Kelly Shakes The 17th Place Monkey Off His Back

Kelly en route to his best result of the season. 

Round Three of the Hang Loose Pro was run in clean three to four foot lefts in Brazil overnight.

In a change from recent world tour events, consistent conditions ensured the best surfers won their heats. With no major lulls to speak of, the surfers enjoyed an endless supply of three foot left walls with plenty of room to move, and sections to bang. 

The day’s sole upset came when tour rookie Dustin Barca dispatched of Jordy Smith. Dustin caught the heat's best waves and surfed them awkwardly to the beach, whereas Jordy caught smaller insiders, a move that failed to impress the judges.

The webcast awesomeness continues, at one point we were treated to (admiteddly very nice) footage of a mountain, while the commentators were igoing postal as Jordy Smith and Dustin Barca both rode waves. Did the camera move? Not until Jordy had fallen off and Dustin was milking his last couple of turns on the sand.

Round Three’s most anticipated heat saw current world number one Joel Parkinson up against local favourite Neco Padaratz. Halfway through the heat Parko had a pair of fours while Neco had surfed with desperation to notch a couple of decent scores and sit in front. But Parko fought back and took the heat with a seven and an eight, leaving the Brazilian commentator to gush about Parko's "demanding lead" on the World Tour ratngs.

In the next heat Nathaniel Curran was no match for Taj Burrow and his matching bright green wetsuit and board-spray while commentator Luke Egan called Nathaniel, Nathan Carroll for the duration. The clear webcast highlight of the day followed post-heat. Taj was left red faced when three hot Brazilian girls asked how his girlfriend was. When he told them that she was at home in America they were all over him, asking if he wanted a massage. As they dragged him away you could hear Taj say “is this a joke?”

Slater puts his back into it.

Kelly Slater then came out and shook the 17th place monkey off his back by out-surfing Ben Dunn, catching the best waves of their heat.

“I obviously haven’t had the results I desired this season so a lot has to happen for me to even be in the running for the world title,” Slater said. “I guess that takes the pressure off for me at these events. I go into heats and I’m more looking to play the spoiler than net a result myself. I’m stoked to be getting through heats though. This is my best result of the year already and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

The swell is only predicted to stay around for another day, so contest organizers are hoping to finish the event tomorrow. it’s going to be a late, but exciting finish.

HANG LOOSE SANTA CATARINA PRO ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12.83 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 11.83
Heat 2: Damien Hobgood (USA) 12.00 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 4.50
Heat 3: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 13.67 def. Tim Boal (FRA) 12.53
Heat 4: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 16.20 def. Greg Emslie (ZAF) 13.87
Heat 5: Bobby Martinez (USA) 11.00 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 7.10
Heat 6: Dustin Barca (HAW) 13.07 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 10.33
Heat 7: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 13.40 def. Dean Morrison (AUS) 10.74
Heat 8: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.17 def. Neco Padaratz (BRA) 14.67
Heat 9: Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.24 def. Nathaniel Curran (USA) 12.16
Heat 10: Tim Reyes (USA) 14.50 def. Dayyan Neve (AUS) 12.07
Heat 11: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.53 def. Ben Dunn (AUS) 10.46
Heat 12: Tom Whitaker (AUS) 11.50 def. Chris Davidson (AUS) 7.00
Heat 13: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 16.17 def. Michael Picon (FRA) 9.24
Heat 14: Mick Campbell (AUS) 14.90 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 11.10
Heat 15: Mick Fanning (AUS) 11.00 def. Roy Powers (HAW) 3.87
Heat 16: Chris Ward (USA) 13.50 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 10.86
 
HANG LOOSE SANTA CATARINA PRO ROUND 4 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Damien Hobgood (USA)
Heat 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Adriano de Souza (BRA)
Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. Dustin Barca (HAW)
Heat 4: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) vs. Joel Parkinson (AUS)
Heat 5: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Tim Reyes (USA)
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Tom Whitaker (AUS)
Heat 7: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Mick Campbell (AUS)
Heat 8: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Chris Ward (USA)