After a week of howling onshore winds at Hossegor’s premier sand banks of La Graviere, the conditions shifted offshore just in time for day one of the Quiksilver Pro France waiting period.
Lots of closeouts and the odd gem here and there left many competitors with dismal single-digit heat totals, and the three final heats of Round 1 were called off due to tricky conditions.

Heat 5 saw wildcard Dane Reynolds send Joel Parkinson to the dreaded Round 2 with a couple nice tube rides. This will send dangerous Dane straight to Round 3, where as one of the two wildcards (trials winner Wiggolly Dantas being the other), he will face the highest seed in that round, either Joel, Mick Fanning, or Kelly Slater. You can bet that none of the title contenders want to get anywhere near Dane Reynolds.

Of the top five surfers in the world title hunt, three of them have been relegated to the sudden-death Round 2, with Joel losing to Dane, Adriano De Souza losing to Jadson Andre, and John John Florence losing to Patrick Gudauskas. All three will be doing everything they can to avoid an early exit from the event, especially Florence and De Souza, who already have two mediocre results and cannot afford another.

The current swell is expected to fade out before another fills in on Sunday; look for the event to possibly be back on then.

Photo of Dane Reynolds courtesy Quiksilver

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.16, Kai Otton (AUS) 11.03, Taylor Knox (USA) 7.00
Heat 2: Jadson Andre (BRA) 9.04, Adriano De Souza (BRA) 8.70, Damien Hobgood (USA) 8.20
Heat 3: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 12.70, John John Florence (HAW) 11.67, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 6.86
Heat 4: Kelly Slater (USA) 12.06, Dusty Payne (HAW) 7.74, Tiago Pires (PRT) 4.16
Heat 5: Dane Reynolds (USA) 10.66, Joel Parkinson (AUS) 9.90, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 5.40
Heat 6: Mick Fanning (AUS) 14.50, Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 12.10, Travis Logie (ZAF) 8.56
Heat 7: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 14.83, Kolohe Andino (USA) 12.97, Josh Kerr (AUS) 10.00
Heat 8: Brett Simpson (USA) 11.67, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 10.70, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 7.83,
Heat 9: Michel Bourez (PYF) 10.43, Owen Wright (AUS) 8.30, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 5.77

REMAINING QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 10: Jordy Smith (ZAF), Heitor Alves (BRA), Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 11: Julian Wilson (AUS), Adrian Buchan (AUS), Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 12: Gabriel Medina (BRA), C.J. Hobgood (USA), Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)