Luke Egan understands how the bargaining table works, especially at ASP meetings. During his stellar surfing career, the big Australian goofyfooter was respected for his lethal attack in the water. Back on land, Egan was just as powerful in the boardroom, albeit much more diplomatic, while representing the surfers and their various causes during negotiations with sponsors and event organizers. If conditions weren't right and the event directors wanted to run heats anyway, it was Egan's job to speak for the surfers, which he did, quite well, for years.


These days Egan is on the other side of that table; event director duties of the Billabong Pro, one of the most prestigious events on the ASP World Tour, rest squarely on his shoulders. While he earned the respect of the surfers long ago (he was finalists here in Tahiti in 2002) thanks to a career that spanned the better part of two decades Egan is now in the unenviable position of dealing with the wrath of the very surfers he spent years looking after. This year, aside from dealing with the typical stress of unruly weather, he's dealing with a controversial format change that Billabong elected to experiment with. Surfers, as Luke knows, don't care much for change, especially when it makes their job more challenging.


By passing on the non-elimination version of Round One, the losers bracket, better known as Round Two, and another lease on life, has been removed. In and effort to shorten event running time and maximize the average duration of a swell, Billabong has chosen to utilize the more cut throat format that the ASP added to the event format menu during the off season. It happens to be the same format Luke Egan endured during his first several years on tour in the late 80s and early 90s.


"It's kind of like the old format actually," says Mark Occhilupo, who was in the esteemed Top 16 for much of his early career, a concept that is being reborn with the new format, which seeds them directly into Round Two. The 16 surfers who advance out of Round One will face them. Early in Occy's career, only the Top 32 surfers in the world were seeded. Surfers ranked between 17 and 32 started in Round One of the Main Event, in man on man heats vs. 16 surfers who emerged from the trials at each venue. Today's format is similar, but with 48 surfers total earning seeds, there's a twist. "The only difference is there aren't nearly as many guys coming out of the trials."


On the surface, the decision seems like the obvious one, especially given the fickle weather and challenging forecast Egan is dealing with. By shrinking his running time he can pick and choose the best hours of the days to run heats--something he lobbied for tirelessly back when he was a competitor. But of course, on the ASP World Tour, no good deed goes unpunished. A number of surfers are not comfortable with the move.


"My feeling is with surfing you need a second chance," says Australia's Kai Otton, "especially since we're dealing with Mother Nature."


"I disapprove of it," says Hawaii's Dustin Barca. "Personally I don't think it's very fair." Although Barca, to his credit, seems to have responded to the added pressure, advancing out of his first Round One this season.


"Most swells don't last longer than three days," says Occy. "That's why the format is good."

There have been tense meetings on the format matter between surfers, Egan, and ASP administrators in Tahiti during the lay days. Rumors of the ASP scrapping their future plans for a One World Ranking are circulating as a result. Whether the format option survives is still up in the air, but according to Egan, it was necessary today. "It was definitely a struggle out there," he said, while dealing with filthy winds. "Thankfully we were able to pick off a few heats at the end of the day."


Stay tuned for more.