Rounds 1 and 2 of the 2008 Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay have come and gone. The second straight lay day has been called and surfers and event organizers alike are licking their lips with the forthcoming swell said to be on its way by forecasters. While the opening rounds of the Dream Tour events may at times lack the drama and story-lines of the later rounds, Jeffreys Bay showed once again why it is one of the premier waves in the world. Watching some of the worlds best on one of the worlds best in the opening rounds has been incredible to see. The surfing that has taken place to this point is only a sign of things to come as the event moves into the business rounds.

The opening round performance of Taylor Knox was a site to behold. The 37 yr. old out of Carlsbad, Ca. looked as youthful as ever and appeared to be in complete harmony with J-Bay. Knox’s speed and synergy with the wave netted him the highest combined heat score in Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay history with an almost perfect 19.70. World No. 2 Joel Parkinson did his best to match the level that Knox was performing at, thus providing the South African crowd, as well as all the webcast junkies watching at home, one of the classic 1st round performances of all time. “It’s really enjoyable to be in a heat like that, it was unreal.” Knox said. “It was exciting, because Parko got the first wave and I could see that it was such a good wave and I knew that once it went by me it would barrel. Right then I saw a big one out the back and just thought, ‘I’m going to get barreled.’”

Round 1 also saw the unusual opening round match-up of Bruce and Andy Irons in the same heat. With Bruce set to leave the WCT following the year, there’s a high probability that this is one of the final time the Irons brothers will go head to head in a ‘CT event. The match-up saw Bruce narrowly edge out his big brother and move onto Rd. 3. However the 3x world champion Andy took out his Hawaiian counterpart Granger Larsen on his way to a 3rd round meeting with Brazil’s Heitor Alves.

Stay tuned for the call on rounds 3 and beyond of the 2008 Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay.

Tags: Andy Irons, Billabong, Bruce Irons, Joel Parkinson, WCT

Posted by Shaun on Monday, July 14th, 2008 in Surfing.

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