Surfing

The small south hung in at Trestles today and the 2009 Hurley Pro was able to get through the rest of the round three heats today in moderate surf. Here’s how it went today:

Heat 7: Dane Reynolds (USA) 13.33 def. Ben Dunn (AUS) 12.94
Heat 8: Rob Machado (USA) 11.27 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 10.73
Heat 9: Kelly Slater (USA) 16.83 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 9.24
Heat 10: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 12.50 def. Chris Davidson (AUS) 10.46
Heat 11: Damien Hobgood (USA) 15.10 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 14.73
Heat 12: Heitor Alves BRA 15.77 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 14.50
Heat 13: CJ Hobgood (USA) 13.50 def Luke Stedman (AUS) 10.93
Heat 14: Michel Bourez (PYF) 16.10 def. Dean Morrison (AUS) 11.60
Heat 15: Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.67 def. Michael Picon (FRA) 10:33
Heat 16: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 13.84 def. Tim Boal (FRA) 13.44

Coming up in round 4 (likely running Sarturday Sept 19, 2009). We bolded our guesses on heat winners. Afterwords we’ll see how we did.

Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Kai Otton {AUS)
Heat 2: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Adriano de Souza (BRA)
Heat 3: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Roy Powers (HAW)
Heat 4: Dane Reynolds (USA) vs. Rob Machado (USA)
Heat 5: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Kekoa Bacalso (HAW)
Heat 6: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Heitor Alves (BRA)
Heat 7: CJ Hobgood (USA) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 8: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)

[Link: 2009 Hurley Pro]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

While watching today’s heats in the 2009 Hurley Pro we got a better understanding of where some of the “Slater Tour” proponents are coming from. While deep down we’re supporters of the ASP and hate the way action sports seem to continually attempt re-inventing their wheels, we have to agree that there are too many heats in ASP WCT events.

Out of the 20 heats run today in moderate, yet somewhat inconsistent surf we cared about five, maybe six. We were stoked C.J Hobgood beat Marlon Lipke, bummed that Bobby Martinez lost to Luke Stedman, proud of Taylor Knox, surprised when Josh Kerr knocked out Ace Buchan, happy when Kai Otton defeated Jay Thompson, and thought Freddy P may have been underscored, but since it was against Roy Powers we were okay with it. When Roy said he was glad to be on the winning side of a close heat after being on the losing end so many times, he was gracious. And that was cool.

The heat that the ASP press release writer was most excited about, however, was when Josh Kerr scored a 17.5 against Dayyan Neve. To us, watching a guy in 25th place on the ASP rankings get all over the number 30 guy just doesn’t seem all that compelling.

Josh Kerr (AUS), 25, current ASP World No. 25, stunned spectators today with his diverse repertoire of progressive surfing, blending rotation aerials with power hacks to net the highest heat total of the day, a 17.17 out of a possible 20, to defeat an in-form Dayyan Neve (AUS), 31, in Round 2 of competition. . . . “I’d been here the last couple of hours and in the heat before I saw that there were a few nice rights shaping up,” Kerr said. “There seemed to be a few in our heat. Dayyan (Neve) got a couple as well. That one wave wasn’t the biggest wave, but it looked like it was going to connect down the line and that’s exactly what it did. I raced down the line and popped a little air, came around, up and down, and it stayed wally for me and I gave it a little bang off of the end.”

While no tour is going to make 100 percent the fans happy all the time, fewer throw away heats might not be that bad an idea.

Follow the jump for the official ASP press release, all the heat results, and the line up for tomorrow which includes banging heats from the get go starting with Dane Reynolds vs. Ben Dunn, Joel Parkinson vs. Rob Machado, and Kelly Slater vs. Brett Simpson.

[Link: 2009 Hurley Pro]
[click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Kelly Slater wasn’t fooling around at Trestles in his first heat in the 2009 Hurley Pro yesterday, September 13, 2009. He paddled out in sloppy, wind-blown chop to surf against Adrian Buchan and Rob Machado. Slater nailed down a 9.0 and a 9.5 then switched boards and did a little product testing while Buchan and Machado tried to catch him. Neither got the waves they needed and both left the heat in a combo. Not surprisingly, Slater’s score of 18.5 turned out to be the highest of the day.

“I think those two waves were probably two of the best that broke all day,” Slater said. “There haven’t been too many rights all day, but I was able to grab a couple of really good ones to start out. I didn’t think I was going to better a 9.00 out there so I came in and went for a board change to try something a little different towards the end of the heat.”

Rob Machado went on to eliminate Taj Burrow in the final seconds of their round two face-off. No redemption for Taj against Kelly this year. Joel Parkinson dispatched Kai Barger in their round two heat to stay in the contest after getting bumped to the losers round by Kai Otton in round one.

The contest continues today live with round two, and possibly more. Stay tuned to 2009 Hurley Pro.

[Link: 2009 Hurley Pro]
[click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Surfer Patrick McNeese, 17, of Myrtle Beach, Florida died in a single car crash in the earlier hours of Sunday September 13, 2009, according to a story in The Sun News.

The car he was traveling in struck a ditch on U.S. 378, outside of Conway, hit a tree and then overturned several times, said Cpl. Paul Brouthers with the S.C. Highway Patrol. . . McNeese died at the scene of the crash, Brouthers said. The person traveling with McNeese was taken to Conway Medical Center with injuries.

Our thoughts are with Patrick’s family and friends.

[Link: The Sun News]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Michael Ray Bowe, 60, a homeless man and former noted East Coast surfer was pulled lifeless from the Lake Worth Inlet, Florida themorning of September 9, 2009, according to a story in the Palm Beach Post.

“Mike Bowe was a very good hot dogger. He was considered one of the top five local surfers in the ’60s,” said Fred Salmon, head of the Palm Beach County Surfing History Project. . . The U.S. Coast Guard found 60-year-old Michael Ray Bowe near Peanut Island after local boaters called authorities. . . Growing up in the 1960s, Bowe surfed on a longboard around Riviera Beach, Salmon said. He competed and won surfing events up and down the East Coast. But Salmon said Bowe’s life took a turn after he got into a car accident on Interstate 95, and he had struggled with drugs and alcohol for the rest of his life after it.

Our thoughts are with his friends and family.

[Link: Palm Beach Post]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }