Tubes Galore At Day One Of The Billabong Pro Teahupo‘o

Justin Cote

• May 10 2009
• 3,320 views
• 4 comments

Saturday, May 9, Teahupo‘o, Tahiti

Day one of the waiting period was greeted with tubes rifling down the reef at Teahupo’o and the call was made—the Billabong Pro was on! With the ASP’s new format in place, the bottom tier of the Top 45 waxed up and started tossing themselves into sick pits. Justin and I spent the day on the main media boat—right in the middle of the boat pile and facing straight into the tube at Teahupo‘o. I think we watched about 50 heats (actually 14) in between swimming around the channel, hopping from boat to boat, and cheering for the best tubes of the day. Everybody was psyched to see Andy Irons back in a jersey and he didn’t disappoint as he casually slid into tube after tube and easily won his first heat of 2009. Of course, Andy could not have made it without the help from his intrepid board caddy…me! I got to sit right next to the waves waiting for Andy to break his board. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was gonna do if he did break his board, if I would have had to paddle into the lineup and pass him his board and swim out of the impact zone and probably would have been shitting myself, so thank you for not busting your stick AI.

Says Andy, “I couldn’t have done it without you bra!” Photo: Bielamann/SPL

Other that that scary 35 minutes of my life, I was bummed to see Dane Reynolds lose, stoked to see Dustin Barca win, and awestruck every time a set came in. The power was incredible, my first impression of Teahupo’o is pure and raw power—even sitting on a board 40 feet away from the take off zone was sketchy.

Dean Morrison. Photo: Bielmann/SPL

Hopefully soon we’ll all get to see the place in full tilt psycho mode and really get a taste for some shock and awe, but either way—we’ll be in the channel, boat-hopping and hooting for the bros while sitting safe on the boat, drinking Hinano’s and fully bronzing. Enjoy the photos and make sure to tune into the live Web cast at www.billabongpro.com when the event get rolling again, we’re looking at a nice west swell Tuesday and Wednesday so stay tuned!—Chris Cote

After watching round one, who’s your pick to win?

Josh Kerr ends his day with a bang at day one of the Billabong Pro Teahupo‘o. Photo: Bielmann/SPL

DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Tim Reyes (USA) 3.90 def. Mikael Picon (FRA) 3.23
Heat 2: Ben Dunn (AUS) 16.00 def. Chris Davidson (AUS) 12.97
Heat 3: Dean Morrison (AUS) 17.00 def. Nathaniel Curran (USA) 8.40
Heat 4: Phillip MacDonald (AUS) 12.10 def. Chris Ward (USA) 10.56
Heat 5: Marlon Lipke (DEU) 15.00 def. Drew Courtney (AUS) 5.90
Heat 6: Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 13.57 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 12.67
Heat 7: Dayyan Neve (AUS) 13.10 vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 12.16
Heat 8: Heiarii Williams (PYF) 14.17 def. Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 5.70
Heat 9: Kai Otton (AUS) 14.40 def. Bruno Santos (BRA) 12.60
Heat 10: Andy Irons (AUS) 14.50 def. Jihad Khodr (BRA) 4.77
Heat 11: Dustin Barca (HAW) 10.94 def. David Weare (ZAF) 6.77
Heat 12: Jay Thompson (AUS) 14.00 def. Greg Emslie (ZAF) 4.37
Heat 13: Tim Boal (FRA) 7.24 def. Nic Muscroft (AUS) 6.93
Heat 14: Josh Kerr (AUS) 15.50 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 11.03

REMAINING BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 15: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 16: Roy Powers (HAW) vs. Mick Campbell (AUS)

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Phillip MacDonald (AUS)
Heat 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Jay Thompson (AUS)
Heat 3: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 4: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Marlon Lipke (DEU)
Heat 5: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. Josh Kerr (AUS)
Heat 6: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 7: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 8: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Heiarii Williams (PYF)
Heat 9: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Andy Irons (HAW)
Heat 10: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 11: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Dustin Barca (HAW)
Heat 12: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. TBA
Heat 13: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Aritz Aranburu (EUK)
Heat 14: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 15: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Ben Dunn (AUS)
Heat 16: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. Tim Boal (FRA)