Boost Mobile Pro Surf Competition Day 3: Kelly Slater is Amazing

Looks like somebody is going to be having a dance party tonight. Yes — my man (I wish) Kelly Slater did in fact win the Boost Mobile Pro this afternoon. Doesn’t he look so happy with his awesome trophy, and not to mention the $75,000 that comes with it!

It was definitely an exciting day at Trestles Beach. I honestly never thought I would get so into a surfing competition, but I found myself overcome with excitement and that nervous anticipation you get when a big sporting event comes down to the wire. I was shaking in my new O’Neill flip flops — see I really am crossing over to the surfer world, I even have a bit of a tan, well, sunburn.

Okay sorry, let’s get back on track. If you read my blog yesterday, you, like everyone else, was assuming that Kelly would be champion again. But today with 5 minutes left in the 40 minute finals, his opponent Australian Taj Burrows looked like he would be taking the glory.

Okay just so you know how it works — I’m going try and make it simple (I just learned this 3 days ago) — 2 surfers are in the water together for 30 minutes (the final was 40), they get judged out of 10 points for each wave they ride, and in the end they use an average of their two highest scoring waves. Got it?

So, as we are all watching nervously from the shore, Taj has two low 9’s under his belt (wet suit) and is totally in the lead. Kelly has a high 9 for himself, but only one. He needs a high 8 to win — a pretty hard feat, but even more so with such a small amount of time left on the clock. No one thought it was going to happen, especially the guys rooting for Taj next to me. But as you know, it did. With just a few minutes left, Kelly caught the wave that would ride him home — spinning and turning with all those fancy surfer moves, he nailed it. He knew it too, as he and pumped his fist in the air to a cheering crowd while still on his board.

It was amazing — and even after all his wins (this was his 39th time winning a pro surfing competition) he was beaming with pride — that amazing smile spread across his face as he got out of the water. He was greeted (more like bombarded) with photographers and fans on the shore and was carried up the beach after being dowsed in champagne. It was a sight to be seen, quite a celebration. But even with all that, it seemed Kelly had one person on his mind. He headed straight past everyone to his girlfriend, and they met on the stairs in the sweetest embrace. Awwwe.

Wow, it was such a great moment and I feel lucky to have witnessed it. As I said before, I never expected to have so much fun — but I learned the surfing culture is pretty amazing and the Boost Mobile Pro was what it’s all about.

So tonight I am off to the last of the weeks events, but I will be back again with a bunch of pics and the highlights for all of you.

Xoxo from California,
Megan