surf Blog

Leonardo Fioravanti is the 2013 junior surfing vice-world champion! After a busy week in Nicaragua, fighting against the world's best juniors in the under-16 category, Leo made his way through to the final without loosing a single heat. Unfortunately, he missed the gold medal by only 0.17pts and let australian Jacob Wilcox win the final.

We hope next year will be the one for Leo in the under-18 category!

For more information about the young italian prodigy, check his team rider profile.

Photo credit: ISA/Michael Tweddle & Rommel Gonzales

The Floridian wins Fiji event and gets back to world rank n°1

Quiksilver’s American surfing legend, Kelly Slater won the 2013 ASP World Tour stop n°4 in Fiji. The 41 year old Floridian, 11 time World Champion, defeated Mick Fanning during the final of the event held in his Cloubreak garden, a spot he knows by heart.

Yesterday, Slater had already displayed mind blowing performances thanks to a superb 10 point ride to qualify for the quarter finals. The Volcom Fiji Pro ultimate day was blessed by an exceptional swell that Kelly was able to surf perfectly with absolute control.

From the very first minute of his first heat of the day, in the quarters against Sebastian Zietz, Slater has been deterring his opponent by scoring a perfect 20 with 2 amazing waves surfed with unprecedented speed and sharpness. After dominating Hawaiian young prodigy John John Florence in semis, Kelly Slater overcame 2007 and 2009 World Champion Mick Fanning at the end of an epic battle which saw today’s champion score the 4th 10 points ride score of the event (final score : 19,80 vs 15,87 pts).

This Kelly’s 53rd win on tour! He will be now heading to Bali with the ASP World Tour Rankings leader position.

Following several lay days, Cloudbreak woke up again yesterday night and blessed the Volcom Fiji Pro Round 3 to 5 with great and powerful waves (see Travis Logie’s arms and legs after an accidental meeting with the reef http://instagram.com/p/aZV9zgzbMb/).

After posting a perfect 10 during Round 4, Quiksilver’s Kelly Slater qualified for the ASP World Tour stop n°4 quarter finals. In his next heat, the 11 time world champion will face Hawaiian Sebastian Zietz.

Jeremy Flores missed a quarter final qualification by loosing his R5 heat against Jordy Smith by a 0,07 points difference! The Frenchman takes a 9th place finish and now focuses on the next event in Bali.

The Volcom Fiji Pro relocated to the flawless lefthander of Restaurants for an incredible 17 heats of competition, running the two last heats of Round 1, Round 2 and the first three heats of Round 3 in perfect six-to-eight foot barrels (2 metre).

Kelly Slater, current ASP WCT No. 4, found his form after a Round 1 absence, taking out his Round 2 heat against local wildcard Aca Lalabalavu (FJI) despite a valiant effort from the Fijian.

“That was tough because we had that lull in my heat,” Slater said. “Me and Aca (Lalabalavu) never got to a good start and missed the best waves of the heat. I didn’t get to see any of Aca’s waves in my heat, but I figured I’ve surfed with him enough to know that he can put together a bunch of turns and barrels on a wave. To be honest, I had some nerves in that heat and I made some funny decisions. I know the waves, but you forget things when you haven’t been free surfing here a lot. It can get a little tricky, but it comes back pretty quick.”

Jeremy Flores won his first heat in round 1 against californians Nat Young and Kolohe Andino with smart tube riding and massive backhand turns.

Travis Logie also made it directly into round 3, with his early win during the first day of the competition against Taj Burrow and Yadin Nicol.

After calling the competition on yesterday, unexpected onshore winds quickly deteriorating conditions have forced event officials to call competition off after a three-hour holding period. When competition resumes, first up in the water will be Jeremy Flores against Miguel Pupo in Heat 4 Round 3.

VOLCOM FIJI PRO REMAINING ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 11: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 17.80, Nat Young (USA) 12.93, Kolohe Andino (USA) 9.10
Heat 12: Brett Simpson (USA) 13.20, John John Florence (HAW) 12.40, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 11.00

VOLCOM FIJI PRO ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 16.27 def. Aca Lalabalavu (FJI) 10.90
Heat 2: Mick Fanning (AUS) 14.67 def. Alex Grey (USA) 6.27
Heat 3: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 12.77 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 12.60
Heat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 18.47 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 15.53
Heat 5: Taj Burrow (AUS) 7.87 def. Adam Melling (AUS) 7.76
Heat 6: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13.50 def. Glenn Hall (IRL) 8.43
Heat 7: Kolohe Andino (USA) 11.50 def. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 9.67
Heat 8: Julian Wilson (AUS) 13.93 def. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 9.04
Heat 9: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 15.57 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 10.33
Heat 10: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 17.10 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 17.06
Heat 11: John John Florence (HAW) 19.80 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12.83
Heat 12: Nat Young (USA) 18.23 def. Filipe Toledo (BRA) 7.60

VOLCOM FIJI PRO ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 18.10 def. Fred Patacchia (HAW) 12.33
Heat 2: John John Florence (HAW) 16.10 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 16.06
Heat 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 18.30 def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 14.70

UPCOMING VOLCOM FIJI PRO REMAINING ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 4: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs.Miguel Pupo (BRA)
Heat 5: Kai Otton (HAW) vs. Sebastian Zietz (HAW)
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Mitchel Coleborn (AUS)
Heat 7: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Heitor Alves (BRA)
Heat 8: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 9: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Brett Simpson (USA)
Heat 10: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Kolohe Andino (USA)
Heat 11: Nat Young (USA) vs. Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
Heat 12: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Yadin Nicol (AUS)