South Africans departing for the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast

Trais Logie : photo Luke Patterson

The World’s best surfers are headed for the Gold Coast of Australia for the first event of the ASP 2010 World Tour. From 26 February to 10 March the Quiksilver Pro presented by Land Rover will take place at the iconic white sand pointbreak of Snapper Rocks, with all top surfers in attendance.

Two time World Champion Mick Fanning, hometown hero Joel Parkinson and nine-time World Champion Kelly Slater are clear cut favourites to win this year’s event. Three times World Champion Andy Irons is back in the mix after taking a year off the tour which could make this year’s tour one of the most interesting and rivaled seasons yet.

The pair of Durbanites Travis Logie and Jordy Smith will both be flying the South African flag high and could both do well on the running right-hand pointbreak of Snapper Rocks.

Logie, who is back on the World Tour after a one-year hiatus, is rearing to go for the 2010 season. “I have been training and am feeling really strong at the moment,” said Travis of his pre-event training. Logie in known for his lightning-fast backhand surfing, and could easily have a field day should he find the good waves in his heats. “My three favourite event locations are J-Bay, Trestles and Snapper Rocks so I am really pumped for this event.”

This year, event organisers are predicting a fierce level of competition, and the ASP judges will analyse the surfers on their commitment and degree of difficulty, innovation and progressive maneuvers, combination of major maneuvers, variety of maneuvers and speed, power and flow when scoring waves in each heat.

A world first will be the launching of the Quiksilver iPhone Application that will provide live coverage of the event via the 3G network and WiFi: Quiksilver Live. The Quiksilver Application will feature live results, photos, videos and everything else a fan will need. Fans will be able to watch live the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast and the Quiksilver Pro France.

Quiksilver will then launch a second App to provide surfers with real time updates of surf conditions and access to 3-day surf forecasts at more than 3000 spots worldwide.

SA’s top surfers prepare for start of 2010 ASP World Tours in Australia

South Africa’s top four surfers, two men and two women, have made their way to Australia to prepare for the start of the 2010 ASP World Tours which kick off with the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast presented by Land Rover and the Roxy Pro Gold Coast at Snapper Rocks in Queensland on Friday.

Jordy Smith starts his third year at the highest level of competitive surfing with high expectations of winning his first ASP World Tour event and challenging for the ASP World Title in 2010. After finishing just outside the top 10 in eleventh spot on the ratings at the end of 2009, the Durbanite who turned 22 earlier this month will be determined to take full advantage in the changes in the judging criteria that reward progressive surfing.

Along with fellow third year campaigner Dane Reynolds (USA), Smith is acknowledged as one of modern surfing’s foremost innovators and will employ his full repertoire of high-risk and aerial manoeuvres to impress the judges and outscore his opponents.

Rosanne Hodge goes into her fourth successive year on the ASP Women’s World Tour following her best competitive season. Finishing 2009 ranked No. 9, the first time the 22 year-old East Londoner has ended the year in the top 10, Rosy is relishing the challenge of pitting her ever improving skills against her peers.

“I’m psyching for the Roxy Pro,” Hodge remarked. “I heard that they have been pumping the sand and that the waves have been good. I’m really keen to bask in the warm water and pick off a few waves from the crowd and excited about the new boards I got from Spider recently.”

Hodge will be joined on the ASP Women’s World Tour by fellow East Londoner Nikita Robb, the first time since the introduction of the two-tier system in 1992 that there have been two South African girls ranked in the world’s top 16 simultaneously.

Robb, who has just turned 21, is one of the six girls who qualified via the WQS and the highly touted multiple South African and international Pro Junior champion will be amped to take on the world’s best female surfers in her rookie year.

The Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast pres. by Land Rover is the first of 10 events for men in 2010. The 48 man field is headed by two-time and reigning World Champion Mick Fanning (AUS) along with a stellar cast of performers including fellow Gold Coast locals Joel Parkinson, Bede Durbidge and Dean Morrison, former nine-time World Champion Kelly Slater and CJ Hobgood (both from Florida, USA) and a red-hot contingent of established and emerging talents.

The Roxy Pro Gold Coast (USA) kicks off a series of nine events on the 2010 ASP Women’s World Tour. Three-time and reigning World Champion and defending event champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), heads the 18 strong women’s field.

The primary venue for the events is the right hand sand point at Snapper Rocks but the hollow beach break waves of nearby Duranbah have been used in the past when the surf at Snapper is not suitable.

The event has a 12 day waiting period that runs from Friday 27 February to Wednesday 10 March in which organisers can chose the best available conditions in which to crown the men’s and women’s champions.

The waiting period for the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast commences on 27 February and the heat draw looks like this:

QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Dane Reynolds (USA), Roy Powers (HAW), Brett Simpson (USA)
Heat 2: Damien Hobgood (USA), Jeremy Flores (FRA), Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA), Tiago Pires (PRT), Tanner Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 4: C.J. Hobgood (USA), Adrian Buchan (AUS), Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 5: Kelly Slater (USA), Ben Dunn (AUS), Marco Polo (BRA)
Heat 6: Adriano de Souza (BRA), Michel Bourez (PYF), Blake Thornton (AUS)
Heat 7: Taj Burrow (AUS), Chris Davidson (AUS), Neco Padaratz (BRA)
Heat 8: Mick Fanning (AUS), Kai Otton (AUS), TBA
Heat 9: Joel Parkinson (AUS), Kekoa Bacalso (HAW), TBA
Heat 10: Bede Durbidge (AUS), Mick Campbell (AUS), TBA
Heat 11: Jordy Smith (ZAF), Drew Courtney (AUS), Dusty Payne (HAW)
Heat 12: Taylor Knox (USA), Luke Stedman (AUS), Nathan Yeomans (USA)
Heat 13: Tom Whitaker (AUS), Andy Irons (HAW), Jay Thompson (AUS)
Heat 14: Kieren Perrow (AUS), Daniel Ross (AUS), Luke Munro (AUS)
Heat 15: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW), Patrick Gudauskas (USA), Owen Wright (AUS)
Heat 16: Dean Morrison (AUS), Jadson Andre (BRA), Adam Melling (AUS)