Just a few years ago, half a glance at conditions on Day 2 of the Mr Price Pro Ballito would have seen many surf fans turn their back on the ocean and head home wanting nothing to do with watching the world’s best surfers playing dot-to-dot in sloppy onshore three to four-foot peaks.
But thanks to the Modern Collective generation of young competitors on tour with their ‘onshore is the new offshore’ attitude, today saw massive scores, ridiculous airs, and a few ugly pits thrown in for good measure.
Felipe Toledo put on the performance of the day in Heat 2 of Round 2.
The level of surfing had everyone on the beach dropping jaw and taking in big mouthfuls of the stiff onshore breeze. Unfortunately the big performances came from the foreign surfers, as all the local contenders still left in the event failed to advance from their respective heats.
Dylan Lightfoot was the first local in the water this morning in Heat 20 of Round 1. With time running out and needing just a frustratingly small 3.88 score to advance over Moroccan, Ramzi Boukhiam, the J-Bay Open wildcard couldn’t find the wave he needed and was eliminated alongside 2012 Mr Price Pro champ, Glenn Hall.
Despite holding the lead for much of his heat, Slade Prestwich was eliminated in Round 1.
Slade Prestwich was the last South African surfer to have a go in Round 1. The powerful natural foot held onto a lead for most of the heat, but dropped into second, then third place in the final minute as the judges dropped a generous mid-range score for Canary Islander, Jonathan Gonzales.
Round 2 commenced straight after Slade’s loss and Heat 3 saw Travis Logie and David Van Zyl matched-up against each other. Trav couldn’t find a back-up ride that would allow him to complete a second good backhand hook, and Davey, after struggling for most of the heat, dropped two late scores but fell a point short of what he was looking for. Two birds, one heat, leaving only Jordy still in the event and flying that colourful flag or ours.
Jordy was struggling to come to terms with the messy conditions on Day 2.
Jordy started his heat out of character by falling on basic finishing manoeuvres, and he repeated this pattern until the final minute. Still looking for a high 8-point ride with seconds remaining, he paddled into his last chance wave, dropped-in and bottomed-turned straight into a huge full rotation air that created a moment fit for a Hollywood movie.
Jordy stuck the massive punt, raised his arms and the judges threw him a 9.2 for his magnificent effort. It would have been a magical moment had Torrey Meister not increased his total on the wave before, which left the local hero in a combo situation before he’d even taken off. And just like that, SA’s last remaining surfer was out of the event having secured his worst Mr Price Pro result to date.
Yadin Nicol set the early pace with a combined 19.10 total in Round 1 Heat 22.
During his post heat interview, Yadin Nicol claimed that luck played an important role in his Round 1 victory earlier in the day. The Australian posted a near perfect heat total of 19.10, which included a 9.60 for a traditional no-handed flat air which he punted untraditionally 12 feet up in the air.
Yadin was looking like the man of the event until Felipe Toledo strolled into his Round 2 heat and dropped a perfect 10, a 9.83, two more nines, and an 8.0 just for a laugh. Tour vet, Nathan Hedge, claimed it was the best performance he had ever witnessed. No small claim from someone who has seen a lot of amazing performances.
Take a look at just some of the video highlights from an epic day of competition:
* Check out Captain Kai’s World for more video updates from the Mr Price Pro.
Tomorrow’s conditions are looking slightly more favourable, but after the scores the guys threw around today it probably won’t matter. The level at the Prime events are as high as they have ever been. Sadly tonight, South African fans will be picking new favourites to support on the beach for the rest of the week.
Check out all the results, video highlights and more on mrpricepro.com
