In what was to become a day of upsets, with both Kelly Slater and Gabriel Medina losing to the wildcards, it was Jordy Smith and Owen Wright who put on clinics, in how to score big at Trestles. The waves were great, but there did seem to0 be a bit of a wobble and it claimed many a rail! Round 2 is as stacked as we have ever seen it with Kelly, Gabs, Taj, Kolohe, Kerr and Julian Wilson all in the round. Should make for some explosive surfing come day 2.
KERRZY – The new Josh Kerr Movie
He whips it, throws huge and creative airs and charges monster tubes. Yip, its time for the Josh Kerr movie and I am amped. His last film was incredible and on top of the surfing, it had one of the best soundtracks ever. When you have Taylor Knox and Kelly Slater talking you up in the trailer, you know you good, haha.
KERRZY (MOVIE TRAILER) from Matt Kleiner on Vimeo.
Teahupoo delivers for Day 1 at the Billabong Pro Tahiti
Flawless but difficult Teahupoo in the 9-10ft region greeted the surfers on tour, for Day 1 in Tahiti. There were many standouts, but only one ten point ride thus far, by wild card surfer, Nathan Hedge.
Tom Curren talks Style, Competitive Surfing and Jbay
The man is a legend! He redefined performance at Supertubes on his first wave ever at the point and when he paddled out for his ASP Heritage heat against Occy, he showed the World once again how good he is. Arcing turns, drawn out bottom turns and a perfect ten tube ride. It was a huge privilege to get to interview the man who inspired me to surf Jbay as a grom. His thoughts on surfing Jbay and what he thinks of Owen Wright, Matt Wilko, Joel Parkinson and of course Mick Fanning may just change your views on these surfers. So sit back, relax and listen to the master…
(Photo: Billy Ackerman – https://www.facebook.com/billy.ackerman)
Incredible Final Day at the Jbay Open
The ASP and the World can rejoice once more! Jbay is back and as usual delivered one of the best days of surfing on tour for the Finals. Even the Goofy footers can rejoice, though two naturals in the final, the semi final runs of both Matt Wilko and Owen Wright were incredible, with Wilko especially showing new levels of commitment never before seen at the famous point of Supertubes. In the end Parko was in sublime form to to beat Wilko in their semi final, but it took all his energy and he lost momentum going into the final. Mick Fanning on the other hand was surgical in his destruction of the Supertubes waves and once again showed how high his level of fitness is, cruising the final to take the win. Another highlight of the day was watching Occy and Tom Curren have a crack at the massive walls of water running down the point, with Tom getting the deepest tube of the day. The beach was more packed than ever before, I am sure the webcast numbers were huge and everyone is super stoked that Jbay is back on tour.
The Calm Before the Storm – Jbay Open Final Day Preview
It seems pretty calm on the beach at Supertubes. The sun is out, there are small perfect waves flaring down the point and there is a sense of anticipation building as the forecasted swell should arrive for Saturday. Take a look at what went down in Round 4 and I preview the 3 guys, Taj Burrow, CJ Hobgood and Freddy Patacchia, that should be super deadly if the waves go 8-10ft.
Upsets, Tears and Goofy Footed Domination at the Jbay Pro Day 3
Just look at the bemused smile on CJ Hobgood’s face after knocking out the favorite, Jordy Smith. CJ must have been wondering how he did it, but I can tell you how, he stuck to the gameplan. Jordy wanted to impress his home crowd so much he tried too hard and ultimately it hurt him. Going for the massive layback snap and going down, all he had to do was 3 more average turns and he would have got the middling 6 points he was after. The crowd sighed in disbelief and CJ was left smiling on the beach wondering how he pulled off such an incredible win against the odds.
Another Goofy who put it to the odds was in form surfer, Matt Wilko, not only beating Kelly Slater in their Round 3 match up, but putting the King in combo land. I don’t think many people called that one. Josh Kerr, Taj Burrows, Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson stuck to the Jbay script and dominated their encounters. One more upset was on the cards though, as Alejo Muniz took out World Number 2, Michel Bourez.
There was great surfing and we are now ready for Round 5 and the final day of surfing. Hopefully the swell forecasted for the weekend arrives.
Great weekend at the Jbay Open and Winterfest
The waves were around, but the Jbay Open only saw the close of Round 2. The goofy footers were on fire with CJ Hobgood and Miguel Pupo leading the charge. Jbay is packed and there has been loads to do for the tourists with the Jbay Winterfest offering Rally, Drifting, skateboarding, Enduro and much more. Check out the highlights from my weekend…
Timmy Reyes wins the Mr Price Pro 2014
The man stayed cool and calm, with a big grin on his face the whole week! He surfed with style and power and never lost his head. Staying with the local crew in Ballito, Tim Reyes had the crowd support on the final day and it helped him win the event. Matt Wilko will be feeling like he let it slip from his grasp. He was electric through Friday and most of the final day, but just could not find a 2nd wave, after getting a 9.2.
The event produced incredible surfing and one just needs to watch the highlights videos from all the days to realise that the level of surfing on the Qualifying circuit has exploded. We now move on to the Jbay Open and I cannot wait to get there.
PRIZE WINNER WITH HURRICANE SURF
Congratulations to Martin Hartslief from PE, who was the first person to put Timmy Reyes as their favorite for the win. He wins R3000 surf accessories pack from Hurricane Surf. I will have another comp for Jbay.
Surfers blow up at the Mr Price Pro 2014 Day 2
Insane action! That is what we got today at Ballito! The surfers and waves stepped up and once the offshore vanished the boys took to the skies. The most talked about moment (Where were you?) was Filipe Toledo pulling a monster Air reverse that had collective gasps roaring the length of the Ballito promenade all the way to Bogs Bay! The young Brazilian was on fire. Just as gasped at, was Jordy Smith getting a third in one of the toughest heats of the day with a 9.2 Air reverse of his own. Young Hawaiian, Torrey Meister went through on the back of an electric performance.
Bad news, the South Africans are out! Sad days for Team Saffa. Reckon I am backing Torrey now…
Check out all the mad action and remember to chack back again tomorrow for more action from the Mr Price Pro 2014…