Round two recommenced this morning at 8 sharp out at the Cream bank in zippy double up lefts. The onshore came up early this morning, but amongst the cleanish gray lumps there were a few sections begging for the treatment. Early trading seemed the best anyway, when it was higher and inside. Bobby Martinez took down Drew Courtney on the internet while I was having my morning plop, and I got there to see the end of Kieren Perrow ousting Davey Weare in low scoring encounter. Then Freddy P looked in full control taking out Jihad. Then the money heat, Aritz vs Jeremy. With reports of a still dicky ankle troubling him Mimi came up well short, unable to find the wave he needed (until immediately after the horn). Aritz had one good chance at stamping authority on the heat about ten minutes in, cranked hard off the bottom and leaned into a big snap in the lip, completing the ride with a couple nicely linked turns. As the horn went to the chagrin of the local crowd Mimi’s forgettable 2009 season continued.

Next up Kai Ottz made short work of Nathan Curren before the MIky v Mick Campbell dual. Right at the start of the hear Cambo got a nice open one with a few carves whilst Miky’s reply wobbled and refused to open up. That pattern followed most of the heat, to the further distaste of the crowd on the beach. Gotta hand it to Mick Campbell though for his battling approach, as Miky in fact did, after displaying the obvious disappointment of the loss and the repercussions on his position for 2010, Miky gathered himself and congratulated Campbell in a nice display of sportsmanship.

Euro fortunes improved in the next heat when Tiago ripped his way to victory over a dangerous looking Kekoa Bacalso. “Surfing a couple of heats in that rip feels like surfing for three days,” reckoned a knackered but happy Tiago afterwards. With conditions visibly deteriorating and the rip building to raging torrent-like proportions, Greg Emslie took down the defending champ Ace Buchan right at the death of a heat that Ace had controlled throughout. As conditions worsened still with low tide, crazy rip and gathering onshores, Dean Morrison took out Dayyan before the event was put on hold.

“Fuck that always happens to me,” lamented Bottle Thompson, (sporting recently-shaved chest for cosmetic as opposed to performance enhancing reasons) who was due to surf in the next heat. We were watching Julian Wilson and Jordy Smith paddle out to freesurf the contest bank some ten minutes after it was called off for the day. Julian went kind of mental. Very much looking forward to seeing that guy surf his Rd 3 heat (with Mick Fanning), almost as much as the Ht 9 Slater vs Fred showdown.
Next call 8am tomorrow.

Pictured: Aritz Aranburu (EUK), 23, was in devastating form this morning in Round 2 of the Quiksilver Pro France, eliminating local favorite Jeremy Flores (FRA), 21.
Credit: © ASP/ CI/ CESTARI via GETTY IMAGES