Mick Fanning Kicks Butt At J-Bay, Slater Almost Arrives Too Late For heat

Kelly Slater (USA), 38, former nine-time ASP World Champion and current ASP World No. 1, nearly missed his opening round heat today, suffering a bevy of travel delays only to arrive this morning. Despite the delay, the iconic natural-footer proceeded to put on a Jeffreys Bay clinic, hunting barrel after barrel, blasting off the top and executing carving 360s.

“Everything that could have gone wrong on my trip over here did,” Slater said. “My flight got delayed on the East Coast because of storms, and then there were mechanical failures and more delays. I had to overnight in Johannesburg and then my bags didn’t show up. I think it took me 40 hours door-to-door and I only arrived this morning. That said, sometimes all that happens for a reason and I ended up having a fun surf there and getting through Round 1.”

SHOOT: I was there today. Waves were beautiful.

clipped from www.surf2surf.com JEFFREYS BAY, South Africa (Thursday, July 15, 2010) – The 2010 ASP World Tour returned with a vengeance today, bearing witness to Day 1 of the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay and the greatest assemblage of surfing talent in history tearing into excellent four-to-six foot (2 metre) waves at the iconic pointbreak. With clear skies, idyllic surf and the world’s greatest surfers on hand, Round 1 of the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay saw the 2010 ASP World Title Race reignited with the top seeds putting in sensational performances. Mick Fanning (AUS), 29, reigning ASP World Champion and two-time past winner of the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay (2002, 2006), kick-started his 2010 campaign in fine form today, lacerating the pristine walls of Jeffreys Bay with the highest heat total of the event, a 16.70 out of a possible 20, to advance through to Round 3.