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Epic Surf Expected To Roll Into Teahupoo Momentarily For Billabong Pro Surf Contest

by Guerrilla Surf on August 24, 2011

Teahupoo, Tahiti - stage for pro surfing elite barrel riders

Calm Before The Storm

Anticipation. The waiting is the story as a mega swell is on the way to Teahupoo. That is the best way to describe the atmosphere in Tahiti right now.

As round 1 of the Billabong Pro finished up, the reports were and still are that there is a solid 10’ – 12’ foot swell on the way that will not only push the WCT surfers to the limits of their barrel riding skills, but also brings with it the potential that the swell might become too large to paddle into.

A swell of this size at this break, if you are not familiar with how a wave is measured, will be four to five times the height of a 6’ human on the face of the wave. The swell will be a major highlight reel especially with the world’s best surfers in town.

As the contest kicked off in solid 4’ – 5’ surf, the approaching swell will be a welcomed, but intimidating factor. Round 1 had a couple of surprises, as Taj Burrow and Joel Parkinson both lost their heats and will have to surf in round 2. But still, the match-up to watch in round 2 is Bede Durbidge vs Josh Kerr.

Josh Kerr lost his opening round heat to an in form Julian Wilson. C.J. Hobgood scored a 19.37 two-wave total in his heat against Joel Parkinson and Adam Melling. Slater looked in good form also getting by Daniel Ross and Heiarii Williams.

The contest has been on hold for the last few of days, but the action in the water will definitely heat up as that swell fills in. That’s expected to happen on Wednesday. By this Thursday and Friday the swell will be solid, and on Saturday the mega swell will be in play.

It will be an action packed contest if these guys start paddling into bombs. That is what they are hoping for. With big barrels come epic rides and epic wipe-outs. Will Teahupoo deliver? It’s looking ever more promising that she will . . .

~ P. Franklin / Guerrilla Surf — GuerrillaSurfers@gmail.com

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Billabong Pro Tahiti 2011: Major Update On The Contest

by Guerrilla Surf on August 19, 2011

The Beast that is Teahupoo

On the eve of the waiting period . . .the swell is filling in. The size right now is 5 to 6 foot with solid barrels. Who is the fated one to take this contest?

The surfer that wins this one will have to be in tune within himself as well as with the ocean. There is a solid swell on the way! Let me repeat that . . . There is a solid swell on the way.

The real challenge will be for the contest decision makers whether or not to run the contest completely before the solid swell hits. The 12 to 15 foot swell for Teahupoo (tow-in size) is set to arrive Thursday and Friday of next week. It will be interesting to see what happens.

The contest could start tomorrow, which is the first day of the waiting period. I would like to see the contest run the early rounds in this swell and as the swell bumps up have the later rounds run in the bigger swell.

Surfer safety will definitely become part of the discussion as the swell begins to bring out the beast that Teahupoo is known for.

I am excited to see the WCT guys hit the water. The warm up session is live on the webcast right now. For the contest, every surfer will have to bring their A-game. There will be broken boards and insane barrels.

There is always an underdog who makes a run in this contest. Who will it be this year? We will see. This contest is going to be epic. Be sure to tune in.

Andy Irons, the 2010 Billabong Pro Tahiti Champion, will be there in spirit. RIP AI . . .

~ P. Franklin / Guerrilla Surf — GuerrillaSurfers@gmail.com

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Pro Surfing’s WCT Dream Tour Tahiti Stop At Teahupoo Is Days Away

by Guerrilla Surf on August 16, 2011

WCT Tour Stop Tahiti: Teahupoo

The hunt for barrels will begin on Tahiti’s southwest coast on August 20^th. The waves are powerful 10-12 footers on a boring day, and the pits can be deep with the right swell. The monsters at the famed Teahupoo reach 70 feet on occasion, and naturally this magical spot has the aura that draws the world’s top surfers.

This years WCT event, the Billabong Pro Teahupoo, will bring the world’s best to a legendary wave that can be your best friend or your worst nightmare. It all depends on the size of the swell.

Jordy Smith on Teahupoo, describing a wipeout he once had there “I got a natural Enema.” To understand just how epic the wave is, you have to know that is was basically undiscovered by surfers until roughly 1986.

It was sort of a secret spot throughout the first half of the 90′s, surfed by only a handful of the world’s best. But that all changed with the first professional surf contest there, the Gotcha Tahiti Pro in 1998. From that point forward, Teahupoo has been known as perhaps the heaviest wave in the world, with few peers. To say the least… it’s not for beginners.

Shallow reef with epic barrels is what Teahupoo can offer on the right swell. The forecast swell model for this event is looking promising. Will the Billabong Pro get that coveted sizeable swell that will challenge the skill and the courage of the elite tour surfer? Teahupoo will deliver!

The field is set and the wildcards Ricardo Dos Santos and local charger Heiarri Williams are in the main event. Dane Reynolds has withdrawn from the event and will be replaced by Cory Lopez. This tour stop will bring out the battle tested barrel riders. It will be an incredible setting as always and no doubt the most elite level of surfing on the planet.

~ P. Franklin / Guerrilla Surf – GuerrillaSurfers@gmail.com

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Nike 2011 US Open Of Surfing Wraps Up: Slater Is Champion

by Guerrilla Surf on August 8, 2011

Slater Romps in Final / AP-Mark Terrill

Congratulations to Kelly Slater - 2011 US OPEN of SURFING MEN’S CHAMPION

In pro surfing one name says it all… Kelly Slater. The legend would not be denied at the 2011 U.S. Open of Surfing. When a young Slater first arrived on the tour way back he might have thought to himself ”how could the competition be this bad?” Not a statement about ego, just about the facts.

Slater always dreamed of a futuristic tour that would display the most imaginative moves on a surfboard, performed by a top crop of fire-breathing progressive surfers. That day has truly arrived and this year’s U.S. Open of Surfing was the culmination of KS10’s dream tour 2011.

Every heat brought out the best in modern professional surfing. To survive as a pro surfer on tour these days you must have all the progressive airs and reverses as well as barrel riding skills in your arsenal to be competitive.

Everything has come full circle when the man that originally dragged the progressive movement into the spotlight showed all the young guns and crafty tour veterans that he is still the reigning king. Kelly Slater owns Huntington Beach tonight.

Slater took out Taj Burrow in a close heat. Dusty Payne had been looking strong all event but lost the opening paddle battle to Slater, which set the tone for the heat. Yadin Nicol was also outgunned by Slater on his way to winning this year’s event.

The most fateful sign of the whole event took place in the sign in booth when Slater shook hands with Yadin Nicol prior to the final heat. This seemed to suck the life right out of Yadin. Slater might have said good luck to Nicol, but in actuality Slater telepathically told him, “maybe next year kid.”

When the heat started Slater caught a great opening ride to take a stranglehold on the final, scoring an 8.50. He followed that up with a 7.77. Slater stuck to his routine of staying busy and picking off a couple of the set waves, but what seemed to be missing was his psyched-out opponent Nicol.

Yadin did not catch his first wave until the closing minutes, which turned out to be a .77 due to a set closeout. He dropped into two other waves that turned into nothing more than getting up and giving up. Yadin had a great contest, but when the 10-time world champ is in form (which is all the time) he is unbeatable.

Slater won the final 16.27 two wave total to Nicol’s 2.57. That’s right, you can say it… a wipeout. Slater took full advantage of the waves he caught and landed some crazy airs to really show the massive crowd on the beach in Huntington and the audience online that he is the best and knows it.

Congrats to Filipe Toledo – 2011 US OPEN of SURFING JUNIOR CHAMPION

In the junior final there was a major upset as the Brazilian Filipe Toledo took down John John Florence, Conner Coffin and Kolohe Andino in an action packed final heat. Kolohe, John John and Conner could not make up the ground that Filipe took with a total heat score of 15.17. Filipe emphatically drove home the point today that the Brazilians are making their mark in pro surfing.

Congrats to Sally Fitzgibbons – 2011 US OPEN of SURFING WOMEN’S CHAMPION

Sally Fitzgibboons won the women’s final today against Lakey Peterson. It was a close heat with Sally scoring a 14.23 to Lakey’s 12.40. Professional women’s surfing is alive and more progressive than ever. The future for the girls looks bright.

Congrats also to Lakey Peterson – 2011 US OPEN of SURFING JUNIOR CHAMPION

Lakey Peterson had an eventful day of surfing as she won her junior final and made it to the final of the main women’s event.

The 2011 US Open of Surfing will go down as one of the best surf contests to date. Although the swell was not as big as in past years it still provided the fans with a view inside the progressive art form that is modern surfing. The crowd was huge and the music was rockin’. Thanks to Kelly Slater for treating the appreciative U.S. crowd to his A-game… a true career highlight.

~ P. Franklin / Guerrilla Surf – GuerrillaSurfers@gmail.com

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Nike U.S. Surfing Open Update: Slater Mistakenly Reported As UFO In Huntington Beach

by Guerrilla Surf on August 5, 2011

US Open: Slater At Altitude

Above the lip . . . that is the best way to describe the action that took place today. I could not believe my eyes as the next level of surfing arrived pier side.

The surfers in the main event today provided the spectators and the dreamers with an air assault of the most progressive moves available.

Where to begin? Let’s start with the man the announcers referred to as “the 10” . . .Kelly Slater. It is easy to say that Kelly stole the show with his knack for picking off two barrels down the beach away from the pier and on one of his rides he pulled an insane air that he landed with ease.

How high up was Slater? The blimp that was providing aerial coverage had to make an evasive move to avoid Kelly. Slater only caught three waves in the three-man heat, but that was more than enough as he scored 8.50, 9.17 and 9.60 (the two 9s as his scoring waves).

His competitors, T. Gudauskas and Taj Burrow tried to play catch up, but came up short. Taj surfed well. On one of his eight waves he pulled a crazy layback hack with one foot on the board and recovered to ride out. Taj always puts on a show, but this was Slater’s heat from the start.

The air show continued with the following heat as Dane Reynolds paddled out with Kolohe Andino and Yadin Nicol. If you talk to a bunch of the surfers on the pro tour they will tell you that Dane is the pure definition of progression.

If you have never watched this guy surf, I would highly recommend checking Dane out this weekend. He pulls airs in places on waves where you can only wonder “did that really just happened?” Reynolds won his heat against Andino and Nicol, but since this was not an elimination round those two guys will be surfing again.

The swell has been filling in from a hurricane in the pacific that is providing Huntington Beach with some peaks where the surfers are able to display their cache of progressive maneuvers. The weekend will bring a winner to the podium and show why surfing is the purest form of human interaction with nature.

Flights or heats, whatever you want to call it at this point, will start bright and early so get moving at sunrise.

~ P. Franklin / Guerrilla Surf – GuerrillaSurfers@gmail.com

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The 2011 US Open Of Surfing Moves Into Later Rounds; Reigning Champ Brett Simpson Eliminated

by Guerrilla Surf on August 3, 2011

Brett Simpson Out of U.S. Open

The US Open of Surfing is in full swing now. The heats are rolling and the music is rocking as the contest moves ahead into the later rounds.

The big news of the event so far is that Brett Simpson lost in his heat today to John John Florence and Thiago Camarao. Brett made some uncharacteristic errors, leaving the door open for the other big names in his heat to end his two year reign run at Huntington.

The quality of surfing in all heats has thus far been top shelf, despite the still somewhat disappointing conditions as of this writing. The world’s best surfers can shred in all kinds of conditions though, and that notion has proven true in this contest.

There hasn’t been any swell to speak of to this point, but with the crowd and the top names paddling out in one heat after another, the contest has been as entertaining as ever to this point.

Those epic conditions we hope for might be on the way for the weekend, the current swell maps have shown. It is interesting to see the progression of the moves in this event. In every heat there are airs and reverses that are being completed with insane precision on the modest waves. Regardless of the conditions, each surfer is an individual artist and watching them work on their natural canvas is awe inspiring.

Taj Burrow looked especially sharp in his heat today, and when the contest starts up again each subsequent heat will have big names paddling out. The U.S. Open contest is a mix of the young guns and veterans battling it out at a classic break.

Kelly Slater will be in the water with Josh Kerr who is an air specialist and one of my personal favorite surfers. Dane Reynolds will be in a heat with Julian Wilson. Dane and Julian are two young guns that should be around for a long time.

The progression of each of guys is story book, and Dane is looking particularly sharp after coming back from injury. As the contest moves forward, the level of difficulty in maneuvers on display in the line-up is also going to progress. Anyone watching from the beach is sure to approve of the increased intensity.

A quick note on the ladies side – the women’s contest has been displaying the future of women’s surfing with the likes of Carissa Moore, Lakey Peterson, Sally Fitzgibbons and Coco Ho.

Carissa Moore, the Women’s World Champ, looked sharp in her heat where she pulled off a 360 with amazing ease and moved onto the next round. Stay tuned to Guerrilla Surf for more U.S. Open updates.

~P. Franklin / Guerrilla Surf – GuerrillaSurfers@gmail.com

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The U.S. Open of Pro Surfing Is Back In Huntington Beach

by Guerrilla Surf on August 2, 2011

Huntington Beach Surfing US Open / AP Photo

The U.S. Open of Surfing has arrived. The crowds are out in Huntington Beach and the surfers are suiting up.

Huntington’s coastline turns into a stadium for watching pro surfers tear up the waves right next to the pier each year at this time.

Brett Simpson is back and is ready to make a run at three-peat. The main event is not underway yet but the beach is already bursting at the seams with anticipation.

The swell is not epic currently, but the surfing no doubt will be. The mens trials are completed, Round 1 is set with all the big names filled in. Slater, Burrow, Parko, John John, Machado are all expected to hit the water.

This contest always brings out the latest progression in surfing. Surfers try to air it out as well as pull off monster hacks. Barrels are not always the common theme at this event, but surfers know when to pull in if the lip sends out an invitation.

Conditions specific to Huntington [the scene, the crowd, the venue, the names and shooting the pier] always makes this event one of the best pro surfing contests out there.

A half-million people are expected to turn out during the week long event which has evolved into more than surfing… drawing devotees of numerous other sports, fashion, music and various cultural interests.

We’ll keep you updated as the main event gets moving.

~P. Franklin / Guerrilla Surf – Guerrilla.Surfers@gmail.com

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Long Island Surfer Daniel Bobis Family Planning Memorial

by Guerrilla Surf on July 31, 2011

Daniel Bobis

Our heartfelt prayers go out to Daniel Bobis and his family and friends on Long Island. The local New Hyde Park public school teacher went missing after catching a wave on vacation in Indonesia last Sunday.

His board was found shortly after but Daniel did not come up after the ride. Thankfully Daniel’s family has been spared the extra pain of wondering what happened, as his body was found on Wednesday.

The family is asking the local community as well as friends and family of Daniel Bobis to submit pictures of Daniel to be used in a memorial being planned to honor the well liked young teacher and avid surfer. You can find more info by visiting the Facebook page the family has set up dedicated to Daniel Bobis.

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Pro Surfer Jordy Smith Rides Hometown Advantage To Win At Jeffreys Bay

by Guerrilla Surf on July 25, 2011

Jordy Smith Takes 2011 J-Bay

Jordy is the king of J-Bay once again. I thought that Jordy Smith was the man to watch in the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay 2011 and my gut was right. From the start of the contest Smith looked like a man on a mission.

Jordy moved through heats with relative ease showing the surfing world why he is one of the best surfers around. Jordy took down Mick Fanning in the final with two progressive moves that helped him edge Mick on both of his waves. Jordy carved his way into a reverse on his first scoring wave and a double grab punt on his second scoring wave… which helped him take down J-Bay.

Some of the usual suspects were making a run in this event such as Joel Parkinson and Mick Fanning, but one surfer I thought really came into his own during this event was Julian Wilson. He lost in the quarters to Adrian Buchan. Josh Kerr had one of the most progressive maneuvers of the event with his alley oop 360 in round 4 heat 4 . . .it is worth checking out the video on Billabong’s site.

The conditions for the final day were not ideal, but there were still strong walls coming through. Mother nature doesn’t always cooperate, but this years J-Bay contest showed the pro tour various conditions from clean glassy walls to stormy conditions on the final day. Big congrats to Jordy Smith.

The ASP World Title race heats up with Joel Parkinson in the lead over Smith. (25700 to 24750 points) The next stop is the Billabong Pro Tahiti from August 20-31. This year’s tour is shaping up to be one of the more unpredictable years on record. There have been four different winners for the four events thus far -Slater, Parkinson, De Souza and Smith. With Kelly Slater’s absence at the J-Bay event it should make for an exciting push to win the World Title.

Thoughts and prayers . . .

Guerrilla Surf’s thoughts and prayers are with Daniel Bobis who is a Long Beach NY teacher and surfer who went missing in Indonesia after catching a wave. His board washed up on the shore. The search efforts are continuing.

~P. Franklin / Guerrilla Surf Guerrilla.Surfers@gmail.com

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More News From Jeffreys Bay; Slater’s No Show No Mystery

by Guerrilla Surf on July 19, 2011

Slater J-Bay No Show No Mystery

Ideal J-Bay? Maybe not, but for the average Joe surfer they would take it any day of the week. That being said the conditions thus far for the Billabong Pro J-Bay 2011 have not been epic, but these waves are providing a progressive show from the worlds top surfers.

The big story thus far has been the no-show of Kelly Slater. That might have something to do with the epic swell that hit Cloudbreak over the past few days. Kelly is in Fiji surfing epic waves on a mega-swell that does not hit very often. Sometimes years go by between swells like this . . . so I understand the draw and mind set of a surfer.

It is always tough to leave waves. Every surfer knows the feeling. Slater had to make a decision and he made it. Epic swell or WCT contest where he holds 10 world titles already? Nobody is in a position to judge him on that. I agree with his decision. It’s one I would have made.

“Ooops . . . just watched my heat, but I’m getting barreled off my face in Fiji. No disrespect towards @aspworldtour or @billabongpro. Small surf” Slater tweeted on July 15.

The names that hit the epic swell range from Bruce Irons to Nathan Fletcher, Kohl Christensen to Alex Gray to name a few. Slater shocked some by using a 5’11” in these conditions. 15 feet consistent, which for Cloudbreak is huge . . .set waves . . . well that is another story altogether . . . this swell was definitely not for the B team. The best of the best were there and from the pictures . . . ‘beyond epic’ may not do the swell justice.

Now onto the J-Bay contest where the swell is not the classic J-Bay the WCT is used to, but this wave lines up perfectly anyway. The WCT round one is over and round two is six heats in. The contest directors called a lay day today and will wait to see if a predicted swell will hit in the next day or so.

Taj Burrow took out local Sean Holmes who has placed well in the past at this event. Travis Logie took full advantage of taking KS10’s place. He took down Shaun Payne pretty easily. Some of the heats in round two were a little slow with some surfers only getting one solid score posted. The Owen Wright vs Fred Patacchia heat was tight until the end when Wright won on his last wave.

Jordy Smith is the one to watch in this contest. His progressive surfing in round one has proven that he is definitely in form pulling a few airs with ease. Adriano won his round two heat to move into round three. Joel looked in form as well as Mick. Julian Wilson looked solid in his heat. The progression of surfing keeps growing. A few years ago there were only a few guys who can do the things that 10 or 12 guys on tour can consistently do now. This contest has a long way to go and I look forward to catching the action as it unfolds at the classic J-Bay.

~ P. Franklin / Guerrilla Surf — Guerrilla.Surfers@gmail.com

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