Andy Irons, event champion : photo ASP/Covered Images 
 

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 23 June, 2006 : - - In a fantastic finish to a simply amazing event Andy Irons (HAW) has won the Rip Curl Pro Search WCT held “somewhere in Mexico” in incredible one to two metre (three to six feet) waves. Held at the long and hollow wave known only as La Jolla, Irons was the form surfer of the day and was a well-deserved winner.

With the wind coming up slightly for the final of the fifth event on the Foster’s ASP Men’s World Tour, the focus shifted to big turns rather than big barrels and Irons stepped up to the task. After a slow start for waves the two competitors were sitting for a while before a set pushed through. Taylor Knox struck the first blow with a series of searing turns and locked in an 8.0.

Then Irons struck back with a massive air, which saw him launch approximately three feet off the top of the wave. From there on it was all Irons as he went to town on another solid wave to score a 7.93 and seal the win. Right from round one Irons was showing the form that has earned him three world championship titles and is now back in serious contention for yet another Foster’s ASP Men’s World Tour title this year.

“I feel great!” said Irons. “Just being in the final is amazing. I make a point of trying to make a few finals a year and to actually get a win is even better. Taylor is a good friend of mine, it’s a great wave and we’ve had such a good time here this week so this is a perfect ending. I couldn’t have written it any better.”

Andy Irons : photo ASP/Covered Images 

Speaking about his amazing return to the podium, Irons indicated he is eager to go on with the job from here. “That’s it, game on!” said Irons. “The momentum has begun and I know I need to capitalize on this win and carry it on into Jeffreys Bay at the next event and hopefully throughout the rest of the year.” Irons is now back in the position he finished in last year, second behind Kelly Slater (USA).

Runner-up Knox is in the best form of his 13-year top tour career, and with the second place finish he now sits in equal fourth place on the ratings. He has adopted a much more relaxed approach to competitive surfing in 2006 and his improvement has been out of sight.

He was full of praise for his finals counterpart but felt he may have been able to perform a little better if his equipment was up to the task and he hadn’t given Irons a wave in the heat that he should have rode.

“Andy surfed really well and he actually surfed really well all week,” said Knox. “I felt like I could have won as well, but I gave him a good wave. I rode a broken board in every heat and since they are broken they are a little a heavier than I would have liked, so I was just lucky to get to this point.”

Speaking on his rating he was very pleased with how the year is panning out. “This year is coming along really nicely,” said Knox. “This is the best start I’ve ever had because I really haven’t been thinking too much about it. I’ve been having a lot fun on the road and at home and really not getting ahead of myself.”

Andy Irons : photo ASP/Covered Images 

Finishing in equal third place was the ever-popular Taj Burrow (AUS) who narrowly went down to Knox in an extremely close affair. Burrow, along with Knox, now sits equal fourth on the ratings.

With the lead swapping and changing throughout the semi, Taj threw everything he could into his waves but failed to link together enough turns on sufficient waves to close the door on Knox, plus he fell on what was probably the best wave of the heat.

"It was good for turns out there,” said Burrow. “But on my best wave I hit a big bump and it turned me into this walled-out floater, and I sacked it (fell). That was a really good wave and I was pretty upset that I blew it.” Desperate for a win so as to keep his title hopes alive, Burrow was obviously upset not to make it through to the final.

“It was just one of those things. I’m pretty devastated, but a semifinal placing isn’t too bad,” said Burrow. “I was pretty excited to go a little further obviously, but I’ll take it. It’s definitely a result to keep, but if you’re gunning for the world title, you have to get a lot of finals berths. That’s what I was aiming for."

Also finishing in equal third was an ecstatic Tim Reyes (USA) who throughout the event had been one of the standouts, notching up the highest total score of the event – a 19.60 in round three. The diminutive youngster has equalled his career best result – he finished in equal third in Jeffreys Bay last year.

Taylor Knox : photo ASP/Covered Images 

"To get third is really good at this level,” said Reyes. “I felt like I was surfing pretty good and right now, it’s kind of like a dream that I’m placing in the top 10 after this event. I thought I’d be there, but never thought I’d be there. Hopefully I could be top five or even top three by the end of the year. 

Despite going out of the event in the quarterfinals Kelly Slater (USA) maintains his number one ranking. His battle with his good friend Knox in that heat saw him make many uncharacteristic mistakes, in that he fell on quite a few occasions after maneuvers that weren’t as critical as what is normal for him.

“I made a wave selection error that gave Taylor priority and that was the heat pretty much,” said Slater. “But I’m stoked for Taylor. He’s really on a roll and it’s great to see him get such a good result.” Regarding the nature of Rip Curl’s floating license which allows them to shift the event from year to year to new locations and the success of this extravaganza here “somewhere in Mexico” he was full of praise.

“I have always thought that the tour needed something like this,” said Slater. “This event has been great. This is one of the best waves in the world and the whole thing was great for surfing and great for the tour.”

Dean Morrison : photo ASP/Covered Images 

While the Foster’s ASP Men’s World Tour will now shift its focus to the next event, the Billabong Pro at Jeffreys Bay, South Africa there is already banter about next year’s location. It will certainly be hard to top this year’s Search and many of the competitors are eager to return to Mexico next year. In the meantime Rip Curl will begin to hunt for the next Search destination.

FOSTER’S ASP MEN’S WORLD TOUR RATINGS AFTER EVENT #5 RIP CURL PRO SEARCH MEXICO

1. Kelly Slater (USA) 4233 points
2. Andy Irons (HAW) 4140 points
3. Bobby Martinez (USA) 40008 points
4. Taj Burrow (AUS) 3650 points
4. Taylor Knox (USA) 3650 points
6.   Damien Hobgood (USA) 3542 points
7. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 3052 points
8. CJ Hobgood (USA) 2896 points
9. Bruce Irons (HAW) 2884 points

Complete latest ratings available here

FINAL: Andy Irons (HAW) 16.86 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 11.33

SEMIFINAL ONE: Taylor Knox (USA) 15.00 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 11.50
SEMIFINAL TWO: Andy Irons (HAW) 17.20 def. Timmy Reyes (USA) 11.33

QUARTERFINAL ONE: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.17 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 13.83
QUARTERFINAL TWO: Taylor Knox (USA) 15.50 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 11.67
QUARTERFINAL THREE: Andy Irons (HAW) 18.10 def. Bruce Irons (HAW) 8.00
QUARTERFINAL FOUR: Timmy Reyes (USA) 12.53 def. Dean Morrison (AUS) 11.33

For heat by heat rundowns visit the news section on www.ripcurl.com/searchwct or www.aspworldtour.com and for athlete quotes and audio downloads visit the media centers on either site.

Line up : photo ASP/Covered Images  

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Heat by Heat Updates

Conditions: Six foot and flawless barrels

Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 17.33 def. Cory Lopez (AUS) 14.66
Picking where he left off yesterday Burrow tucked straight into the barrel from his opening ride. Getting the smoothest conditions of the day he lavished in the long grinding rights and like yesterday came out of the water beaming praises for the location. Lopez was strong and pulled off some searing top turns on his backside yet Burrow’s rhythm was spot on and the wave just fell into his lap.

Heat 2: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 17.00 def. Bobby Martinez (USA) 8.66
Durbidge is really beginning to hit his straps here at La Jolla, as the wave really suit his powerful style. Kelly Slater once said that Bede needs a bit of push to get going and when he does he’s one of the most dangerous in the pack. Martinez was wave starved for the bulk of the heat but that doesn’t take anything way from Durbidge as he blasted some serious turns and scored some really deep tubes.

Heat 3: Taylor Knox (USA) 16.60 def. CJ Hobgood (USA) 10.07
Another fine result for the Californian who is having his best year on tour for many a year. He looked the goods right the way through the heat after opening with a 9.77. Hobgood put up a fight but Knox had his measure as he sliced through the pit.

   
Taj Burrow                                                         Cory Lopez

Heat 4: Kelly Slater (USA) 17.00 def. Phil Macdonald (AUS) 0.00
A completely one-sided affair where Macdonald didn’t even catch a wave. Slater’s speed and timing in the tube was impeccable as raced through section after section on about three quality rides. Surprisingly straight after the bell Macdonald slotted into a deep tube that ran right through to the inside of the break.

Heat 5: Andy Irons (HAW) 17.40 def. Tom Whitaker (AUS) 17.17
A highly entertaining affair the lead swapped and changed as Whitaker and Irons went at it like dogs to raw meat. Whitaker had a nice tube early then Irons pegged him back with a near 10. Whitaker was then needing an 8.24 and the ocean went flat. The hooter sounded and straight after Whitaker jumped to his feet on a wave that would’ve probably given him the score. Irons though deserved the win as his tube nouse came to the fore.

Heat 6: Bruce Irons (HAW) 13.16 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 12.50
It was Parkinson all the way right up until the last wave where Irons was looking for a mid ranged score. Grabbing a three footer right as the hooter sounded Irons raced down the line through the tube and emerged to victory. Parkinson was obviously disappointed but went over and gave Irons a congrats as they emerged from the water.

Heat 7: Tim Reyes (USA) 19.60 def. Damien Hobgood 15.17
The pocket rocket Reyes was on fire yet again blazing across some absolute screaming waves. He had Hobgood in a combination situation early and maintained it all the way through. Hobgood unleashed a flurry of re-entries on one wave and the crowd went wild but it was all too little too late and Reyes powered into yet another scorcher and came home with the bacon notching up the highest total score of the event to date. Reyes is in blistering form and will be hard to stop.

Heat 8: Dean Morrison (AUS) def. Chris Ward (USA)
A fairly lacklustre heat with Ward sitting on only one wave right until the last five minutes. Morrison had the heat in control after some lengthy rides early yet a solid score from Ward would have put him in a striking position. Ward went for broke in the last minute after executing three huge hacks but needing a 7..00 to win he fell well short and surrendered the heat to Morrison. 

   
Taylor Knox                                                         Kelly Slater

Quaterfinal 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.17 def Bede Durbidge (AUS) 13.83
Burrow starts well with a 6.83 and flying over sections and busting out the fins in a display of aggressive progressive surfing. Durbidge had one big score locked in for his second ride but can’t get a backup. Burrow continued to build on his opener and looked extremely loose throwing more huge tail slides into reverse plus the odd air.

Quarterfinal 2: Taylor Knox (USA) 15.50 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 11.67
The run for the powerhouse Knox continues. Knocking off Slater is no mean feat and Knox was convincing all the way through the heat. Slater’s lack of water time showed as he fell on numerous occasions right when he needed one or two more turns to grab the lead. Knox meanwhile consistently bashed the lip powering his way through some massive cut backs.

Quarterfinal 3: Andy Irons (HAW) 18.01 def. Bruce Irons (HAW) 8.00
Andy Irons was simply on fire against his bro and went from strength to strength as the heat progressed. Pulling out every trick in the book on one particular wave he wailed down the line, into the tube, busted an air, a huge floater, a series of re-entries and then a massive tail sliding reverse. He then returned to the lineup and paddled straight into another gem. He went to work and jammed in about six quality moves to further increase the gap on Bruce. Bruce was well and truly done needing a massive combination of scores to win.

Quarterfinal 4: Tim Reyes (USA) 12.53 def. Dean Morrison (AUS) 11.33
In a fairly wave starved affair Reyes takes the gong over Morrison after getting a couple of solid waves. With the wind hampering the hollowness of the wave the boys changed objectives and went on a lip smashing mission with Reyes reigning supreme. Morrison was left needing only an average score to win but couldn't find a wave to bring it home. Reyes has been one of the form surfers of the event and is continuing right through to the business end. His matchup with Andy Irons in the semifinals should be one to watch.

     
Bede Durbidge                                                       Andy Irons

Semifinal 1: Taylor Knox (USA) def. Taj Burrow (AUS)
It was a “ding dong” battle between the trickster Burrow and the powerpacked Knox. A lot of waves were caught with both going hard, but falling or getting caught behind the section on a few occasions. Burrow started to get on a roll late in the heat and hit the lip about 10-time on a wave in the second half of the heat. Knox was on the back foot but struck back with some long grinding turns off the top. Burrow was then left wanting a 8.50 to return to the lead and was waiting anxiously in the lineup for a wave to appear. He took off with 30 seconds to go and knowing he needed to go big to get the score he launched into a huge air but unfortunately he went down.

Semifinal 1: Andy Irons (Haw) def. Timmy Reyes (USA)
Andy Irons was sitting patiently waiting for a wave while Reyes was getting busy. Reyes was catching waves but failing to grab a decent score. Irons then lays down some of the best turns of the event on a scorcher. Throwing himself into some long bottom turns then hitting it up high his momentum was solid and he just built and built. It is now Iron’s first final of the year and a win will put him in the box seat to catch Slater. Beating him in the final will be difficult.

Final: Andy Irons (HAW) def. Taylor Knox (USA)
After a slow start for waves the two competitors were sitting for a while before a set pushed through. Knox struck the first blow with a series of searing turns and locked in an 8.0. Then Irons struck back with a massive air, with saw him launch approximately three feet off the top of the wave. From there on it was Irons as he went to town on another solid wave to score a 7.93. It was Iron’s first win of the year and will put him well back into contention for the title.

For all the details, photos, videos etc head to www.ripcurl.com/searchwct or www.aspworldtour.com

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