HIGH ACTION DEFINED Final Six Rounds Of Rip Curl Pro Search Puerto Rico Go Down In History — And Not Just Because
Of Kelly’s 10th World Title By Nick McGregor
It isn’t easy to cover an ASP World Tour competition strictly from a blow-by-blow perspective. And with the Top 36 showing up on extended East Coast shores for the first time in surfing history, easy identification of the best competitors in the world and their ultra-progressive maneuvers and mind-boggling combinations presented an even tougher challenge to straight contest reportage. Shoot, in the space of one 30-minute heat, any salivating surf fan could witness kegging barrels, pristine open-face carves, committed closeout bashes, and above-the-lip experimentation — sometimes, depending on the surfer, even on the same wave.
So rather than provide heat-by-heat statistics, as we did for the more low-key and by-the-book Rounds One and Two, we’ll let the ridiculous photographic evidence from Rounds Three, Four, and Five, along with the bewildering performances laid down in the Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Final, tell the real story. And before you click through and say Puerto Rico and Middles didn’t offer up a beautiful enough canvas for these titans of the surf world to lay down their futuristic lines, peep this quote from Rip Curl Pro Search runner-up Bede Durbidge, one of probably 30 or so World Tour surfers celebrating their maiden voyage to Isla del Encanto:
“There are such great waves in Puerto Rico, and Middles was such a great venue to have an event,” Durbidge said. “There are good barrels, high-performance waves, it’s got power — and we didn’t even get a good swell! Kelly [Slater] and I were talking in the final about how [the ASP] needs to make this a permanent event.”
If there’s one thing the ASP has prided itself on this year, it’s listening and responding to the surfers’ demands. So hopefully we’ll see you next year for the Rip Curl Borinquen Pro.
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
