Big swell and wet weather rolled into town as the Corona Cero Open at Jeffreys Bay came to a close. While many fans were sad to see “Big Bru” Jordy Smith get eliminated in the Round of 16 to Marco Mignot, this only opened things up for the rest of the pack. On Friday morning Supertubes came to life with endless lines stacked to the horizon and while at times it was truly South African perfection, with howling offshore winds ripping the top off of the waves, wave selection was key for high scores.
Especially for Connor O’Leary, who beat Yago Dora in the all-goofy final for his first-ever Championship Tout win. Yago caught a long ride at the very end of the heat but it wasn’t enough to give him the 8.67 he needed to edge out the Australian, who was surfing brilliantly all day. While Yago picked up 6 waves to Connor’s 3, quality was worth more than quantity. For the women’s final, Gabriela Bryan’s 13.60 was just enough to win over an in-form Molly Picklum with 13.34.
Kody McGregor/World Surf League
The story of the day came down to who could best read the rhythm of the sections and execute maneuvers with very precise timing. Midway through the morning we could see that managing speed was a challenge, everyone was skipping on the face while watching for the ribs and ridges that sometimes appeared down the line throughout the morning high tide. Medium sized waves seemed to be the call as the biggest sets were swinging wide and outside with unmakeable sections.
In the semifinals, O’Leary earned the event’s only 10-point ride — thanks to a highly technical barrel ride and several critical maneuvers — in his heat against Filipe Toledo. While Toledo has an illustrious history of wins and 10-pointers at J-Bay, today O’Leary wrote his own his history with his memorable win. It puts him in an elite group of goofy-foots who have won at the perfect but challenging right hand point.
Alan Van Gysen/World Surf League
The women started things off and Gabriela Bryan won her heat against Tyler Wright, who had been looking on form all week during free surfs, and clinched her spot into the WSL Final 5. It was Byran’s first career win versus Wright in seven attempts. Afterward, you could tell a weight had been lifted and she started having fun and surfing like a champion in her following heats.
Two of the most exciting surfers on tour, Caroline Marks and Caity Simmers, faced off for the second heat of the day and a very important heat of their year. Throughout the week the two young hammers were seen going through the paces and finding their rhythm with the ebbs and flows of Supers. Their matchup was filled with large walls roping down the point and demanded smart, fast surfing to keep up with the evolving sections. In the end, a powerful finishing maneuver in a critical section put Caroline on top and left Caity needing 6.66.
Molly Picklum, still rocking the yellow jersey, and Lakey Peterson faced off in a rematch of their final heat at J-Bay two years ago. Picklum had a solid start putting up a well-read 7.17 for her first wave and Peterson answered not long after with her own 7.17. Immediately after, Picklum struck again, this time shifting into a new gear and showing aggressive turns high and tight as she progressed down the line, nabbing an 8.67.
The Men’s quarterfinals were action-packed and O’Leary’s heat was quite the nailbiter. O’Leary winning out with a 16.37 to Ewing’s 16.07. Many fans had Ethan as a favorite to win the event, especially after Jordy was eliminated, and his freesurfs all week were on form and seemingly unstoppable. This was a big win for O’Leary.
Kody McGregor/World Surf League
A particularly intense match up between Griff and Kanoa Igarashi, who were 2-2 coming into J Bay, started right as the heat began with each catching high 7’s for their first wave. Kanoa took the lead with a 7.83 to Griff’s 7.53 and then struck again with a long one, nearly falling at the start but then finding the flow for a solid back up score. Griff caught a bomb of a third wave and was able to keep speed and connect giant turns — most waves of that size ran off but Griff kept up and changed the tone of the heat. Although Kanoa clearly had some momentum coming into the heat, San Clemente reigned supreme with Griff’s tactical approach of flowing and running when he needed to and hacking and snapping whenever he could.
While the time difference meant that most American fans would have been asleep throughout the event, the scene on the beach at J-Bay was anything but sleepy. Check out the full replays on the WSL for some epic surfing at the world’s greatest wave.