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The Billabong Pro J Bay was Parko’s tour de force. The result never looked in doubt.
By Jed Smith
Victory in the 2009 Billabong Pro Jeffrey’s Bay came as seamlessly for Parko as his amalgamation with the wave. His performance this year will surely have him considered alongside Tomson, Curren and Occhilupo as another master of Jeffreys' pure line. More importantly, victory here appears to have sealed him the world title.
Out of the top five, none progressed past the third round. Kelly, ranked ninth coming into the contest, could only manage one round better. With five events remaining, Parko is 2500 points clear of CJ Hobgood. With a maximum of 7000 points remaining, Parko needs to only continue at a quarter of his current momentum to be crowned champi in 2009.
Kelly was the last of the contenders to remain in contention on the final day. He arrived for his heat looking, as he had all contest, at peace. He received rapturous applause as he made his way past the grandstand. He dropped his head, looking mildly embarrased.
Before heading down the boardwalk, he stopped behind me to chat with a Quiksilver manager. As he took off down the path the manager calling after him, “Have fun.”
Kelly was beaten easily by long-time friend and room mate Taylor Knox. Kelly’s titles hopes are over.
On the beach after the heat, he signed every kids’ autograph. He held it together until, strangely, he reached the top of the race where the media and competitors had congregated. He smacked his board before throwing it hard to the foam mat on the ground. He then moved behind his girlfriend while photographers formed the obligatory semi-circle around him. Kelly did absolutely nought as they shuffled sideways, camera motors fizzing with every facial flex of the champ.
The quarter-finals saw Dane Reynolds progress to his best result in a world tour contest (a semi final). He did so by accounting for local trialist Sean Holmes.
It’s difficult to wish ill on Dane’s surfing but the J Bay faithful definitely tried. His 10-point opening ride, consisting of a 50m barrel with his hair still dry, would have earned guttural groans across webcast-land, on the beach the local fans held firm in their support of their boy. Dane’s second wave, a 9.23, on which he pulled the turn of the event, received golf claps at 50-metre intervals along the beach.Holmes was the target of some rousing nationalism. As a set poured through, 500 whistles screeched the air. To my left a 13-year-old-girl was text messaging. She looked up from her phone, jammed two fingers in her mouth and let out piercing burst of air. While the commentator would announce Dane’s waves laboriously with a “…and here goes Dane Reynolds on another nice looking wave,” when Holmes would bank himself in a small inside tunnel it would be to an, “Oh, he’s still in there ladies and gentleman!” The commentator later admitted on air that his commentary had slewed off the side of objectivity.
After the heat, Dane did as he’d done all contest and hung with his woman. They are the classic Indy couple. Both have died crimson hair, both have an anchor tattoo (hers beneath her ear, his on his chest) and seldom were they apart. On the final day she was even his board caddy.
Before Parko and Hobgood met in the final, it was the Curren/Occy contest. Curren was amicable throughout the contest, though retained his brooding demeanour. Before the heat, as Curren was waxing a board, GT hit him with a clich line about trading places with him in the heat. Curren offered a half-grin-grunt combo, not skipping a stroke with his bar of wax. His gruffness, though, could have also been due to nerves. He spent a long time limbering up and when I asked whether he was feeling the pinch, he replied, “yeah, a little. It’s just these Dream Tour spots, they’re amazing.”
So it was the waves that had him a little tense? He nodded. Lucky for him the swell turned off the second he hit the water.
The day, however, belonged to Parko. As was the pattern throughout the contest, he didn't show until seconds before check-in time. He would breeze through having his trainer place his back-up board on the rack and return his contest singlet after the heat. It went that way again before the final, and keeping with the program, Parko won the contest with minimal toil.
Occy was the first to greet him as he arrived in the competitor’s area. They embraced, before Parko continued to the corner full of pros. He had an Australian flag bunched in his fist and let out a series of animalistic howls. He snatched hands with Kai Otton, then turned to his left and saw Dane.
“Good job,” said Dane, shaking his hand.
The media swelled, mundane celebrations ensued, before Parko again disappeared. Which prompted this wisecrack from a surfer, “he’s so focused he’s celebrating on his own.”