Closing in on the end

RICK FIGNETTI

The Assn. of Surfing Professionals just finished off its eighth event

of the 2003 season, the Quicksilver Pro at Hossegor, France last

week.

The top surfers in the world were on hold for the final day of the

event, waiting for the swell to hit, and it did last Saturday,

picking up to 4 to 6 feet with killer shape and some 8-foot bomb

sets.

The world champ, Andy Irons from Kauai, set the pace in the final

with an 8.0 point ride, then finished off Aussie Phillip McDonald

with an 9.63 deep barrel and combo slash back to ice it.

Irons busted his favorite surfboard in half with five minutes to

go but still came up with the victory with his unsurpassable scores.

McDonald was stoked to make his first WCT final ever and took out

a ripping Kelly Slater in the semis with a couple big sets and some

nice tube rides.

Aussie Taj Burrow was also tearing it up, and also finished up

equal third.

Losing out in the quarterfinals and placing equal fifth were

Carlsbad’s Taylor Knox, San Clemente’s Shea Lopez and Australians

Trent Munroe and Danny Wills.

The Expression Session was won by Air-Man Troy Brooks who pulled

off a huge “Superman” to stoke the crowd.

The current ratings see Irons pulling away with a more than

700-point lead, 6,960 to Slater’s 6,228. Burrow is in third with

5,988.

From there, in fourth is Mick Fanning; fifth is Aussie upstart

Joel Parkinson; sixth is Down Under ripper Kieren Perrow; seventh is

Taylor Knox, having a great season.

In ninth is East Caster C.J. Hobgood, a former world champ,

followed by Shea Lopez in 10th, passing his brother, Corey, at the

13th spot.

Hawaiian Kalani Robb is 23rd and Laguna Beach’s Pat O’Connell is

at 24.

The next event in Spain, the Billabong Pro at Mundaka, started

earlier in the week and runs from Oct. 12 to 24. From there they move

to Brazil from Oct. 27 to Nov. 4 and then straight to Hawaii from

Nov. 24 to Dec. 7 for the Rip Curl Cup at Sunset.

They finish it off with the Pipe Masters, from Dec. 8 to 20 at the

Banzai Pipeline, which has some of the heaviest barrels on the

planet.

The women just concluded their event, the Roxy Pro in France, too.

The gal who won the U.S. Open here in Surf City over the summer took

out her first WCT final win as Chelsea Georgeson defeated last year’s

event champ, and five-time world champ, Australian Layne Beachley.

The surf for the gals was 3- to 5-feet and perfect as well.

Hawaiian Keala Kennelly is first in the standings after getting

off to that fast start, with 3,120, but Beachley is closing in with

3,084 points.

Newcomer to the big ranks, Georgeson, is 24 points behind her and

moving up to third with 3,060. South African Heather Clarke rounds

out the top four.

Carlsbad’s Julia Christian, on her first season on the WCT, is at

sixteenth.

The last surf event for the girls is the Billabong Pro at Honolua

Bay, Maui, from Dec. 8 to 20 to end it all.

Who will the next world champ be? Looks like a nail-biter.

Surf’s been cranking at our own beaches here, up to

double-overhead, even, on big Friday. Didn’t I see you out there?

See ya, Fig over and out.

* RICK FIGNETTI is an eight-time West Coast champion, has

announced the U.S. Open of Surfing the last nine years and has been

the KROQ-FM surfologist for the last 17 years, doing morning surf

reports. He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him at

(714) 536-1058.