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