Billabong Pro

ASP WCT Mens Event
Supertubes, Jeffreys Bay, South Africa
12 – 22 July 2006

Live Webcast  |  Scores/Results/Photos/Videos etc

EXCELLENT SWELL FORECAST FOR BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 11 July, 2006 : - - With a huge swell expected to arrive by the end of this week, organisers of the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay are excited by the fact that the best surfers in the world could be battling it out for one of surfing’s most coveted prizes in excellent double overhead-sized waves.

The waiting period for the event – one of the longest running and most prestigious events on the Foster’s ASP Men’s World Tour – begins tomorrow, Wednesday July 12.

Swell forecasters www.surfline.com are indicating that the swell could even begin to rise by tomorrow and there is every chance that the famed walls of “J-Bay” will be of a sufficient standard to allow a start to the Von Zipper Trials at around 8am local time.

“We’re looking at conditions that should be in the chest to head high range tomorrow, with larger head high plus sets possible,” said www.surfline.com “At this point, well-overhead waves should be expected by late Friday afternoon/evening.”

The Von Zipper Trials consists of three 25-minute heats and will showcase some of South Africa’s and the world’s best rising stars. The three heat winners will go on to join the sport’s elite top 45 in the 48-man total draw and will be placed into the three heats containing the top three seeds including Kelly Slater (USA), Andy Irons (HAW) and Damien Hobgood (USA). 

In an interesting twist, 2000 Foster’s ASP Men’s World Tour champion Sunny Garcia (HAW) has accepted an invite to return to come out of retirement and return to competition.

Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay Round One:
Heat 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs Troy Brooks (AUS) vs Davey Weare (ZAF)
Heat 2: CJ Hobgood (USA) vs Paulo Moura (BRA) vs Jarrad Howse (AUS)
Heat 3: Bruce Irons (HAW) vs Darren O’Rafferty (AUS) vs Toby Martin (AUS)
Heat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs Trent Munro (AUS) vs Pedro Henrique (BRA)
Heat 5: Taylor Knox (USA) vs Greg Emslie (ZAF) vs Roy Powers (HAW)
Heat 6: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs Mark Occhilupo (AUS) vs Yuri Sodre (BRA)
Heat 7: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs Luke Stedman (AUS) vs Sunny Garcia (HAW)
Heat 8: Kelly Slater (USA) vs Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs wildcard
Heat 9: Andy Irons (HAW) vs Danny Wills (AUS) vs wildcard
Heat 10: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs Fred Patacchia (HAW) vs wildcard
Heat 11: Tim Reyes (USA) vs Jake Paterson (AUS) vs Peterson Rosa (BRA)
Heat 12: Dean Morrison (AUS) vs Nathan Hedge (AUS) vs Mikael Picon (FRA)
Heat 13: Cory Lopez (USA) vs Chris Ward (USA) vs Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
Heat 14: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs Mick Lowe (AUS) vs Marcelo Nunes (BRA)
Heat 15: Phil Macdonald (AUS) vs Pancho Sullivan (HAW) vs Victor Ribas (BRA)
Heat 16: Shaun Cansdell (AUS) vs Travis Logie (ZAF) vs Adriano de Souza (BRA)

All the action can be viewed on the LIVE webcast via www.billabongpro.com or www.aspworldtour.com

BILLABONG PRO FAST FACTS

WHAT: Billabong Pro, Jeffreys Bay

WHERE: Jeffreys Bay, Eastern Cape, South Africa, around 45 miles (70 kms) west of Port Elizabeth and several hours' drive east of Cape Town.

STATUS: The Billabong Pro marks the half way point on the 2006 Foster’s Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Men’s World Tour – being the sixth of eleven events.

DATES: A total of four full days of competition are required to finalize the event but the tournament has an 11-day waiting period to score the best possible surfing conditions from July 12-22, 2006.

FEILD: The Billabong Pro will feature the world’s top 45 full-time touring professional men surfers and three wildcards taking the field to a total of 48.
.
FORMAT: 16 x three-man non-elimination round one heats (1st>rnd 3, 2nd & 3rd>rnd 2). Round two onwards feature man-on-man elimination heats

LAST YEAR: Defending Billabong Pro Champion: Kelly Slater (USA) secured a dramatic victory over defending event and three-time world champion Andy Irons (HAW). Needing a near perfect 9.23 points, Slater was awarded 9.5 by the judges for his last ride, 30 seconds before the final siren sounded, to become the first three-time winner at Jeffreys Bay. He then went on to secure an unprecedented seventh world title.

VON ZIPPER WILDCARD TRIALS:
Three prestigious Billabong Pro main event wildcards are on offer via the Von Zipper Trials. An international field of 12 trialists will compete in three four-man heats with the winner of each heat earning a main event wildcard where he will come up against one of the top seeds in the first round.
 
The field comprises six Von Zipper nominated South Africans and six internationals with the locals including giant-killer Sean Holmes, St Francis Bay brothers Ryan and Shaun Payne, former ISA world junior champions Warwick ‘Wok’ Wright and Jordy Smith and ASP World Qualifying Series campaigner Damien Fahrenfort, last year’s top performing wildcard.

They will be up against J-Bay debutants Wade Goodall (AUS), Stirling Spencer (USA), Laurie Towner (AUS) and Pablo Paulino (BRA), along with previous trialists James Woods (AUS) and Tiago Pires (Port) make up the international contingent in the VZ Trials.

MALIBU MUSIC FESTIVAL:
The legendary party atmosphere of J-Bay has been expanded this year to incorporate a three-day live music festival featuring many of South Africa’s top bands during the first week of the event. Shows include a minimum of four bands per night starting Thursday 13 July with a Ska/Reggae line-up, followed by the Blunt Stage Punk Rock on Friday and concluding on Saturday evening with a Classic Surf Rock session featuring surfer musicians Steve Walsh, Gary Horne, Farryl Purkiss and friends, who will be joined on stage by many of the World Tour surf stars. Saturday also showcases Australia’s Beeva Feeva opening the first gig of their SA tour. The Festival bill hosts iconic local groups Fokofpolisiekar, The Rudimentals, Hog Hoggidy Hog, Bed on Bricks and 7th Son, among emerging local stars.

www.billabongpro.com

Previous reports:
# 1 : Surf & music extravaganza at Billabong Pro J-Bay in July
# 2 : Billabong Pro J-Bay next stop on ASP Men's World Tour
# 3 : Irons/Slater ratings battle resumes with Billabong Pro
# 4 : VZ wildcard trials give Africans chance in Billabong Pro  

More African Surfing News available here
Check the latest Africa Surf Reports and Forecasts

New! Get the latest news with Surfersvillage News-Alerts

Life's a Beach Communications
lifesabeach@mweb.co.za

Simon Barratt
sbarratt@billabong.com.au

Mandy McKinnon (Australia)
mandy.mckinnon@bigpond.com

ASP Media: Wayne Dart
darty@aspworldtour.com

Images: Pierre Tostee
tostee@tostee.com

Karen Wilson
karenw@tostee.com

WCT Contests - Surfersvillage