It may well be the calm before the storm as you try to peer through the rain, mist and glassy conditions that the ocean finds itself in.
It’s hard to see the small waves coming at you as the sea and sky is the same colour. The waves are still very surfable today with a 2, maybe 3ft, South East swell pushing some clean lines onto the beaches. I took some pics early when the tide was low but as the tide filled in the banks started to look pretty good….you should make the most of it today because tomorrow‘s swellnet report says one word-FLAT.
This may be a good thing because Friday /Sat report says 3 to 4 times overhead!
AHHH Talk about different conditions, there is a low moving into the Tasman and by about Sat it should be spinning away merrily right in the middle pushing massive swell both ways. Raglan will also be pumping but howling onshore.The winds here are predicted to blow from the Sou West so its all systems go.
Wax up the guns and say goodbye to the banks we have at this moment because they are about to change!
In South Africa where the waves have been real nice, the J-Bay Open, stop No. 6 of 11 on the 2014 Samsung Galaxy ASP World Championship Tour, is on standby after they ran through Rounds 3 and 4 and surfers were faced with challenging conditions at Supertubes. The world’s best took to the water in three-to-five foot surf and there were a few upsets as several top seeds were knocked out of the competition.
Goofy-footer Matt Wilkinson, fresh from a second-place finish at the ASP Qualification Series Prime event, the Mr Price Pro Ballito, caused the first big upset of the day. The Australian took an early lead against 11-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA) and held his position through the first half of the heat. The current ASP world no. 3 managed to tighten the points gap but at the halfway point he still needed a 6.34 to surpass Wilkinson. A set came through and both surfers worked to take advantage but it was the Australian that came out on top, securing a score of 9.33 to put Slater in a combination situation. Slater leaves the competition in equal 13th place while Wilkinson went on to win his Round 4 heat against Adriano de Souza (BRA) and Kolohe Andino (USA) and earn a place in the Quarterfinals.
Jeffreys Bay claimed its second huge upset in Round 3 Heat 11 after C.J. Hobgood (USA) went head-to-head against local favorite and defending event winner Jordy Smith (ZAF). The American went on the attack immediately, notching a mid-range score just after the horn and an early two-wave total of a 9.50. Smith, whose Round 1 heroics still stand as the highest two-wave heat total of the competition so far, had a surprisingly shaky start. After a kick-out throwaway, he looked to be regaining his rhythm but an over-extended layback left the ride incomplete. Hobgood improved his bottom score to a 7.00 but Smith continued to fight his way back. He overtook Hobgood with an excellent 8-point ride but was unable to find the backup score to keep the lead.
Anyway my money is on Fanning who has to beat an inform Freddy P in round five.
J-Bay Open Round 5 Match-Ups:
Heat 1: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Adriano de Souza (BRA)
Heat 2: Kolohe Andino (USA) vs. Taj Burrow (AUS)
Heat 3: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. C.J. Hobgood (USA)
Heat 4: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
Still in South Africa, Three of the world’s best surfers, 11-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), two-time J-Bay Open event winner Jordy Smith (ZAF) and 1989 ASP World Champion Martin Potter, visited the Chipembere Rhino Foundation to help raise awareness about the conservation of South Africa’s rhinos and to find out more about the threat of poaching.
“We met some people from the Chipembere Rhino Foundation to learn about the plight of the rhinos,” said Kelly Slater. “I was astounded by the number of the rhinos that are killed each year. There’s only about 25,000 rhinos left in the world and last year alone over 1,000 were killed in South Africa. I didn’t know all this so coming here today was a real eye opener for me. It was great to see some rhinos and learn more about the conservation efforts.”
South Africa is home to 73% of the world’s rhino population. According to the latest figures, more than 500 rhino have been poached in South Africa so far this year. Despite the efforts being made to combat poaching the number of rhinos being killed continues to rise each year. Rhinos are poached primarily for their horns, which are falsely believed to have healing and medicinal properties. The challenges faced by conservationists are to educate people to these realities in order to stem the demand for rhino products.
Speaking of tough hides, Legendary surfers Tom Curren and Mark Occhilupo will face off once again at the world-class righthander of Jeffreys Bay for the first installment of the ASP Heritage Series, running in conjunction with the J-Bay Open.
The ASP Heritage Series, making its debut this week in South Africa, is designed to celebrate and honor the foundational contributors to the sport of surfing – athletes, venues, happenings and culture. The Heritage Series will showcase rematches between iconic surfers, video profiles and sporting history as well as engage with fans, both current and new, across a variety of platforms.
Finally for the loggers out there, Conditions held up for an exciting day of ASP Longboard Qualifying Series (LQS) Finals action at the Whalebone Classic, with two to three foot clean peelers on offer at Iso's Reef, Cottesloe, Perth. Both men's and women's Finals saw East Coast verse West Coast match ups and the tally ended with one win a piece as Georgia Young (WA/AUS) and Heith Norrish (NSW/AUS) reigned supreme.
Norrish defeated good friend and WA local surfer Justin Redman in a tight battle that finished with scores of 17.00 to 16.60. Redman was the most consistent in the final, posting a pair of 8-point-rides for an early and ominous lead. In the dying minutes Norrish found a great wave and executed technical noserides to earn the single highest wave score of the event, a 9.25 to steal the win and move to No. 1 on the ASP Australasia LQS rankings.
So hang in there till Friday and start to get nervous OR buy a six pack and turn Fuel on at 5 every afternoon and get the best view of the best right point on the planet!-Go Mick!
