Billabong Pro Day 2

Friday 16 July 2009

Wavescape roving Editor at large Chris Mason reports back on the second day of the Billabong Pro in Jeffrey's Bay and lensman Paul van Jaarsveld delivers the imagery.

A selection of images of the day:

It was an interesting second day of surfing at the Billabong Pro. The waves were still being called perfect, but had dropped off a foot or two to a reeling and rippable 2-3’. Light offshores continued to airbrush the sea and the sun shone mildly down on the spectators as they cheered their local heroes on and made conversation in between sips of steaming coffee.

There were a few moments that got etched into the collective memory of the spectators, including an amazing 5 second barrel ride by Australian Jay Thomson that earned him the only 10 point score of the day.

The local boys performed well today in front of their home crowd with Sean Holmes rising to the occasion to defeat a feisty Jadson Andre and Jordy Smith comfortably dispatching Nate Yeoman’s, who had been surfing really well in the days running up to the contest. Jordy managed to fuel the fire of hype that burns hot around him by surfing with smooth, controlled aggression and landing a huge 360 air after his heat to drive home his victory.

Durbanite Travis Logie steamed through heat 14 by beating Ozzie Luke Munro only to be derailed by another man from down under, Hurley teamrider Adrian “Ace” Buchan. Logie disappeared straight after the heat, no doubt disappointed, but I found Adrian smiling in the contestant’s area and got to ask him exactly what went down in their heat.

Chris: Adrian, you put Travis out in that last heat, how did that happen for you, I saw there was a bit of a paddle battle at the end there.

Adrian: Yeah basically it all came down to the paddle battle at the end there, with about 2 minutes to go. You know we both had 8’s, and I had a second score than Travis did, and he needed something really small. So I knew it was going to come down to who had priority, and luckily I just kinda, you know, out-paddled him basically on the way out and got priority. And then I could hold him off that last wave. So yeah, that’s what the extra training is for, that’s where it comes in!

Chris: Cool, and the nickname “Ace” where did that come from?

Adrian: Ah, I have had it since I was was really young, like 10 or 12, when I got it from my local board-riders club. I don’t really know where it came from, but it’s definitely stuck.

Chris: What are your impressions of J-Bay and the Billabong Pro?

Adrian: Oh I love J-Bay and I love coming here every year, I look forward to it. How can you not when it looks like today, it’s just beautiful, with these perfect clean lines coming through. This is what the Dream Tour is all about, when we get to surf waves like this, I feel pretty lucky.

Chris: And finally, how does the changing of the ASP tour, from 44 to 32, affect you?

Adrian: Um, yeah look I am not right there in the cut, (seeded at No 13) but it is definitely exciting for all those guys, and pretty cut-throat at the same time. But yeah, it’s gonna be a bit of change for the tour, but hopefully we can make it positive.

Tomorrow heralds cooking surf as a fresh pulse of SW swell is due to arrive and translate into 4-5 ft surf with fresh offshore winds. There are some big heats coming up in round 3 including a match up between 9 x world champ Kelly Slater and local hopeful Sean Holmes, who is going to have to do his best to live up to his nickname “the Giant Killer”.

Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay

Round 1 Results:

Heat 1: Adam Melling (AUS) 12.17, Taylor Knox (USA) 10.80, Luke Munro (AUS) 10.17

Heat 2: Andy Irons (HAW) 14.77, Jay Thompson (AUS) 10.56, Jadson Andre (BRA) 9.24

Heat 3: Nate Yeomans (USA) 15.83, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 13.74, Luke Stedman (AUS) 11.43

Heat 4: Dane Reynolds (USA) 15.30, Marco Polo (BRA) 12.97, Daniel Ross (AUS) 12.10

Heat 5: Bobby Martinez (USA) 16.43, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 13.37, Blake Thornton (AUS) 7.60

Heat 6: Tiago Pires (PRT) 15.23, Tim Reyes (USA) 13.27, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 9.07

Heat 7: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.37, Joan Duru (FRA) 11.90, Tom Whitaker (USA) 10.57

Heat 8: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.93, Damien Hobgood (USA) 14.40, Shaun Joubert (ZAF) 12.37

Heat 9: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.20, Dale Staples (ZAF) 13.34, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 9.83

Heat 10: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.70, Sean Holmes (ZAF) 10.27, Roy Powers (HAW) 8.33

Heat 11: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 13.60, Neco Padaratz (BRA) 9.60, C.J. Hobgood (USA) 9.17

Heat 12: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 12.60, Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 12.34, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 11.27

Heat 13: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 13.53, Dean Morrison (AUS) 11.76, Michel Bourez (PYF) 7.43

Heat 14: Chris Davidson (AUS) 15.17, Mick Campbell (AUS) 12.86, Brett Simpson (USA) 11.63

Heat 15: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 14.87, Ben Dunn (AUS) 11.50, Dusty Payne (HAW) 10.77

Heat 16: Owen Wright (AUS) 15.56, Travis Logie (ZAF) 13.93, Drew Courtney (AUS) 7.73

Round 2 Results:

Heat 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.70, Shaun Joubert (ZAF) 9.44

Heat 2: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 16.17, Dale Staples (ZAF) 14.67

Heat 3: Sean Holmes (ZAF) 13.50, Jadson Andre (BRA) 11.07

Heat 4: Joan Duru (FRA) 13.83, Taylor Knox (USA) 11.50

Heat 5: Tim Reyes (USA) 13.34, C.J. Hobgood (USA) 13.23

Heat 6: Michel Bourez (PYF) 11.86, Blake Thornton (AUS) 11.50

Heat 7: Damien Hobgood (USA) 15.04, Marco Polo (BRA) 11.30

Heat 8: Jay Thompson (AUS) 18.33, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 14.47

Heat 9: Neco Padaratz (BRA) 11.36, Roy Powers (HAW) 10.93

Heat 10: Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 15.03, Tom Whitaker (AUS) 9.00

Heat 11: Brett Simpson (USA) 15.40, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 11.26

Heat 12: Dusty Payne (HAW) 12.83, Daniel Ross (AUS) 11.37

Heat 13: Luke Stedman (AUS) 14.14, Drew Courtney (AUS) 12.93

Heat 14: Travis Logie (ZAF) 13.60, Luke Munro (AUS) 12.00

Heat 15: Ben Dunn (AUS) 16.33, Pat Gudauskas (USA) 9.83

Heat 16: Dean Morrison (AUS) 15.84, Mick Campbell (AUS) 9.03

Round 3

Heat 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 16.67, Jay Thompson (AUS) 9.27

Heat 2: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 12.27, Travis Logie (ZAF) 11.80

Heat 3: Owen Wright (AUS) 17.00, Ben Dunn (AUS) 10.74

Heat 4: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15.07, Nate Yeomans (USA) 9.10