Heat 6, Round of 48, Nike U.S. Open of Surfing
July 31st, 2012
Kelly Slater
Michel Bourez
Stu Kennedy
Sebastien Zietz
Fuelie:
Here’s Kelly…he’s coming up against Stuey Kennedy. We saw a
good performance by him yesterday.
(Slater puts on red jersey, walks through competitors area,
ready to paddle out for the heat. Cut to close up of Kelly’s board)
Dino:
He’s riding a 4-fin with a little trailer fin. Probably not
a bad choice for these conditions.
Fuelie:
Well, he has been at the forefront of experimentation with
boards and fins…
Stu Kennedy is shown putting on white jersey. Stu picks up
his Daniel Thomson modern planing hull and prepares to paddle out for the
heat.)
Fuelie:
What about this board, Dino? Check out Stuey Kennedy’s
board.
Dino:
He’s going out on a limb, isn’t he? That boards a little
different than anything I’ve seen.
But aww, y’know…
Fuelie:
He surfed well yesterday…
Dino
It’ll probably go well today, really fast I imagine…
Fuelie
We saw him win his heat yesterday with this…just really fast
full rotation air 360…it definitely looks a lot more like a wakeboard than a
surfboard…but its been working for him.
Dino:
If I’m not mistaken I think that board was made by Daniel
Thomson, who is a guy that grew up in Lennox Head. His father is a famous
surfer from the area. Daniel is really a brilliant surfer himself…Daniel’s from
the same area as Stu…and he rides those boards in all types of conditions.
It’ll be interesting to see how he (Stu) performs on that type of design.
Fuelie:
Well he surfed really well yesterday, and he’s going to need
to surf really well today, because he’s up against Kelly Slater….
(Dino & Fuelie discuss the inconsistent, small waves and
how it may effect the competitors and equipment choices…)
Fuelie
Yesterday we did see that Stu’s board went through the flat
sections like it had a motor on it. It just kept planing right through those
flat sections, and he was able to link up to the inside almost every time. So
this is going to be a very exciting last heat…
Fuelie:
Kelly Slater is red…Stu Kennedy in white…this should be a
great heat. Barton Lynch, welcome back.
(Fuelie and Barton talk about Slater’s genius and sense of
pageantry & showmanship)
Dino:
This is Kelly right here, starting his account…wow looks
like he’s on a really fast board.
Barton:
He’s got a quad but he’s got that little keel trailer back
there that he likes to put in the middle for stability. There’s Seabass…oh no,
I mean that’s Stuey Kennedy, on that unusual looking board…aw, its strange looking…but lots of speed. (Stu
flies across the flat spot rail to rail and throws a clean reverse on a tiny
wave) He throws it there, pulls off an air reverse, little one on the inside,
and uh this heat is off and racing. Interesting to watch Kelly on that wave.
How loose and fluid he is through the upper body, there is no tension involved…
(Seabass rips a good left but can’t connect the reform)
(Barton & Dino discuss Slater’s fluidity & general
super-human surfing ability, competitive prowess etc. Slater gets a wave, falls
on 2nd turn)
(Seabass gets a wave falls on 3rd turn then gets
a right, nice air reverse, surfing very well)
(Dino and Barton discuss why Michel Bourez got a 7, the high
score of the heat, on a somewhat average ride.)
(Stu gets a left, blows tail on a vertical snap then
connects the reform and goes right, gaining speed the whole time)
Barton:
Stuey Kennedy…geez, that board is so responsive, isn’t it?
Dino: Do you think that board, the way looks, could hinder
the scores with the judges?
Barton:
The aesthetics of that board, for me…it doesn’t do it for
me. (Stu connects the reform right after the snap, flies down the line and ends
with a clean air-reverse as Barton is talking. Compared to Bourez’ wave, this
ride should be an 8. Stu gets a 4.5 for it) I mean…I look at the board and I
think gee, it’d be nice if it had a nose on it. With a nose you have that
little bit extra with everything that’s going on so, yeah I do think so (the
way it looks hinders scoring)
Dino:
Yeah, you notice it more when it goes vertical if it’s got a
point to it. But that’s kind of unfair, really, if you think about it.
Barton:
Yeah, if you just watch what he’s doing, it is incredibly
responsive and fast and its got this twitchiness to it where he looks like he
could just do anything at any time on that board.
(Slater gets a good left but does not connect the reform)
(Stu gets a left and then connects the reform right again…)
Barton:
Great ride for Stuey Kennedy, look at that board…so quick
and responsive…comes unstuck on that little 360 attempt at the end, but aw…from
a surfing perspective, Stuey Kennedy has got everything going that anyone else
in this heat has, and maybe even a little more speed and a little more vibrancy
in that short, whippy board that he’s riding…
Fuelie:
Yeah, it’s a very very fast board…but he’s sitting in 4th,
he does have a few scores yet to drop..
(Slater gets a good left, connects reform right, best wave
of heat. Nothing too technical, especially for him. He gets a 9.0)
(Stu gets a right, does blistering carve to tail slide
followed immediately by another small snap. Wave completely vanishes in the
gutter and he can’t connect the reform))
Barton:
Nice work by Stuey Kennedy
Dino
Wow, that was impressive getting that second move in after
that big tail-slide…lets see if he can get the reform, nope, but great surfing
there by Stuart.
Fuelie:
He doesn’t seem to be getting the scores though. He’s doing
some great maneuvers but the scores aren’t reflecting it.
Barton:
Is it aesthetics? I mean, quite honestly its great to see a
nose out in front of someone, getting high on the face,…(Seabass does a really
nice turn on a right, surfing very well) this is a great little heat here…
Fuelie:
And the crowd is building up on the beach, waiting for Kelly
Slater…it doesn’t matter how he finishes, there will be thousands of people
waiting for him.
(Stu gets another left, rips two big snaps on the outside
and connects the reform and keeps doing turns all the way to the beach)
Dino:
Wow.
Fuelie:
Stuey Kennedy is surfing so well here…he needs a 9 as Kelly
Slater has taken the lead.
Dino:
This wave of Stu’s here, if you think about Michel Bourez’ 7
earlier in the heat, I mean this has to be pretty close if not better. I mean
two big snaps and reformed it and did two more maneuvers on the inside…he
didn’t really have that one maneuver as powerful as what Michel had, but
definitely a good score. (Seabass gets another good one)
(Dino and Barton praise Seabass’ technique)
Barton:
These next scores will tell us how the judges feel about
Stuey Kennedy’s board…
Fuelie:
I don’t think you can really fault his surfing…
Barton
No, I don’t think so either, its been a great performance.
Fuelie:
But it comes down to the board…sometimes its just timing.
(Some scores come in for Stu. They are low.)
Dino:
Well the judges aren’t buying it Barton, they’re not feeling
that board.
Barton:
No, it doesn’t look like it, a 5.37 for Stuey Kennedy…here
he is up again…trying to make something happen…
Fuelie:
And with 5 seconds remaining, here comes the king, Kelly
Slater…this is gonna be a victory lap. (mob forms on the beach as heat ends)
Fuelie:
Great surfing also by Seabass and Stuey Kennedy…and we’ll be
back with the final results:
Results come in.
Fuelie:
Wow.
Stuey Kennedy, on his final waves, he gets the score! He
gets a 7 and a 5.57. So the judges in the end, they give it to Stuey Kennedy. Wow,
talk about an upset right there, Michel Bourez bundled into 3rd,
Sebastien Zeitz in 4th.
Dino:
Well, we were kinda wondering when that score was gonna
drop, we thought they were gonna write him off due to his equipment…but he
deserved a really good score for that performance.
Barton:
Yeah, seemed like they had trapped him there with those low
scores but surprise, surprise. They gave him a 7…what a great result for Stuey
Kennedy.
Fuelie:
Its great to see that Stuey Kennedy got the reward ..its a
big risk when you bring out a new piece of weird equipment.
Barton:
It certainly is…but he stayed active until the end, and
there was a desperation in what he was doing, you could see that he wanted it,
he was working hard for it, and he got rewarded.
Dino:
The 7-point ride was a great ride. He didn’t have that one
big turn like Michel had, but he had multiple turns.
Barton:
Yeah, you had speed and fluidity and action going on all the
time with Stuey’s waves…
Fuelie:
But Kelly Slater was the man here who dominated…
