The 2013 Rip Curl Pro, Portugal (part one)

“I knew where I wanted to sit and I was just hoping that the conditions wouldn’t change too much,” said Matt Wilkinson this morning after winning his round one heat at the Rip Curl Pro, Portugal. Wilko hasn’t been firing at top-of-game for like, a second, but if you’re gonna turn an event to turn the lights back on, may as well make it your major sponsor’s. “I got a few okay ones at the start and it was kinda scary when I saw Mick get a wave before my last one and I thought it might be the score so I didn’t know if I was chasing a score or not. That last one, I knew I was deep, I took off and was just pumping as hard as I could cause I really wanted to make it, I was stoked.” And rightly so, for the barrel was immaculate and deserves to be your first HOD port-o-call, f’real.

Other things happened too! Like a what-the-hell-moment that saw the least likely on-paper event of round one: Trials winner, 16-year-old Jacob Wilcox, beat Kelly Slater and Kolohe Andino. “It was pretty fun out there, I got a couple of good ones,” said ‘J-Willy’, a nickname I just made up. “I was stoked to get the opportunity to surf against those guys in the Trials, let alone win so I’m really happy. I got a few waves out here yesterday so I knew the banks pretty well and this is my second time competing in a WCT so I just knew I had to keep calm and it worked out pretty well. Kelly had priority and I was just up the beach a little bit more. This left came and I just pulled into it and got a pretty good score. That got me rolling through the heat and I managed to get a couple other ones to back it up.”

Jules Wilson looked shocked when he won his first heat, which he shouldn’t have because from the beach, he did so convincingly (his opponents, Freddy p and Yadin Nicol, barely managed to finish a wave each). “The waves looked fun before it started, obviously the tide is a little bit high but I think today will probably be one of the best days,” said totally-on-a-roll Julian. “I thought there was going to be a few more opportunities than what was out there, my first wave ended up being my best wave and at the time I thought it was just something to get started.”

A lot more happened which you would do well to watch in the replays. Will the swell stick around tomorrow? It ain’t overly promising, but we shed no optimism!

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Julian Wilson (AUS) 11.34, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 4.63, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 4.20
Heat 2: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 11.50, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 6.53, Brett Simpson (USA) 4.93
Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) 13.00, Travis Logie (ZAF) 7.77, Dillon Perillo (USA) 2.96

Heat 4: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 11.43, Frederico Morais (PRT) 9.16, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 5.90
Heat 5: Jacob Willcox (AUS) 13.07, Kelly Slater (USA) 9.60, Kolohe Andino (USA) 5.50
Heat 6: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 17.37, Mick Fanning (AUS) 12.60, Francisco Alves (PRT) 7.56
Heat 7: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 12.77, Michel Bourez (PYF) 12.07, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 3.73
Heat 8: Josh Kerr (AUS) 12.37, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 12.10, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 7.16
Heat 9: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 11.30, Damien Hobgood (USA) 10.50, Adriano De Souza (BRA) 9.83

Heat 10: Kai Otton (AUS) 11.40, Gabriel Medina (BRA) 5.63, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 5.43

Heat 11: John John Florence (HAW) 13.66, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 13.24, C.J. Hobgood (USA) 2.37

Heat 12: Nat Young (USA) 8.77, Adam Melling (AUS) 7.66, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 6.47

UPCOMING RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Francisco Alves (PRT)

Heat 2: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Frederico Morais (PRT)

Heat 3: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Dillon Perillo (USA)
Heat 4: Adriano De Souza (BRA) vs. Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
Heat 5: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Yadin Nicol (AUS)
Heat 6: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 7: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Alejo Muniz (BRA)

Heat 8: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Damien Hobgood (USA)
Heat 9: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA)

Heat 10: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. Miguel Pupo (BRA)
Heat 11: Travis Logie (ZAF) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 12: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Kolohe Andino (USA)