A combined 9 ASP World Championships and 74 years of age hit the water at Trestles today in a 3rd round heat that saw Kelly Slater take out Sunny Garcia at the Boost Mobile Pro today. Although the heat was the first time Slater and Garcia were paired up during a WCT event at Trestles, seeing the two living legends in the water together today brought back a lot of memories for the two surfers who have dominated the sport for years, as well as the thousands of fans who have followed their storied careers for decades.

Both surfers spoke very highly of each other before and after the heat that saw Kelly eliminate Sunny by a score of 17.00 to 14.67. Sunny lived up to his promise that he wouldn’t roll over for Slater and would put everything he had into the heat, but even with his impressive performance, it wasn’t enough to unseat the 8x world champ from an event he is very comfortable at. “What can you say? He’s surfing great,” said Garcia upon coming out of the water. “It didn’t help that they informed him yesterday that he(Slater) has a 91% win rate in heats this year.”

As the heat was coming down to it’s closing moments the two legends looked calm and seemed to be enjoying the moment, even appearing to be talking story and shaking hands as the final seconds ticked off the clock. It was a truly nostalgic moment not just for the two world champs, but also for those whose surfing they have influenced for years and years.

The 2008 Boost Mobile Pro presented by Hurley is well underway and to this point has been full of spectacular surfing in the 3-5 ft. summer swell at Trestles. The last two days have seen the completion of Rounds 1,2, and the first four heats of Round 3. The current swell is expected to hold tight and build throughout the week. The competition at Lowers is likely to ensue Wednesday morning.

3-x world champion Andy Irons continues his less than stellar year with a surprising Rd. 2 loss to Yadin Nicol. Andy came into the event at Trestles ranked 7th in the current ASP standings but will obviously be taking a slide with this early exit. Andy has had runs of classic A.I. surfing this year but has yet been able to put it together for a whole event.

Joel Parkinson, Dane Reynolds, and Bede Durbidge are among those already making their way into the 4th round. Round 3 still holds several interesting match-up as current 8x, as well as eventual 9x world champion, Kelly Slater meets up with former world champ Sunny Garcia in the 8th heat. Sunny has been battling his way through the WQS this year in hopes of making it back onto the WCT full-time in 2009. Sunny vowed to make Slater’s year on tour a living hell next year if succeeds in his goal to get back on the Dream Tour. Although the words were given somewhat in jest, it doesn’t take much to get Kelly motivated to go for the kill.

UPCOMING ROUND 3 HEATS for 9/10/08:
Heat 5: Bobby Martinez (USA), Ben Bourgeois (USA)
Heat 6: Kai Otton (AUS), Luke Munro (AUS)
Heat 7: Roy Powers (HAW), Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 8: Kelly Slater (USA), Sunny Garcia (HAW)
Heat 9: Mick Fanning (AUS), Yadin Nicol (AUS)
Heat 10: Tim Reyes (USA), Taylor Knox (USA)
Heat 11: Adriano de Souza (BRA), Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA)
Heat 12: Jeremy Flores (FRA), Royden Bryson (ZAF)
Heat 13: Taj Burrow (AUS), Brett Simpson (USA)
Heat 14: Chris Ward (USA), Jordy Smith (ZAF)
Heat 15: CJ Hobgood (USA), Heitor Alves (BRA)
Heat 16: Bruce Irons (HAW), Jay Thompson (AUS)

After nearly a month long break following the Rip Curl Pro Search in Bali, the ASP World Tour is set to continue with the 2008 Boost Mobile Pro. The holding period for the event, which is held at Lower Trestles in San Clemente, California, opens next Sunday, Sept. 7

As the lone annual visit to North America made by the Dream Tour is set to kick-off, it’s no surprise that all eyes are on eight-time world champion Kelly Slater.

Following his surprising 3rd round Bali loss to rookie and then world no. 39 Tiago Pires(PRT), Kelly is fired up about getting his march to no. 9 resumed at a break he is very familiar with. Coming into the event as the defending champion, as well as participating in the final heat in each of the last four years at Trestles has Kelly eager to get back on track. “Trestles is probably the closest thing I have to a home break on tour,” Slater said. “It is the only mainland U.S. event and it’s been probably the most consistent event year to year for me. I’ve loved Trestles since I was very young.”

A win at Trestles, or even a top 5 finish, makes Slater an essential lock to seal the overall championship on the upcoming European leg of the tour. With none of the top 10 outside of Taj Burrow making it past the 4th round in Bali, Slater is very conscious of what’s at stake at Lowers. “Bali was a gift to me in the end,” Slater said. “A good result at Trestles could really set my momentum back up. A mess-up could really rattle and shake things up for me. I didn’t think I’d be looking at this the way it is now though, so it’s all fine from here on out.”

Will Trestles be the start of an extended 9th world-championship celebration for Mr. Slater? It’s looking that way, but if Tiago Pires and Bruce Irons taught us one thing in Bali, it’s that anything is possible on the WCT

Clips of Kelly Slater’s 2007 Trestles victory…

“It’s hard to be really competitive with a good friend, whether it’s over a wave or a contest or a girl.” – Kelly Slater

“It doesn’t matter how much confidence you have; you can’t just run down and go for a surf and expect to win.” – Jordy Smith

The drive for excellence and progression that lies within surfers, especially those that are leading the way for our sport, is a unique one and such that trying to explain that drive is nearly impossible. We all see the wave differently, we all have our own views on the equipment best suited to ride that wave, and what it is that drives us as surfers to continually push ourselves differs from one surfer to the next.

Chris Malloy and Woodshed Films (The Moonshine Conspiracy) are set to release their latest production, One Track Mind, to stores on Oct. 7. The film features many of world’s top surfers in Kelly Slater, Andy Irons, Tom Curren, Jamie O’Brien, Mark Occhilupo, Dane Reynolds and many more in it’s quest to dive into the their thought process and views on surfing, where it’s at currently, where it’s headed, and who is at the forefront of the march for progression. Featuring footage from Mexico, Indonesia, Micronesia, Trestles, and other world-class waves, One Track Mind is set to be a film you’ll want to keep your eyes on.

“To have that single-mindedness about things other than surfing is a challenge” – Tom Curren

A golden opportunity lost by the Usual Suspects not named Kelly Slater at the Rip Curl Pro Search turned into a golden opportunity seized by Bruce Irons. How will Bruce finish out his last year on tour with that monkey off of his back? Does anyone still really have a shot at stopping Kelly on his march to number 9? How will the very highly-touted rookies Jordy Smith and Dane Reynolds complete their first full year on tour?

The 2008 Boost Mobile Pro Trestles is the beginning of the descent down the mountain that is the Dream Tour. While many believe Kelly’s 9th is inevitable, there are still a lot of interesting story-lines to follow. And aside from all of that…. a hell of a lot of amazing surfing to be seen from some of the best surfers in the world! Here is how the Top 10 is sitting at the moment.

CURRENT ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 10 AFTER STOP NO. 6
1 – Kelly Slater (USA) 5620 points
2 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 4548 points
3 – Bede Durbidge (AUS) 4382 points
4 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 4370 points
5 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 4353 points
6 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 3950 points
7 – Andy Irons (HAW) 3938 points
8 – C.J. Hobgood (USA) 3870 points
9 – Bobby Martinez (USA) 3628 points
10 – Bruce Irons (HAW) 3392 points

Tiago Pires has delivered the upset of the year defeating Kelly Slater in round 3 at the Rip Curl Pro Search. With less than a minute to go in their heat, Tiago baited a priority holding Kelly into a mediocre wave that never materialized into anything. With the second (and better) wave of the set looming out the back, Tiago was left all alone with a chance to take down the champ and he delivered, getting pitted deep and coming out clean with fists blazing.

Tiago is the only top 45 surfer on tour to defeat Kelly this year. He’s undoubtedly made all the other title contenders happy and I’m sure there will be more than a few Bintangs coming his way tonight.

For those of you that missed Kelly Slater’s unbelievable switch-foot barrel during his first round heat at the Rip Curl Pro Search (which would be most of us considering the webcast crashed during that time), here’s a video clip for your viewing pleasure. Also included in the video is his 10 point ride. Just Kelly being Kelly.

While there is clearly a lack of drama heading into the back half of the 2008 ASP World Tour, there is still very much to look forward to with every wave that Kelly Slater paddles into. Sure, Kelly has all but wrapped up his unbelievable 9th world title only 5 events into the surfing year. But if the lack of a world title race has you down and out about the tour, just keep your eye on Mr. Slater and witness a manifestation of greatness unlike any the surfing world has seen before, as well as any we may ever see again.

In an article veiled with personal attacks on one of, if not the greatest all-around surfers of all-time, the author of an article at Fuel.TV used an interesting approach to explain his lack of interest in this years Dream Tour.

Is there a whole lot to look forward to anymore as far as the 2008 world title race goes? No, not really, No. 9 is essentially sealed. But what does any of this have to do with Slater? It’s his fault the way it was the fault of Michael Jordan when he rendered his competitors as irrelevant. It’s his fault the way it’s the fault of Tiger Woods for standing head and shoulders above any other human who has a golf club in their hand. While there are a countless number of amazing surf talents throughout the world, right now Kelly is standing above them all in a big way.

Kelly Slater in 2008, as he has done throughout his illustrious career, is exhibiting a marvelous display of physical and mental skill with every wave he takes off on. Even at 36 years of age, Kelly is doing things on a surfboard that are simply unthinkable and, for most of us besides “The King”, unimaginable. His Bells Beach victory in which he paddled several hundred yards to Rincon and subsequently boosted a huge air in the closing minutes of the final is the type of action legends are made of.

You may or may not like what Kelly Slater is about, you may have your own personal issues with what you think you know about his lifestyle or the way he responds to questions, but make no mistake about it, as far as surfing goes, it is unmatched greatness taking place right before our very eyes. In that alone that there is more than enough to keep us tuned in as Slater’s run of sheer magnificence continues throughout this year and beyond.

Cheers Kelly Slater…..It’s a pleasure to watch you surf.

While we are only about half-way through the 2008 ASP World Tour, we are already becoming witnesses to one of the all-time great performances throughout the course of the surfing year. Eight-time world champion Kelly Slater defeated last year’s champ Mick Fanning in the final of the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay earlier today for his fourth victory at the prestigious South African break.

Slater has now won 4 out of the first 5 events in 2008, and with the victory at J-Bay he has all but essentially sealed his record 9th world title. A gracious Slater had this to say following his 38th tour victory – “I didn’t realize I was going to be overwhelmed by it, but I haven’t been in this position before, at this point of the year, with this many wins, there are great things going on in my life so I’m just trying to soak it up and be appreciative.”

The morning started off with classic Jeffreys Bay conditions keeping the 4-6 ft swell in almost perfect shape. However, after just a few heats in the morning, the wind turned onshore for the quarters, semis, and final. Both Slater and Fanning had issues adjusting to the bump and crumble that was being offered up. “It was really challenging,” Slater said. “You really have to change your frame of mind because we were looking at waves the other day where we were getting 30-45 second rides and doing six to eight maneuvers and now we’re looking at waves where if you get three moves it’s a good score. It’s really hard to change your perception on how you are going to surf a wave. I didn’t really catch on until the very end of that heat when I realized I could get a three move wave and probably seal it.” Fanning appeared uncharacteristically sloppy, even falling on waves that held opportunities for high scores. While the Billabong broadcast team wondered aloud if it was equipment issues, an obviously Fanning quickly put that all to rest. “I surfed like an idiot,” Fanning said. “I had the opportunity to win the whole thing and I fell and I don’t know why. I don’t know what happened, I just had a shocker. I was feeling great, I just couldn’t stay on my board.”

With the rest of the Top 44 now with deflated hopes for a world championship, it will be intriguing to see how the year plays out. Aside from Fanning’s bid to repeat, Taj Burrow, Joel Parkinson, and Andy Irons all came into the year with very high aspirations to come out on top. They are all very aware of the difficult, if not impossible, task that now lies in front of them. “Kelly wins another final, enough said, unbelievable.” Burrow said. “The door is really closing as far as I can see it. He’s got a ridiculous amount of keepers now so… how many events left? Not enough!”

It sure does appear that way. Congratulations Kelly Slater, winner of the 2008 Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay!

There are few breaks in the world that contain the prestige and history of South Africa’s Jeffreys Bay. Its a wave unlike any other that has been known to bring out the best in many of the greatest surfers to ever step foot on a board. Tomson, Curren, Occy, Slater, and so many other surf legends have seen J-Bay be the site of some of their most impressive and inspired performances. And now with the arrival of the 2008 Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay upon us this week, we have another opportunity to witness a few of the worlds best on one of its greatest waves.

The holding period for the Billabong Pro J-Bay, the fifth of 11 events on the 2008 ASP World Tour, is set to open on July 10. While for us it means a chance to see the top 44 and others do work at Jeffreys Bay , for everyone taking part in the tour it only means one thing – possibly the last hope to putting an end to Kelly Slater cruising through to his 9th world championship.

Current world No. 2, Joel Parkinson knows this better than anyone, and is even hoping for the Aussie legend Mark Occhilupo to help stop the damage that Slater has been inflicting. “When it comes down to perfect 6 foot J-Bay, you know Occy has still got it. He is in the trials, so hopefully he gets into the main event and helps the rest of us by taking Kelly out early,” said Parko. Parkinson himself is extremely well suited for the long burly right, and Slater knows that he will be one of his biggest obstacles standing in front of his 4th win at J-Bay, as well as his fourth victory on the ‘08 tour. “JBay has been one of my best events,” Slater said. “I’ve had three wins out there, but it’s obviously a good event for Taj, a good event for Parko, a good event for Andy and it suits Bede really well.”

The stop at Jeffreys Bay has solidified itself years ago as one of the truly special events of each year. The chance to see another round of memorable performances is something that shouldn’t be passed up. Even those who aren’t huge WCT followers can appreciate the magic of seeing these guys carve up the endless walls that J-Bay is known and loved for.

You can give it a peep for yourself as the 2008 Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay will be webcast live on aspworldtour.com as well as billabongpro.com