The second day of the Billabong Pro Tahiti broke to overcast skies and whipping wind cut by intermittent blasts of Polynesian sunshine. With the forecast showing a lack of substantial swell headed our way for the duration of the waiting period, contest officials made the call to run the event in the 4-foot windswept bowls out to sea. It was a call that undoubtedly arose its fare share of criticism to contest director Luke Egan, but as the saying goes, “heavy is the head that wears the crown.”

One of the first heats of the morning saw Roy Powers and Mick Campbell go toe-to-toe in extremely frustrating conditions. With swirling winds and lumpy peaks surrounding the heat, you couldn’t help but feel somewhat sorry for the two surfers. It was by no means all-time Teahupoo, but if you’re a surfer and the call is made, you go. In the latter half of the heat, Campbell snuck away with a few decent rides, finding small feats of grace amid the churning lineup, and left Powers the latest victim of the oh-so controversial sudden-death format that’s hit the 45 like the bubonic plague. (For more information on the proposed changes to the ASP’s sudden-death format, click here.) It was a tough loss for Powers to say the least.

By noon, the overcast skies morphed into an ominous shade of dark gray and put a hold on the contest as officials bolted down anything and everything that could be blown away. With the sky pissing rain on Teahupoo, surfers and event officials ducked for cover as the elements converged in a sloppy mess of wind and water.

And just like that, the weather broke.

It was as if Luke Egan put Mother Nature in a chokehold and demanded contestable conditions for the remainder of the day. Out of nowhere, the wind switched favorable, the sun came out, and the surf turned on. From the channel, you could feel everything coming together. Game on.

With a few emerald-toned tubes running down the reef, California’s Timmy Reyes battled it out against Australian Kieren Perrow in their round two heat. The two traded barrels back and forth throughout the 30-minute session. In the end, the pair would finish their heat in a tie. Time to consult the ASP rulebook.

According to the ASP’s Renato Hinkle, “In the rare event that two surfers tie, the winner is the surfer who posted the highest score.”

In this case, the fold would go to Perrow as he outscored Timmy with a 7-point tuberide. Aside from suffering a difficult loss in the rarest of finishes, Timmy is still nursing a staph infection in his left elbow—the result of a scrap with some South Pacific reef a few days. When Timmy’s lymph nodes began to swell, he had an ad-hoc introduction to a scalpel, some antibiotics, and a trained profesional in the medical tent.

In another dramatic heat, Taj Burrow, who’s surfing his 11th year on Tour, made his Tahitian debut against Germany’s Marlon Lipke. From the opening hooter, Burrow was in the driver’s seat and put some serious hurt on Lipke, posting a dominant performance over the Euro and showing just what a dangerous draw he can be in the upcoming rounds. If conditions prevail tomorrow, Burrow will surf against Kieren Perrow.

And what about Slater? Like the paparazzi spotting a celebrity shopping along Rodeo Drive, the surf media got their first look at a very tanned Kelly today as he made his way through the channel on the back of a Jet Ski. Ever mysto, Kelly managed to escape the circus to score a remote and fickle Tahitian right-hander for the past few days. Figures.

Tomorrow, he’s slated to surf against Aritz Aranburu. Oddly enough, it’s a heat that Aritz is looking forward to surfing. “I want to surf against Kelly. I’m gonna treat it like any other heat. Just go out there and do my best and see what happens,” said Aranburu.

Word on the street is that event officials are looking to run a full day of competition tomorrow. Stay tuned to Surfermag.com as we bring you the goods from Tahiti.