Kelly Rings his 3rd Bell, at the Rip Curl Pro, Bells Beach Australia

The heat opened up with Bede Durbidge taking a quick in and out for a 0.5 only to have Kelly Slater boom the next wave in the set and take it to the sand to log a 7.33.
Not to out done, Bede came back firing with a sick wave, throwing half his board over the lip, bombing a nice floater and finishing it all of with his trademark layback snap in the closeout beachie, dropping a bomby 8.83. and then backing it up with 6.33

Kelly came back with a nice one chasing a 7.84 but coming up short with a 7.23, looking for something better, Kelly made the paddle up to Rincon. A risky move that the master made work for him, Busting out a massive air, to land a an 8.3 and take the lead back from Bede. Leaving Bede, with priority chasing a 6.8 with 3 minutes to go! I was biting my nails by this point! Bede Caught his last wave with 15secs left on the clock, but only got a 3.67. Giving Kelly his 3rd bell and his second straight win on this years ASP pro tour!

Very few surfers in history have taken 3 bells home, putting Kelly Slater in the exclusive company of Mark Richards, Michael Peterson and Sonny Garcia, Making Kelly the 4th Ever surf to get the hat trick!

"it feels awesome! I thought Bede had me, I headed up to Rincon thinking oh Bede's got this one I may as well just head up there and see if anything breaks" Kelly said, "The Bell is arguable the greatest trophy to ever get in surfing"

Congrats Kelly, and Congrats Bede!

WATCH THE FINAL HEAT HERE!

To view simply choose your connection speed, then choose final to the right of the video and click on the video you want to see!

Bells Beach serves up 6-8ft swells for the Rip Curl/ASP pro

Bells Beach – ASP World No. 1 Kelly Slater (USA) came to the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach to surf big waves. He took advantage of the eight foot (three metre) conditions on offer today to post the highest heat total and single wave score of the day. Event officials ran 20 heats of competition to take advantage of the swell.

Slater, 8X ASP World Champion, left competitors Adriano de Souza (BRA) and Troy Brooks (AUS) needing big scores to beat him when he added a near perfect 9.50 wave score to an 8.00 earned earlier in the heat.

“I didn’t do a whole lot on that wave,” Slater said. “I did one turn to start off with and then this section loomed up ahead of me that was crazy – it was so smooth, especially for what’s out there. I had a ton of speed and I held the bottom turn as long as I could and was able to get that carve in. It reminded me of the turn I had in the final against Parko (Joel Parkinson) that one year.”



Slater defeated 2004 winner Joel Parkinson (AUS) in the Final of the 2006 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach to win his second Rip Curl Pro trophy. Parkinson finished ahead of local surfer Nic Muscroft (AUS) and Ben Dunn (AUS) to advance straight to Round 3. His best wave, a 9.33 out of a possible 10, was the second highest single score of the day.

“When I stood up, I knew it was going to be a good wave,” Parkinson said. “Although sometimes you get a wave like that and get off and wonder how it was. When I finished it, I thought it could have been a 5.0 or an 8.0, but then I heard the score and was happy.”

Parkinson finished runner-up to the ASP World Title in 2002 and 2004 and has been considered one of Australia’s most likely contenders for a world championship ever since. Reigning ASP World Champion Mick Fanning’s (AUS) recent title win has reignited a fire inside the Australian contingent – Parkinson among them.

“Mick showed us that it was all possible, especially with Andy (Irons) and Kelly on tour,” Parkinson said. “He’s definitely opened doors for us all.”

Fanning was forced to surf the sudden-death round for the first time in 15 events when Adrian Buchan (AUS) and wildcard Stuart Kennedy (AUS) bested him in Round 1. A relieved Fanning went on to eliminate Kennedy in their Round 2 rematch.


“Round 2 sucks,” Fanning said. “My heat this morning was pretty tough. I think Adrian got a 6.0, everyone else was getting 3.0s and 4.0s and I was getting 1.0s and 2.0s, so it’s good to get through that heat and live to fight another day.”

Current World No. 3 Bede Durbidge (AUS) was another top-seeded surfer negotiating sudden-death after being beat by rookie Dan Ross (AUS) in Round 1 today. Durbidge scored a 9.33 and an 8.00 to send former ASP World Tour surfer and event wildcard Nathan Hedge (AUS) home early in Round 2.

“I had a bit of a tough heat this morning, but I saw Dan Ross get a 9.00 and an 8.00 earlier and I wanted to the same,” Durbidge said. “I surfed a little bit better and had fun out there. It was way easier to surf than it was this morning.”


Ross’ upset win over Durbidge earlier in the day was a welcome one after finishing a disappointing last in the first event of the year. “I had a bit of a shaky start to the year up at Snapper and my nerves were showing a bit, but today, the conditions suited me and I brushed all that aside,” Ross said. “It felt good to have a good heat. If I can keep getting the waves, I can keep getting the scores. ”

Former winners Taj Burrow (AUS) and Andy Irons (AUS) got the scores they needed to advance straight to Round 3 while last year’s World No. 9 Dean Morrison (AUS)was an unlucky casualty in Round 2 – losing to former World Tour surfer and event wildcard Troy Brooks.

A call on the 12 remaining heats of Round 2, as well as the Rip Curl Women’s Pro, will be made tomorrow morning at 7:30 am.

For transcribed interviews, audio and images visit the Press Room on www.aspworldtour.com.

Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Round 1 Results:
Heat 1: Bobby Martinez (USA) 12.67, Luke Munro (AUS) 7.07, Royden Bryson (ZAF) 5.67
Heat 2: Dayyan Neve (AUS) 10.00, Dean Morrison (AUS) 8.27, Travis Logie (ZAF) 6.00
Heat 3: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 12.83, Bruce Irons (HAW) 10.83, Tiago Pires (PRT) 9.00
Heat 4: Pancho Sullivan (HAW) 13.77, Neco Padaratz (BRA) 10.67, Jihad Khodr (BRA) 10.14
Heat 5: Andy Irons (HAW) 12.84, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 10.17, Chris Ward (USA) 7.87
Heat 6: Daniel Ross (AUS) 17.33, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12.33, Tim Reyes (USA) 3.47
Heat 7: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 16.26, Nic Muscroft (AUS) 14.84, Ben Dunn (AUS) 9.57
Heat 8: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 10.33, Stuart Kennedy (AUS) 9.76, Mick Fanning (AUS) 7.24
Heat 9: Taj Burrow (AUS) 13.67, Leonardo Neves (BRA) 12.00, Nathan Hedge (AUS) 7.53
Heat 10: Kelly Slater (USA) 17.50, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.67, Troy Brooks (AUS) 5.34
Heat 11: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 11.83, Dane Reynolds (USA) 8.90, Daniel Wills (AUS) 4.43
Heat 12: Jay Thompson (AUS) 12.80, Kai Otton (AUS) 11.83, Ricky Basnett (ZAF) 10.83
Heat 13: Tom Whitaker (AUS) 15.67, Ben Bourgeois (USA) 14.83, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 9.34
Heat 14: Taylor Knox (USA) 12.26, Michael Campbell (AUS) 11.60, Mikael Picon (FRA) 11.40
Heat 15: Damien Hobgood (USA) 14.33, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 13.83, Heitor Alves (BRA) 7.83
Heat 16: Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 13.83, Roy Powers (HAW) 13.23, Luke Stedman (AUS) 11.50

Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Round 2 Results:
Heat 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) 14.17 def. Stuart Kennedy (AUS) 5.50
Heat 2: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 17.33 def. Nathan Hedge (AUS) 6.63
Heat 3: Troy Brooks (AUS) 16.10 def. Dean Morrison (AUS) 12.50
Heat 4: Kai Otton (AUS) 14.50 def. Nic Muscroft (AUS) 8.23

Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Remaining Round 2 Match-Ups:
Heat 5: Luke Stedman (AUS) vs. Chris Ward (USA)
Heat 6: Leonardo Neves (BRA) vs. Jihad Khodr (BRA)
Heat 7: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Tiago Pires (PRT)
Heat 8: Ben Dunn (AUS) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 9: Tim Reyes (USA) vs. Royden Bryson (ZAF)
Heat 10: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Daniel Wills (AUS)
Heat 11: Neco Padaratz (BRA) vs. Ricky Basnett (ZAF)
Heat 12: Bruce Irons (HAW) vs.Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
Heat 13: Luke Munro (AUS) vs. Mikael Picon (FRA)
Heat 14: Dane Reynolds (USA) vs. Heitor Alves (BRA)
Heat 15: Ben Bourgeois (USA) vs. Roy Powers (HAW)
Heat 16: Michael Campbell (AUS) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)

Watch all the heats here!

Kelly Slater is going Bells

WORLD surfing's glamour boy Kelly Slater has confirmed he will compete in this week's Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach.

The eight-time world champion had threatened to skip Bells after revealing he had "lost energy" for the sport during the season-opener on the Gold Coast last week.

But Rip Curl Pro media manager Dane Sharp yesterday claimed that the 36-year-old American was again on board for this year's event. "He is confirmed, he is in the draw and he will be here," Sharp said. "He is happy to see a good swell. We were always confident that he was going to compete and with the good forecast on the cards, he is keen to get down here."

Slater, right, who won the event in 2006, was not sighted on the Surf Coast yesterday as many of the world's best surfers arrived to get an early feel for the local swell.

Perfect conditions greeted the competitors, with organisers confident of favourable swells throughout. More competitors are expected to arrive today after attending the wedding of world number one Mick Fanning on the Gold Coast on Saturday.



Official action got under way yesterday with the Geelong Advertiser pre-trials.

Is Kelly going to Bells, 9th world title or is he done?

Well, What do you all think?
We have seen Kelly Lay this out before right?
"I am not sure if I am into the whole WCT scene" but is he for real or is this just another psych out routine by the master?
I have heard the take on it from the likes of Martin Potter, Bede Durbridge and Mick fanning, who all say Kelly will run for the title, personally I think he will, but only time will tell. What are your thoughts, drop a comment and be heard!
Either way, with this years WCT line up it is set to be a great showdown, lets all take a moment and pray for a few waves, some solid swells to make it a real show down. That is after we pray for the most important swells, the one at our Locals!!!! hehe