2003 BILLABONG PRO JBAY: Slaters Slays 'Em

"I'm very excited to be here," said Whittaker. "The waves on the WCT are twice as good as anywhere else, and J-Bay is probably the best. I haven't gotten through a heat all year, so I was pretty nervous and wanted to get the monkey off my back. I just tried to wait for the best waves and thankfully I got them. It was amazing being out there without anyone in the lineup. I was just telling myself how lucky I was to be out there then."

One lucky competitor today was Kelly Slater, who has yet to arrive in J-Bay. Slater's been on a promotional whirlwind through California and New York, plugging the upcoming X-Games, his new autobiography Pipe Dreams and even his favorite music videos on an upcoming MTV2 show. Slater apparently missed his flight out of New York and as a result his First Round heat as well, but Parsons simply delayed it. "He'd probably be shit out of luck if we could have finished the entire round, but since we couldn't, and Kelly is a franchise player who's out there promoting the sport I think it's perfectly fair to cut him some slack and postpone his heat."

The call to run even a half-day proved to be a good one with the immediate forecast in doubt. With nothing but a few medium sized pulses on the horizon Parsons has his work cut out for him. "I had to call it off after Heat 10 today because the tide started to make the lulls a little too long for comfort, but I'm stoked we got started because we need four and a half days to run an event," he explained. "I just got off the phone with Sean Collins at Surfline and it looks like the weekend is shaping up with some good swell, plus there's always a chance we'll run tomorrow if this little pulse is still around."

Following in the footsteps of the Billabong Pro Teahupoo in Tahiti, the Jeffreys Bay tournament will once again be a three-camera webcast with live streaming footage, live scores and commentary available on www.billabongpro.com or www.aspworldtour.com. Another decision will be made tomorrow morning at 7am (local time) as to the day's schedule.--Chris Mauro w/Jesse Faen

Official Billabong Pro Round One Heats (1st>Rnd3; 2nd & 3rd>Rnd2)

• H1: Phil MacDonald (Aus) 14.5; Michael Lowe (Aus) 13.86; Beau Emerton (Aus)12.17
• H2: Luke Egan (Aus) 13.63; Fabio Gouveia (Brz) 11.63; Luke Hitchings (Aus)11.5
• H3: CJ Hobgood (USA) 17.0; Shane Powell (Aus) 11.97; Toby Martin (Aus) 11.64
• H4: Taj Burrow (Aus) 18.07; Tim Curran (USA) 10.16; Nathan Hedge (Aus) 8.33
• H5: Tom Whitaker (Aus) 16.0; Cory Lopez (USA) 11.67; Adrian Buchan (Aus)10.93
• H7: Taylor Knox (USA) 16.0; Kieren Perrow (Aus) 14.1; Greg Emslie (SAfr)12.44
• H8: Jake Paterson (Aus) 14.33; Andy Irons (Haw) 13.23; Warwick Wright (SAfr)7.87
• H9: Joel Parkinson (Aus) 16.17; Bede Durbidge (Aus) 13.5; Pat O'Connell(USA) 7.0
• H10: Mick Fanning (Aus) 14.5; Paulo Moura (Brz) 12.6; Tiago Pires (Port)10.27
• H11: Dean Morrison (Aus) 11.67; Trent Munro (Aus) 11.5; Lee Winkler (Aus)5.56

Remaining Round One Heats (1st>Rnd3; 2nd & 3rd>Rnd2)

• H12: Mark Occhilupo (Aus); Peterson Rosa (Brz); Nathan Webster (Aus)
• H13: Daniel Wills (Aus); Darren O'Rafferty (Aus); Armando Daltro (Brz)
• H14: Kalani Robb (Haw); Guilherme Herdy (Brz); Danilo Costa (Brz)
• H15: Damien Hobgood (USA); Richard Lovett (Aus); Victor Ribas (Brz)
• H16: Shea Lopez (USA); Chris Davidson (Aus); Flavio Padaratz (Brz)
• H6: Kelly Slater (USA); Neco Padaratz (Brz); Luke Stedman (Aus)