Patrick Gudauskas (USA), Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
Heat 4: Owen Wright (AUS), Jadson Andre (BRA), Bobby Martinez (USA)
Heat 5: Mick Fanning (AUS), Heitor Alves (BRA), Asher Nolan (USA)
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA), Daniel Ross (AUS), Balaram Stack (USA)
Heat 7: Adrian Buchan (AUS), Alejo Muniz (BRA), Cory Lopez (USA)
Heat 8: Bede Durbidge (AUS, Chris Davidson (AUS), C.J. Hobgood (USA)
Heat 9: Michel Bourez (PYF), Raoni Monteiro (BRA), Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 10: Damien Hobgood (USA), Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Tiago Pires (PRT)
Heat 11: Adriano de Souza (BRA), Josh Kerr (AUS), Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 12: Julian Wilson (AUS), Kieren Perrow (AUS), Taylor Knox (USA)

Fathers Day videos

The best of Chopes from last weeks Billabong Pro










Or if you've got a spare three hours view the tow day as streamed live