Billabong Pro Tahiti Day 1

Well it hasn't been the contest that we were hoping - meaning it wasn't 20+ foot waves like we saw last year.  Nonetheless, it is still Teahupoo and the waves are still pumping.  The contest started on the first day of the waiting period in head high surf; if the waves can remain consistent, we will see a great contest.  

Round 1 consisted of some great heats, high scores and upsets, sending some big names into the elimination Round 2.  I felt good with my team and was confident that my choices would pay off today.  

Here are the heat recaps and my thoughts about each one.  

H1: 1st John John, 2nd Miguel Pupo, 3rd Pat Gudauskas - John John is looking lethal..one of my predicted winners.  His knowledge of the wave is phenomenal at his young age.  Miguel also looked strong, but it is almost impossible to beat John John in waves like this.  

H2: 1st Taj Burrow, 2nd Damien Hobgood, 3rd Dusty Payne - good action this heat, Dusty is quiet in the water in his first heat back this year.  Taj is looking strong as always...same with Damo, a former winner here in Tahiti.  

H3: 1st Taylor Knox, 2nd Mick Fanning, 3rd Brett Simpson - TK won in the last minutes on a great small barrel wave to overcome Mick.  This was a huge win for Taylor as he has had trouble this year in Round 2 heats.  

H4: 1st Adriano de Souza, 2nd Willian Cardoso, 3rd Bede Durbidge - Adriano was on fire and easily the standout of the day scoring two 9+ point rides.  

H5: 1st Joel Parkinson, 2nd Ricardo Santos, 3rd Kai Otton - Parko looked dominant out there, great wave selection.  He is currently in 3rd place on the world rankings and a strong result here could do wonders for him in the title race.  Dos Santos won the trials for the second year in a row to surf in the event.  Look out for him as a sleeper.  

H6: 1st Kelly Slater, 2nd Travis Logie, 3rd Alain Riou - Kelly was being Kelly. Good heat for Logie.  

H7: 1st Josh Kerr, 2nd Jadson Andre, 3rd Tiago Pires - Kerr went absolutely crazy today opening up with two massive scores off the get go. If he can keep this up he will win this.  After an unfortunate injury in Fiji, Kerr is surfing stronger than ever and it showed today.  He is underestimated when it comes to barrel riding.  He is also in contention for the world title and if he can pull off a win, which he very well may, he will be right up there with Kelly, Mick and Parko.  

H8: 1st Ace Buchan, 2nd Kieren Perrow, Jordy Smith - this wave has been good to goofys today and Ace took advantage. KP looked strong, but Jordy lacked momentum. He needs a big result here.  This wave was favoring goofy-footers today, although it usually favors regular footers.  The smaller surf allows them to really take control of their surfing and maneuvers.  

H9: 1st Owen Wright, 2nd Yadin Nichol, 3rd Alejo Muniz - Owen looks like he wants a win this year instead of runner up. He was surfing really well. Yadin needs a result here if he hopes to stay on tour; he hasn't had good luck in the second round. Hopefully he can pull it off in the next round.

H10: 1st Heitor Alves, 2nd Matt Wilkinson, 3rd Julian Wilson - an unexpected result by Julian after winning the Nike US Open of Surfing, but great surfing by Wilko and Heitor.  Wilko had a huge result here last year which was one of the reasons that I picked him for my team.  Hopefully he can pull off another result this year.  

H11: 1st Gabriel Medina, 2nd Michel Bourez, 3rd Adam Melling - Once again, Medina shows his versatility. Bourez is looking strong on his home turf.  Medina may very well be the future of surfing, along with John John and Julian.  He continues to dazzle us in waves many say do not suit his "style".  

H12: 1st CJ Hobgood, 2nd Fred Pattachia, 3rd Jeremy Flores - this was probably the best heat of Round 1; CJ was picking the best waves and capitalizing on opportunities. Freddy, a favorite this contest, almost bested CJ. Flores, who had a great result here last year, is once again looking strong in Tahiti.

We also started the first few heats of Round 2 and saw a stunning upset: 

Round 2:

H1: 1st Mick Fanning, 2nd Alain Riou - a great, high scoring heat; tons of barrels and Mick found some great ones.

H2: 1st Ricardo Dos Santos, 2nd Jordy Smith - a huge upset here. RDS owned the heat from the horn. Jordy couldnt get anything going after his 8.0 to begin the heat with. An unfortunate early exit for Smith as he needed a good result here.



I thought that I had posted this yesterday, sorry for the delay.  For up-to-date feedback on the event, "like" my Facebook page as I will be posting heat results and thoughts after each heat as soon as they finish.  Here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/worntrails 

Here is the video recap of Day 1: