We opened up the day with perfect 4-6+ foot Restaurants. For those who have never seen this wave, it really is the epitome of perfect. Reeling lefts that go for hundreds of yards with the ability to let a surfer get three barrels on one wave. My Round 3 picks were so off, but then again, I was under the impression that the contest would be held at Cloudbreak when I made that call. Nonetheless, Restaurants was unreal and I could not turn away from the contest. The first heat of the day was Taj Burrow and Bede Durbidge. Taj put it to Bede early, opening up with an 8.83. From there Taj went on to earn a 6.17. Bede never really got it going until late in the heat unfortunately; with only earning a 6.83 and a 3.17, Bede's run ended.
Heat 2 was all about John John Florence. I have a strong feeling that he will win this contest. The way he looks in the water is unlike any other. Dane Reynolds tweeted yesterday calling John John, "the present, and the future" while also saying that Kelly Slater is "the past...present and future" I think the comparison between Kelly and John John is extremely appropriate. He is still in the building blocks, but with each contest, he is looking more and more dangerous out in the water. John John posted an almost perfect 19.30, making it the highest heat total of the day. After a slow start, only earning a 1 and 2 for his first two waves, John John went on to post a 9.5 and 9.8 giving Ace Buchan no chance at winning the heat.
Next up was Damo Hobgood and Josh Kerr. Kerr sustained a Grade 2 tear in his ankle on the first day of competition, but proved that it would no affect his surfing as he beat Taylor Knox in his Round 2 heat. I was hoping that Kerr would prevail, but he was unfortunately matched up with Fiji legend Damien Hobgood, who 24 hours earlier was charging 20 foot Cloudbreak with the world's best big wave surfers. The Hobgoods are looking dangerous. It is almost impossible to say that so-and-so will win this contest because he looks the best out there. Almost every surfer left in the contest, to me, has the ability to win this contest IF it remains at Restaurants.
ASP No. 2 Mick Fanning took on Tiago Pires in Heat 4. It was no match for Mick here - Tiago was only able to post a 2.36, the lowest of the day. It seemed as if he too could not get it going. Fanning set the tone early posting a 7.77 on his third wave.
Heat 5 consisted of the two young Brazilians, Gabriel Medina and Alejo Muniz. Medina found the waves in this heat earning an 8.0 early on and a 7.93 at the end of the heat. He only needed the 8.0 as Muniz was only able to put together a 3.83 and 3.97. Medina looks like he feels really comfortable in the medium sized surf here at Restaurants. Like many of the rookies on tour, he has never surfed Tavarua before, but he is surfing as if he is a regular here. He is so tuned in to the wave that he is almost mastering it.
The next to heats were the heats of the day to me. In Heat 6, ASP no. 1 Joel Parkinson took on event wildcard Mitch Coleborn. On Day 1, Coleborn beat 11-time world champ Kelly Slater along with Kai Otton on a last second drainer at Cloudbreak. Today he had the pleasure of taking on the number 1 ranked surfer on Tour. Parko was not going to give this away. On his second wave, Parkinson dropped in on a runner and earned himself a 9.5. Until his last wave, Parko had the 9.5 and a 4.67. Coleborn didn't get going until the middle of the heat after posting a few low scoring waves. He finally earned a 6.0 putting him right back in the mix. The two had an amazing exchange on their last waves. Coleborn needed an 8.18 to take the lead and eliminate Parko from the event. Right before Coleborn caught his wave, Parko managed to catch a perfect Restaurants wave underneath Coleborn's priority. Parko did was he always does and showed us why he is number 1 right now. A perfect backside tube ride put the pressure on Coleborn to do something amazing. He new that he would most likely need a higher score than 8.18; in the dying seconds, Coleborn caught a wave just before the buzzer sounded and got his score - a 9.0. Unfortunately, it would do him no justice as Parko earned an 8.5 sending him to Round 4. It was an unbelievable run for Mitch Coleborn. This result will do him wonders in the rankings. He proved that he can hang with the big boys and has the ability to beat the best. We could see him doing big things in the near future. I am sure that this result will push him to do better in the coming contests and make it on Tour.
Heat 7 was all time. Kelly Slater and good friend Freddy Pattachia. Freddy is arguably one of the best frontside tube-riders in the world. He was excited for the challenge to take on the world's best surfer, but knew that it would be no easy task...And it wasn't. Kelly Slater ended the heat on his first two waves. As the horn sounded to start the heat, he caught a perfect wave and earned a 9.27 and then quickly backed that score up with an 8.87. Freddy didn't give up after that, he tried to fight back earning a 5.0 (which I thought was very underscored) and a 7.5 (questionable as well). This was a good result for Freddy after being eliminated early on in Brazil. Hopefully he has the chance to surf Teahupoo - another wave that he could be dangerous in.
In Heat 8, Jeremy Flores was upset by Brazilian Heitor Alves - the current underdog in the contest. Flores expressed his frustration via Twitter after the heat calling it "one of his worst performances ever." An unexpected loss, but I am happy that I made the choice of replacing him for CJ Hobgood prior to the the start of the event.
Next up was Owen Wright and Brett Simpson. Wright absolutely put a beating on Simpo posting a 19.27 over Simpson's 4.00. We all know that Owen is more than capable of reaching the finals, especially in a tricky reef break such as the waves on Tavarua (note: Owen took on Kelly in pumping Teahupoo in 2011). Look out for Owen here as well. Like I said, no one can comfortably say that one surfer will win because there are too many capable - Owen is one of them.
In the 3rd "Heat of the Day" CJ Hobgood took on Jordy Smith. In this heat, the first of THREE perfect 10's were awarded out. This one to CJ. Jordy lost out by .2 points in the closest heat of the day. CJ quickly backed up his score with a 7.33. Props to Jordy though for hanging in with the other Fiji legend and posting an 8.0 on his first wave, and a 9.13 later in the heat.
Julian Wilson, as I have been saying this entire event, is looking like the Julian Wilson that many said could win the World Title this year. While it will be extremely hard to win this year, Julian could very well get the result that he needs to jump start his race for the Title, be it this year or next year. Unlike many of the surfers who find early, high-scoring waves, Julian didn't find his two waves until the end of the heat when he earned a 7.33 and 8.0 on his last two waves. His opponent in this heat was Miguel Pupo who got here by upsetting Matt Wilkinson in Round 2.
Round 2 ended with Adriano de Souza and Kai Otton, who got here by beating out Raoni Monteiro (Monteiro sustained an injury while trying to escape a wave through the doggy door on what would have most likely been a 10 ride at massive Cloudbreak the other day). If this contest was held at Cloudbreak I believe that Otton would have bettered de Souza, but Restaurants is a wave suited for de Souza's surfing. It was a good heat as the two exchanged scores, but it was Adriano who would eventually prevail and move on to the non-elimination Round 4.
ROUND 4:
Talk about stacked heats. Round 4 could be the most exciting heats of the year so far. Heat 1: Damien Hobgood, Taj Burrow and John John Florence. Heat 2: Mick Fanning, Gabriel Medina, Joel Parkinson. Heat 3: Kelly Slater, Heitor Alves, Owen Wright. Heat 4: CJ Hobgood, Julian Wilson, Adriano de Souza. Every heat was full of action and high scoring waves.
In Heat 1, we saw the second of 3 perfect 10's awarded - this one to John John Florence. John John once again proved that he is a serious contender for this contest. With the exception of the 10, John John had an extremely low scoring heat with his backup score being a 3.17. This was one of the lower scoring heats; no one scored higher than Damo's 6.77 (with the exception of John John). John John solidified his spot in the quarterfinals, whereas Taj and Damien will have to surf in the elimination Round 5.
The world number 1 and 2 battled it out in Heat 2 to move on to the quarters safely. Oddly enough, neither of them won and it was Gabriel Medina who managed to beat the two veterans. Medina posted two high 7's to move on, but it was Parko who posted yet another high 9 (9.5). Parko and Fanning will now have to compete in Round 5 to attempt to continue on in this contest.
Next up was Kelly, Heitor Alves and Owen Wright. Kelly and Owen continued their building rivalry here in Round 4. Kelly was awarded the 3rd perfect 10 - unanimous across the board - of the day on his opening wave of the heat. From there, Slater went on to score an 8.33 later in the heat and sending Wright and Alves into Round 5. Owen did not let Kelly win this without a fight as he posted a respectable 9.4 and an 8.5.
In the final heat of the day, it was Brazilian Adriano de Souza who beat out Julian and CJ, sending himself to the quarterfinals. In one of the lower scoring heats of the day, the surfers were unable to manage to get much over a 2 other than their highest scored waves. Julian Wilson put together a 5.5 and 4.9, CJ a 6.5 and 6.3; de Souza a 7.0 and 6.4. Other than that, it was low scoring with the exception of one or two of Adriano's waves. The waves seemed to get a little questionable at the end of the day which could be the reason for the lack of high scores in this heat.
ROUND 5 Preview:
I didn't think we could see more excitement in a round of heats than we saw in Round 4...BUT there is. Round 5 is looking to be epic to say the least. Heat 1: Damien Hobgood/Mick Fanning. Heat 2: Taj Burrow/Joel Parkinson. Heat 3: Owen Wright/Julian Wilson. Heat 4: CJ Hobgood/Heitor Alves.
There are some very big and very important heats that could significantly affect the World Title race. These are my picks for the round: Damo, Taj, Julian, CJ. All close heats, very close. I do not see one heat that will be a blow out. The forecast is looking strong and there seems to be a new pulse of swell filling in around the middle of next week. It will be interesting to see if they keep it at Restaurants or move it back to Cloudbreak.
I still have half of my Fantasy Surfer remaining (Julian, John John, Kelly, CJ). If all four place in the quarters, I could get some serious points here. How are your teams looking and what are your thoughts on the contest so far? Thoughts about the upcoming heats?
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Here is the video recap of Day 4 as well as Day 3 and clips of the massive Cloudbreak free surf. Enjoy.
Day 4
Day 3
Cloudbreak FreeSurf
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