Newsletter join now Keep in touch with all the latest surf news, green scene and partner info by joining the Drift weekly update. SIGN UP NOW
What are we made of? Drift Magazine is made from ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free) FSC Certified pulp and low VOC vegetable inks. Studio power by Ecotricity and delivery made using Biopower V100 waste oil.
Fanning and Flores waste no time in Rip Curl Pro
by George Mojo
21/06/2007:// Tour leader Mick Fanning and in-form rookie Jeremy Flores wasted no time finding their feet in the opening round of the Rip Curl Pro Chile.
Fanning and Flores set the pace in four to six feet waves and are both through to round three of the World Championship Tour contest.
Fanning, who is better known for his fast, explosive surfing than his barrel riding, snuck into a tube with 13 seconds on the clock to earn the 8.80 that won him the heat. Prior to that wave, Fanning trailed Dean Morrison by 6.50 points.
“I knew I could get the 6.00 or the 7.00 if I could just get the wave,” Fanning said.
“I was looking at those rights all day long and I was lucky that I snuck into one at the end. I didn’t think that wave was going to be all that great, but it sectioned off a bit longer than I thought and I got lucky. I haven’t beaten Dean in so long so I’m stoked to get him back.”
Fanning’s two wave total of 17.57 out of 20.00 was the highest of the day. Pair his Round 1 performance at Ex-Isla Alacran with his final berth in Tahiti and it’s hard to believe that barrel riding has not always been his forte.
“I’ve worked really hard on it,” Fanning said. “I knew that if I was going to have any chance of winning the world title, I’d have to go and practice riding barreling lefts and that’s what I did. I went to Teahupoo early and surfed it everyday and I feel comfortable out there. I came here early too.”
Fanning has made the final in two of three events this year and has won the first contest of the year. His worst finish of 2007 is a 3rd place result in Bells Beach, Australia.
Despite the hype that Fanning looks like he could bring the world title back to Australia for the first time since Mark Occhilupo won it in 1999, the Gold Coast surfer swares he’s taking it all in stride.
“There’s no pressure because it’s a long year and there has only been three events,” Fanning said. “You can’t rest on your laurels when you’ve only had three events. You’ve got to go out there and keep attacking and that’s what I’m doing. I’m not going to stop until the end.”
Flores’ event-high wave score of 9.63 out of 10.00 helped him send Bernardo Miranda and Mick Lowe to the first elimination round today.
The highest rated rookie on tour (he currently sits 9th in the ratings) beat current world number two Taj Burrow in round one of the last stop on tour in Tahiti – the same event in which he eliminated eight-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater in Round four.
“It was just a really peaky wave; there was a right and a left,” Flores said of his high scoring ride.
“Bernardo was in a good spot too, but he didn’t really hassle so I was lucky with that. I took the wave and the opportunity. At the start, I didn’t really see the barrel because it wasn’t too clean, but at the end, it got really round and really good.”
Flores, like several of the surfers competing in the Rip Curl Pro Search Chile, surfed the wave for the first time yesterday. He was pleased with the quality of the break.
“Last year, I saw the waves they had in Mexico and heard Rip Curl say, ‘we’re going to try to find the best waves in the world,’ so I was positive they were going to find a really good wave for this year,” Flores said. “It is a sick wave and I think we’re really lucky to be here.”
Defending Rip Curl Pro Champion Andy Irons wasn’t feeling quite as lucky when fellow Hawaiian Pancho Sullivan took out their Round one heat.
Sullivan, who is large in stature and generally revels in bigger, heavier waves, was delighted to surf such a powerful break.
“I love surfing meaty waves that really get the adrenaline going,” Sullivan said. “You’ve got to really position yourself late to get a good barrel here – every takeoff is critical. That’s what this whole tour is about – pushing the level of performance in heavier, consequential waves. I think this is an incredible move by Rip Curl to create an event like this where the objective is to roam the planet and find the best waves possible.”
Burrow, like Irons, will also negotiate round two after finishing second in his three-man heat.
Wildcard Kekoa Bacalso beat Burrow and rookie Ben Dunn to advance to round three.
Bacalso has already enjoyed a certain amount of success in the elite tour arena – he’s claimed the scalps of a couple full-time Foster’s ASP World Tour surfers during his stints as a wildcard.
Slater also won his heat today. Coming into the event rated World number six the eight-time ASP World Champion hinted that he almost skipped the event but changed his mind when he saw the outstanding swell forecast for the June 20 to July 1 waiting period.
“I’m basically motivated to be here by the quality of swell and the wave that we get to surf – the combination of the two,” Slater said. “Coming to Chile too – this is the first time we’ve had a tour event in Chile and I thought that because of that, it would be important to be here and see what it was all about and meet the people.”
Bobby Martinez, Bruce Irons, Raoni Monteiro, Phillip Macdonald, Damien Hobgood, Joel Parkinson and Victor Ribas also won their first ever competitive clashes in Chile today.
Unfavorable winds forced event officials to call off the remaining four heats of round one.
The 2008 Beachley Classic got underway this morning, completing Rounds 1 and 2 as well as the opening two heats of Round 3 at nearby Freshwater Beach in clean two-to-three foot (1 metre) waves
Layne Beachley (AUS), 36, has officially announced her retirement from full-time competition, effective at the end of the year
Former Exeter University student Josh Lewin first heat at the Ocean and Earth Pro in the Canary Islands has been delayed because the 2ft surf was deemed uncontestable
Skype us
.jpg)
.jpg)
Surf art 
Surf environment