It validated everyones claims that the swell was big, as they announced a King High Tide and kicked everyone off the beach declaring it “too dangerous”. Not too dangerous for the surfers, but all the same they were pushing it right to the boundary with the last sections of their precious waves, taking them precariously close to the rocks.
Following a super early 7am start (that I wasn’t there for) the men hit the water making the most of clean 1.5m swell
Joel Parkinson easily made it through to the next round, eliminating Jeremy Flores (FRA) with an awesome 9.2 right on the siren.
Kelly was working hard for his spot in the next round, just making it through after a low key heat against wildcard Stu Kennedy (AUS) with a 11.34 points of a possible 20.
For the ladies, Silvana Lima (BRA), Carissa Moore (HAW), Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), and Coco Ho (HAW) all won their respective non-elim heats, with Silvana Lima winning the Telstra Power Round award with her 16/20 point effort putting $5,000 in her pocket.
The weather brought up the typical 4 seasons in one day claims, as it went from perfect sunny, to rainy, to windy, to sunny again and clouding up as the crowd headed home.
It finished with the Expression Session, with a collection of the worlds past great surfers having a bit of fun in the waves. They showed that they haven’t lost any of their hey-day talent, as surfing greats doubled up on waves, and pushed their boards to within meters of the rocks, as the waves crashed closer to the famous Bells cliffs.
Results:
Heat # 1
1 12.33 Owen Wright AUS
2 5.90 Gabe Kling USA
Heat # 2
1 16.76 Adriano de Souza BRA
2 10.67 Adam Melling AUS
Heat # 3
2 8.16 Jeremy Flores FRA
1 18.13 Joel Parkinson AUS
Heat # 4
1 13.16 Bede Durbidge AUS
2 12.27 Heitor Alves BRA
Heat # 5
1 16.26 CJ Hobgood USA
2 7.50 Matt Wilkinson AUS
Heat # 6
1 11.34 Kelly Slater USA
2 9.30 Stu Kennedy AUS
Heat # 7
1 13.27 Jordy Smith ZAF
2 12.66 Bobby Martinez USA
Heat # 8
1 14.54 Chris Davidson AUS
2 8.33 Kieren Perrow AUS
Heat # 9
2 9.70 Damien Hobgood USA
1 13.17 Tiago Pires PRT
Heat #10
1 17.67 Michel Bourez PYF
2 13.16 Patrick Gudauskas USA
Heat #11
1 14.27 Jadson Andre BRA
2 8.73 Alejo Muniz BRA
Heat #12
1 13.50 Mick Fanning AUS
2 7.77 Josh Kerr AUS
Womens Results:
1 16.00 Silvana Lima BRA
2 12.33 Chelsea Hedges AUS
3 5.77 Melanie Bartels HAW
Heat # 2
1 14.84 Carissa Moore HAW
3 6.54 Sofia Mulanovich PER
2 11.33 Courtney Conlogue USA
Heat # 3
1 13.57 Stephanie Gilmore AUS
2 10.76 Tyler Wright AUS
3 9.56 Pauline Ado FRA
Heat # 4
2 9.47 Sally Fitzgibbons AUS
1 10.83 Coco Ho HAW
3 8.77 Jessi Miley-Dyer AUS