Kelly Slater Celebrates

Despite a hairline fracture to his right foot, Kelly Slater has claimed his fourth Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach title over reigning World Champion Mick Fanning, in clean 3-4 ft waves at Johanna Beach.

Slater had difficulty starting the competition but he quickly took his strengths and overcome the pain of the injury.

The second stop on the 2010 ASP World Tour, the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach was completed over four different venues this year.

The conditions meant the competition was moved four times in total, with Round 1 at Bells Beach, Round 2 at Thirteenth Beach, Round 3 and the opening half of Round 4 at Winkipop before the final day was completed at Johanna Beach.

Kelly Slater

Kelly takes the Final

In the highly-anticipated Final, Fanning unleashed with a 7.17 to take the lead.

However, Slater answered back with an incredible Alley-oop aerial maneuver before he recovered for an 8.93.

Slater then paddled out into another excellent wave, scoring an 8.10 to bring his total to 17.03 out of a possible 20 a lead that Fanning would not surpass.

“It was a lot more difficult than it looked out there,” Slater said. “The tide came up and the takeoff was a lot deeper than we thought it would be. On that 8.93, I was up in the air and when I landed, I kind of fell on my butt and did the one-footed shuffle, but I recovered there. Then I paddled straight into that second wave and that was it.”

Despite suffering a hairline fracture in his right foot three days ago, Slater was able to push himself to a record 42nd elite tour victory.

“I’m really excited because before this contest I promised myself that if I won, I would give the trophy to the Wathaurong (local aboriginal tribe) people,” Slater said. “I didn’t remember that until I was out in the water and right when I did, those waves came.”

Today’s win sees Slater vault from 9th to 2nd on the elite ASP World Tour rankings, setting up his campaign for an unprecedented 10th ASP World Title.

Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Video of the Final

The next stop on the 2010 ASP World Tour will be the Santa Catarina Pro in Brazil from April 23 through May 2, 2010.

RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH FINAL RESULTS:

1 Kelly Slater (USA) 17.03

2 Mick Fanning (AUS) 12.00

RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH SEMIFINAL RESULTS:

SF 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.33 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 12.50

SF 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 14.66 def. Bobby Martinez (USA) 3.80

CURRENT ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 10 (After Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach):

1 Taj Burrow (AUS) 16500 pts

2 Kelly Slater (USA) 13750 pts

3 Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13250 pts

4 Bobby Martinez (USA) 13000 pts

5 Mick Fanning (AUS) 11750 pts

6 Joel Parkinson (AUS) 10500 pts

6 Bede Durbidge (AUS) 10500 pts

6 Adriano de Souza (BRA) 10500 pts

9 Dane Reynolds (USA) 8250 pts

10 Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 7500 pts

10 Adrian Buchan (AUS) 7500 pts

Don’t forget all the latest Rip Curl Summer Wetsuits are now in stock at The Wetsuit Centre.

Kelly Slater paddling

World Champion surfer, Kelly Slater has concluded the principal photography for the new Ultimate Wave Tahiti Movie that is due to premiere early next month.

It’s the first 3D film for IMAX® theaters to capture intensity of Tahiti’s famed Teahupoo break.

Kelly Slater and a group of friends arrive in Tahiti. With their host, Tahitian surfer Raimana Van Bastolaer and will seek out the best waves breaking on the reef at the famed surf site Teahupo’o. Kelly and Raimana share a passion for the waves, but different ideas about what surfing means: is it a modern competitive sport or an ancient Polynesian wave-riding art?

Either way, if the right conditions arise, they hope to surf some unique giant barrels created by storm swells breaking atop the shallow reef.

As the surfer’s quest unfolds, the film explores the hidden forces at work shaping the waves and the islands that lie in their path. In stylized animated segments, the audience is propelled into the cosmos to discover the sources of a wave’s energy; and then back to Earth to witness the swirling dance of the atmosphere that will transfer energy deep into the ocean and shape a wave’s long journey across thousands of miles of open Pacific.

Kelly and Raimana consider what makes a great surfing wave. In an extended surfing sequence showcasing Kelly and Raimana, we see the magic of high-performance surfing on modest breakers.

Raimana muses that

you don’t have to chase the perfect wave; if you are patient, it will come to you

He swims across the reef, through the waves — around him are dolphins and humpback whales and the wide Pacific.

The Ultimate Wave Tahiti Movie premiers in Los Angeles on February 12th but we hope it won’t be too long before they bring to an IMAX cinema near you!.

For some people Spring is the first time to dust off the Winter blues and get back out in the water. The holidays are here and it is easy to forget about work for a few hours and join your buddies down at the local break.

Thoughts turn to buying a new wetsuit, or a new board or maybe just upgrading (there is a credit crunch on you know!).

One of the things that quite often gets forgotten is the how important a good set of fins can make to a surfboards performance. If you are in line for a new set of fins check out the latest offerings from the FCS Fins stable – Fin Control Systems.

Their fin range is awesome, with fins for all conditions and board types:-

• Ultra Light Epoxy – unbelievably fast and free with incredible hold and drive on the rail.
• Performance Glass – solid performance and more from these old school hand-finished fiberglass fins that are perfectly cut and foiled by computer technology.
• Performance Core – a favourite with the Pros and will suit anyone who likes to push their surfing to the limits.
• Glass Flex – fast and smooth fins, that give better hold. Some come with flexible tips for a bit more forgiveness and control at high speeds.
• Longboard Series – great allround longboard fins including the classic dolphin, fatboy and cutaway shapes
• Composite Core – the versatile high performance RTM fin that features a new Composite Core (CC) developed for two of the most dynamic surfers in the worls; CJ and Damien Hobgood.

If you need any convincing just how good FCS fins are, you just need to check out last years podium places and see who was riding them.

Kelly Slater Signature Fins

Throughought last season Kelly Slater alternated between his two signature FCS Surfboard fins (the K2.1 and the K3) to fine tune his boards for the conditions and achieve those incredible victories.

The FCS K-3 and FCS K-2.1 feature two different side fin templates. The K-3 feature a swept back tip for added drive and hold in down the line waves and is ideal for long open faced turns. The K2.1 is a fast and lively fin ideal for high performance surfing in tighter sections and features a more compact upright design.

FCS K3 PG Fins as used by Kelly Slater

Sunny Garcia Signature Fins

Big man, huge turns. Sunny designed this fin to carve and hack the guts out of any wave in the world. A lively fast fin for larger surfers in the FCS Performance Core construction. FCS Sunny Garcia Fins.

Download the FCS Fin Poster and Guide and see the entire range.

Check out the latest prices and deals for FCS Fins over at Sorted Surf Shop