News
Kelly Slater wins in Tahiti
As the final minute of the final heat expires at Teahupoo, the all day blazing sun is replaced by a dark cloud that rapidly descends upon the lineup. Kelly has won, beating Owen Wright. Black skies and rain momentarily block out the mid day sun, an ominous moment for the rest of the WCT to reflect on what is happening here, before the rain squall passes, giving way to sunshine, hinanos and skinny girls in bikinis. It's all smiles for everyone, especially Kelly, but you can bet that his colleagues were gunning for Owen, and not just because it was his first final.
After an admitted 'mistake' by Kelly in missing the J-Bay contest to surf a massive Fiji swell, he put the old contest jersey on for the US Open and hasn't lost a heat yet. Before Tahiti, Kelly was sitting at 6th in the world title race. The entire top 5 lost before round 3 was over, so with this win today, he'll climb up to the top spot with the marathon leg of the season directly ahead. Over the next 2 or so months the tour will hop around the globe from New York to Trestles to France to Portugal then back to California for the search event in San Francisco. The next few weeks will determine who is gonna be in the hunt for the title. With Kelly seemingly finding his rhythm at the perfect time in the season, you can bet his peers have let out a collective 'aw shit.'
Jordy Smith will likely miss at least one event with his dislocated rib injury suffered against Travis Logie in round 3, keeping him sidelined for 4-6 weeks. For his world title contention, the South African picked the worst time of the year to get injured. If it's any consolation to Jordy, his best mate and traveling partner Travis Logie may have salvaged his tour career by his brilliant showing today. Though he did have to eliminate Jordy in the process, Logie had the best result of his career, after getting a 48 hour notice that he could surf the event due to Bobby Martinez' withdrawal. Arriving late and with no boards, Logie charged his way all through the draw on borrowed equipment, racking up reef cuts and 9 point rides. Now having made the semis, Logie will be sitting right around the bubble with 1 WCT event in New York, and a 6-Star WQS event in Portugal left before the chop. Logie needs to place well in one of them to qualify for the WCT, and with Bobby and Dane committed to surfing that event, his only chance may be in Europe.
The next WCT event begins in a week. See you in NYC.
