Everywhere else around the world they call it ‘flapping’, but at Huntington they call it the ‘hop’. The waves at Huntington Beach often leave much to be desired, which means it isn’t easy to make your heats at the Vans US Open. Throw in a solid crew of Dream Tour surfers and it becomes even more difficult for WQS hopefuls looking to break into the big time with a good result in the 6 Star Prime event.
Dylan Lightfoot advanced to the Quarter Finals of the Pro Junior division.
Over the weekend, Dylan Lightfoot hopped, ripped and carved his way to the Quarter Finals of the Pro Junior division. The J-Bay local out-scored three up-and-coming Americans in Round 1, before claiming a narrow victory over Jake Davis (USA) in Round 2 to earn his spot in the last 16. There Dylan will be facing Brazil’s Luan Wood, Hawaii’s Koa Smith, and Australian, Matt Banting, in Heat 2.
Round 1 of the Mens division kicked-off on Monday, and up in the very first heat was Beyrick De Vries. The Umhlanga Rocks local had a tough match-up on his hands, with Dream Tour surfer, Josh Kerr AUS), former Dream Tour Surfer, Glenn Hall (AUS), and trials winner, Kai Barger (HAW), all amped to make it through to the next round. Beyrick started off strong though, and ripped both frontside and backside to score a 13.60 heat total.
In Heat 8, Jordy Smith did some of the day’s biggest turns.
On one of his scoring rides, a left that netted him a 6.43, Beyrick smashed his last turn a meter away from the concrete pylons, then dodged a few to kick-out casually under the pier. That was enough to see him through to the next round as he finished in second place behind Josh.
Jordy Smith was the next Saffa up, and he easily bagged the heat win with some of the biggest carves seen all day. His powerful approach to the small waves pleased the judges to the tune of a 15.76 heat total, which included an 8.83 (the second highest score of the day). Jordy will be up against Aritz Aranburu (ESP), Joan Duru (FRA) and Ezekial Lau (HAW) in Heat 4 of Round 2.
Dale Staples scored one of the sickest photos of the day, but that was about it unfortunately.
In Heat 14, Dale Staples struggled to find the waves that would allow him to show his true potential and only managed a low heat total of just 7.30. He was eliminated from the event by Matt Banting (AUS) and Michael Dunphy (USA).
Travis Logie was up against Granger Larsen (HAW), Davey Cathels (AUS) and Jean Da Silva (BRA) in the last heat of the day (Heat 18). Sticking mostly to the lefts that would allow him the opportunity to unleash some quick snaps on his forehand, Travis took out the heat with a well surfed wave in the dying seconds.
Travis was on fire on his forehand.
Bianca Buitendag is yet to surf in the Vans US Open, which is the sixth stop on the 2014 ASP Womens Dream Tour. When they do call Round 1 on though, the Vic Bay local will be up against Lakey Peterson (USA) and Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) in Heat 6. After a strong start in Australia where she finished runner-up at the Roxy Pro Gold Coast, Bianca has fallen down to 6th in the world rankings, and will be looking to keep the leaders in her sights as the second half of this year’s tour gets underway.
Bianca Buitendag is focussed on Round 1 of the US Open.
Check out all the heat reviews, highlights and results on vansusopenofsurfing.com
