Top surfers win opening heats
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
A heavy downpour was not enough to bring down the top contenders in the Rip Curl Cup yesterday.
The first round of the World Championship Tour contest was completed in 10- to 12-foot waves at Sunset Beach. At times, the rain made it difficult to see the surfers from the beach, but the waves were apparently in rare form.
"The waves were really good out there and I was trying to find the barrels," said world champion Andy Irons of Kaua'i. "I don't think I've ever caught more waves than that in a heat at Sunset. In a half-hour heat, I caught 11 waves, so I'm really happy about that."
No contestants were eliminated in the first round, but the heat winners were rewarded with a bye in the second round (second and third place advanced to the second round, where eliminations begin).
Five of the six contenders for the 2003 world championship all won their respective first-round heats: No. 1 Kelly Slater of Florida, No. 2 Irons and Australians No. 3 Mick Fanning, No. 5 Kieren Perrow and No. 6 Joel Parkinson.
"It was like victory at sea out there," Parkinson said.
Slater moved one step closer to an unprecedented seventh world title by advancing yesterday.
"I've put in a few sessions here the past couple of weeks — just trying to get used to it," Slater said. "I ended up getting a few fun ones."
With a majority of the media attention focused on Slater and Irons, Fanning turned in the best performance of the first round. He received a two-wave score of 16.67, including a 9.0 ride.
"It's still a bit tricky, but you can pick off a few (waves)," Fanning said of the conditions. "I'm sitting third on the ratings now, so hopefully I can move up or stay around there."
Shane Dorian of Kailua, Kona, and Irons were the only Hawai'i surfers to win first-round heats.
Several other Hawai'i surfers struggled in the rain. Trials winner Joel Centeio, Sean Moody, Love Hodel, Pancho Sullivan and Jamie O'Brien all finished third in their respective heats.
The Rip Curl Cup is the 11th of 12 stops on the Championship Tour, as well as the second of three contests in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing series.
The second round will continue today, conditions permitting. For status of the event, call 596-7873.
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.
