Joel Parkinson
Every surfer knows that you need low pressure and bad weather to make good surf, and the sky was grey and rainy here today in New York as the contest has begun. We woke up to offshore winds and a small groundswell, enough to run the first round. The swell is only growing and by the time the finals come around in a few days we will see the largest surf. Everyone is starting to see what Long Beach can offer.
Crowds were really light today due to weather and everyone in New York has gone back to school and work after a long holiday weekend so the contest site was surprisingly very accessible. One might think with waves like this and nobody around that you were in a far off destination, but the vessels lined up in the backdrop of most surf pictures tell us that we are still definitely in New York, and by the time Kelly Slater hit the water the beach was packed.
Kelly Slater
Slater rode a 4 fin wider board for the small surf. “My board felt good, it's an epoxy, but pretty much same thing I've been riding”, he said. The veteran world champion Slater was too much for the local boy Balaram Stack to handle. Stack resorted to aerials and tricks to try and gain some points but in this small surf Slater stuck to the game plan and rode out every wave until its last drop compiling as many turns and slashes as he could. This is what the judges want to see, how well you can make a small wave last and Slater is known to be very good in small surf.
It was nice to see veterans advance such as CJ Hobgood ASP world champion 2001 who finds himself now fighting to just stay on tour. Hobgood said "With the storm moving through this week, the conditions are going to change day-to-day so the surfers who adapt the fastest will be the most successful.
Also advancing out of the “old guys” is Taylor Knox. Knox at 40 years of age is the oldest person on tour, its no wonder that some of the young kids don’t know him while they still ask for his autograph saying, “Who are you?” Knox laughs and enjoys the experience.
If we haven’t mentioned before, the scoring works like this. You get scored on your best two waves on a 1-10 basis. You are allowed 15 waves, and your best two will count. It was all about Australian Josh Kerr this Tuesday and nobody came close to him in points. His two waves were scored at 9.07 and 9.50. "It was like an expression session out there," Kerr said. "I went for a free surf and the wind came up and I knew I was going to hunt the rights. It was perfect and I found a couple of those ramps so I'm stoked." Kerr advances directly into Round 3 of competition.
Unfortunately Dane Reynolds has dropped out of the competition due to a rib injury suffered in Japan. Taking Reynolds place is Keanu Asing (Haw) a young ripper who was really exciting to watch in the trials. He lost out to Asher Nolan but is now getting his chance. Good luck to him.
Photos and quotes from Quiksilver
The mechanics of long beach surf
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Balaram Stack at the athlete station |
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Large vessels provide the background in New York surf. Taj Burrow pro. |
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Balaram Stack |
QUIKSILVER PRO NEW YORK ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.56, Brett Simpson (USA) 13.50, Travis Logie (ZAF) 6.57
Heat 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 9.67, Gabe Kling (USA) 3.43, Dane Reynolds (USA) N/S
Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) 13.93, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 12.84, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 11.46
Heat 4: Jadson Andre (BRA) 11.77, Owen Wright (AUS) 10.00, Bobby Martinez (USA) 7.10
Heat 5: Heitor Alves (BRA) 13.83, Mick Fanning (AUS) 12.73, Asher Nolan (USA) 8.60
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) 14.20, Daniel Ross (AUS) 11.66, Balaram Stack (USA) 6.07
Heat 7: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 14.40, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 14.27, Cory Lopez (USA) 12.97
Heat 8: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 15.97, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 15.77, Chris Davidson (AUS) 12.00
Heat 9: Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 10.80, Adam Melling (AUS) 10.50, Michel Bourez (PYF) 7.66
Heat 10: Tiago Pires (PRT) 12.76, Damien Hobgood (USA) 12.73, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 11.65
Heat 11: Josh Kerr (AUS) 18.57, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.37, Kai Otton (AUS) 11.54
Heat 12: Julian Wilson (AUS) 17.00, Taylor Knox (USA) 12.60, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 10.60
The heats for Round 2 starting Wednesday Sep 7 are as follows:
QUIKSILVER PRO NEW YORK ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Balaram Stack (USA)
Heat 2: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Asher Nolan (USA)
Heat 3: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Keanu Asing (HAW)
Heat 4: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Bobby Martinez (USA)
Heat 5: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
Heat 6: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Gabe Kling (USA)
Heat 7: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 8: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Cory Lopez (USA)
Heat 9: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 10: Chris Davidson (AUS) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 11: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. Taylor Knox (USA)
Heat 12: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) vs. Daniel Ross (AUS)
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