Bells Day 3: Jordy Flys At Corona Highline And The Top 5 Stumble

The Bells Burger Pro went on hold at dawn, just enough time to shake off the Easter sugar rush in the shorey out front and I returned for what was a shortlived day of competitive surfing. 

The Bowl is eerily deceptive on the webcam. At a snapshot, it appears dreamy, stacked with lines and brimming with potential to reel and glimmer along the reef. But this hope is quickly squandered as the surfer pops to their feet and proceeds to release three to four mediocre turns whilst navigating the perpetually appearing flat spots. 

Thankfully, for both yourself and I, the WSL only subjected us to five heats today. Four of the now elimination women’s Round 3 along with the added 40 minute twin fin installment that is the Corona Highline Heat – which was surprisingly more progressive than the females earlier showing. 

There isn’t much to cover today, but as the age of immediacy inclines us towards instant satisfaction, I’ll start on a high-note and drip feed towards the lows:

The smallest jump Jordy did today, but the only one he stuck. Photo. WSL/Cestari

Jordy Smith could ride twins all the time

Twin fins are great.

In fact, Bells when small appears so weak that a fish could likely adopted, even when the heats rules didn’t require it.

As it turns out, twin fins aren’t just good for soul arches, grab rails and bent back knees; they’re also aerially competent and carry more speed than an inner-west junkie. Or at least that’s what Jordy Smith would have you believe. 

Jordy leapt above the surface three times in the technical issue ridden heat and managed to stick one of these three attempts. It may not have been the knock kneed jiving brought to you via the likes of the Centrelink endorsed, but it did pose the question of whether a twin could be ridden in a standard CT heat. 

I’m not claiming that the Bass Strait’s walls could be groomed by a fish when it’s unruly, but when it’s two, maybe three foot and clean, I’m yet to see a disadvantage. Jordy surfed better on that board than most men and women on on thrusters and with a little aerial spice, Pritamo’s new take on WSL judging would’ve fit just fine.

Pritamo wasn’t in charge of this heat though, a few thousand Facebook watchers were and they handed Jordy the top spot. Although the Zaffa is that popular he probably could’ve ridden prone the whole heat and still strolled onto the sand victorious. 

On the other hand, how shit does riding a twin look on your backhand. Sorry, Wilko. 

Well, at least we know it’s sarcastic. Photo. WSL/Cestari

Not your usual pieces of foam

Look, I know, you’re sick of hearing young airheads announce the benefits of green living, veganism, environmentalism or whatever is on the agenda. Despite this, it’s sick to see a little positive change.

The boards ridden in the Corona highline event weren’t your usual toxic combos, they were ‘gold level certified Ecoboards”. Now I don’t know what that means, but Greg Long picked some of the styrofoam off the beach himself and 25% of the foam used in construction was recycled from waste found on the sand. 

I’m just wondering how you can handshape four “identical boards”.

The fins were made from upcycled fishing nets and the jerseys they were wearing were made from oceanic plastic waste too.

Everyone still flew to Bells on planes, but hey, at least the products they’re using are a little less impactful.

Now I’ve done my part I can go back to riding my standard PU unashamed. 

I wonder if Caroline bullies the boys at her school who surf worse than her – that being all of them. Photo. WSL/Sloane

The Top 5 women floundered and Caroline Marks shone

Lakey, Kelly, Sally, Malia and Tyler all gone.

Lakey’s yellow jersey appears to be shortlived, the 2x champ Tyler surfed well and still slipped and as we saw yesterday, Sally struggled for an even earlier exit.

If the conditions were permitting, I doubt we would’ve seen the powerhouse likes of Lakey and Tyler struggle through the bowl, but dud waves today were more frequent than a Jordy post-wave claim. The lines looked plentiful when sets rolled through, but in reality, there weren’t many waves of noteworthy potential. 

The majority of the time the girls simply sat still, looking out towards the Indian Ocean, probably peeved they’d been ushered into surfing today at all. 

There was however a noteworthy performance from Johanne Defay in Heat 4. Despite sticking it to Coco for a non-priority interference at the start – costing her half her second scoring ride – she managed to come back into second spot to avoid elimination. 

And Kelly’s predictions drew nearer to the truth as Caroline Marks continued on a roll, relegating Lakey to Margies and keeping a competitive Sage in her place. The young American’s surfing may need some maturing yet, but she’s still more than capable against the top. 

Steph G isn’t eating from the same box as fellow bix-head, Smithy. She won it fair and square. Photo. WSL/Sloane

Looking forward

We’ll most likely see a fresh face wearing the yellow jersey come Margs in the women’s division, in the mean time we can only hope that conditions improve ever so slightly.

Alternatively, just move the comp a few hundred metres to the left and we can see it all go down at Winki. The live viewing may be shitter, but at least we won’t be subject to heavily forced foam climbs on the end section anymore.

There’s a few backed up swells on the way, supposedly a big one tomorrow with heinous winds as accompaniment, but I’d prefer big ugly burgers than head high runners anyway.  

Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach Round 3 Results:
Heat 1: Carissa Moore (HAW) 13.06, Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 10.13, Kobe Enright (AUS) 8.67
Heat 2: Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW) 14.56, Silvana Lima (BRA) 13.67,  Tyler Wright (AUS) 12.50
Heat 3: Caroline Marks (USA) 12.17, Sage Erickson (USA) 8.33, Lakey Peterson (USA) 7.73
Heat 4: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 11.56, Johanne Defay (FRA) 10.22, Coco Ho (HAW) 7.93

Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach Quarterfinal Matchups:
QF 1:Carissa Moore (HAW) vs. Silvana Lima (BRA)
QF 2: Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW) vs. Nikki Van Dijk (AUS)
QF 3: Caroline Marks (USA) vs. Johanne Defay (FRA)
QF 4: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) vs. Sage Erickson (USA)

Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Round 3 Matchups:
Heat 1: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Wade Carmichael (AUS)
Heat 2: Kolohe Andino (USA) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 3: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Jesse Mendes (BRA)
Heat 4: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) vs. Griffin Colapinto (USA)
Heat 5: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Sebastian Zietz (HAW)
Heat 6: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 7: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Ezekiel Lau (HAW)
Heat 8: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Frederico Morais (PRT)
Heat 9: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Conner Coffin (USA)
Heat 10: Filipe Toledo (BRA) vs. Italo Ferreira (BRA)
Heat 11: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Jeremy Flores (FRA)
Heat 12: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Willian Cardoso (BRA)