Beyrick De Vries and Jordy Smith both advanced in second place from their Round 3 heats at the Vans World Cup of Surfing at Sunset yesterday, while Travis Logie couldn’t find the score he needed and was eliminated in third place in Heat 13.
Sunset was deceptively perfect for Round 3.
Up first for the Saffas was Beyrick De Vries in Heat 3, and just like in the previous round he started quickly with the first wave of the match-up. It wasn’t a set wave and he only scored a 3.83, but it did set the rhythm for his heat and helped him grab the lead once he’d backed it up with a 5.27 on the 19 minutes remaining mark. That lead was pegged back by Felipe Toledo (BRA) with nine minutes remaining, while Aritz Aranburu (EUK) backed up his 6.20 opener with a 3.20 to shift Beyrick down into third place with four minutes remaining.
Needing a 4.14 with 20 seconds remaining, Beyrick paddled into a smaller insider and had to make his way around a long section that had shut down in front of him. The KZN north coast local managed to fit in two decent turns before tucking briefly into a cover-up on the Val’s reef section on the inside, which the commentators admitted is a rare occurrence along that section of the break. Beyrick connected the dots to the inside and let the judges know he was certain that he got the score with a clap and a claim. He had to wait until he was back on the beach and walking to hand in his singlet before the score was announced – a 4.30 – and then came another stoked claim.
STOKED! Beyrick contemplates his advancement back on the beach.
Jordy Smith was up next in Heat 4 against Chris Ward (USA), Jeremy Flores (FRA) and local legend, Pancho Sullivan (HAW). The world number seven bookended his heat with two six point-plus rides to secure second place behind Chris and ahead of Jeremy and Pancho in third and fourth respectively. The four man heats were making it tricky in the shifty and inconsistent Sunset lineup, so if a decent wave came a competitor’s way then they had to make the most of it. Jordy and Chris did, while Pancho and Jeremy were unlucky not to find a wave with enough scoring potential and finished with 7.27 and 6.16 heat totals respectively.
Travis Logie was the last South African to surf in Round 3, and he was matched up against Kolohe Andino (USA), Ramzi Boukhiam (MOR) and Italo Ferreira (BRA) in Heat 13. Trav got off to a slow start with a 0.50 on his first ride, and then he sat and waited (and waited) while Kolohe Andino built up a solid lead by finding the best waves of the heat. Travis did manage to rip into another wave with four and a half minutes remaining to earn a 5.27, which left him needing just a 3.31 to advance over Ramzi, but he couldn’t find another score and was eliminated in third place.
Jordy got stuck right in during Heat 4 of Round 3.
One of the highlights of the day came in the heat following Trav’s loss, when Glenn Hall snuck into a throaty pig-dog tube just before the horn signalled the end of his heat. The Australian (representing Ireland) required a 9.97 to advance in second place over Dion Atkinson (AUS), so being rewarded with a Perfect 10 was just what the doctor ordered as he advanced by the skin of his teeth. And we leave you with those two idioms…
Glenn Hall on his way to a Perfect 10 score.
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