We’re now 4 days into the waiting period and 6 surfers have been sent home; Courtney Conlogue, Teresa Bonvalot, Maxime Huscenot, Connor O’Leary, Kai Lenny, and Zeke Lau.
Yeah. Zeke, who I previously called “Mr. Sunset”, has gone two for two with interference situations in the first two events. This one cost him the heat, as well as any other subsequent heats. I picked him to be in the Semi’s. Ouch. Conlogue was another surprising early loss, giving her back-to-back last place finishes. She will need to completely turn it around to make the cut.
On the ladies side, through Day 1 there were 8 total heats surfed. Of those 8 heats there were 88 waves ridden, and of those 88, there were 3 rides above a 6 point score. Whether this is due to the power of the wave, the difficulty of the lineup, or the conditions it is unknown. One thing’s for sure, Sunset is tricky. For example, Teresa Bonvalot caught 5 waves on the day in two heats; her heat totals were 0.67 and 0.77. If they have to surf more than 1 heat per day, look to pick on the side of experience, followed by physical fitness.
All of the Women’s surfing was done on Day 1, so they were offered much better conditions than what the Men surfed yesterday. Highlights from the ladies include the two storied World Champs going off early in the day – Steph Gilmore and Carissa Moore both handily won their heats. Local girl Luana Silva put up a nice showing against Carissa, her knowledge of the wave was evident. Bettylou displayed confidence during her nice heat win over Tyler Wright and highly touted Caity Simmers. Gabriel Bryan also looked really strong on this 6.67 to win her Elimination Round heat. These are the names I will be watching going forward in the event. All 4 of those women may or may not be on my fantasy team.
As far as the Men’s side, highlights included anyone who surfed on Day 1, which was the first 8 heats. Kanoa found his rhythm from last year in the first heat of the day for the Mens, snagging an 8.17 and starting the onslaught of Layback turns we would see through the Men’s heats. Two heats later, Ethan Ewing surfed a smaller inside wave to a 9 point ride that maybe only John John would be able to match. Maybe. If Yewing is not on your fantasy roster I’m not sure what you’re up to.
John surfed in the last heat of the day and left us wondering why they didn’t run until dark. He only caught 2 waves, but he cruised through the heat with a 15.83 total. One could make the argument that JJF is so talented and knows that wave so well that he could put up those numbers in any conditions out there. Probably true, but Joao Chianca and Jackson Baker both logged at least a 7 point ride in the heat. They could have run until dark, rather than cutting the Opening Round in half and holding the last 8 heats in pretty bad waves.
A couple of surprises for the Men early on. Kelly and Filipe won their Opening heats. Two goofies won their heats as well – Medina and Yago Dora, though Medina was in an all goofy heat. The real shockers might have been the Opening Round losers who were delegated to the Elimination Round – number 1 in the world Jack Robbo, number 2 in the world LeoFio, locals Kai Lenny, Keanu Asing, and the previously known “Mr. Sunset”, Zeke Lau. Of those “surprises”, Leo was the only one who had to struggle through his heat on Day 2. Which meant that he had to surf in the Elimination Round in those same bummer conditions.
The first heat of Elims, Pipeline Pro champion Jack Robinson was seriously up against the ropes. With time ticking down near 12 minutes on the clock, he was in last place with a 3.63 heat total, and 2nd priority. Straight off of a commercial break, he snuck into his event saver, a 5.67 that looked nervously surfed but got the job done, sending wildcard Kai Lenny home. Ian Gentil really impressed in the second heat of eliminations. As lanky and unorthodox as his style is, he looks really strong and sure footed. Connor O’Leary was sent packing.
Heat 3 brought all the drama from the second day of competition. There was 1 minute left in the heat. Zeke Lau has the lead and priority. On the live stream, the cameras (unsurprisingly) missed Zeke having a paddle for a blatantly insignificant wave to try and hold Leo off. What we do see is and are made aware of is the priority switching at 0:53 left on the clock. Apparently the Hawaiian missed this, and he took off on another irrelevant wave, this time in front of Rio Waida to hold him off. Interference. Zeke’s out. Unbelievable.
I just want to point out how shitty both of these waves were that he paddled for. Firstly, he didn’t even need to hold off Leo, as Fioravanti was in second place and Zeke would have still advanced had Leo somehow got the 5.07 to take first. Secondly, there was absolutely no scoring potential on the wave he burned Rio for. Waida needed a 4.38, and it was not there. Just a complete blunder from the previously crowned “Mr. Sunset”. How insane would it be to see Zeke fully challenge the WSL. Like completely blame it on the Apple Watch and the priority judge and own up to absolutely none of it. He just needs to own playing the villain. Whatever he’s up to now is not working. Leo, in his post heat interview did admit that the judges waited about a minute and a half before ruling the interference on Zeke – a long time to wait when there is less than 5 minutes on the clock. Crazy situation.
The last heat of the day sent young Maxime Huscenot home. He only caught 1 wave and sat with priority for about 20 minutes. I thought his style would work well out here, I was a bit bummed to see him go home. Nat Young won the heat being the only backhander.
Things are about to heat up today. Round of 32 and 16 have been called on with overlapping heats, similar to what we saw at the “good day” for the Pipe contest. Looks like the waves are cooking. Settle in for the day, should be about 8 hours of shredding again.
Cheers,
hwilsin