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Kelly Slater of Cocoa Beach, Florida, USA (pictured) winning his round 1 heat of the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro. Photo: WSL/Cestari
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John John Florence of North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii (pictured) winning his round 1 heat of the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro. Photo: WSL/Cestari
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Mick Fanning of Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia (pictured) winning his round 1 heat of the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro. Photo: WSL/Cestari
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Jordy Smith of Durban, South Africa (pictured) winning his round 1 heat of the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro. Photo: WSL/Cestari
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osh Kerr of Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia (pictured) suffered a serious wipeout during Round 1 of the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro. Photo: WSL/Cestari
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C.J. Hobgood of Melbourne, Florida, USA (pictured) free fell from the top of a large wave during Round 1 of the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro. Photo: WSL/Cestari
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Adrian Buchan of Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia (pictured) winning his round 1 heat of the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro at The Box. Photo: WSL/Cestari
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Ricardo Christie of Mahia, New Zealand (pictured) free falls into a wave during his round 1 heat of the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro. Christie placed third in his heat. Photo: WSL/Cestari
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De Souza on a deep one at The Box on the first day of competition. Photo: WSL/Cestari
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Gabriel Medina (red) of Brasil, Alejo Muniz (white) of Brasil and Fred Patacchia (blue) of Hawaii (pictured) paddling hard to scratch over the top of a large wave at The Box during round 1 of the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro. Photo: WSL/Cestari
If there was one thing that the World Surf League desperately needed, it was waves. The first two events were just miserable, with the exception of a few days at Bells. Snapper, on the whole, was a total bust. The powers that be at the WSL must’ve been wringing their hands at their desks, pleading to the wave gods or whatever.
And then the models for Margaret River event turned purple. Like majorly purple. Everyone freaked out. Champagne corks flew all over the WSL offices. Confetti fell from the ceiling, and someone broke out a keg. Dave Stanfield did kegs stands while Joe Turpel sang karaoke and got so drunk he fell off the stage.
None of that happened, but the waves showed up, and they were ready to party. So ready, in fact, that the event moved over to the box, and a very violent dance ensued. Of course, in the middle of all that violence, there were more than a few moments of brilliance.
Head over to the World Surf League to watch all the heats on demand, and be sure to tune in for live coverage when the event runs again… the forecast is still looking pretty much perfect.
