“I wish I didn’t have to eat so much, but I do. This stuff just goes straight through you anyway. Just two pumps out there and the energy from everything you’ve eaten in the last two weeks is gone,” joked Hamilton. He later went back for a further couple of plate loads.
At that stage, all including Laird Hamilton were still trying to work out what we had happening out in the ocean. At first light it looked like Namotu had grown that toothpaste commercial ‘ring of confidence, a ring of whitewater surrounding the island. As the pre- dawn progressively granted more vision, all could get a proper grip on what the ocean was doing.
To the west, outside Wilkes Pass was pitching big frothy walls, while to the west, looking through binoculars over the top of large lumps of ocean swell, the Cloudbreak reef looked awash. Just after dawn, Head Judge Perry Hatchett returned from his daily dawn check.
“It’s 10 to 12’ solid out at Cloudbreak, and not a drop out of place out on the second ledge, but it would be impossible to have a contest out there, and probably to paddle in. It kind of hurts to call the event on at 3-4’ cross-shore Restaurants, but there’s not much we can do about it. It’ll get better all day,” said Hatchett finally.
The Head Judge’s outlook was evidenced within a matter of hours. Young Brazilian Bernado ‘Little Piggy’ Pigmeu, no slouch in the big stuff, Hawaii or wherever, went out to Cloudbreak to watch Namotu’s Scott O’Connor towing in Laird, Slater and Dorian mixing it up, others whipping in the likes of Tom Whitaker, Mick Fanning and Luke Hitchings, and Maroubra madman combo Koby Abberton and Mark Mathews who arrived here this morning.
Sitting on his board watching the jet skis catapulting the boys into what Little Piggy called “15-18’+ faces”, from the channel, a wide set came rumbling through and there was no escape. Rolled and rolled, thrashed and trashed underwater, Bernado got to that consciously fateful, but seemingly spiritually calming point of relaxing the struggle and accepting that maybe his time of surfing Mother Earth was over. He popped up. Let’s hope and pray everyone does out there today, and escapes the wrath of the reef in here at Tavarua. There’s some waves that are growing to near six foot faces, running along the Tavi’ reef right now. Oh my goodness, what a wave, what a place, what a contest…
Round THREE RESULTS YESTERDAY AT CLOUDBREAK (MONDAY MAY 30TH):
H1: Trent Munro (AUS) 13.23 def. Tim Curran (USA) 8.84 H2: Phil Macdonald (AUS) 17.00 def. Chris Ward (USA) 6.00 H3: Luke Egan (AUS) 15.33 def. Troy Brooks (AUS) 14.64 H4: CJ Hobgood (USA) 17.07 def. Lee Winkler (AUS) 10.00 H5: Nathan Hedge (AUS) 18.67 def. Paulo Moura (BRZ) 15.83 H6: Cory Lopez (USA) 17.33 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 14.76 H7: Bruce Irons (HAW) 19.13 def. Richard Lovett (AUS) 12.00 H8: Andy Irons (HAW) 19.07 def. Pete Mendia (USA) 12.76 H9: Kelly Slater (USA) 18.67 def. Guilherme Herdy (BRZ) 15.33 H10: Michael Lowe (AUS) 13.90 def. Darren O’Rafferty (AUS) 13.50 H11: Neco Padaratz (BRZ) 13.50 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 13.50 H12: Dean Morrison (AUS) 16.66 def. Jake Paterson (AUS) 14.67 H13: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.16 def. Luke Stedman (AUS) 9.23
(Contest halted at the end of heat 13 yesterday, due to large stormy onshore seas)
ROUND THREE RESULTS FROM THIS MORNING AT TAVARUA (TUESDAY MAY 31ST):
H14: Fred Patacchia (HAW) 17.54 def. Sunny Garcia (HAW) 16.44 H15: Travis Logie (RSA) 17.33 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.00 H16: Peterson Rosa (BRZ) 16.46 def. Dan Wills (AUS) 12.67
