What started out as a massive year for Jordy Smith on the ASP, turned out to be a little less exciting than what Jordy and many of his fans hoped for. An injury in the thundering surf of Tahiti, put paid to his World Title hunt, and Jordy slipped a few spots down the ranking while recuperating. Still, it was a great year, and this is how it went up to this point.
The first event of the year is always an exciting event where the performance levels are set and everyone is chomping at the bit to impress the judges. The Gold Coast usually provides good waves, and the atmosphere is always strong and positive. Slater won the event from Taj, and Jordy came in third.
The next event was the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, which is renowned for good waves, cold weather and a massive party atmosphere. The waves did come, although some of the competition was moved down the road to Winkipop, where the sets were better than Bells. Parko came on strong in this event, taking out Mick Fanning in the final, while Jordy quietly banked another third.
Rip Curl Pro Bells beach highlights
The Billabong Pro Rio was plagued with average conditions, and it was no surprise that Adriano de Souza took it. He displayed good skills in the small surf and whipped every wave to the beach, using his diminutive frame to get as much as he could from every wave. Taj Burrow placed second and Jordy Smith came in with a disappointing 13th place.
The most dramatic event of the year so far was definitely the Billabong Pro at Teahupo’o in Tahiti. The biggest swell of the year at the gnarliest wave on the pro tour was definitely going to be quite a spectacle, and it was.
Then it was on to the Billabong Pro Jeffrey’s Bay. Jordy was the defending champion and was totally psyched on taking another win in front of his home crowd. After the best run of surf Jeffrey’s Bay had seen in years, the tap turned off and the ocean went flat days before the waiting period was set to begin. There was some running up and down the point during contest times, with waves hitting various sections of the Supertubes section, but very few going all the way through from Boneyards to Impossibles. Towards the end of the waiting period the forecast went totally bleak, and all that could be seen was a big blob on the synoptic chart indicating onshore rain. Jordy had been rampant throughout the event however, pulling off ridiculous airs and other new school moves throughout, regardless of the ever-lurking rock shelf. Amongst the pouring rain, Jordy took to the solid onshore waves for the final against Mick Fanning and went crazy, intent on repeating his victory. Which he did, claiming his second World Tour victory in front of a somewhat sparse local crowd. The World Title chase was on.
Billabong Pro JBay Highlights
The most dramatic event of the year so far was definitely the Billabong Pro at Teahupo’o in Tahiti. The biggest swell of the year at the gnarliest wave on the pro tour was definitely going to be quite a spectacle, and it was. There were massive waves for the contest, off-the-scale waves for an in between tow-in day, and the best waves of the year. Jordy was in top form, but was injured in his heat against fellow South African Travis Logie. There was weirdness in their heat, with the heat being stopped during a critical time as a result of his injury, and despite Jordy winning the heat, there was a resurf and Travis Logie beat Jordy and went on to place third in the event. The injury, a serious rib injury, was a lot worse than initially suspected, and Jordy was sidelined for the next few events. Kelly Slater, with Owen Wright in second place, eventually won the event.
Billabong Pro Tahiti highlights
The first event after the Billabong Pro Tahiti was the Quiksilver Pro New York, with some remarkably good waves that would have suited Jordy Smith. Instead the win went to Owen Wright, with Kelly Slater in second in a reversal of the Tahiti results.
Still suffering from the ongoing rib injury, Jordy was forced to sit out the Hurley Pro at Trestles, another event that would have suited his style of surfing perfectly. Weirdly, it was won by Slater, with Wright in second as an exact repeat of the Tahiti final. Slater and Wright thus were the two surfers in three world tour event finals in a row.
The world tour moved over to Europe for the fun-filled and sunny leg of the tour. In great beachbreak waves the Quiksilver Pro was a bit of a turn-up for the books, with young first-time World Tour inductee Gabriel Medina winning the event outright from fellow new-schoolian Julian Wilson.
The tour then moved on to the Peniche Peninsula in Portugal to the wave known as Supertubos, and that’s exactly what the surfers were treated to – super tubes that barreled for a full four days in a row. There were barrels and there were ten point rides and there was some ridiculous surfing and some crazy claiming, with Adriano de Souza winning the event from Kelly Slater. The title looked to be done and dusted, with two events remaining. Jordy came in at 13th in Portugal, and was out of the running for the world title.
The Rip Curl Pro Search event ended up at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, and it was an exciting end to the title race, albeit with a bit of controversy. Kelly was awarded the title a few heats prematurely, but the crown was rightfully his and he now has 11 of them. The event was won once again by the Brazilian upstart Gabriel Medina, causing the surfing world to stop and take a good hard look at the little Brazilian. For years there has been speculation of a Brazilian world champion. Is Medina the chosen one? Jordy ended up with another unlucky 13th place in San Francisco, but is geared up and excited for Hawaii and for the Vans Triple Crown.
For more updates on the upcoming Hawaiian season check out www.triplecrownofsurfing.com.
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