Pro Surfing and Contests
Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro - Kelly Slater is back!
Well, at least Slater’s back on track for not taking home less than a 17th at the 2009 Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro, which just wrapped up day 2 at Praia Da Vila in Imbituba, Brazil. Slater saw his second heat of the event on Sunday, winning his Round 2 “loser’s round” heat over local Brazilian talent, Bernardo Miranda, by sticking an 8.17 on a fly away frontside 360 reverse. While he failed to back it up with an other major score, Bernardo’s two mid-range scores fell short. Though it still looked like Kelly was trying to get his sealegs back, it’s worth noting that he placed second out of three in his first round heat on a borrowed board, after arriving late to Brazil after several flight detours, and having to contend with his boards missing his flights. Now back on his self-shaped assymetrical quad, he at least showed an element of the Kelly Slater we’ve all grown to know and love. Who would have thought that Kelly Slater would become one of our favorite underdogs? We’ll all be looking forward to his next performance in Round 3, where he’ll be facing off against Australia’s Ben Dunn.
As you either noticed or may have surmised from my The event opted for the old contest format, utilizing the do-over round of Round 2 to allow all competitors a second shot at advancing to the third round. While the second round worked well for a few of the guys who have been held back by the newer single elimination format, others weren’t so lucky.
Several wildcards fell early, beginning with CJ Hobgoods victory over local Brazilian wildcard Guilherme Ferreira. Adriano de Souza (BRA) followed up by taking out another local wildcard, Gustavo Fernandes, and Kelly Slater took down wildcard number three before fortunes changed with Hawaiian frontrunner, Fred Patacchia falling to former World Tour surfer and Brazilian wildcard Neco Padaratz.
South Africans came out in force with sophomore star Jordy Smith, fresh off of his post Mentawais rodeo clown hype, posted the highest heat total of the day over American wildcard and former World Tour surfer Ben Bourgeois, while fellow Saffa Greg Emslie took out Australia’s seemingly unstoppable Jay “Bottle” Thompson. California rookie Nathaniel Curran took a convincing win over Australia’s Kieren Perrow, while Hawaiian rookie Dustin Barca took down Australia’s Drew Courtney. Damien Hobgood followed in the footsteps of his twin brother by knocking out German rookie Marlon Lipke, while Australia’s Dean Morrison took down fellow countryman Nic Muscroft.
The Fronchies were on fire with Jeremy Flores narrowly edging out Australia’s Phillip MacDonald, while Miky Picon nearly comboed Australia’s Kai Otton. Hawaii’s Roy Powers narrowly powered by Basque challenger, Aritz Aranburu, while Australia’s Ben Dunn took an even more narrow lead over local boy, Jihad Khodr. Portugal’s Tiago Pires handily defeated California fan favorite Dane Reynolds, while local boy Heitor Alves topped South Africa’s David Weare after a stuttered start where the two surfers got a double interference call.
Log on to the event website for a complete recap, photos, videos, heat sheets and all the live action, with Round 3 expected to kick off early Monday morning.
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I can’t believe that Dane Reynolds’ inability to win a heat isn’t generating more copy.
This guy was to be the next-Slater, and is losing heats to Tiago Pires and Arritz Aranburu?
I call bullshit. Dane Reynolds is an overrated wimp.
If you watched Kelly’s heat you wouldn’t be saying he’s back. He was far from impressive and only just beat some unknown Brazilian 13 to 11…
Will, read beyond the headline. It’s good to see the guy win a heat again, even if he failed to impress. The never falling Slater did look like he was struggling with the board, with his multiple stumbles. Hard to knock that frontside reverse 60 he pulled on a head high close out though.