Slater Rides Away With Surfing Victory
Kelly Slater flew home to Cocoa Beach, Fla., Sunday night with his Southern California surfing resume nearly complete.
Slater won his third title in seven days with a victory at the Bud Pro Surfing tour stop Sunday at Huntington State Beach.
He finished with a four-wave total of 31.03 (out of 40) to edge Cardiff’s Rob Machado (28.63), whom he had beaten in the finals of the Katin Team Challenge last Sunday at the Huntington Beach Pier. He and Machado also were part of the winning Team Focus at the Katin.
Slater’s victory Sunday was his sixth in Orange County in the past five years. He won the Op Junior amateur title in 1989, the 1990 Body Glove Surfbout at Lower Trestles and led Team USA to a tag-team title at the 1992 Op and then added the three championships last week.
The Katin and Bud Pro contests served as a tuneup for the Op Pro and U.S. Open of Surfing, scheduled for late July and early August at Huntington Beach. Slater, the 1992 world champion, has never won a world-tour contest at Huntington Beach, a streak he’s aiming to break this summer.
“Now that I think about it,” Slater said, “I feel pretty good about what I’ve done here in the past week. I hadn’t won in Huntington Beach since I was an amateur, and I’ve had a chance to compete here in the past week.
“I don’t know if I’m surfing in the Op Pro (July 27-31) yet. But I’m there for the U.S. Open. It looks to be the biggest surfing contest in the world this year.”
Slater dominated Huntington Beach the past week. He scored a perfect 10 in small surf at the Katin a week ago, and scored consistently Sunday with some aerial moves in three- to five-foot conditions.
He needed a 6.71 to pass Machado, and took the lead midway through the final when he scored a 7.7 on his fifth wave--a big move off the lip, followed by an aerial.
Slater earned $4,000 for the victory, Machado $2,000. Hawaii’s Ross Williams won $1,350 for finishing third and Seal Beach native Marty Thomas placed fourth and took home $1,250.
“This was as good a week as I’ve had for contests,” Slater said. “But money-wise, it wasn’t. I thought I won $1,500 at the Katin, but I got only $1,000.”
Slater finished second to Machado in a tough semifinal heat that included reigning world champion Derek Ho of Hawaii and 1992 U.S. champion Shane Beschen of San Clemente.
Ho had defeated Slater in the third round and quarterfinals, although both advanced to the next round. But Ho struggled in the final minutes of the semifinal as two five-foot waves closed out on him.
Notes
World-tour officials are considering a format in which the top three finishers at the Op Pro would automatically advance to the U.S. Open. A fourth qualifying spot would be determined in a one-on-one heat between former Op champion Mark Occhilupo of Australia and three-time Op champion Tommy Curren of Santa Barbara.
Op and U.S. Open officials also plan to charge admission for bleacher and pier seating for the final days of each contest. Seating on the beach is still free, but there will be a $5 per day charge for the last two days of the Op. There also will be a charge for seating on each of the final three days of the U.S. Open, with a price yet to be determined.
Forty of the world’s top 44 surfers have committed to compete in the Op.
Results
Surfing
Finals: 1. Kelly Slater (Cocoa Beach, Fla.), 31.03; 2. Rob Machado (Cardiff), 28.63; 3. Ross Williams (Hawaii), 24.4; 4. Marty Thomas (Long Beach), 24.31. Slater wins $4,000; Machado, $2,000; Williams, $1,350; and Thomas, $1,250.
Semifinals: Heat 1--1. Williams, 20.43; 2. Thomas, 19.83; 3. Chris Brown (Santa Barbara), 19.27; 4. Jeff Booth (Laguna Beach), 18.43. Heat 2--1. Machado, 2. Slater, 3. Shane Beschen (San Clemente), 4. Derek Ho (Hawaii). Heat 2 scores not available.
Longboard surfing
Finals: 1. Joel Tudor (San Diego), 28.33; 2. Israel Paskowitz (San Clemente), 26.4; 3. Josh Baxter (San Clemente), 24.8; 4. Scott Daley, 20.66. Tudor wins $1,000; Paskowitz, $750; Baxter, $500; and Daley, $350.