Imagine the adrenaline before paddling out to contest a heat at Chopes?
The Billabong Pro Tahiti is never short of action or controversy, and during the trials to decide who’ll be surfing alongside the Dream Tour regulars we’ve already seen some, with former Billabong Pro champ Ricardo Dos Santos (BRA) and Hawaiian Jamie O’Brien getting involved in a dust-up over a set wave that could have seen either of them a step closer to the main event. Instead the wildcards went to local Tahitian Alain Riou and Aussie charger Anthony Walsh
Teahupo’o is an event that frightens the life out of half the competitors, while the other half rub their hands together knowing that this is the place that’s going to separate the real men from the scaredy cats, and a chance to grab some points they might have struggled to get at tour stops like Brazil.
Jeremy Flores in deep at the 2011 Billabong Pro Tahiti.
Guys like Kieren Perrow and Jeremy Flores thrive when they are in waves of consequence, and don’t be surprised to see them out-scoring favourites – like last year’s finalists Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson.
We also all know that if John John finds his pig-dogging rhythm, then the only person he could potentially lose to is himself, or the King – who might once again weave through a truly massive barrel with his arms out-stretched, just like he did at Cloudbreak.
When Kelly is doing this, then he is unstoppable.
From a Saffa perspective, we’re all frothing to see how Jordy’s new found confidence in tubing left reefs, much like he showed in Fiji to make the quarter finals, will translate to the cartoon-like tubes at the ‘End of the Road’.
Then as for Travis – he is a former semi-finalist at the Billabong Pro Tahiti, and has shown over a long career that if he has a fight on his hands to either keep his spot on tour, or re-qualify, then nothing can stand in his way. Not Jordy, not horrendous wipeouts, nor losing a bit of skin on the reef. Currently sitting at 21st in the world rankings, you can count on a spirited performance from Travis as he tries to cement his place on next year’s tour.
Travis has shown that he can scrap with the best of them at Teahupo’o.
The twins from Florida, CJ and Damien Hobgood, can never be excluded from the list of favourites to take out the Billabong Pro Tahiti. Much like good ol’ Bobby Martinez, who was a multiple winner at Chopes, they’ve got the perfect hand-dragging and crouched frontside tube technique to maximize their barrel time and outscore their opponents, and each other.
CJ Hobgood, the crouching tiger of Chopes.
Of course, all of the above rests on the factor that Teahupo’o is thick and meaty, but if the swell doesn’t show up for this year’s Pro, then we might just watch the world’s best fighting for the sets. In that case it will likely be the surfers with the most time under their belt at the famous left that will be finding the good ones and advancing through heats.
We’re all hoping it’s something more along the lines of this:
The Billabong Pro Tahiti kicks-off 15 August, and if you’re amped to burn the midnight oil, then you can watch it live on www.billabongpro.com/tahiti13
Before you go, here’s an idea for ZoSea when they complete their take-over of the ASP in 2014 – Why not make it mandatory for all the surfers to have an on-board camera, so we can check this out when watching the replays?
