Bells Beach holds a special place in surfing history, a place where high stakes contests have been held for decades, so all the surfers on tour went into the 2016 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach event with high hopes. The waves were far from perfect during some heats, but for some lucky surfers this iconic surf spot did turn on at times. The reeling right hand point break with its sloping walls might not be best suited to progressive aerials, but the surfing on show was nothing short of spectacular. Let’s kick off with some of the action from Round 1…
Some big names went out early on in the contest, world champions like Kelly Slater, Joel Parkinson, Adriano de Souza and Gabriel Medina all getting taken out in Round 3. Perhaps the biggest surprise in this elimination round was 2012 World Champion Aussie surfer Parko getting beaten by a rookie. It was none other than young gun Conner Coffin who dispatched with Joel, and that was just the beginning of the success that this young Pasadena surfer enjoyed at Bells Beach. Coffin, who has already attracted big name sponsors like Futures Fins and Channel Island Surfboards, is certainly showing what he is made of on the 2016 Championship Tour so far. He went on into Round 4 in a match up between himself, Jordy Smith and Mick Fanning, coming first in the heat. Just watch what he is capable of…
Also in Round 4, we couldn’t move on without mentioning how Mason Ho got himself slotting firmly in the barrel. The 2016 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach did not see as much barrel riding as surfers or spectators would have liked, so Mason Ho’s effort while battling against current world number one Matt Wilkinson and Komunity Project ambassador Wiggolly Dantas sent up some hoots. It was smooth tube riding at it’s finest, just see for yourself…
As the numbers whittled down we saw Mick Fanning finally end Conner Coffin’s amazing run to the quarterfinals, and Jordy Smith took out OAM team rider Michel Bourez before defeating Fanning in the semifinals. The grand final was set, Matt Wilkinson versus Jody Smith, but the South African just couldn’t overcome Wilko’s crazy backhand blow tails. He’s now over 10,000 points ahead of any other surfer in Championship Tour rankings, and even he can’t quite believe his success so far. Speaking to WSL commentator Ross Williams, Wilko couldn’t explain it, saying “I don’t know what’s going on.”
So to end with a few surprising stats about the 2016 WSL Championship Tour so far, would you believe that 11-time world champion Kelly Slater has only won one heat so far. Also, it’s pretty surprising that before this season, Matt Wilkinson had never won a Championship Tour event in his life. Now check out all the highlights from finals day and we’ll be back with all the action from the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro later this month.