Grote swell verwacht voor de Billabong Pipe Masters
Nog een dag wachten en dat start de Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons die gehouden wordt van 8 december tot 20 december. En de vooruitzichten zien er goed uit, een grote swell wordt verwacht op de openingsdag van het evenement. Dus waarschijnlijk worden morgen de eerste heats gesurft.
Kelly Slater heeft zijn elfde titel al te pakken, maar dit haalt de druk toch niet helemaal van zijn schouders. Hij heeft al een jaar niet gesurft in de Pipeline en hij wil dit evenement zeker winnen.
“In theory, having won the title in San Francisco takes the pressure off a lot, but there’s a big swell coming,” aldus Kelly Slater. “There’s been nothing to prepare on and I haven’t been there even if there was. It’s going to go from zero to 10 here pretty quick in the next few days and there’s not going to be a whole lot of waves to free-surf beforehand. The pressure is off, so I don’t have to worry about that, but the anxiety building up to surfing the Pipe contest is a lot. I haven’t felt it until sitting here today thinking about it, but it’s exciting and I can’t wait to get in the water. The pressure’s not there (for the ASP World Title), but there is the excitement, the anxiety and getting rid of the nerves after a year of not surfing Pipe.”
Kelly Slater die al meerdere malen het evenement bij Pipeline wist te winnen, legt ook uit dat de grote swell de strategie voor de deelnemers waarschijnlijk zal veranderen.
“It’s a whole different deal, you kind of have to make a decision,” verklaart Kelly Slater. “Everyone would love to get one of those second-reef bombs in their heat. The truth is, they are heats and you get scored so the chance of getting out there and getting a second reef wave and maximizing your scoring potential at Pipeline probably isn’t going to happen. It’s been a long time since someone’s had a second-reef Pipe wave in a contest, but it’d be nice to see.”
Taj Burrow is al enige tijd in Hawaii om zich voor te bereiden op het evenement. Hij wist tevens de eerste Vans Triple Crown, The Reef Hawaiian Pro, te winnen. Maar verteld dat deze swell heel anders is dan wat hij de afgelopen weken tegen is gekomen/
“It looks like the surf is only going to get better, so I’m getting excited,” verteld Taj Burrow. “I’ve been surfing out there a lot, but it’s mainly only been rippable little turns, so I’m looking forward to getting some barrels. It’ll be fun. Big Pipe is pretty intimidating, it’s scary for sure, but it’s awesome at the same time. I’m excited to surf such an incredible wave with just a few guys out.”
“I was definitely thinking about the Triple Crown on route to Hawaii,” aldus Taj Burrow. “In the past Joel Parkinson won it a lot, and it seemed like he won it with ease and I noticed a few of the guys weren’t doing it this year. Triple Crown was something I really wanted to do and I want to win it. It’s looking like a good race with John John (Florence) and Adam (Melling) getting some good results, so it should prove to be an exciting finish.”
John John Florence, winnaar van de Vans World Cup, staat momenteel bovenaan de rankings van de Vans Triple Crown. Hij ziet de wedstrijd met een grote glimlach tegemoet want Pipeline is zijn home break.
“It should be fun, we haven’t really had a Pipe swell this year and it’s looking like this will be the first real swell, so no one has had the chance to surf it yet,” vertelt een breed lachende John John Florence. “There’s definitely pressure. I live there and surf there everyday and I don’t want to lose first heat. I want to have fun out there surfing with only three other guys in the water, it’s amazing.”
De Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons is vanaf morgen live via de webcast te volgen via: http://vanstriplecrownofsurfing.com/billabongpipemasters2011
Maar uiteraard zullen wij hier ook dagelijks een melding van maken.
[vimeo id=”33193860″ w=”630″]
Billabong Pipe Masters Ronde 1:
Heat 1: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) vs. Marcus Hickman (HAW)
Heat 2: CJ Hobgood (USA) vs. Kekoa Bacalso (HAW)
Heat 3: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. Evan Valiere (HAW)
Heat 4: Travis Logie (ZAF) vs. Bruce Irons (HAW)
Heat 5: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Ian Walsh (HAW)
Heat 6: Chris Davidson (AUS) vs. Kai Barger (HAW)
Heat 7: Daniel Ross (AUS) vs. Aamion Goodwin (HAW)
Heat 8: Dane Reynolds (USA) vs. Jamie O’Brien (HAW)
Heat 9: Kolohe Andino (USA) vs. Laurie Towner (AUS)
Heat 10: Willian Cardoso (BRA) vs. Shane Dorian (HAW)
Heat 11: Tanner Gudauskas (USA) vs. Jack Freestone (AUS)
Heat 12: Mason Ho (HAW) vs. Hank Gaskell (HAW)
Billabong Pipe Masters Ronde 2:
Heat 1: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 2: Miguel Pupo (BRA) vs. TBD
Heat 3: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 4: John Florence (HAW) vs. TBD
Heat 5: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. TBD
Heat 6: Raoni Monteiro (BRA) vs. TBD
Heat 7: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. TBD
Heat 8: Adam Melling (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 9: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 10: Dusty Payne (HAW) vs. TBD
Heat 11: Tiago Pires (PRT) vs. TBD
Heat 12: Jadson Andre (BRA) vs. TBD
Billabong Pipe Masters Rounde 3:
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 2: Alejo Muniz (BRA) vs. TBD
Heat 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. TBD
Heat 4: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 5: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. TBD
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. TBD
Heat 7: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. TBD
Heat 8: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. TBD
Heat 9: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 10: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. TBD
Heat 11: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 12: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. TBD
VANS TRIPLE CROWN TOP 3:
1. John John Florence (HAW) 9,780 pts
2. Adam Melling (AUS) 9,650 pts
3. Michel Bourez (PYF) 8,480 pts
ASP WORLD TITLE TOP 5:
1. Kelly Slater (USA) 63,350 pts
2. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 48,600 pts
3. Owen Wright (AUS) 47,900 pts
4. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 43,700 pts
5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 42,200 pts
