The rain fell, the tide dropped, and the waves pumped. After a near-tragic day yesterday, the Billabong Pro Mundaka found itself on remarkably better footing today. “It was unreal out there,” cackled Parko after making his Round 3 heat, that classic shit-eating grin stretching from ear to ear. Four-to six-foot double-ups were aplenty, but as good as the surf was, the best call of the day may have come when organizers implemented the overlapping format, which for those of you who haven’t been paying attention means that basically two heats are run concurrently with priority going to one pair of surfers for the first 20 minutes of the heat, then changing for the second 20 minutes. “For a place like Mundaka, it’s perfect,” explained Adriano De Souza at day’s end. “You can get 16 heats done in almost the same time as 8 heats, which means you can maximize the conditions.”

Top Five Moments of Round 3:

1. Racking up the only perfect 10 of the event (thus far anyway), Royden Bryson had a career heat against Damien Hobgood. He’d eventually finish the heat with a combined 19.37 score
2. In his Round 2 heat against Travis Logie, Dane Reynolds looked so comfortable it was like he was surfing Sandspit in reverse.
3. “There’s no secret to it, you just have to remain consistent,” said Luke Stedman after making it out of his heat and keeping his streak of no 33rds alive.
4. Adriano De Souza kept the momentum rolling with a win over Jihad. “It was amazing out there today, I’m just stoked to keep going and have a chance to surf tomorrow.”
5. Finally, a very hearty and heartfelt congratulations goes out to webcast guru Jeff Doner and wife Fabiana on the arrival of their new baby boy Jon Raiden. The sooner this contest wraps the sooner ol’ JD can jump on a plane and meet his new boy. He’s been putting in the hard yards so everybody else can watch online. And while we’re on the baby train, another congrats goes out to photog Shorty and his wife Jules on the birth of their boy Marli. Best wishes to all.

Most Defining Performance:
Royden Bryson stepped up to the plate today and knocked Damien Hobgood out of the lineup. Tomorrow he’s got C.J. Hobgood in his Round 3 heat, which means the South African could make a clean sweep of the brothers Hobgood.

Upset of the Day:
Hardly any upsets, save Royden over Damien.

Insight That Would Have Helped Your Team If We’d Only Known:
Swell kicked in today, and it looks like it could bump up a bit more tomorrow. The forecast is the talk of the town…and most of Europe for that matter.

Talk of the Beach:
The majesty of Mundaka had everybody abuzz…especially the goofy-footers. The morning started slow with the tide still high and some funky wind lingering, but as things drained out and the rain backed off, one of the world’s best lefts proved exactly why it’s so deserving of the title.

Wildcard Report:
Nothing much to report on the wildcard contingent today. With the waves turning on at Mundaka, the Top 45 ratcheted up their game and everybody that was supposed to advance did. Obviously, the big wildcard heat to watch tomorrow is the Spain’s Eneko Acero versus Kelly Slater. Can an unknown conquistador put Kelly’s title run on ice one more time?

In the Competitor’s Tent W/ Royden Bryson:

What does a near-perfect 19.37 heat score mean to you?
I’ve had a rough one so far this year, so to come out and surf a heat feels really good. It’s been 33rds and 17ths all year, so hopefully I can use this heat to get some momentum and maybe post a better result.

You’re on the bubble for re-qualifying, do you think you can make the push and do it?
I hope so, but I don’t know. If I end up back on the ’QS next year, or even if I re-qualify, I know next year I’m going to be a lot more appreciative of being on the world tour and getting to compete at this level.

There are a lot of South Africans on tour this year; it must be nice to have a crew like this to travel with.
I feel very privileged to be traveling and surfing with guys like Jordy, Travis, and Ricky. To represent the country like we are means so much.

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