Ke11y Slater takes his 11th World Title
It’s official, Kelly Slater took his 11th World Title last week by placing past round 4 in the San Francisco Rip Curl Pro.
Who knows how long he’ll keep on doing this, but at 39 years old it doesn’t look like he’s slowing down at all. After Jordy Smith fell out with a rib injury after Teahupo’o in Tahiti it was pretty much plain sailing for Kelly, but Owen Wright (Aus) did give him a hard run for a few events. Lets hope Jordy keeps it together next year and that Kelly keeps on surfing, because it’s sure going to be a cracker of a tour with all the new talent coming up the ranks.
Long live Kelly, in my opinion one of the best sportsmen of our time. Congrats mate!
Hear it in Kelly’s own words:
and a cool compilation here by Red Bull:
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Kelly vs Jordy claim wars
Check our man Jordy claim it up, but I think Kelly’s move was just insane. Shows his style…
What do you think? Who lays claim to the claiming war?
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Jordy Smith Knocks Kelly Slater From No 1 Perch After J-Bay Win
Jordy Smith managed to become the first South African to win an ASP World Tour event since Shaun Tomson back in the ‘80s when he was crowned the Billabong Pro J-Bay 2010 champion at Jeffreys Bay on Sunday.
By accomplishing this amazing feat, during which he defeated Australia’s Adam Melling in the last round, the 22-year old also managed to secure the top spot on the ASP World Title Race Rankings, knocking the legendary Kelly Slater from his perch as the world’s number one surfer.
“This is the best day of my life,” Jordy said from the podium. “The crowd on the beach has been supporting me the last few days and hearing the cheers and the vuvuzelas just get me fired up to perform. It feels like they’re pushing me along. I couldn’t have done it without them.
“I knew the swell was dying and I had to take advantage of every wave that came through.” Referring to Adam Melling, he said: “[He] is such a dangerous surfer. He’s been in form all day and I knew that if he got the waves, he would get the scores. I went out there knowing I had to open up strong.”
Adam said: “The ocean didn’t cooperate with me in the Final so that’s a shame but I couldn’t be happier. We had amazing waves and to get the best result of my career is huge. I came into Jeffreys with a long road ahead if I were to make the mid-year cut-off, and now that I’m 19th, I feel like I have a bit of a buffer heading into Tahiti. I worked really hard to get here and I want to stay here.”
The next stop on the 2010 ASP World Tour is the Billabong Pro Tahiti from August 23 through September 3, 2010.
Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay Final Results:
1 – Jordy Smith (ZAF) 17.93
2 – Adam Melling (AUS) 10.00
Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay Semi-final Results:
SF 1: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.83 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.40
SF 2: Adam Melling (AUS) 14.00 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 10.67
Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay Quarter-final Results:
QF 1: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.43 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 9.20
QF 2: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12.17 def. Sean Holmes (ZAF) 11.83
QF 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) 11.00 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 3.66
QF 4: Adam Melling (AUS) 16.43 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 5.67
Current ASP World Title Race Top 5 (after South Africa):
1. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 28500 pts
2. Taj Burrow (AUS) 24750 pts
3. Kelly Slater (USA) 23500 pts
4. Dane Reynolds (USA) 20000 pts
5. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 19500 pts
6. Mick Fanning (AUS) 19250 pts
7. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 18750 pts
8. Bobby Martinez (USA) 16500 pts
9. Jadson Andre (BRA) 16000 pts
10. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 14750 pts
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World’s Top Surfers in J-Bay For Billabong Pro
The world’s top pro surfers, including nine time world champ and current number one ranked Kelly Slater (USA) and number three ranked local Jordy Smith, are convened in Jeffrey’s Bay where they are participating in what is probably the most prestigious surfing event in South Africa: the Billabong Pro.
The 25th Billabong Pro kicked off in pristine conditions in this Mecca of South African surfing yesterday, Thursday 15 July 2010. Smith, Slater, 2007 Billabong Pro winner and Aussie Taj Burrow and and reigning ASP World Champ Mick Fanning, also from Australia, all proceeded to qualify for the third round yesterday.
Fanning, who was the top scorer of the day, posting rides of 8.83 and 7.87 (out of 10) to amass a total of 16.70 (out of 20), said it was important to take every heat seriously this year. “There are so many threats and even the rookies can do damage. I feel like I’ve been surfing well all year and I’m just focusing on every heat, and hopefully that takes me to a solid result.”
The Billabong Pro will continue until 25 July 2010. For more information, visit the event’s official website. 
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Versatile SA Surfer Nominated For “Best Men 2010”
Raking in titles and accolades are not unusual for South African pro surfer Jordy Smith. At just 22, he is currently ranked the number two pro surfer in the world, putting him just one step behind surfing great Kelly Slater.
That is just one of the many reasons why the O’Neill surf rider is up for Men’s Health Magazine’s “Best Men 2010” awards. The surfer is nominated in the category “The Game Changer”, who the magazine defines as “… the man who is turning an industry on its head by inventing new and creative ways of working… and playing.”
Men’s Health also acknowledges Jordy for his invention of his ground-breaking “Rodeo Flip” aerial surfing manoeuvre. But apart from his undeniable skill on the board, he also gets our vote for revealing and breaking out his inner musician during a song writing and performance collaboration with local group Goldfish, in which he proved that he’s not even a fish out of water in the recording studio. The result of Jordy’s combined efforts with Goldfish is the track “Flying Stealth – Jordy Smith vs. Goldfish”, which can be heard and downloaded over here.
We also think Jordy deserves the title for his do-gooder side, which he displayed when he recently lent his support to the Surfrider Foundation’s “Oil and Water don’t Mix” t-shirt campaign to stop oil companies from drilling in the world’s oceans. The campaign was launched in order to prevent another catastrophic environmental disaster, such as the current BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, from happening ever again.
“From growing up in South Africa and travelling on the Tour, I’ve been given the opportunity to surf some of the nicest beaches around the world. So when I see what’s happening in the Gulf Coast, it’s a sad reminder how badly offshore oil drilling can damage our oceans and marine life. Hopefully this t-shirt will help bring more awareness to the issue and keep oil companies away from the waters we love,” Jordy said.
The limited edition t-shirt is available for US$20 from O’Neill. Funds will be contributed towards the clean-up efforts in the Gulf.
To join us in lending your support to Jordy, you can vote for him here. Go on! We honestly can’t think of a more deserving dude.
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