Pete Mel and Strider trade verbal jabs on the live broadcast. My grom is asleep. I sip my cold Pacifico. Day One at Jeffrey’s Bay was a warm welcome back from my boycott. If you are a reasonably responsible person living in the US, chances are you did not stay awake through the wee hours to watch the Opening Day. And that’s okay. That’s what I’m here for. That’s why you, the fans, were under so much distress while I was boycotting. Where are his predictions? No more contest recaps? These were the questions bubbling on the hot stove, ready to burst at the possibility of another missed contest. Well folks, fear no more. Here is your Day One recap from yours truly.
Waves were around shoulder high, maybe a little bigger, and clean for most of the day. A bit slow between the sets, but definitely some opportunity. Pete Mel said that Kelly was pretty vocal about not wanting to run. But run they did, and here’s what went down.
HEAT 1 –
Joao Chianca vs. Barron Mamiya vs. Seth Moniz
The day started without much action other than a paddle battle. It was over 10 minutes until the first real wave was ridden by Seth. Obviously it was the first heat of the early morning and I feel like both Hawaiian’s Moniz and Mamiya looked cold. Seth’s first wave was put together well, but he was holding back through a few turns and didn’t complete a little air reverse attempt on the inside bricks. Barron had a couple of falls early on, and he couldn’t buy a score in the 4’s. Joao finally got a keeper on the board about halfway through the heat and started to get very busy. Two waves in the first half to seven in the back half, and he was literally paddling all over the lineup. I liked the strategy. Seth had a fighting chance in the end needing less than a 6, but Joao held him off the best opportunity with priority. Chianca straight to the Round of 16.
HEAT 2 –
Ethan Ewing vs. Caio Ibelli vs. Rio Waida
With Ethan’s first wave I immediately thought – here we go again. He completely blitzed the first section with a fins out projection turn, straight up into the next section about to break down on him. 5.33. Directly behind him however, Rio picked a much better wave. A lot of speed generation, little high line floater, drops to the bottom still carrying all his tempo and into a massive hook in the pocket. One more hook, pocket snap, a check turn off the lip and a closeout float – 7.5. Caio already had 2 waves under his belt with nothing over a 5, so this matchup looked to be between Ethan and Rio. Defending champ Ewing took the lead just before the halfway mark in the heat on a smaller inside wave, and he built on his scores after that. Originally, Rio needed a 3.10. Then a 3.5. Then a 4.17. Counting down from 3 minutes, Waida finally goes on his second ride of the heat. A little held back if you ask me, but being on one of the better waves of the heat, he was always going to get the score. Two rides would be enough for the young Indonesian rookie, Rio to Round of 16.
HEAT 3 –
Griffin Colapinto vs. Liam O’Brien vs. Kelly Slater
This was an absolute smoke show. Griffin looked sharp as a knife, and the other two did not. Griff’s first wave, pretty much straight off the buzzer, had 11 fucking turns on it. ELEVEN. And it was a 7.67. I mean I don’t know what to say about that so we’ll move on. His first 3 rides were all over 6 points. He was pretty safe within the first 10 minutes holding a 14 point heat total. This air was well worth a rewind. Aside from the domination, the most entertaining part of this heat was Strider and Pete throwing subtle shade back and forth in the commentary booth. I think it started when Strider called Mel a strong “Peter”. Worth a listen. Kelly and LOB were both combo’d. Liam had a couple of turns that looked promising, but couldn’t link anything together. Griffin wins handily.
HEAT 4 –
Filipe Toledo vs. Kanoa Igarashi vs. Adin Masencamp
First things first, Filipe might be able to rival Liam O’Brien for best afro on tour. I had no idea. Pretty sick though. The Pete and Strider debacle continued, this time over the forecast and scores. Filipe waited more than half the heat to get his first wave, daring the other competitors to run their score lines as high as possible. It really only took Toledo two waves to advance. Kanoa had a shot and was surfing well, but there were a couple of hitches in each of his rides. He also ran a bit too far down the line on his last opportunity and couldn’t find the finish he was looking for. The wildcard Masencamp looked alright, he definitely knew which waves to choose, but he couldn’t close out any of his waves either, getting a bit too loose on his final turns. Filipe looks comfortable and moves through to Round of 16.
HEAT 5 –
Yago Dora vs. Connor O’Leary vs. Ian Gentil
This was an interesting heat. Two goofies with completely different approaches, and the lengthy, windy style of Ian Gentil. The first wave of the heat featured a big backside air reverse, followed by a couple of backside hooks for an even 7 for Yago Dora. Within five minutes he was back in the air stomping another revo. His intentions were clear. He stuck a pop shuv-it at some point in the heat. O’Leary was running with a more classic backside approach, jamming his board straight up 12:00 and using his size to put a lot of power behind his turns. Connor was on his way to take the heat until Yago got this 9.27 with under 2 minutes left. I thought the bootie wearing Gentil looked pretty solid. His first wave that he fell on might have been his best opportunity, but I like his style. I’ll definitely be watching his Elimination Round heat. Yago goes straight to R16.
HEAT 6 –
John John Florence vs. Italo Ferreira vs. Callum Robson
I think this heat had the most consistent, best waves of the day. Italo looked to be riding something different, in a good way. Looked longer or something. And the black rails always go. Much better than John’s ketchup-mustard board. I actually forgot Callum was in the water. John and Italo had a solid battle. I always forget how good Italo is on his backhand, he’s one of the best at handling his down the line speed. The last two turns on his 6.17 were wild. John was on the ropes needing a 7.35 with less than 10 minutes before he threw down this combo, 8.27. Guy is looking fired up recently. I am hesitant to say it, but he could be dangerous in the Final 5 if Lowers gets good. John onto Round of 16. Best heat of the day.
HEAT 7 –
Gabriel Medina vs. Ryan Callinan vs. Matt McGillivray
Good heat. Everyone was ripping, and it ended up being really close, but Medina led from start to finish. He started off with pocket 6’s in the first five minutes. The boys in the commentary booth mentioned McGillivray’s local residence so many times I thought they were forsure bribed with a few waves in the lineup. True to its tune though, local knowledge really does pay dividends. Matty Ice was picking some winners and surfing sharp. Ryan Callinan also really impressed me. For one reason or the other I wasn’t expecting much of him, but he strung together 3 crazy turns in a row on his 7.33. In my eyes, I couldn’t believe Medina got the nod on the exchange, the judges throwing the Brazilian a 7.5. The hometown kid and R.Cal couldn’t overcome Gabby’s aggressive turns. Medina straight to R16.
HEAT 8 –
Jack Robinson vs. Leonardo Fioravanti vs. Jordy Smith
These poor 3 got super unlucky. In the last 10 minutes of the previous heat, the onshore winds turned on pretty heavily. By the time this heat paddled out it was a crumbly, bumpy mess. I mean it’s still J-Bay, so of course the waves are going to offer a bit of shape and opportunity, but it was a completely different lineup two heats ago. Leo looked the best of the bunch. His board was flying through and across the lump and bump with ease, keeping pace with the racing sections. Jordy landed a cool straight air, but he couldn’t get a finish on his two best opportunities. Robbo struggled to get anything going. He was throwing up some huge air attempts, at which it was speculated that he is now feeling 100% healthy. He’ll need to make his next heat. Leonardo, who is directly behind Jack in the rankings, is through to the Round of 16.
Overall a great day of competition, I thought. The waves are supposed to really turn on at some point in the window, so maybe I’ll look back and realize how lackluster it was. For now, I’m glad to be back watching professional competitive surfing. Next call is tonight at 10:45pm, though I’m not sure it will be on for a couple of days. We’ll see.
Cheers,
hwilsin