Michel Bourez, en route to a 9.30, Jeffreys Bay, South Africa

Michel Bourez went ballistic yesterday. In his round two heat at the Billabong Pro, J-Bay against Brazilian Raoni Monteiro, the Tahitian they call ‘Spartan’ lived up to his nickname. Via a flurry of really, really powerful turns he clocked in a 9.30 – the highest single wave score of the event so far – and a 7.77, making the highest combined heat total of the event so far at 17.07 outta a possible 20 points. The 9.30 was especially impressive. Photog Ryan Miller says: “This thing was fucked up. Definitely worth a few plays via heats on demand. This is how J-Bay should be surfed. Bourez went loony on this wave. Usually when someone rips a wave the competitor’s area is all cheers, but for this one it was dead silent. I think everyone was trying to pick their chins up off the ground.” For more of Ryan’s awesome work, jump over to his site here.