Still facing an inconsistent forecast, the competition pressed on in small waves finishing the third round and eliminating another eight surfers. Although the first few heats of the morning got off to a slow start, the winds began to cooperate and the surfers capitalized on the cleaner 2- to 4-foot surf.
Brazilian Storm Surges
While the first 10 minutes of the first heat went without a wave, everybody watched as Joel Parkinson and Wiggolly Dantas chased each other way up the point, some 200 meters farther than anybody surfed the day before. Once things got under way the two surfers began trading low scores back and forth for the first half of the heat, leaving Parko out in front with 15 minutes left in the heat. The goofyfooter then dropped in on a shoulder-high wave, surfing it so smooth and making seven maneuvers—he earned an 8.33. Grabbing two more high six scores, Dantas took the win and eliminated one of the best surfers in J-Bay history.
In the next heat, Brazilian and World No. 1 Adriano de Souza, beat wildcard and fan favorite Dane Reynolds. After seeing Reynolds express his frustrations over the loss with Peter Mel in his post-heat interview, I’d say his competitive drive has shifted gears and we will see the frothy free surfer become a bigger threat than he already is during the European leg of the tour.
Heat eight was an all goofy battle between reigning World Champion Gabriel Medina and Matt Wilkinson, who was the favorite to win going into the heat. Well, after Medina opened with a 9.47, throwing two backside air reverses, all bets were off. Wilkinson answered back early with a 9.57, linking eight turns together down the line. But while Medina scored three 9-point rides and ended with a 9.60, throwing another massive backside air reverse, Wilkinson never found a back-up wave. Gabriel Medina has been struggling this year, but you wouldn’t know it after his performance in that heat, as he landed the largest heat score of the day and the event so far.
The last heat of the day was a Brazilian brawl between World No. 2 Filipe Toledo and wildcard Alejo Muniz—two great surfers with two totally different styles. With the small conditions there was no doubt Toledo was going to take to the air. The only question was if Muniz’s rail game could compete or not.
“If he’s going to beat Filipe he needs to be on the best waves of this heat,” WSL commentator Ross Williams said at the beginning of the heat. And that’s exactly what Muniz did. Each surfer stood up on three waves. Toledo, doing what he does best, posted an 8.90 by pulling off two alley oops on a super-fast chest-high wave.
“Basically, the only exciting move he could have done was an alley oop. The wave was just too fast to pull off a traditional air… making it more critical,” Williams speculated. Ronnie Blakey added, “No one lands airs as clean as Filipe Toledo on the Championship Tour.”
Muniz watched the air show patiently and when it came time to strike he was ready. With 12 minutes to go, an absolute bomb came through, twice as big as any wave that had been ridden all day. Muniz dropped in as the wall stood up overhead. Muniz then laid into rail, managed five huge turns, and finished off with a floater. Surfing the best he could on the best wave of the day earned him the highest single wave score of the day of a 9.80. And in the end it was just enough to edge out Toledo, who lost by 0.60.
Other highlights included rookie Keanu Asing’s win over Josh Kerr, who also used his rail game to better the top seed’s aerial attack, Michel Bourez’s 9.50 to take the win in a 15.67 tie with Bede Durbidge, and Kolohe Andino’s boxing debut, punching out the deck of his board after a frustrating loss to Kelly Slater.
