My name is Vince, I'm a student, traveler, surfer and environmentalist. On Worn Trails, I will be blogging about experiences of mine and things that inspire me such as the environment, culture, surfing, places around the world, food and other things. Worn Trails is the vision of exploration, ideas and the future. Enjoy and Subscribe!
Sorry this didn't come sooner, i finished this pose a few weeks ago but i guess it never went through..But for those who didn't see the final truly missed out. It was one for the ages as Kelly took on Mick. It came down to the last minute and Kelly might have pulled off the best air of all time in a competition - my opinion - even though that could have been said last year in New York. Mick held off the 11 times world champion and put him in the 2012 World Title race contention. Here is the full final for the men's and a clip of the final day.
For the women's, Sally Fitzgibbons took the honor and making this her second consecutive first place finish at Bells. As I stated before Snapper, I see Sally right up there in the top 3 for women who will win the World Title this year. Here is the clip from the women's final day.
Over the next few day's I will be putting out some posts about the environment, policy and surfing so stay tuned and spread the word! Help Worn Trails reach 3000 views and go even further!
Sorry I didn't put out the recap yesterday - but here are the recaps for day's 2 and 3. To say the least, my fantasy surfer roster (for the mens at least) is done. In the matter of a day, I lost 5 surfers: Kolohe, Julian, Jadson, Bourez and Taylor Knox. I know a lot of people had similar rosters to me from the sounds of it and we're all hurting right now. All were thought to be safe picks, some thought Julian could win it and this wave is perfect for surfers like TK, Bourez and Jadson with their power surfing skills. I don't think anyone was expecting the high-flying antics that we are seeing at Bells. But I guess that is the new era of surfing, I mean one person threw an air 360 at the Pipe Masters this past winter. Looks like I will have to re-evaluate my strategy for the Billabong Pro Rio.
Day 2 consisted of Rounds 2 and 3, both of which being elimination rounds. This is where all of my surfers lost. First was Julian who took on Kai Otton. Kai pulled some last minute heroics - these two have had quite a rivalry brewing ever since last year in Portugal which was deemed the best heat of last year. Then it was TK who narrowly lost out to young gun Brazilian Gabe Medina. Bourez just lost out to Freddy P by .25; Bede beat Kolohe on a last minute wave that seems to be a little over-scored. Round 3 was a little better for me as I only lost Jadson to Owen Wright.
Day 3 consisted of the end of Round 3 and Round 4. Round 4 is not an elimination round but there was some amazing surfing. Kelly Slater pulled off two last minute waves in his Round 3 vs. local Nic Muscroft and in Round 4 advancing him to the quarters. As it stands now, Round 5 goes as is: H1 John John vs Jeremy Flores; H2 Kerr vs de Souza; H3 Kai Otton vs Brett Simpson; H4 Jordy vs CJ. I need CJ and John John to pull through here. Those already in the quarters are Kelly, Mick, Joel and Owen. I see John John beating Jeremny, Kerr ousting Adriano, Kai over Simpo and if he can surf like he has been, CJ over Jordy but it will be super close.
On a side note, the goofy footers have been destroying this event - something that no one really expected as this is usually a regular footed advantaged wave. Its been years since a goofy won here (Occy). I wouldn't be surprised if one won here, there are three left - Owen, CJ and Kai - all of which are more than capable of pulling off a victory.
Notable losses so far: Julian, Kolohe, Taj, Bourez, Ace, Bede and Gabe Medina
As for the women's division, some really exciting surfing and I have made some good choices on my fantasy roster. I only lost Sage Erickson who lost in a good heat to Paige Hareb. But the girls are ripping; Malia Manuel is looking super strong, she has been getting massive scores and blowing away her competition. In Round 4, there are four heats consisting of: H1 Sarah Mason vs Paige Hareb; H2 Laura Enever vs Steph Gilmore (really excited for this heat, round two of their rivalry building..note these two were in the final together at Snapper..another note, these two are both on my roster so I will unfortunately be losing one of them); H3 Coco Ho vs Courtney Conlogue; H4 Lakey Peterson vs Sofia Mulanovich. Already onto the quarters are Tyler Wright, Malia Manuel, Carissa Moore and Sally Fitzgibbons.
It is looking to be a strong and exciting final day for both the men's and women's. I will pick three surfers for each division that I think could/will win this contest. Mens: Kelly, Owen, Joel. Women's: Carissa, Malia, Sally. Hopefully these picks are better than Snapper!
Here are a few video's from days 2 and 3 for mens and women's. Awesome surfing, check it out!
Wow, what a start to this event. Want to talk about scoring? The women's division started off the day and they easily had the best waves of the day which is something we don't usually see. The ladies tore up Bells and there were some standouts in Round 1: Laura Enever, Coco Ho, Sally Fitzgibbons, Malia Manuel and Lakey Peterson. While not all of them won their heats, they showed that they can surf at Bells, one of the hardest waves to surf. Laura Enever, fresh off of a second place finish at Snapper, looks hungry for a win. Coco Ho made some really nice, critical rail turns as did rookie Malia Manuel. Sally Fitzgibbons is looking to go back-to-back at Bells and by the looks of her surfing yesterday, she has a very good chance.
For the mens division, as stated earlier, they didn't get the waves that the women got in the morning but it was still close-to-perfect Bells at times. As for standouts, Kolohe Andino, Kelly, Jordy, Owen and Joel were my picks. Kolohe took on Taj and local wildcard, Nic Muscroft - he looked in fine form and took to the air when winds went in his favor. His turns were sharp and powerful and his airs were...well he's Kolohe, so they were perfect. Taj looked like he was struggling in his first heat of the day, scrambling for waves and getting frustrated with himself at times. Nic ended up winning the heat on a last second buzzer beater landing an 8 to overcome Kolohe. Look out for this guy as he is my sleeper pick to make a few more upsets. It will be interesting to see who he draws in Round 3. Kelly struggled in the first half of his heat, but, as always, comes out of nowhere and finds one of the only good waves of his heat and scored a 9.5. Typical Kelly. Hopefully he can get a few quick scores in his Round 3 heat. Owen had probably one of the best heats of the day, if not the best. His surfing was perfect and he was going on the best waves in his heat and making the most of them. I have a feeling that he could make his way into the semi's if he keeps this surfing up. Is I've said before Jordy and Joel's surfing are pretty much the same (power surfing wise). This wave really suits their style and it showed today. In the first heat of the mens division, Jordy took on Kieren and Freddy P. It was an action packed heat but Jordy's power surfing won it for him. I think that both he and Joel will go far in this contest.
I am pretty nervous about my Fantasy Surfer team. Although the Men's Round 1 did not finish, I already have a few big names into Round 2 (an elimination round): Kolohe, Julian, and Taylor Knox. Hopefully the continuation will bring me better results.
How are your teams going and what do you make of the contest so far?
Here are Day 1 Video Recaps of both the men's and women's divisions
