World’s best surfers battle out round 2 at the Billabong Rio Pro...

Round 2 kicked off at the lefthand pointbreak of Arpoador on Wednesday May 18, 2011.
The scene was set, two-to-four foot waves, crowded beaches, beautiful weather and babes in bikini’s.
Stop number 3 of The ASP World Title Series, the Billabong Rio Pro commenced yesterday with round 2 after a week of waiting for swell to arrive.

Up first  was  2010 ASP World Runner-Up Jordy Smith (ZAF), 23, against Peterson Crisanto (BRA), 18 in Heat 1 of Round 2. Jordy looked uncharacteristically sluggish in his Round 2 heat against event wildcard Peterson Crisanto, but found the scores needed to keep his Billabong Rio Pro campaign alive.
“I don’t know what was going on, usually I kind of go out there and let loose and I was nursing everything,” Smith said. “I was surfing really careful because I didn’t want to blow the waves I got but I ended up blowing them anyway. I’m happy that I made the heat though.”

C.J. Hobgood (USA), 39, and Joel Parkinson (AUS), 30, earn the highest scores of Billabong Rio Pro Competition in clean two-to-four foot (1 metre) lefthanders to complete to Round 2.
Hobgood collected the highest heat total of the event with a telly of 16.50 (out of a possible 20) to claim victory over rookie Julian Wilson. “That’s what makes those heats fun to surf and it’s exciting to watch,” Hobgood said. “I have so much respect for Julian (Wilson) because these kids can come back so easily no matter what scores they need. I had a good start and had to be comfortable with my performance win or lose. It was exciting and I’m stoked to make it, I have so much fun surfing against these guys.”

Joel Parkinson (AUS), 30, current ASP World Title No. 2, stuck to his strategy of waiting for the outside set waves and matched the day’s highest single-wave score of a 9 out of 10 for powerful backhand surfing to eventually eliminate fellow countryman Kai Otton (AUS), 31.
“A strategy is a strategy and I had seen a few waves out there,” Parkinson said. “Yesterday the tide came in and just kind of killed me. The wave is pretty tricky here and it’s kind of a dog fight to try and get a wave.”

The Billabong Rio Pro will return to Barra da Tijuca tomorrow morning for a 7am call for a potential 7:30am start for Round 3. To watch the event LIVE log on to http://www.billabongpro.com

For additional ASP information log on to www.aspworldtour.com

Billabong Rio Pro Round 2 Results:
Heat 1: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 11.67 def. Peterson Crisanto (BRA) 7.10
Heat 2: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 11.60 def. Igor Morais (BRA) 10.17
Heat 3: Michel Bourez (PYF) 12.50 def. Simao Romao (BRA) 12.10
Heat 4: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 16.43 def. Ricardo Santos (BRA) 12.66
Heat 5: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.33 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 11.77
Heat 6: Bobby Martinez (USA) 12.77 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 11.07
Heat 7: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 11.50 def. Gabe Kling (USA) 11.40
Heat 8: Josh Kerr (AUS) 12.74 def. Chris Davidson (AUS) 12.17
Heat 9: Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 12.53 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 9.40
Heat 10: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 16.50 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 14.70
Heat 11: Heitor Alves (BRA) 12.44 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 10.40
Heat 12: Adam Melling (AUS) 15.00 def. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 9.27

Upcoming Round 3 Match Ups:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Cory Lopez (USA)
Heat 2: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Heitor Alves (BRA)
Heat 3: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Dan Ross (AUS)
Heat 4: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 5: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Bobby Martinez (USA)
Heat 7: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Josh Kerr (AUS)
Heat 8: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. C.J. Hobgood (USA)
Heat 9: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 10: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Taylor Knox (USA)
Heat 11: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Jadson Andre (BRA)

Billabong Rio Pro hosts World's Best Surfers...

Billabong Rio Pro - Round 1

Rio de Janeiro, new hosts to the Billabong Pro has kicked off with a quiet start. Barra da Tijuca will serve as the main site for the Billabong Pro Rio 2011, utilizing its consistent and rippable beachbreaks as a base for the world’s best surfers to push the boundaries of high-performance. The historic lefthand pointbreak of Praia da Arpoador will serve as the secondary site, and the protected beachbreaks of Canto do Recreio will be called upon should the winds not cooperate with the two former.

After a week of lay-days, round one eventually commenced as the veterans dominated on the day with the highest scores,  while defending event winner Jadson Andre (BRA), 21, made an impressive entrance in the Billabong Rio Pro’s opening round.

Kelly Slater (USA), 39, reigning 10-time ASP World Champion, got off to a strong start to open his Billabong Rio Pro campaign. Slater flaunted two furious tail-drifting backhand turns to collect the day’s highest single-wave score of a 9.00 (out of a possible 10) midway through his bout to overtake ASP World Tour rookie Julian Wilson (AUS), 22, and event wildcard Peterson Crisanto (BRA), 18, after nearly missing the start of his heat.
“That 9 felt good,” Slater said. “I went down to grab my jersey and there was some confusion. By the time I got out, the heat had already started and Julian got that first one. It wasn’t a good start. I knew there were going to be some good ones and I just had to be patient. That one good wave actually let me bottom turn and hit the lip, most of the waves were soft and had a lot of horizontals.”

Taj Burrow (AUS), 32, opened his Billabong Rio Pro campaign with a sharp backhand attack by belting two Arpoador lefthanders to the tune of a 16.83 (out of 20) on his first two waves to earn the highest heat-total of the day. The Australian veteran notched his Round 1 heat win over dangerous Brazilian rookie Alejo Muniz (BRA), 21, and event wildcard Ricardo Santos (BRA), 20.

Jadson Andre, defending event winner, reveled in Arpoador’s lefthanders with a combination of aggressive carves and snaps to take a convincing Round 1 heat victory with the support of the Brazilian crowd behind him.
“Brazilian fans are so passionate and vocal,” Mick Fanning, reigning two-time ASP World Champion, said. “Sport is a huge part of their culture and that reflects in the crowds we get to the beach. I’m excited about bringing the World Tour back to Rio.”
“I’m so happy to be here competing in Brazil and I love Arpoador, I feel like a local,” Andre said. “I’ve competed here several times before and have friends here. I know everyone says I should feel pressure as defending champion, but I’m not worried about it. I’m just thinking about the next heat. That’s what I did last year.”

Billabong Rio Pro event organizers will reconvene at Aproador at 7am local time tomorrow morning for a possible 8am start.

To watch the Billabong Rio Pro LIVE log on to http://www.billabongpro.com

For additional ASP information log on to www.aspworldtour.com

Billabong Rio Pro Round 1 Results:
Heat 1: Owen Wright (AUS) 13.60, Heitor Alves (BRA) 7.67, Bobby Martinez (USA) 7.47
Heat 2: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 11.84, Adam Melling (AUS) 11.16, Kai Otton (AUS) 7.90
Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.33, Ricardo Santos (BRA) 11.17, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 10.60
Heat 4: Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.07, Simao Romao (BRA) 12.36, Dusty Payne (HAW) 11.66
Heat 5: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 8.13, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 8.07, Igor Morais (BRA) 6.34
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.17, Julian Wilson (AUS) 14.37, Peterson Crisanto (BRA) 3.84
Heat 7: Jadson Andre (BRA) 14.33, Gabe Kling (USA) 10.66, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 7.90
Heat 8: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 13.56, C.J. Hobgood (USA) 10.80, Josh Kerr (AUS) 7.43
Heat 9: Damien Hobgood (USA) 12.00, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 11.10, Tiago Pires (PRT) 10.93
Heat 10: Cory Lopez (USA) 11.54, Chris Davidson (AUS) 10.00, Michel Bourez (PYF) 8.57
Heat 11: Daniel Ross (AUS) 14.90, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.67, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 8.96
Heat 12: Taylor Knox (USA) 15.03, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 14.70, Joel Parkinson (AUS) 8.34

How waves are formed...

The oceans are in constant motion. The gravitational pull of the sun and moon oscillates the surface of the oceans twice a day while the wind agitates it into waves.
The surface of the sea exerts a frictional drag on the bottom layer of a wind blowing over it, and this layer exerts a frictional drag on the layer above it, and so on. The top layer has the keast frictional drag exerted on it which means that the layers of air move forward at different speeds. The air tumbles forward and finally develops a circular motion. This motion causes a downward pressure (DP) on the surface at its front, and an upward pressure (UP) at its rear, and this causes the surface to take on the form of a wave.
The back of the wave tumbles forward but it moves back later and slows the forward movement at the front of the wave. The wave now grows bigger.

The shape of the ocean floor and the direction of the wind are the two main factors that cause a wave to break (crash). The best surfing waves are usually caused by underwater features like sand banks, rocky points or reefs. To get the hollow tubes that surfers love, the ocean floor has to slope steeply. Waves tend to break more gently and farther out if the slope of the ocean floor is gradual. Surfers also prefer it when the wind blows from the beach out to the sea, which is called offshore because it helps to maintain clean waves, which are better to surf. If the wind blows from the ocean to the beach (onshore) or across the beach (cross-shore), it will cause the waves to be messy and choppy.