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HANG LOOSE SANTA CATARINA PRO: DAY TWO
Kelly, Jordy, the Hobgoods, back in the game in R2; Dane loses
Today's so-called 'loser's round' was stacked, wave-wise, and otherwise. The sun came out, and peaky, four- to six-foot surf pounded the shifty Imbatuba sandbar while a half dozen of the world's best battled with a dozen-plus of the Top 45 bottom dwellers -- with largely predictable results. (Except for Dane Reynolds, who, despite the fact that he's considered by some to be one of the best surfers in the world, has yet to win a heat this year.)
Standout of the day was Jordy Smith, who went to town and decimated Benny B in heat 5 with the day's highest single-wave score, a 9.0, for a series of blistering frontside carves on a solid wall.
"It's still pretty tough out there and it's difficult to find a spot to line up," Smith said. "There are some pretty good waves coming through the bowl though and if you can get on them, you can open up a bit. I just got lucky with my wave selection and was able to put up a couple of scores."
Jordy's rookie-year jitters are well and truly gone, collecting a couple ninths and a third to make it to his current ranking of number six. "I think I put a lot of pressure on myself last season and I'm trying not to do that this year," Smith said. "I'm just having fun and that seems to be working out pretty well. I've had a couple of pretty good events and I'm only looking to improve."
Kelly Slater, meanwhile, finally won a heat today, after three consecutive 17ths.
"I've been feeling a bit burned out on competition and I wasn't planning on coming to Brazil or Jeffreys Bay," Slater said. "I was planning on spending a bit of time with my family, but I spoke with Renato (Hickel) and he told me that all the fans in Brazil were looking forward to it, so I decided to come and make the journey down here."
Running into setbacks with delayed flights, visa issues and missing baggage, Slater arrived only hours before yesterday's R1 heat, eventually going down to compatriot Tim Reyes on borrowed equipment. With his surfboards arriving late last night, Slater looked well in-form this morning, pulling a classic and stylish frontside 360, much to the crowd's delight.
"Well, it took me about three days to get to Brazil and my boards didn't event show up until 11pm last night," Slater said. "I've definitely been tinkering with my equipment this season, and the board I'm on is actually one I shaped - it's an asymmetrical, swallow-tail quad-fin. It worked pretty well out there, but the conditions are tough. There's not really a defined bank out there, so really anyone can win."
Despite a slow start in 2009 and the absence of his renowned competitive drive, Slater acknowledges the possibility of a turning point here at the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro given his history in Brazil (rallying against Andy Irons in 2003, winning the ASP World Title in 2007).
"I think it was pretty obvious yesterday who was surfing well," Slater said. "Joel and Mick got some really good waves, but really anybody can win out here. I've had some good moments here in the past and hopefully I can spark something here and get on a bit of a roll. I'm happy to get through a heat and we'll see what happens in Round 3."
Perhaps inspired by Kelly's first win of the year, Nathaniel Curran posted his first career victory at the ASP World Tour level today, besting veteran Kieren Perrow 13.50 to 8.67 in their Round 2 heat.
"It's been a difficult transition for me from the 'QS to the World Tour," Curran said. "I've been playing around with boards, finding out what works best for me. The level of surfing on tour is also a major step above, but I think that the 'QS prepared me really well for it. Sometimes you just get tough heats. I'm stoked to get through the heat and hopefully I can build a bit of momentum for a result here."
Also scoring his first win of 2009 was Michael Picon, who took down Kai Otton, 14.07 to 8.34.
Local hero and ASP world number 5 Adriano de Souza, scored a solid victory over wildcard Gustavo Fernandes to advance through to R3. With the elimination of the three wildcards as well as Jihad Khodr, De Souza now leads fellow ASP Dream Tour campaigner Heitor Alves and replacement surfer Neco Padaratz as the remaining Brazilians in the event.
"For sure you can feel the support of everyone on the beach when you're in the water," De Souza said. "It feels great to be competing on this level in Brazil, but I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself. I'm through to the third round, which is as good as I've ever done in this event after six years of competing here. I'm feeling confident though, and I hope I can add another good result at home."
Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow morning at 7:30am to assess conditions for a possible R3 8am start.
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June 28, 2009
