“It’s pretty much as good as it gets out there,’ suggested Kolohe Andino following his Round 1 heat. The Lowers local was among the victors on Day 1 of the Hurley Pro at Trestles. The biggest winner of the day, however, was Freddie Patacchia (HAW), who scored a Perfect 10 on his last ride in Heat 10 before proning in and announcing his retirement.
Fred Patacchia scored a Perfect 10 to sign off from the Dream Tour.
It was a strange scene watching him come in with a few minutes remaining. Yip, he had a great 18.90 heat total – but that’s attainable, we thought. Well, as it turns out it was the perfect time to call it a day, because he’d just surfed the perfect wave and had no intentions to surf in Round 2 or 3 anyways. He was done.
Riding a mysterious board without decals, Kelly Slater (USA) was shredding in the opening heat of the day to take the win. When the 11-time world champ was quizzed about the sled, he offered no suggestion as to who shaped it – just that it was ordered for him by ‘a friend’. Whoever made it, it’s looking sharp and Kelly cruised directly into Round 3.
15.91 was the average heat-winning total on Day 1 – Fred Patacchia scored the highest (18.90) and Jeremy Flores (FRA) the lowest (14.27) – which averages out to 7.95pts per scoring ride. That’s some good surfing on Day 1 at Lowers. Other heat winners from the opening day included; Ace Buchan, Julian Wilson, Owen Wright, Mick Fanning, Kai Otten, Taj Burrow (Australia), Adriano de Souza and Italo Ferriera (BRA), Kolohe Andino (USA), plus Tahiti champ, Jeremy Flores. The rest will be fighting it out in Round 2.
The highlight reel from Day 1 at the Hurley Pro at Trestles and Swatch Women’s Pro.
Following Round 1 of the Hurley Pro at Trestles, five heats of Round 1 of the Swatch Women’s Pro were contested, and the scores were even more impressive. 16.51pts was the average winning score in Round 1, which averages out to 8.26 per scoring ride. You’ll have to watch the heat analyser to see for yourself just how hard competitors were ripping.
Unfortunately Bianca Buitendag couldn’t find a good score to back-up the 7.77 she picked up for her third ride in Heat 2, and had to settle for third place and a spot in Round 2. Hawaii’s Carissa Moore recorded a 9.43 and an 8.93 to totally dominate Heat 4 and record Round 1’s highest heat total – 18.36pts.
Carissa Moore surfed superbly in Round 1 of the Swatch Women’s Pro.
The surf is predicted to stay rippable all week, so stay tuned to worldsurfleague.com to catch Round 2 of the Hurley Pro at Trestles and Swatch Women’s Pro when action gets underway again.