Captain Kai's World on www.2ov.fm - Quiksnow & US Open Podcast

Broadcast from Johannesburg Studio for the very first time as we were coming back from Quiksnow 2012 in Lesotho. I was joined in studio by Dustin from Skull Candy, Ryan van der Spuy from Locally Whipped, JoJo Krivec from Slovenia and the Quiksnow 2012 Champion, who came with manager and Olympic Snowboard judge, Iztok Sumatic. I also had Mikey February live from California talking about the US Open of Surfing and his travels on the West Coast of the USA. Enjoy the show and remember to listen in every Monday evening 6-8pm (CAT) on www.2ov.fm

Download or Listen to the Podcast here - PODCAST QUIKSNOW & US OPEN

King Kelly is back on top with victory at the US Open of Surf

Kelly Slater showing up the young guns for the win at the US Open of Surf (Photo:ASP)

After much build up and fanfare as to the arrival of the new school generation at the US Open, it turned out that they were not quite ready to take over the reigns of Pro surfing quite yet. When the final siren blew it was the mercurial Mr Kelly Slater left holding a cheque for $100'000 and once again in Number 1 on the ASP Men's ratings. The kids, Kohole Andino and John John Florence, must have been left scratching their heads as to how after all the hype and song and dance, they let an old man eclipse their efforts - haha, welcome to every surfer for the last few years on tours feelings of inadequacy. Kelly it seems, even after missing the last WCT event in Jbay, has still not lost his desire for victory or pulling the big pay outs! Got to respect the old man.

For us South African's, we were all praying that Royden Bryson could go all the way, but unfortunately he lost out to Yadin Nicol, who ended up making the final. Good news is that after the US Open we have 2 surfers climbing the ratings towards requalification in Travis Logie (44) and now Royden Bryson (64). Two of our youngsters are in the Top 100, Shaun Joubert (70) and Brandon Jackson (91). Lets hope a few more of the boys can lift their games for the rest of year.

ASP Press release:
HUNTINGTON BEACH, California / USA (Sunday, August 7, 2011) – Reigning 10-Time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (Cocoa Beach, FL), 39, has won the 2011 ASP PRIME Nike US Open of Surfing for the first time since 1996, defeating Yadin Nicol (AUS), 26, in a dominant final in two-to-four foot (1 metre) waves at the iconic Huntington Beach Pier.

Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 20, was also victorious when she clinched the final stop on the 2011 ASP Women’s World Title series, the Nike US Open of Surfing, when she topped dangerous wildcard Lakey Peterson (Santa Barbara, CA), 16, in a hard-fought battle.

Slater quickly asserted his dominance in the Final against Nicol when he launched a frontside air-reverse and solidified the ride on the reform to earn an 8.50 and backed the ride up with a 7.77 to put the Australian in an early combination-situation and controlled the heat throughout the entirety of the bout.

“I guess Yadin (Nicol) wanted me to win because he didn’t catch any waves,” Slater said. “I was just really frustrated for him because he was sitting out the back waiting for the big sets and the big sets were close outs. The small ones he was just two far outside and I got them. I think what happened is I got the 8.50 to start and he was just going to be patient. If he got a good one he would have thrown a big rotator, but it just never came.”

Slater went on an absolute rampage on the final day of competition and fought his way back into a tough battle to overtake progressive Hawaiian Dusty Payne (Lahaina, HI), 22, by launching a hail-mary, no-grab backside 360 air. The massive punt garnered the highest single-wave score of Nike US Open of Surfing competition, 9.77 out of 10, as well as the highest heat-total of 17.94 out of 20.

“Dusty (Payne) had priority and he had gone on a couple of lefts that kind of fizzled out on him and he was probably thinking that left was going to do the same thing his other ones did,” Slater said. “It just let me get going on the face enough and I just tried to rotate as hard as I could and somehow the board stuck to my feet.”

Nicol fought hard throughout the entirety of the ASP PRIME competition, taking out dangerous South African Royden Bryson (ZAF), 28, and prodigious Californian Kolohe Andino (San Clemente, CA), 17, on the Final day of competition, but struggled to find a wave in the Final against Slater.

“Kelly started off strong with the 8.5 and I thought I’d wait for a good wave and I think I waited too long,” Nicol said. “At the start of this week I wouldn’t have thought that I’d be in the Final with Kelly. I love it. Sometimes things work out and you make the Final and I’m stoked, I’m over the moon.”

Yadin, who was rated No. 36 entering the US Open of Surfing, now sits at 27th on the ASP World Rankings, moving him inside the coveted ASP Top 32 midyear cut for the halfway mark of the year, but with two events remaining on the ASP World Title Season, Nicol remained guarded in claiming his spot for the final elite events.

“There are still two World Tour events to go so it doesn’t completely change my life just yet,” Nicol said. “It definitely helps the vibe though.”

Fitzgibbons, who finished second on the ASP Women’s World Title Series, was strong on both her forehand and backhand in the final and fought off the determined wildcard to clinch her third elite event on to finish her 2011 season.

“It’s such an unbelievable feeling to get chaired up the beach,” Fitzgibbons said. “There is just a sea of people and it’s one of my biggest achievements. To get three wins this year, it has been a really special year and although I didn’t get the title, I can’t believe I’ve won this event.”

Fitzgibbons feels that there is more to come for the highly-talked about progressive movement in women’s surfing and wildcards such as Lakey Peterson are a perfect example of the future of the sport.

“Today was just about connecting the dots and stepping it up,” Fitzgibbons said. “I think the future is bright for our sport. Lakey (Peterson) is only 16 and she was in both finals in this event it was a great week for her, but to get the win was an amazing way to cap off the year.”

Peterson proved to be a giant killer throughout the entirety of the Women’s Nike US Open of Surfing, taking wins over veteran Melanie Bartels (HAW), 28, ASP Women’s World Title Rookies Tyler Wright (AUS), 17, and Laura Enever (AUS), 19, as well as freshly crowned ASP Women’s World Champion Carissa Moore but was unable to find the scores needed to surpass Fitzgibbons in the Final.

“I’m stoked with the way this week has turned out,” Peterson said. “It was an honor to surf against Sally (Fitzgibbons) and I’m really happy to make the Final in my first World Tour event.”

Peterson, who won the ASP 4-Star Nike US Open of Surfing Pro Junior yesterday, asserted herself as a frontrunner among the progressive movement of women’s surfing via dominant run at the Nike US Open of Surfing. The young Californian was the only competitor to put a stop to Moore’s run of finaling in every ASP Top 17 contest this season when she topped the Hawaiian in their Semifinals matchup.

“Winning yesterday was what I wanted to do, to win in the Juniors and do well in this event,” Peterson said. “My heat against Carissa (Moore) felt like no pressure and I just wanted to go for it and I’m just so excited to win that heat. I’ve always wanted to surf against Carissa. She really pushes my surfing to the next level and is an amazing friend.”

Highlights from the 2011 Nike US Open of surfing can be found at www.usopenofsurfing.com

For media downloads log on to www.usopenofsurfing.com/downloads

For additional ASP information log on to www.aspworldtour.com

The Nike US Open of Surfing was a massive action sports festival which also includes Skate, BMX, Art, Music and Fashion shows all of which are free to the public.

Nike US Open of Surfing Men’s Final Result:
1 – Kelly Slater (USA) 16.27
2 – Yadin Nicol (AUS) 2.57

Nike US Open of Surfing Men’s Semifinals Results:
SF 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 17.94 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 14.90
SF 2: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 13.44 def. Kolohe Andino (USA) 12.87

Nike US Open of Surfing Men’s Quarterfinals Results:
QF 1: Dusty Payne (HAW) 13.93 def. Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 10.10
QF 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.50 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.27
QF 3: Kolohe Andino (USA) 10.44 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 10.33
QF 4: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 11.60 def. Royden Bryson (ZAF) 8.26

Nike US Open of Surfing Women’s Final Result:
1 – Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 14.23
2 – Lakey Peterson (USA) 12.40

Nike US Open of Surfing Women’s Semifinals Results:
SF 1: Lakey Peterson (USA) 14.67 def. Carissa Moore (HAW) 14.60
SF 2: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 14.46 def. Coco Ho (HAW) 14.16

Royden Bryson the Silent Assasin at the US Open of Surfing

Royden going about his business at HB (Photo: ASP)

It has been a good month for South African surfing. Jordy Smith made the Semis at the Mr Price and then backed that up with a second victory in 2 years at the Billabong. Much of the talk though has been who else is going to do well for SA in the waters of the ASP World Tour. Most of the chatter has centered around the names of young guys like Shaun Joubert and Chad du Toit, the super groms dominating in the Junior contests and starting to attack the tour.

But, it is another man who is stepping up to the plate at the richest contest in professional surfing, a man who normally steers away from the limelight and the circus that is professional surfing in California. Royden Bryson has worked like a silent assassin through the rounds at this years contest to earn himself a Quarter Final Berth. No song and dance, just head down and win heats. In fact, today, after making the Quarters, was the first time I was able to find a photo of the man in action and he has won all his heats. Says a lot when you notice the hubbub going on over some of the US surfers like Kohole Andino. I will guarantee the rest of the field know that Royden is around. He has made his presence felt over the years, both on the CT and the QS. They all know what the little pocket rocket from SA can do. In the small bowling beach break of Huttington Beach it would take a brave man not to put some bills on the explosive goofy footer pulling off the biggest victory of his career.

Live Broadcast starts this evening - US Open of Surfing

So keep an eye out and watch the live broadcast tonight - we might well have to start blowing some Vuvulezas at volume! Make us proud Roy!

(Notice the absence of Roy in the highlights video!)

Asp Press Release:
Thanks to stadium seating, sideline pier access, and jumbo big screens, the south side of the HB pier is the closest thing our sport has to an arena. When the waves are good it’s the best venue in professional surfing and today the waves were going off.

There was no Huntington hopping going on.

Recently the ASP has copped a lot of heat for its decision to bring events to locations with questionable wave quality—and though Huntington has always had that wrap, you’d never know it looking at the ocean today. For two hours Dusty, Dane, Slater, Taj, and Kolohe went absolutely loony. Kelly scored two Nine’s. Taj got a dry tube (below). Kolohe nailed a near perfect 10 for the move of the event—a frontside grab air reverse on a meaty closeout section.

And who won? We all did. Today was good for our sport. Good for the sponsors, fans, and the surfers. Quality waves brought out quality surfing. The spectators were treated to the most high performance action in the history of the US Open and none of the surfers lost. (Round 4 is non-elimination)

Kelly’s in the quarters. Joining him is Dane, Dusty, and Royden Bryson. In Round 5 Evan Geiselman is matched up with Taj and John John comes up against Kolohe.

This thing is setting up for a banger finish this weekend, let’s just hope the waves stick around.—Zander Morton

Nike US Open of Surfing Round of 12 Results:
Heat 1: Dusty Payne (HAW) 17.17, Richard Christie (NZL) 12.63, Evan Geiselman (USA) 9.47
Heat 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 18.77, Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.50, Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 10.00
Heat 3: Dane Reynolds (USA) 16.43, Kolohe Andino (USA) 10.60, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 8.93
Heat 4: Royden Bryson (ZAF) 12.90, Thiago Camarao (BRA) 12.53, John John Florence (HAW) 10.80

Nike US Open of Surfing Round 24 Results:
Heat 7: Kolohe Andino (USA) 14.06 def. Jesse Mendes (BRA) 7.87
Heat 8: Dane Reynolds (USA) 11.17 def. Adam Melling (AUS) 6.77
Heat 9: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 14.33 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 11.83
Heat 10: Royden Bryson (ZAF) 11.10 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 9.84
Heat 11: Thiago Camarao (BRA) 11.17 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 10.77
Heat 12: John John Florence (HAW) 15.83 def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 12.60