Absolute Jubilation! Stoke!! The fact that this was the second time in a week Ke11y won his 11th didn’t take anything away from the massive accomplishment. He sealed it like a true champion; of the likes we may never see again in our lifetimes. The youngest and oldest to ever win a world title, much less 11 of them.
Take a bow! He not only found the impossible barrel, well after the buzzer, but threaded it flawlessly. As if he needed to put an exclamation mark forth.
Kelly Slater is deep inside this one.
We all assumed he wasn’t coming out….
I even brought my lens down from my eye only to see him come flying out of the barrel a couple seconds later. I, along with the thousands of others lining the shore, erupted in excitement.
Seeing Slater surf live puts it all in perspective.
After Slater got out of the water, conditions just fell apart. There were ramps here and there, as you can see, but after another couple heats the contest was put on hold. When the kiters come out, you know it’s pretty much all over. I paddled out shortly after Slater’s speech and got about an hour in before it was just an absolute mess.Trying to emulate greatness in slop conditions was humbling. Stay tuned as we still have the quarters, semis and finals planning to run with smaller swell, but improved conditions through the week.
What a day!!
Bluebird Surf 