After a shocking start to the 2009 season, reigning world champion Kelly Slater has decided to actually show up in Brazil, in an apparent effort to revive hopes for capturing his 10th world title. This is welcome news to pro surfing fans, and frankly, a welcome surprise, regardless of the circumstances surrounding it (rumors are the sponsors threatened to pull out if Slater didn't show.) Given Slater's post-loss interview in Tahiti, and speculation of a pending retirement, the 2009 season immediately lost some of its allure. But the champ has apparently iced plans to hang up his jersey for now, which, perhaps, could salvage the season.

After completely owning the 2008 on his way back to the throne, thanks in large part to major shifts in his equipment, Slater kept up with his off-season experimental antics in the shaping room. He ended up pushing the limits even further when he arrived in Australia this year. While others hurled shit at Slater for his board choices, including some of his counterparts on tour, they failed to see the reason behind it--the most obvious one being he's bored with them. While Slater's become a bit of a late bloomer in the design and experimentation game, it's something he's extremely interested in, and once you do get going in a certain direction with equipment, you quickly want to take it to its extreme. Ultimately, there's no better test pilot in the world than Kelly Slater, so if he decides to go the Chuck Yeager route then we should all stand aside and take notes. Of course, having fun on a design and validating its capabilities are two different things, but validation is as easy as winning a competition or two, just ask Simon Anderson, or that Mark Richards guy.

Slater might have hit another logical (or illogical depending on your viewpoint) extreme with his equipment in Australia, followed by some bad luck at Bells and Tahiti. But is he surfing shitty? Has he ever? Truth is, so long as he's showing up, he's a concern, especially for Joel Parkinson.

Nevertheless, Slater will have his work cut out for him, both mentally and physically. The weather in Brazil is rainy and stormy, the surf chunky and bumpy, making preparation no picnic. To make matters worse, Slater's bad luck continued in Round One after his boards failed to arrive along with him in Brazil. Riding borrowed equipment, he netted only three points for his second scoring ride and finished 2nd to Timmy Reyes. The champ in now be headed to the dreaded losers round versus local Bernardo Miranda. Meanwhile, Parko and Fanning both advanced straight to Round Three.

Stay tuned...