MIDDLES EARTH Raw, Remote North Coast Outpost In Puerto Rico Turns Into Center Of The Surfing Universe
For Rip Curl Pro Search By Nick McGregor
“Is there a contest going on here?” Puerto Rican standout
and Rip Curl Pro Search trialists Wesley Toth asked with mock sarcasm. “Oh
yeah, there’s a WCT at Middles Beach!”
Driving the point home, he added, “It’s like Middles has
become its own entity.”
Believe it or not, Wesley’s claim comes in as a bit of an
understatement after spending a weekend on the sand at Middles, with the best
male and female surfers in the world prowling the contest scaffolding and
decimating the lineup. And that’s not even taking into consideration the
massive influx of Puerto Ricans that descended on this otherwise out-of-the-way
surf spot to see their quiet little corner of the island turn into a full-blown
surfing soiree.
And why wouldn’t they show up? Kelly Slater closing on the
monumental feat of his 10th world title, Aussie wahine wonder
Stephanie Gilmore clinching her 4th consecutive title, hometown hero
Dylan Graves surfing with Puerto Rican passion, East Coasters like CJ and
Damien Hobgood and Gabe Kling fighting for every score, and a host of other
top-tier professionals proclaiming their love for the island at every
opportunity…
And the best part of watching a World Tour contest live in
the flesh? Every wave is muy importante.
Boyfriends stop their girlfriends mid-sentence and say, “Shhh babe, look at that
one.” Forever stoked Aussies exclaim, “Hee
cahmes wun, maate!” And everybody watches every miniscule portion of every
single wave, from the drop to the bottom turn to the crank off the top to the
air on the inside section.
Below the following photos, you’ll find blow-by-blow reports
from all the top heats of Rounds One and Two. Competition looks to kick back
into gear later this week, with Tropical Storm Tomas promising a rare southwest swell
direction and plenty of bona fide Caribbean juice. For now, we’ll leave you
with this nugget from Kelly that eloquently sums up what the 2010 Rip Curl Pro
Search means for Puerto Rico: “I never really thought about clinching my 10th title here,” he said. “But now that it might be a reality, it’s a nice feeling
to have the chance to do it at the first East Coast event we’ve had in at least
20 years.”
Check back to www.EasternSurf.com for further installments from the Rip Curl Pro Search, including full features
on the Women’s World Tour event and Stephanie Gilmore’s World Title-clinching
win, along with a Fight Club on the Rip Curl GromSearch National Champs
And visit www.live.ripcurl.com for detailed results, Heats on Demand, and more photo and video highlights from
the Rip Curl Pro Search
ROUND ONE, HEAT TWO:
1. Dane Reynolds, 14.83
2. Taylor Knox, 11.80
3. Roy Powers, 8.73
Contrary to popular belief, Dane Reynolds doescare — before his heat, he was
spotted applying sunscreen, doing a bit of light stretching, scraping off his
wax, and eagerly observing the lineup. In a way, his mild level of commitment
and stoke is like that of the best surfer at your local beachie — he’s
far more on it than you, but within the normal range of everyday surf behavior.
Maybe that level of relatability
explains why Dane is one of the most popular surfers in the world.
Likewise, Dane’s dominating performance in the water
explains why he’s also one of the most respected surfers in the world. The
Ventura kid opened with a quick barrel for a 6.5, proving that the conditions
out at Middles were pretty much wide open for anything. Taylor Knox answered
with a beautiful floater, which became the set-up maneuver of the day, before
wrapping one of his huge man turns to lodge a 5.50. Then Dane busted out a full
e-brake pull right in the most critical part of the pocket, slashing his tail
sideways before swinging it back around at the top of an overhead wave to nail
an 8.33. And with three minutes remaining, a huge set rolled through, with Roy
Powers finally answering the call to get a 4.90 and Taylor going for it on a
big closeout. All the while, Dane waited patiently out the back to maintain
priority. See Ma? Dane does care.
ROUND ONE, HEAT THREE: 1. Tiago Pires, 13.70
2. Taj Burrow, 13.40
3. Luke Munro, 10.60
The biggest upset of the morning, Portugal’s Tiago Pires
kicked things off with an impossibly long barrel, bringing the whole
scaffolding to its feet at 8:45 a.m. while the commentators remarked that,
“This is why we are here on The Search!” Tiago bagged the highest score of the
morning, and 8.87, but couldn’t get anything going after that, allowing Taj
Burrow to take the lead with a 6.33 and a 7.07. Luke Munro laid down a sick top
turn to barrel combo for a 5.67, but Tiago snuck back into first with a 4.83,
forcing Taj to go for broke with a last-second air-reverse that didn't work out.
ROUND ONE, HEAT FOUR:
1. Mick Fanning, 14.10
2. Gabe Kling, 12.93
3. Patrick Gudauskas, 11.70
In the first East Coast duel of the day, Mick kicked the
heat off by immediately paddle battling Gabe — perhaps because he knew
Kling would have a bit of an advantage? But it was worth the hassle, since Mick
followed up a big speed run with three tough critical cracks and a white-lightning
fins flash for a 7.67. Gabe hucked a huge floater up on the roof of a
double-overhead wave for a 7.00, following it up with a 5.93, but Mick’s
man-turn blitz for a 6.43 sealed the deal. Eternal nice guy Pat G. got a late
7.20 for a series of top-turns to airdrops, but it just wasn’t enough to
overcome the defending ASP world champion.
Yes, Puerto Rican wildcard Dylan Graves almost beat Jordy
Smith in their opening round. Dylan walked way up the beach next
to Middles’ eastern rock outcropping to get a little solitude before paddling
out, and from then on, every competitor realized that was probably the best
route to the lineup. Unfortunately, Jordy opened his account on wave #1 with a
nasty air-reverse off of an impossible section for a 6.33, before he
uncharacteristically fell on his second wave. But that didn’t rattle the big
Saffa, as he snuck into a quick barrel and capped it off with a double grab for
a 6.57 early in the heat.
Dylan wasn’t going to go gently into that good night, though.
The local boy pulled into a clean opening barrel and finished with a closeout
bash for a 6.33, before another quick inside, local-knowledge-only, barrel popped
up for him right off the drop. Everyone thought it would be the 6.57 he needed
to overtake Jordy, but it only came in at a 5.83. Maybe a lowball
score, but as a wildcard, you’re always going to have to exceed expectations.
On his next wave, Dylan threw up a flurry of hard turns, but again got a 5.87.
Either way, Dylan still emerged from the water wrapped in a Puerto Rican
flag with hundreds of Boricuas mobbing him with congratulations.
ROUND ONE, HEAT SIX:
1. Kelly Slater, 16.27
2. Daniel Ross, 13.40
3. Dillon Perillo, 11.80
Kelly received huge cheers, standing ovations, and shouts of
“Saludos!” as he jogged down the beach to paddle out in the same spot as Dylan.
But Daniel Ross kicked the heat off by stealing the limelight right after the
buzzer, immediately dropping into one of the biggest waves of the contest to
quickly earn a 4.0. A few minutes later, Dan did a big layback snap right in
Kelly’s face for a 6.17, and a few grumbles of anxiety seeped up from the
crowd. But then Kelly did what Kelly does: destroy a right with two massive
blowtails for a 7.6.
Then Kelly nailed a fins-free tailsliding gash, a classic
moment of Slater insanity that seemed spontaneous and well planned all at once
and earned The Champ a 7.53. But that high score was dropped when Kelly dropped
into a barrel, linked several tough sections, and ended with the sickest
layback snap of the contest for an 8.67. Even with the waves becoming more
closed out and the wind picking up, Kelly still made it look easy to the
delight of everyone on the beach. And what more could you ask for?
Easily the tightest exchange of the day, this one was too
hard to call from the beach, with Dusty aggressively smacking lips like he was
back at his Maui reefbreak home to earn a high score of 7.87, while Freddy P.’s
vicious backhand kept him in the running with a 7.93. But Bede’s two
6-somethings sealed the deal, with a blowtail at the end of the heat locking it
down.
ROUND ONE, HEAT
EIGHT: 1. Owen Wright, 13.50
2. Luke Stedman, 7.37
3. Andy Irons, 0.00
Owen Wright won, but his victory has been overshadowed by Andy Irons' untimely death.
ROUND ONE, HEAT TEN:
1. Jeremy Flores, 13.50
2. Damien Hobgood, 11.00
3. Matt Wilkinson, 8.67
A repeat of the heat before, Flores unleashed several huge
open-face carves on his forehand, while Damo and Wilko both had trouble
adjusting on their backhand. Damien even had a good wave that was slightly
marred by the pesky ol’ leash-around-the-front-foot trick, forcing him to push
things further than otherwise necessary to make up for lost ground. “The waves
were a little worse in Damo’s heat,” CJ Hobgood said of his brother. “It’s just
a hard angle, and if you don’t get a good wave, it’s not going to be easy to
surf it on your backhand.”
ROUND ONE, HEAT
ELEVEN:
1. CJ Hobgood, 15.50
2. Tom Whitaker, 13.5
3. Jadson Andre, 10.17
Another seesaw battle, CJ avenged the goofyfoot curse by
throwing down a huge feathering backside rock ‘n’ roll floater that nudged him
into first place with an early 6.73. Aussie stylist Tommy Whits tried to look
better on his forehand, linking some carving hacks of his own for a 5.90,
before CJ pulled some of the most ridiculously critical backside foam climbs
I’ve ever seen, attacking sections with a vengeance to retake the lead with a
7.33. Whitaker followed CJ on the next wave with the biggest floater of the
event, an absolute roof dropper that he landed and squared off into two more
good turns, getting a 7.6 that wasn’t quite enough. Brazilian wunderkind Jadson
Andre tried to find a few lefts to throw down his trademark frontside
air-reverses, but relegated to surfing big rights, Jadson looked a little timid
on his backside, clearly not showing the same commitment that CJ did. “A lot of
heats throughout the year, you paddle in and go, ‘Wow, I didn’t even have a
chance out there,’” CJ laughed. “At least out here it’s fun to surf and you
have a bunch of opportunities.
The men went out on Sunday after the women ran through their
first few rounds of competition, but unfortunately the conditions were worse
than Day One, with a slightly smaller two- to four-foot swell coupled with a
ripping sideshore wind. But it was still plenty rippable, as Taj displayed with
a blowtail for a 7.6, followed by a massive alley-oop 360 that he almost landed
and a Tom Carroll-style exaggerated tube stall.
Then came the biggest heat of the day: Dylan’s second chance
at World Tour redemption.On his first wave, he chased down a
big set, drove hard around the corner, and busted a big floater for a 6.67 that
had everybody on their feet. Ace answered quickly with a series of surgical
backside schwacks for a 5.00, but Dylan got a big wrapping cutback and stylish
drop-arm tailslide for a 4.67. As if by design, Ace broke his board with 7:30
left in the heat — a quick exchange with his caddy on the beach ensued,
but it’s hard to recover from a setback like that, and Ace showed it.
Dylan then put together three beautiful, well-linked turns,
eliciting more huge cheers from the beach and earning him a 6.43. Ace went on a
last-minute bomb, but didn’t get the score required, and within seconds the
beach started feeling the love. Dylan gave up a few fist pumps and celebratory
splashes from the lineup, and the rabid Puerto Ricans on the beach started
running to the water to greet their new hero. Amid drumbeats, whistles, cheers,
and chants, Dylan was chaired up the beach with a Puerto Rican flag around his
shoulders, and the energy swelling around him was amazing. Mom Barbie came in
for a hug, Dylan’s little brother was hoisted over the railing for his own
high-five, and Dylan found himself snapping photos, signing broken surfboards
and notebooks and boogieboards, and generally giving the hometown fans their
biggest moment of pride in years.
This tit-for-tat battle kept everyone on their toes, with
East Coast surf fans wringing their hands over whom they wanted to win more.
Neither surfer bagged any keeper scores until the back end of the heat, when Gabe
got a 6.0 for two big cracks and followed it up with another huge under the lip
slash that gave him a 6.83. Damo learned from his brother and pulled out a few
foam climb/floater combos, but his two late scores of 5.03 and 5.47 left him in
too big a hole to overcome.
Showing infinite class, at the end of the heat, the two
Rightsiders shared a handshake out the back. And even after losing, Damien
spent 15 minutes coming up the beach smiling, signing autographs, and posing
for photos. The most telling moment of Gabe’s post-heat win? His first embrace
on the beach was with his dad and two siblings, with sister Crystal’s boyfriend
snapping a photo of the happy Kling family cheering on their favorite son less
than three hours from home. “I haven’t gotten through Round Three yet because I keep
coming up against Kelly and Jordy,” Gabe laughed. “So I’m hoping all these
heats will give me good experience. And yeah, my seed’s bad, but luckily Dylan
won, so he’ll get Slater and I’ll get Jordy in Round Three. I don’t know about
Slater out here… he looks unbeatable.”
Bobby was downright ferocious on his backhand in this one,
leaving an under-the-weather Logie on the ropes in a nasty way. “It’s really
messy out there and hard to tell if the wave’s gonna stay clean,” Bobby said. “But
it sucks for Travis; there’s nothing worse than being sick and trying to
compete.”
ROUND TWO, HEAT NINE:
1. Taylor Knox, 13.84
2. Kai Otton, 9.43
Although his heat score doesn’t look that high, Taylor also
snagged the highest score of men’s competition, a 9.57 for several vicious T
Knox gut-buster carves. Guess the old guy’s not slowing down anytime soon,
huh?
ROUND TWO, HEAT TEN: 1. Matt Wilkinson, 10.33
2. Pat Gudauskas, 9.93
Wilko would have lost any other Round Two heat with his
10.33. This hard-fought exchange was a shocker for Pat G., who’s been surfing
strong and cruising the island with the best possible host, Dylan Graves. But
after the heat, announcer Frank “The Voice” Gonzalez gave both competitors big
props for showing the Puerto Rican fans on the beach tons of love.
On the other hand, Tommy Whits could have won any other
Round Two heat with his losing 14.23 total. But Simpo got super aggressive
halfway through the heat, beating sections, throwing it up on top of massive
closeouts, and getting a quick barrel for a 7.3 with time running out to seal
the deal.
17th Annual Quiksilver King Of The Peak Set
To Go Down In Solid Northeast Swell Conditions On November 6th-7th By
Nick McGregor; Captions by Dick “Mez” Meseroll READ MORE…
TENS ACROSS THE BOARD Blue Skies, Thousands Of Surf Fans, Pumping Head-High Peaks, And Red-Hot Performances All Combine For Spectacular Final Day Of Quiksilver Pro New York
STORMY WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY Cory Robbed, Gabe Bounced, Bobby Suspended, Damien And CJ Out, Kelly Swept Straight Into Round Four… What A Couple Of Days In New York
