WATER SPORTS
Words: Craig Jarvis ǀ Photos: ©ASP/Cestari & ©ASP/Kirstin
Jordy does Portugal Rip Curl Pro Portugal - 9 to 20 October 2013 It’s the second last event of the year on the World Championship Tour of surfing, and the top surfers in the world were all present in Portugal.
The name of the spot is Supertubos, and for the Rip Curl Pro Portugal event, it was providing some tubes and a few little sections for the surfers to test their equipment and competitive surfing skills.
Jordy Smith was in fine form in Portugal and hopes to take that form through to Hawaii for the final leg of the 2013 World Championship Tour of Surfing. ©ASP/Kirstin
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Kai Otton from Australia won his first ever WCT event in Portugal and climbed to 7th on the world tour ratings. ŠASP/Cestari
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The waves at Supertubos break really close to the beach, so there is very little time wasted paddling back and forth. it is
all about finding those two good ones in a 30-minute heat and getting big air, a solid tube, or a combination of both. Coming into the event, the World Championship Tour was a two-horse race between Kelly Slater, from America, and Mick Fanning, Australia. Both are former world champions, with Slater the top dog and 11 titles under his belt. While three other surfers were in with a mathematical chance, they were very, very slim chances and one by one they disappeared. As the competition progressed, Taj Burrow fell by the wayside, as did reigning World Champion Joel Parkinson, both from Australia.
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Mick Fanning needs to place third or higher in the final event of the year, the Billabong Pipe Masters, to secure a world title. Šasp/Kirstin
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Jordy Smith, a Durban-born Cape Town resident, looked electric. He was
totally hungry and even though his chances of getting back into the race were extremely slim, he fought like a horse. He found some good ones, pulled off big air moves, and performed huge power carves, as only the large-framed surfer can. He was a crowd favourite by far,
with the local spectators cheering him on and willing the underdog through. Jordy came up against Nat Young, from Santa Cruz, in the non-elimination fourth round and was forced into a sudden-death round five. He won the heat against Brazilian surfer Miguel Pupo and once again found himself up against Young in the quarter-finals. Young was feisty in the heat, but Jordy was rampant. It was a surprise when the judges announced it going the way of the wily American, but that’s surfing. Jordy was gracious in defeat.
While Kelly Slater was knocked out of the event, Mick Fanning needed to advance through his quarter-final heat to win the world title. Mick had been on fire all week, and this heat against Kai Otton looked a cinch, without wishing to detract from him. Mick floundered and the world watched with baited breath, but he managed to pick up a good left and cracked it twice off the top. Two massive hits. The wave was underscored and he received 4.10, which resulted in Mick being eliminated, and with that the world title race will now go to the final leg of the World Tour - the Billabong Pipe Masters in Hawaii. Mick was bitterly disappointed, as he thought he had it in the bag. While surfers’ contracts aren’t public knowledge, it is rumoured that surfers can get close to US$1m in bonuses for a world title, making it a bitter pill for Fanning to swallow.
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Kelly Slater suffered a poor result in Portugal and now needs to win the final event of the year, the Billabong Pipeline Masters, if he wishes to claim a world title. ŠASP/Cestari
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The World Championship Tour now moves on to Hawaii, from 8 to 20 December, where there will be three events, of which the Billabong Pipe Masters will be part of the World Championship Tour. Fanning
and Slater will once again battle it out at this event. For Slater to win the world title he will need to win the Pipe Masters and Fanning needs to place worse than third place. If Fanning places third or higher, he wins, regardless of where Slater finishes. The problem with the Billabong Pipeline Masters is that it runs on a very different system to the rest of the year. Due to the nature of the location - the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii - and the incredibly talented specialist surfers who reside there, the event has a large number of local wildcard surfers allowed into this event. This often skews the result quite dramatically, as surfers on the World Tour are not as experienced or as savvy about the treacherous break as the local surfers are, and more often than not seasoned competitors get eliminated by local kids. It’s a controversial system with faults, but for now that’s how the system is and the only way to deal with it is to work with it as best they can. Slater has a history of Pipe Masters titles behind him, while Fanning doesn’t. It’s going to be a dramatic finish, to say the least. The Billabong Pipeline Masters, along with the other two Hawaiian events - the Vans World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach and the Reef Hawaiian Pro in Haleiwa - comprise the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. This is the most prestigious award outside of the world title, and Jordy Smith has his sights firmly set on victory. “There is nothing I want more right now than to get a Triple Crown,” said Smith. “I’ve had a good year, but it would be an even better way to finish.” Smith is a standout at both venues - Sunset Beach and Haleiwa - and the chances of a determined Smith winning the Triple Crown are extremely good. “I’m going to have a go,” said Smith of his Triple Crown aspirations. “What have I got to lose?” For more on the Hawaiian leg, go to www.aspworldtour.com
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