WHE RE THE W I LD THINGS ARE
The 2014 J-Bay Open
Enter
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The gates weren’t very pearly, but the other side was just the same. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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Yeah, there they are. P H O T O : D J S T R U N T Z
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2014 J-BAY OPEN
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CONTEST OVERVIEW
EARLY ROUNDS
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WIN OR HOW FA R DID YOU SAY TH AT SA FA RI WAS AGA IN?
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FREESURF & WILDLIFE PEAC EFUL PREDATORS
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LATE ROUNDS
CURREN VS OCCY
APEX PREY
HAS A N YB O DY S E E N B R ET T SIMP S ON ?
OLD EN OU GH TO BE YOUR DAD, STILL BETTER THA N YOU AT S U RF ING
SH ARK DIVING W ITH KELLY SLATER
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FINAL
WCT RANKINGS
P ERFECT IS AS P ERFECT DOES
AFTER TH E END OF TH E 2014 FIJI PRO
S U B S C R I B E C H O O S E
Y O U R
V I C E
YES
NO
single-move keeper clips into the sky in one
and now our greatest rockers are
big, freesurfing circle jerk, and it wouldn’t
trying to put today’s rebels in a
Kai Neville can shoot a year’s worth of
IT’S ONLY COMPETITION
We built this city on rock and roll,
school uniform.” touch the drama of a WCT season.” IT’S ONLY COMPETITION
touch the drama of
FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH: Surfers from both sides of the stable have their say
J O S H K E R R : S u r f i n g i s a l i f e s t yle t hat i s a l s o my c a r e e r. L i ke a s p o r t it ’s c o mp e t it ive , but o ut s i d e o f t h e c o mp e t it ive r e a l m it ’s t o t a l ly a n a r t f o r m . B ut ma i n ly, it ’s j u s t f u n . I t ’s s o m e t h i n g I ’ l l b e d o i n g t i l l t h e d ay I d i e . Y
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Josh, Australia. See the full sequence on page 116. S
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PHOTO: COREY WILSON
WELL, IS IT
FROM THE HORSE
JOSH KERR: Surf c o mp e t it ive , b u t B u t m a i n ly, it ’s j
Josh, Australia. S
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I LET'S SAY IT IS
+ SURFING READERS' POLL: We asked, you answered + ANCHORMAN: Joe Turpel. "You stay classy!"
LET'S SAY I
+ SURFING READE
+ THE CASE FOR A CONDENSED SEASON: Jimmicane makes his plea + WHY IS THE TOUR STILL SO BLACK AND WHITE?
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single-move keepe
big, freesurfing circ
WELL, IS IT? Y
YES
Kai Neville can sho
+ ANCHORMAN: J
+ THE CASE FOR A
+ WHY IS THE TOU
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YEARS OF
YEARS OF
SEP
SEP
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2 0 1 4
2 0 1 4
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WHAT TEAM AR E YOU ON?
WH AT TEAM AR E YO U ON ?
THE PROS AND THE PEOPLE H AV E T H E I R S AY
THE PROS AND THE PEOPLE H AV E T H E I R S AY
ISSUE
ISSUE
# 9 2014
# 9 2014
DIGITAL
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EDITORIAL Editor | ZANDER MORTON Creative Director | CHATO AGANZA Photo Editor | PETER TARAS Assistant Everything | JIMMY WILSON Art Director | NOA EMBERSON Online Editor | BRENDAN BUCKLEY Editor-at-Large | TAYLOR PAUL Editor-at-Large | BEAU FLEMISTER
PHOTOS Dj Struntz Steve Sherman
WORDS BY Brendan Buckley INTERNS: JACOB COPPES, ANTOINE JUSTES, N I C K L I OT TA & G R E G GYS E L I N C K COVER PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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THE BATTLE CONTINUES s u r f i n g m a g a z i n e . c om | #tigervsbear
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#9 #11
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YO U A R E HER E #6 2 01 4 J - BAY OP E N 011
WELCOME TO THE DANCE… SW EET PLAC E . S O WHE R E ’S JEFF?
THE 2014 J-BAY OPEN WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR…
He’s not here right now. Actually, he’s dead. Captain
The waves because they were preposterous. The surf forecast
Jeffreys was a stand-up guy (or a belligerent sailor; history
during the event experienced more dramatic mood changes
is two-sided) in the 1800s. One sunny afternoon, his crew
than a vigorously menopausal woman. But in the end, she came
broke out with scurvy and Jeff had to dock up before his
through as sweet as tupelo honey. The world has a very poor
ship turned into a scene from the The Walking Dead. He
memory and it was pleasant to once again marvel at how perfect
took a liking to the place where he landed and built himself
Jeffreys Bay is. We plan on cherishing these memories until at
a nice little house. When white people decided to rename
least Pipeline of this year.
everything, they renamed the town after him. Tom Curren because he is not from Earth. An ASP heritage
COOL. IS THAT GUY SPEAKING ENGLISH? Which guy? Oh, him… maybe. South Africa has 11 official languages. The most common first language in South Africa is Zulu (23%), followed by Xhosa (16%), then Afrikaans (14%). English is fourth (9.6%), but it’s spoken in most cities and is the go-to in both the government and the media. South African English sounds a little bit like UK English, a fair amount like a Dutchman’s English and a whole lot like American English — provided that said American is blacked out in the back of a taxi and is barking orders at the nearest drive-through window.
GOT IT. WHY DIDN’T WE COME HERE LAST YEAR? Went to Keramas instead. A lack of sponsorship dollars saw one of the best waves in the world disappear from tour in 2012 and 2013. In 2014, we ended the one-year fling with Bali and returned to South Africa. Nobody objected, besides a few boardshort designers.
heat pitted Tom against Mark Occhilupo. Two of the best ever at sizzling J-Bay? Please, continue. Curren got the best of his old sparring partner and fantastically so — perfect 10 and all. “He could have beaten guys in the main event,” people romanced afterwards. That might be a tad hyperbolic — let’s steer clear of whatever mind-altering substances Tom’s eaten. That time Miguel Pupo jumped off a bridge because it was funny. The world’s tallest bungee jump is about an hourand-a-half drive from Jeffreys Bay. With a lump of lay days in the middle of the event, time off was not time wasted. Competitors and staff ditched that whole I don’t want to be a tourist thing and stayed busy. Many boxes on the bucket list were ticked. That lion because it’s a fucking lion. The lay days also saw no shortage of safaris. It’s Africa, remember? The surfing because it was beautiful. J-Bay demands a unique brand of surfing. The wave is so long, so steep, so speedy. You have to
LAST QUESTION: CAN I GO LEFT?
go 85mph in the left lane (130 kph in the right) and build a story out
Absolutely not.
of each wave. Float when you have to float, turn when you want to turn, tuck when you need to tuck — but never take the foot off the gas. Many surfers fell prey to always thinking ahead and not committing to a single turn. Stuck in thoughts about the future while the present buzzes by, something we can all relate to.
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2014 J-BAY OPEN
PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
CAN WE START CALLING IT A WORLD TITLE RACE? We can and we will. Gabriel Medina is the gentleman’s
lowest results, he has the exact same tally as Gabe. Mean-
pick for 2014. He’s proven his mettle in the year’s worst
while, Michel has two wins but needs to be more consis-
events to be a 20-year-old Brazilian goofyfooter. And now,
tent. Taj and Joel have strung together a tally of keepers,
the back half of the year is studded with venues where
but both guys need to win an event if they want to be taken
Gabe can thrive. But Joel Parkinson, Mick Fanning, Taj
seriously. It’s going to be a long year.
Burrow and Michel Bourez are still very threatening for very different reasons — when you throw away Mick’s two
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EARLY ROUNDS
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W I N O R H OW FA R D I D YO U SAY TH AT SA FA RI WAS AGA I N ?
Dion Atkinson’s got sunshine on a cloudy day. And when it’s cold outside, he’s got this wave at J-Bay. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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Clifton James Hobgood. PHOTO: SHERM
‘Scuse me, ma’am. Sebastian Zietz. PHOTO: SHERM
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Don’t start off on the right foot. Start off with the right foot — and the tail — above the lip. John John Florence started with a win over Bede Durbidge and Jeremy Flores in Round 1. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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He was defending back-to-back wins at J-Bay. He was the crowd favorite. He earned the year’s highest heat total in Round 1.
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He’s Jordy Smith, and he lost in Round 3. PHOTOS: DJ STRUNTZ
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W a
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f l o a t o
n Owen Wright, especially. PHOTO: SHERM
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Wishful thoughts. PHOTO: SHERM
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And wishful thinking. PHOTO: SHERM
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Gabriel Medina lead the rankings going into J-Bay, but that didn’t mean he had a target on his back. Instead, an orange jersey — the ASP’s fruity way of declaring its current leader. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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Kelly Slater. PHOTO: SHERM
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Mick Fanning was born ready, but he wasn’t born in that cloak. P H O T O : S H E R M
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The lines were so long...
PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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Kolohe Andino, is this a mind game or a merry prank? Either way, it worked. PHOTO: SHERM
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Kelly Slater casually won his Round 1 heat, then lost in Round 3 with just as much nonchalance. Sometimes, a flash of brilliance is better than a glow of mediocrity — just not for world titles. PHOTOS: DJ STRUNTZ
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Prayers
PHOTOS: SHERM
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and answers with CJ Hobgood. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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Tangled up in bruh
Joel Parkinson nearly drowned. After he fell on a wave, Parko’s jersey knotted around his arms and head, rendering him useless and scaring the 9.17 out of him. PHOTOS: SHERM
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Good enough for a 9.17 — but not good enough to beat Kai Otton. See you in Round 2, Mr. Parkinson. PHOTOS: DJ STRUNTZ
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Round 3, Heat 6: Matt Wilkinson: 18.36 | Kelly Slater: 15.37 PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ 038
Round 3, Heat 11: CJ Hobgood: 14.00 | Jordy Smith: 13.87 PHOTO: SHERM 039
FR EESU RF & PEAC E FU L P R E DATO R S Kolohe Andino, another color in the sky. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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W I L DL I FE
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PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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John John Florence. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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Kolohe Andino. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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500 MINUTES John John Florence surfed for over eight hours straight on one particular lay day. This is why. PHOTOS: DJ STRUNTZ
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This animal stole Jordy Smith’s boardshort design. PHOTO: STRUNTZ
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Guess we should talk about the elephant in the room. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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Let’s talk about race
It’s a marathon, not a sprint, but this guy better hurry up. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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The king of the jungle. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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If you got it, flaunt it. Filipe Toledo and a boastful rotation. PHOTOS: DJ STRUNTZ
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Kolohe Andino, to the flats. PHOTOS: DJ STRUNTZ
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Crossing swords
What happens in the bush, stays in the bush. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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This doesn’t feel right
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Miguel Pupo walked up and around the point to remind himself what it feels like to go left — apparently, pretty good. PHOTOS: DJ STRUNTZ
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PHOTOS: DJ STRUNTZ
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Clean steps. PHOTO: SHERM 062
Fresh cuts. PHOTO: SHERM 063
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PHOTOS: SHERM
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LATE R OU ND S
4- S E M I S
H AS A N Y B O DY S E E N B RETT S IMP S ON?
J-Bay isn’t particularly sweet to goofyfooters, but Owen Wright didn’t seem to mind. PHOTO: SHERM
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Congrats! Up until this event, Matt Wilkinson had only made one WCT heat in 2014. So we decided to get him some flowers. PHOTO: SHERM
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Adriano De Souza has officially graduated from being the guy you don’t want to draw in small waves to the guy you don’t want to draw ever. Josh Kerr drew him in Round 5 — ask him how it went. PHOTO: SHERM
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This ain’t CrossFit. CJ Hobgood brags about how many miles he did on the exercise bike. The crowd, as per usual, is wildly unimpressed. PHOTO: SHERM
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Dad, look! This was one of the first WCT events that Alejo Muniz’s pops attended with him. Coincidence that Alejo got his best result of the year, a 5th? We think not. PHOTOS: SHERM
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Gabriel Medina, part 1. PHOTOS: DJ STRUNTZ
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And Gabriel Medina, part 2. Any questions as to why this 20-year-old is the current rankings leader? PHOTOS: DJ STRUNTZ
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Nice guys th finish 9
Freddy P. backhanded a path all the way to Round 5, where he eventually fell to Mick Fanning. Instead of punching things after the loss, Freddy gave his board to a random kid. PHOTOS: DJ STRUNTZ
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Single digits
The moment before the moment before the moment that Kolohe Andino lost to Taj Burrow. Still, the result was enough to scoot Kolohe into the Top 10. PHOTO: SHERM
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I see you. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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Julian Wilson and Mick Fanning. PHOTO: SHERM
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Leave a key under the mat. Taj Burrow, backdoor. PHOTOS: DJ STRUNTZ
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There’s a reason why all these houses were built. Can you guess what it is? PHOTO: SHERM
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Head to toe
From the bottom turn to the hair, it was hard not to think about Occy when watching Matt Wilkinson surf J-Bay this year. And it worked — Wilko’s 3rd place result leapfrogged him 12 spaces in the ratings. PHOTOS: DJ STRUNTZ
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It’s hard to put a number on perfection...
PHOTO: SHERM
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9.00
Mick Fanning. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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CURREN VS Old enough to be your dad, still better than you at surfing. PHOTO: SHERM
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S O C CY 095
Occ, Occ Occing on heaven’s door. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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There are very few instances in which the word “beautiful� is in play to describe surfing.
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Tom Curren getting a perfect 10 at J-Bay is one of them. PHOTOS: DJ STRUNTZ
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A 100
Kelly Slater slips a few links down on the food chain. P H O T O : D J S T R U N T Z
P EX PREY 101
The cold shoulder.
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Dorsal fin, rather. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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Aren’t they graceful when they’re not ripping human flesh into tiny pieces of death? PHOTOS: DJ STRUNTZ
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FI N P E RF E CT IS AS
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NAL PERFE CT DO ES
PHOTO: SHERM 107
Cream
Sick towel, Mick Fanning. PHOTO: SHERM
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and sugar
Sweet boots, Joel Parkinson. PHOTO: SHERM
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Parking lots
Joel Parkinson found plenty of empty spaces in the Parking Lot section of Jeffreys Bay this event. Here he is, front row. PHOTOS: DJ STRUNTZ
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Not so humble beginnings Mick opened with a 9.00 and never looked back — not even when he was doing a turn. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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After surfing three 35-minute heats and a 45-minute final, Mick Fanning said he was too tired for a chairup. Instead, he settled for a simple hug. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
Parko and daughter. PHOTO: SHERM
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We are all winners Except for Joel Parkinson and everyone else. PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
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Eruptions. PHOTO: SHERM
PHOTO: SHERM
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WCT R A NKI N GS AFTER THE END OF THE 2014 J-BAY OPEN
M EN ’ S 01. 02 . 03. 04 . 05 . 06 . 07. 08 . 09 . 10 . 11. 12 . 13. 14 . 15 . 16 . 17. 17.
Gab r i e l M e d i n a Jo el Pa r k i n s on M ic k Fa n n i n g Taj B u r row M ic h e l B ou rez Ke lly S l ate r Ad ria n o d e S ou za N at You n g Ko loh e A n d i n o Jos h Ke r r Owe n Wr i g h t Jo rd y S mi t h Jo hn J oh n F l ore n ce Be de D u r b i d g e Ju lia n Wi l s on Fre dd y Pata c ch i a J r. CJ Ho b g ood M igu e l Pu p o
WOME N’ S 1 9. 2 0. 21. 21. 2 3. 24 . 2 5. 2 6. 2 7. 2 8. 2 8. 2 8. 31 . 31 . 33. 34 . 34 . 36.
Sebastian Z ietz Filipe Toledo Matt Wilk inson Adam Melling A lejo Muniz Adrian B uchan Mitch C rews Kai O tton Travis Logie J adson A ndre A ritz A ranburu Tiago Pires J eremy Flores D ion Atk inson G lenn H all R aioni Monteiro B rett Simpson Mitch C oleborn
01. 02. 03. 04 . 05. 06. 0 7. 08. 09. 10. 10. 12. 13. 13. 13. 16. 1 7. 18.
Ca r issa Mo o re Sa lly Fitzg ib b o n s Ste p h a n ie Gilmo re Tyle r Wr ig h t Ma lia Ma n u e l Bia n c a Bu ite n d a g La key P ete rs o n Dimity Stoyle La u ra En eve r Co u rt n ey Co n lo g u e Co c o Ho Alessa Qu izo n P a u lin e Ad o Jo h a n n e Defay Nikki Va n Dijk P a ig e Ha re b Ala n a Bla n c h a rd Tat ia n a Westo n -We b b
BIGGEST JUMPS
BIGGEST SLUMPS
Mat t W i l k i n s o n : 12 places A le j o M u n i z : 5 p l a c es Mic k Fa n n i n g : 5 p l aces
M itch Crews: 4 p la c es F i lipe Toledo: 4 p la c es Kelly Slater: 3 p la c es
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#7 NEXT STO P 2 0 1 4 BI LL A B O N G P R O TAH I TI AUG U ST 1 5 -2 6
#6
YOU ARE H ERE 2 0 1 4 J - BAY O P E N 117
thanks for
PHOTO: DJ STRUNTZ
TA M