The 2013 Volcom Fiji Pro (part one)

This morning at the Volcom Fiji Pro, the VQS event was called on. And, after four heats, it’d become apparent that the waves were more than adequate for the main event (kinda pumping, in fact). So, round one was called on. But Joel Parkinson, thinking the VQS would run in its entirety, went fishing. So, when Matt Wilkinson and Heitor Alves paddled out for their heat, Joel wasn’t there.

“I was 100 percent convinced last night that the contest would be off today so we went fishing early this morning,” said Joel. “There’s so much good surf coming in the contest window that I thought there was no way we’d be surfing so we grabbed the fishing rods and took off down the coast in the boat. But the swell filled in a little early and the conditions at Cloudbreak were so good they had no choice but to run. There’s no way you walk away from waves that good. I was out of phone range and by the time the contest was called on I was too far away to make it back because I was in the third heat of the morning.”

“I was pretty bummed to miss the heat, but I was even more bummed that I missed out on waves like that. That was pretty perfect Cloudbreak. There were some absolute bombs out there and the boys got tubed out of their brains all day. But I guess you’ve got to be philosophical about it. You’re never too old to learn a lesson and I’ll definitely pull back a bit on the fishing during events. I definitely won’t be fishing tomorrow morning! The upside I suppose is that I get to surf an extra heat and the forecast for the rest of the event is looking insane.”

Regardless, Heitor, who was a last minute entry, would’ve been a tough man to beat: He clocked an 18.63 combined total. “I’m so happy because I was in Brazil and got the invite just before the event, so it’s a dream for me,” he said. “I was just in Brazil and now I’ve just won a heat against Wilko. It was a hard heat, but I’m happy. I really need a result and hopefully I can do it here. I just got lucky.”

Another big result came from Mitch Coleborn, enjoying his second consecutive wildcard into this event and rolling straight off a Prime event win in Brazil. “This is the most amazing event all year,” said Mitch after posting a 19.33 combined total. “The waves are pumping. To get the wildcard again, I’m just so stoked. With priority in Round one now, it makes for more of a relaxing three-man heat. I was lucky with the first wave and that it was a 10. There wasn’t much jockeying. I was pretty confident after that and there wasn’t much hassling, so I was lucky.”

Keep your eyes glued to this particular area of the internet tomorrow morning, to see if the event runs again.

VOLCOM FIJI PRO ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Fred Patacchia (HAW) 15.20, Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 14.50, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 11.00
Heat 2: Travis Logie (ZAF) 10.06, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 6.67, Taj Burrow (AUS) 4.90
Heat 3: Heitor Alves (BRA) 18.63, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 15.33, Joel Parkinson (AUS) ns
Heat 4: Mitch Coleborn (AUS) 19.33, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 6.60, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 5.77
Heat 5: Damien Hobgood (USA) 17.47, Mick Fanning (AUS) 17.23, Alex Grey (AUS) 6.23
Heat 6: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 12.00, Aca Lalabalavu (FIJ) 8.50, Kelly Slater (USA) ns
Heat 7: Kai Otton (AUS) 17.43, Dusty Payne (HAW) 14.36, Gabriel Medina (BRA) 7.96
Heat 8: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 12.57, Julian Wilson (AUS) 8.50, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 7.60
Heat 9: Josh Kerr (AUS) 17.66, Adam Melling (AUS) 13.36, Filipe Toledo (BRA) 13.27
Heat 10: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 16.34, Glenn Hall (IRL) 13.67, Michel Bourez (PYF) 10.63