Dusty Payne, losing heat but winning hearts, Bells Beach

Yesterday at the Rip Curl Pro, Bells Beach, Dusty Payne steamed past Owen Wright in round two with a 17.10 combined total, but in round three, he met with Taj Burrow. And Taj, unhappy with his results at the Quiksilver Pro, Snapper and the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro, looked determined to progress. Dusty lost, but he killed his second round and the crowd dug it. “I know Dusty lost today but fuck, if he wasn’t the guy that was the most on point,” says photog Ryan Miller who shot this. “Jordy absolutely smashed his heat but who didn’t see that coming. I was super impressed with Dusty’s surfing today. He got a 9.5 in his first heat on this wave. Look at this thing. From the top of the wave to the bottom it is right at three board lengths tall.”

Today at Bells there’s been high drama – Joel Parkinson was knocked out by Raoni Monteiro in a heat that ended with totals of 19.17 to 19.10. Yup. And, Willian Cardoso dispatched Kelly Slater, whose back looks very injured. Get over there before anything else wild happens.