The comp finished off the second round before going on hold at lunchtime... There were still some nugs at Backdoor but not enough to be contestable. Seeing as there's a fat swell coming tonight it should be (as the Saffas would say) absolutely cooking bru on the morrow... Anyhoose. Here's some pictographs*
You may not have heard of Mr Torrey Meister here but he has the weight of the world on his shoulders right now. By neatly dispatching Kai Otton this morning he's set himself up to meet one Mr Mick Fanning in Heat 2 of Rd3 tomorrow. A heat that may decide who becomes World Champion. He was the replacement for Sunny when he was late yesterday so you can bet Mick's breathing a slight sigh of relief cos whilst Torrey is no slouch Sunny IS Backdoor...
Aritz had a strong heat against Wardo but came up just short. Leaving yesterdays MVP Micky Picon as the lone Euro in the event. He'll take on Tom Whits in Rd3...
Wardo excels in heavy barrels, even frothy soupfest like this one...
I was claiming Jon Jon yesterday, he didn't disappoint today dispatching Heitor Alves in a brutally one-sided heat. 18.90 to 3.24. I missed his 9 as a French journo happened to ask for a heat sheet and when I looked back... Doh. Tomorrow he faces the big guns- can a 16-year old local kid go all the way?
Mick was in a chipper mood, rolling up the beach nice and early to gauge the conditions and see what was what. Wasn't needed in the end as they called it off. Makes sense really to call it off after Mick had surfed for Joel to surf tomorrow in perfect Pipe woulda got conspiracists frothing at the mouth...
While Mick watched heats Parko had the luxury of knowing he wouldn't surf for hours in the comp so could rack up the water time at OTW with a nice freesurf out front of the Billabong house...
He looked tack sharp, relaxed and easy on the notorious ankle that upset his apple cart this year. Tomorrow is when the world title intrigue begins. I think he needs to finish two rounds ahead of Mick to win... It's all down to local wildcards as Parko faces Gavin Gillette in Heat 15 of Rd3...
Where's Andy?
In Rd 3 that's where. There are some super heavy match ups to come in this event and word is tomorrow will be pumping big style...
The event got called off at lunchtime leaving photographers with nothing to do but shoot the local wildlife...
And the freesurf froth that happened straight afterwards... Featuring Jezza Wilson here.
KP got involved...
As did Jon Jon...
*The high point of the afternoon was the portly drunk gentleman who wandered down the beach stopping and talking to every woman in a bikini and promptly getting told to bugger off. He stopped and danced a little jig at one point. I think he even copped a feel from one foolish girl who didn't tell him to piss off straight away. He seemed happy enough anyway!
