If you spent the last few days ignoring friends and family to watch the Quik Pro Snapper contest like me, you may have noticed the awesome little Quik ads featuring their a-team riders. You may have even commented to your imaginary friends that they are so well shot, like they came straight out of a movie. Well that's because they did silly! Quik has been working on a new film called MOMENTS and those ads are little snippets from the movie. You can watch the whole thing below and holy shit is this thing impressive.

After a week long flat spell which saw an incredible lack of surf on Oahu's North Shore, Backdoor Pipeline finally got out of bed yesterday, providing two days of rifling barrels, culminating in a maiden World Tour victory for Reunion Island's Jeremy Flores.

As the day began, the quarterfinals were stacked with familiar faces: Kelly, Jordy, Dane, Ace, all having had their share of great results this year, and are no strangers to the final day at Pipeline.

Throughout the day, the rights at Backdoor were very inconsistent, but when the bombs did come through huge scores were being dropped. With two man heats and inconsistent waves on offer, rhythm with the ocean became the name of the game. Taylor Knox was unable to find a single scoring ride in his quarterfinal against Dane Reynolds, who effortlessly netted a 17 point heat total. In his very next heat against Kieren Perrow, Dane didn't paddle for a single wave until there were 5 minutes left in the 30, and finished with only one wave ridden.

Big upsets were fueled by the feast or famine conditions Thursday, including last minute come-from-behind victories by both Flores and Perrow over Slater and Jordy. Jeremy edged Slater by .77 in the semis with a buzzer beater under Kelly's priority.

The final itself wasn't short on drama either.

Perrow held a commanding lead through 28 minutes of the 30-minute final, but a tactical error with 2 minutes to go left the door open for Jeremy as a big set lurched onto the first reef. Flores rode a big backdoor pit to perfection for a 9.37 and the victory, leaving Perrow to watch his Pipe Masters crown float away.

Joel Parkinson had a great day as well, despite watching from the beach, as he claimed his third Triple Crown Title today when Ace Buchan lost his quarterfinal heat against Kelly Slater. After the heat, Kelly Slater pointed at the camera and smiled: "Parko's buying drinks tonight."



FINAL
1-Jeremy Flores
2-Kieren Perrow

SEMI-FINAL
1-Jeremy Flores 17.50
2-Kelly Slater 17.23

1-Kieren Perrow 15.03
2-Dane Reynolds 6.83

QUARTER-FINAL
1-Jeremy Flores 14.00
2-Owen Wright 7.43

1-Kelly Slater 12.94
2-Adrian Buchan 3.16

1-Kieren Perrow 13.00
2-Jordy Smith 12.00

1-Dane Reynolds 17.00
2-Taylor Knox 3.37

The Quiksilver Pro Portugal an Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) sanctioned Men's Star Series event saw Jeremy Flores (FRA) and Josh Kerr (AUS) go tit-for-tat during an intense morning session of competition which saw the pair of top seeds share today's honours.

Light off-shore winds and 2-3ft (1m) lines pulsed at the main event site of Ribeira D'Ilhas allowing for some excellent high performance surfing. The high tide forced a halt to Round Three of competition with the final three heats to be run when competition resumes tomorrow.

Jeremy Flores (Capbreton/New Caledonia, FRA) 22, was on fire and looked sharp and lightening fast on the tricky rights. The smaller swell meant flatter sections and excellent reading of the waves was needed to obtain the major scores. Getting a quick start to open his account with an 8.33, Flores found his rhythm and built a massive 17.00 two-wave heat total.

"My board is going good at the moment. It's the one I used in Peniche when it was about 6ft and powerful and I rode it now in 2ft, soft waves and it went ok. I got into a rhythm with some fun waves running along the reef which allowed me to get in a few turns."

A simple tactical plan and only three men in the heat allowed Flores the room to move during the 25-minute clash.

"The game plan out there today was really just to catch anything because you never know what the waves will do. Some have a good inside section and then the big ones have a good outside section and then they just die off. In three man heats it is better with a lot less hasseling for waves."

Leading into the crucial man-on-man stage of the Quiksilver Pro Portugal, Flores explains the importance of this concept at the point break of Ribeira D'Ilhas

"Especially here man-on-man heats are good. There are let's say four really good waves every heat so sometimes in four-man heats you don't get that good wave. With man-on-man I think we won't miss any of them."

Not to be out done, Josh Kerr (Gold Coast, AUS) 26, in the final heat before the high tide stoppage scored the wave of the day punting a forehand air-reverse in between a series of snaps to claim a 9.33 out of ten. With a 7.67 to add to that, Kerr equalled Flores' display with a 17.00 point total as well.

"I was actually the widest out of everyone and the wave kind of by-passed the guys and I got to luck into it," explained Kerr. "I was tripping that a section popped up. It is hard to see the sections because it is so clean out there now with no wind. I didn't know if it was going to be a section or if it was going to peter out and luckily I got to do an air-reverse off it so I'm stoked."

Frederico Morais (Cascais, PRT) 18, advanced along with Kerr to find himself with his best career result in a major ASP Star Series event. Knowing the tide was filling in and afraid of a wave starved final stage, Morais got his score count going early. Modest scores mixed with well thought out wave selection secured his pass into Round Four of the Quiksilver Pro Portugal.

"This is the best result of my career and the first time for me in the man-on-man round in a big event. I have competed in two-man heats in the Pro Juniors so I am going to give my best and show I can surf."

Morais can consider himself fortunate to have had many years of experience at Ribeira D'Ilhas despite his young age and guidance from the watchful eye of local legend Tiago Pires (PRT).

"I used to stay at Tiago's place surfing here and I used to come here with my dad on the weekends so I have surfed a lot at this break. It is not easy to surf this spot as it breaks here on the inside and then on the outside too so he (Pires) helps me a bit with strategies for here."

Jonathan Gonzalez (Tenerife, CNY) 30, kept his campaign rolling with another strong performance which never looked in doubt. Building on a series of recent results Gonzalez is finding the confidence he was lacking in the first half of the season.

"I went out with the same plan as yesterday and that was to get off to a quick start and then try and keep going and build on that start. Today I got that 8.00 and from then on I was more relaxed."

Sandwiched between fellow Brazilians Leonardo Neves and Beto Mariano the task on paper looked daunting however following his consistent plan of attack, Gonzalez weaved his way onto a backup score thus avoiding any possible shut down from his opponents.

"I was lucky to get a few more average waves because there are not many and also I was up against two Brazilians in my heat and it was tough for sure. I am going to keep with the same game plan and hopefully keep it all together and on a roll."



Justin Mujica (PRT) 33, advanced behind an inform Hodei Collazo (EUK) into Round Four of competition. Throwing caution to the wind, Mujica laid down some trademark forehand smashes on his first wave to nail an 8.00 and a comfortable second placing. Mujica now finds himself pitted against Jeremy Flores in his next encounter and the thought does not daunt the former ASP European title holder.

"Any result here will be good for me and I am stoked to be in the contest. I have nothing to lose so I am going to go back out there again to do my best. It will be a tough heat but I don't care, he (Flores) is not unbeatable and maybe he is in better shape than me but it is already a great result for me so let's see what happens."

On somewhat of a comeback to full time competition, the flamboyant Mujica, originally from Venezuela, hopes with results like those achieved so far in the Quiksilver Pro Portugal will help his return to the winner's circle.

"I had a couple of bad years so I had to make some choices and now I have been making a couple of trips. My team manager is supporting me a lot so maybe with a couple of results I can get back a little bit more of my goals. Surfing is so complicated but step by step is the way to go big."

Adrien Toyon (REU) 21, was pleased to get into Round Four with a real chance to advance even further. One of the stronger backhand surfers in the event, Toyon looks comfortable where many others have struggled. If the swell increases again overnight Toyon is very capable of causing more than one upset.

"I am happy with the result so far and I hope I can get through a few more heats because I feel good at the moment. I have been training pretty hard the last month and I surfed in Brazil and now I am here on this point break so I am so stoked."

"I don't think there is an advantage for guys on their forehand," explained Toyon. "You really have to catch the best waves and surf them the best you can. On my backhand I am ok. I feel my legs are a bit sorer now because I did maybe ten backhand turns on the wave but I like it." (laughs)

Surfers competing in the Quiksilver Pro Portugal are out to claim valuable ASP World Ranking points in their endeavour to qualify for next year's elite ASP World Tour. European surfers are on stop nº 10 of 12 in their bid to claim this year's ASP European Men's Title currently lead by Marc Lacomare (FRA).

With the Rip Curl Pro Portugal set to get under way in a matter of hours, why not see what some of the pros have to say about the building excitement.. Judging by their comments I'd day everyone is prett giddy about the massive swell on the horizon..

Jordy Smith: were do we surf in 2 days when the waves are going to be 20 feet?

Jeremy Flores: Breaking boards today ! YEP

and, by far, the best and most insightful tweet goes to....

Matt Wilkinson: penish haha yes im in portugal and the town sounds like sean connery saying penis

For the third straight event in a row, Dane Reynolds has been sent home packing with an early round flame out, finishing with yet another 33rd (dirty turd) at the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro in Brazil on Sunday as Round Two (the losers round) was completed in lumpy, bumpy, overhead yet mushy wind swell remnants. "I'd say this was an uncharacteristic loss for Dane," said Kelly Slater, who was commentating the heat. "But unfortunately this isn't all that uncharacteristic anymore."

Reynolds was clearly having trouble finding targets to hit. But even Slater thought he missed an opportunity or two for launch. Slater called him out online when Dane failed to launch off a sloppy closeout section. "He has trouble when it's mushier. He likes more lip and a little more power to it." One of the more interesting little stats Slater revealed was that he and Dane have lost to the same person in the last two events. Both lost to Owen Wright at Bells and Aritz Aranburu in Tahiti.

"That'd be pretty stressful for me if I drew Tiago next round, given the recent history," Slater added with a laugh.

Fortunately for Slater, he dodged the Pires bullet (which was one of the rare ones that big him last year, in Bali) for now. Slater will instead face Aussie Ben Dunn in Round Three. The only other major casualty on Sunday was Fred Patacchia, who apparently didn't get to cash the karma points he earned Saturday for letting Slater use his boards. This was Fred's earliest exit this season.

Notable Round Two survivors included Jordy Smith, C.J. and Damien Hobgood and Nathaniel Curran, who advanced out of his first heat this season after beating veteran Kieren Perrow. "Hopefully I can build a little momentum for a result here," Curran said after, acknowledging the transition hasn't been easy. For Reynolds, anohter early exit will most likely put him out of the Top 30. Whether he cares or not is always up for debate.

ROUND THREE MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 2: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Heitor Alves (BRA)
Heat 3: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Tim Boal (FRA)
Heat 4: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Greg Emslie (ZAF)
Heat 5: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. Tiago Pires (PRT)
Heat 6: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Dustin Barca (HAW)
Heat 7: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) vs. Dean Morrison (AUS)
Heat 8: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Neco Padaratz (BRA)
Heat 9: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Nathaniel Curran (USA)
Heat 10: Dayyan Neve (AUS) vs. Tim Reyes (USA)
Heat 11: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Ben Dunn (AUS)
Heat 12: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. Chris Davidson (AUS)
Heat 13: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Michael Picon (FRA)
Heat 14: Mick Campbell (AUS) vs. Josh Kerr (AUS)
Heat 15: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Roy Powers (HAW)
Heat 16: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Chris Ward (USA)