The contest is over and Kelly Slater has won again. He defeated Mick Fanning in the finals to take home his fourth 2008 ASP tour stop title and his fourth J-Bay title. Kelly Slater, 36-years-young, brought his “A” game to Supertubes Thursday and showed why he is the best surfer in the world. He earned his 38th ASP World Tour victory while downing Mick Fanning in 4-6 foot J-Bay. Winning is Slater’s middle name (not really) and after 14 years on the ASP World Tour, he still has the motivation to win. He wants to be known as the BEST surfer ever!!
Slater beat Fanning 16.73 to 9.40 in the Billabong finals. The start of Thursday morning competition was very clean and as the contest continued, the conditions started to deteriorate with the onshore winds. The officials were worried about the North winds that tend to blow out the faces of J-Bay, which made the final round a little difficult. But this did not stop Slater and his victory drive. Slater now has a 1262 point lead on the World number 2 Joel Parkinson and now has such a large lead that his 9th World Title is in his sights.
The next event on the 2008 ASP World Tour remains a mystery. The “Search” event will be held July 30-August 10, 2008, “Somewhere.”
ASP World Tour Ratings after Stop No. 5 – the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay
1. Kelly Slater (USA) 5210 points
2. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 3948 points
3. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 3782 points
4. Mick Fanning (AUS) 3753 points
5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 3638 points
6. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 3540 points
7. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 3460 points
8. Andy Irons (HAW) 3338 points
9. Bobby Martinez (USA) 3028 points
10. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 2884 points
Jeffreys Bay finally got the restart it needed while completing Round 3 and half of Round 4. The 20 heats of Wednesday’s competition went down in 4 to 6 foot (two meters) surf. There are only 11 heats of the Billabong Pro left and the 2008 champion should be crowned Thursday. The contest officials want to conclude the event with world class surf and the lingering swell. The first heat of Round 4 will be Heat 5 featuring the reigning ASP World Champion Mick Fanning and Hawaiian Bruce Irons.
I thought the Round 3 rematch between Travis Logie and Kelly Slater would bring out some better competition, but Slater annihilated Logie 19.14 to 12.06 in Heat 8 of Round 3. Next up, Slater will face the current ASP number 4, Adriano de Souza in Quarterfinal 2.
The Last South African Heat Matchup:
Heat 7 of Round 4: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Taj Burrow (AUS)
Why watch this heat? Taj Burrow beat Jordy Smith in the 2006 Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay semi-finals when Jordy was surfing the event as a wild-card. More reasons to watch. Jordy Smith is the last South African surfer in the event, he will have home field advantage, and will have the local crowd cheering him to victory!
The surfers and contest officials have decided to call off the Tuesday competition. The predicted swell for Tuesday did not show up and the Jeffreys Bay contest officials only have 5 days left in the competition. There are smaller and inconsistent waves at J-Bay, but not enough for a professional surfing contest. Wednesday and Thursday look to be the last days for scoring waves and a new swell is on the horizon.
There are still 3 South African surfers (Travie Logie, Jordy Smith, and Royden Bryson) left in Round 3 and look for them to work their local surf spot.
Day 4 of the surfing contest is called off again. Mike Parsons, the event director, predicts more swell for Tuesday and hopes to get things rolling again. Monday, July 14, is a free surf day while the remaining ASP Top 45 surfers wait for the swell to arrive.
Here is a funny clip of pro surfers trying to speak with a South African accent. Surfers from different geographic locations have their own slang and local surf terminology. Surfers from California, Hawaii, Australia, South Africa, and other surfing communities have their own surfing slang and some of the terminology is quite funny.
Guess what I am trying to say in my best South African accent?
Hey, my bru, howzit. I will see you just now on The Surf Blog Spot bru, since the waves are really lekker bru !!!
Round 3 of the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay has been called off for the day. Lack of swell has forced event officials to look into the 11-day waiting period to assess which two days of the eight left will offer the best scoring potential for the remaining ASP Top 45 surfers.
The next best opportunity for swell might come Monday and Tuesday. The official swell forecaster, Surfline, predicts Tuesday as the best day to re-start the competition.
Round 2 of the 2008 Billabong Pro at Jeffreys Bay is complete.
Swell Forecasts indicate that conditions may be unfavorable for Billabong Pro competition over the weekend. Event officials will meet each morning at 7am, local time, to monitor the waves and make an official call.
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 16.33 def. Mark Occhilupo (AUS) 9.67
Heat 2: Andy Irons (HAW) 15.17 def. Granger Larsen (HAW) 11.83
Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA) 16.33 def. Rudy (jnr) Palmboom (ZAF) 4.33
Heat 4: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 13.07 def. Nic Muscroft (AUS) 11.00
Heat 5: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 15.67 def. Ricky Basnett (ZAF) 11.34
Heat 6: Luke Stedman (AUS) 12.00 def. Daniel Ross (AUS) 7.60
Heat 7: Kai Otton (AUS) 14.27 def. Jihad Khodr (BRA) 13.94
Heat 8: Travis Logie (ZAF) 15.50 def. Timmy Reyes (USA) 12.00
Heat 9: Ben Bourgeois (USA) adv. Pancho Sullivan (HAW) n/s
Heat 10: Dayyan Neve (AUS) 15.66 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 14.50
Heat 11: Heitor Alves (BRA) 16.66 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 13.83
Heat 12: Tom Whitaker (AUS) 15.10 def. Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 13.70
Heat 13: Mick Campbell (AUS) 15.30 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 9.50
Heat 14: Luke Munro (AUS) 16.33 def. Ben Dunn (AUS) 12.55
Heat 15: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 18.60 def. Neco Padaratz (BRA) 11.33
Heat 16: Chris Ward (USA) 13.16 def. Mikael Picon (FRA) 12.17
My Round 3 Key Matchups:
Heat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Daniel Wills (AUS)
Heat 5: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Mick Campbell (AUS)
Heat 9: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Ben Bourgeois (USA)
Heat 14: Dean Morrison (AUS) vs. Jordy Smith (ZAF)
My Round 3 Key Matchup Revisited:
Heat 8: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)
Look for some payback in this heat. Travis Logie almost changed the 2005 ASP World Title race by beating Kelly Slater in their heat at the Brazilian Nova Schin Festival. Then Nathan Hedge stepped-up with a heat win against Andy Irons and ended up sealing the deal for Slater. That gave Slater his 8th World Title and 2008 looks to be another title year.
The 2008 Billabong Pro surfing contest at Jeffrey’s Bay (J-Bay) is set to start on July 10, 2008. This surfing contest is stop number 5 of 11 on the ASP World Tour. Supertubes will be the spot for the 5th surfing event and will include all the top ASP pro-surfers. Kelly Slater leads the ASP World Tour rankings, has won 3 out of the last 4 ASP tour stop events, and is the only professional surfer to win J-Bay 3 times. Another notable finish for Slater was his 2007 second place finish behind Taj Burrow.
J-Bay Location:Jeffrey’s Bay, Eastern Cape, South Africa: Jeffrey’s Bay lies on the southern South African coastline, around 45 miles (70 km) west of Port Elizabeth.
The Jeffrey’s Bay surfing contest runs from July 10-20 with an 11 day waiting period. Mike Parson, the contest director, will decide the best surfing conditions for the 63 heats required to determine the 2008 J-Bay Champion.
Anybody not attending the actual South African surf contest can watch the action LIVE on the ASP World Tour website and on the Billabong Pro webcast. You can get instant event coverage, contest scores, and live video feeds from either website.
Past Jeffrey’s Bay Champions:
2007 - Taj Burrow
2006 - Mick Fanning
2005 - Kelly Slater
2004 - Andy Irons
2003 - Kelly Slater
1996 - Kelly Slater
My 2008 J-Bay Champion prediction: Kelly Slater aka Jimmy Slade
