2003 Nova Schin Festival

Mick Fanning

October 28, 2003 (Joaquina, Florianopolis, Brasil)

The Nova Schin Festival WCT Brasil went mobile today, relocating 90-minutes further south to Silveira in the search for optimum waves. Round one of the US$250,000 ASP World Championship Tournament (WCT) commenced around 1pm (local time), with competition running as far as heat #11 this afternoon.

Strong onshore south winds and mushy 3-4 ft (1.3m) waves continued this morning at the main site of Joaquina, but clean 4-5 ft (1.5m) peaks at Silveira prompted the long journey and reward of better conditions.

West Australian Jake Paterson locked in the highest scores of the day against reigning world champ Andy Irons (Kauai, Haw) and Brazilian wildcard Fabricio Machado. The current #18 emerged from a deep tube and then powered through a carving cutback for a near-perfect 9.5. Together with another 7.5, he amassed the event benchmark so far with 17-points. Irons and Machado will next contest a crucial man-on-man 'losers' heat, with the Kauaian desperate not to obtain his second consecutive 33rd place finish.

"The waves were really similar to a place back at home which Taj (Burrow) and I surf all the time," began Paterson. "It's like our favorite wave, so I just took it easy and waited for the really good ones. I've had Andy so many times this year already, and though I'm not comfortable being against him, there's no nerves at all. I just know I've got to do well to beat him.

"It was a nice barrel," he added, of his top scoring ride. "I was pretty stoked to come out and then it went all the way to the beach. It's a good start, and I think it's unreal we came down the coast today. The other contest site was onshore, but it's clean and barreling out here, so everyone is stoked."

Six-time world champion and current ratings leader Kelly Slater (FL, USA) wasted no time racking up big scores against Nathan Hedge (Narrabeen, Aus) and wildcard Diego Rosa (Brz). The Floridian, who is competing in Brazil for the first time since securing his sixth world title in 1998, made sure to capitalize on Irons' situation by progressing directly into round three with fluid turns and add further pressure on his Kauaian counterpart. He collected two eight plus scores for the second best tally of the day.

"The heat felt all right," began Slater, after hordes of fans greeted him on the shoreline. "I used a board which was a bit looser and changed my fins, so I tweaked my equipment from what I'd been using in Europe the past month. Feels good to get that heat out of the way.

"We'll see what happens, but I don't expect Andy to have too much trouble with the wildcards in this contest," he continued, in reference to Irons' coming match. "I think he's going to be pretty fired up and get himself back in groove.

"The mobility factor of this event gives us a lot of options," he added. "There are a lot of different breaks to use depending on the wind and swell direction. It's a lot better for us, and the event too, as we get to bring the contest to different beaches that have never seen a pro event. It's crazy with all the people here. People in Brazil just have a lot more energy and spirit. Everyone on the beach just goes for it and screams, having a good time."