What did Kelly ride? He rode his 5′10”  x 18 5/8”  x 2 1/8” eps foam, concave deck Whip swallow tail. It’s the board second to the left.

Top Seeds Dominate Day 1 of Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast at Snapper Rocks

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 26 February, 2010 : – - Coolangatta, Queensland – Round 1 of the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast presented by Land Rover was completed today in pulsing two-to-three foot (1 metre) waves at Snapper Rocks on Australia’s Gold Coast.

The opening event of the 2010 ASP World Tour season, the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast ignites the greatest assemblage of surfing talent in history, and today’s top performers proved no surprise with perennial ASP World Title threats dominating Round 1 of competition.

Kelly Slater (USA), 38, former nine-time ASP World Champion and current ASP World No. 6, has refocused his attention on vying for an unprecedented 10th ASP World Title this season, and his dominance is the opening round of competition put his fellow competitors on notice. Slater posted the highest heat total of the day, a 17.77 out of a possible 20, including the day’s high single-wave score of a 9.27 out of a possible 10 for a deep forehand barrel.

“I missed a really good wave at the beginning of the heat and it kind of focused me,” Slater said. “I was looking at the thing just barreling off at me and it was really frustrating so I thought I needed to be more patient. I got that 8.50, it looked like it might fatten out and it had that slow steep at the beginning so I got that carve in. I was waiting for it to build back up and then it lined up and was a good wave. Obviously that 9.00 too, probably the best wave that came in during the heat, the thing barreled really hard and was fun.”

Keep reading on quiksilverpro.com.au

Check out both Conner and Parker Coffin’s new blog, Young Wise Tails.

Kelly Slater tests out 6 new boards before jumping on a flight to Australia- Whip (mismarked as a Flyer), Wizard Sleeve, Dumpster Diver, The Chunnel, Tangents. He sounds pretty confident with the first board he tests-  a new 5′9” Whip with a concaved deck (also photographed as the board second to the left). Kelly also talks briefly about The Chunnel. The Chunnel has definitely inspired some new thinking and there is some interesting debates going on on the comment board.

Check out the video below on surfline.com.

From Left to Right.

6′0” x 18 3/8″ x 2 1/4″  Tangent with a concave deck , rp tail , print on cloth art work done By Rosie Young 5 fin option (quad or tri). Old faithful , if there is size and you dont want to go to a step up I could see this board being an option.

5′10” x 18 5/8” x 2 1/8” eps foam, concave deck Whip swallow tail (but glass shop put a flyer logo on it). He test rode this board as a tri a few days ago at Rincon and his words were, “If I could only take one board to the Gold Coast for the Snapper event it would probably be this one, it feels really good!” He has won the contest on a Whip before , a great board for the different sections snapper offers.

These next two are very similar to what Kelly rode at pipe this year when he placed 2nd and in Mexico when filming the Quiksilver slow mo Cypher vids with Dane and Julian . It’s a 5′6” x 18 5/8” x  2 5/16” reworked Flyer , bat tail quad , tri option , also with a concave deck but this is a single stringer version , not the dual stringer like he had last year. This board is very fast , a section maker for sure.

His classic 5′4” Wizard Sleeve 19 2 1/4” , rp tail , also a tri or quad option . If its a bit punchy and you want to get off more turns in a smaller are , this could be the board to ride.

1. 6-1 proton 18 ½ 2 5/16 Proton squash tail
2. 6-0 19 2 5/16 Proton squash tail
3. 3. 5-11   19 2 5/16 Midnight Blue squash tail
4. 5-7 ½ 191/2  2 ¼ eps foam squash tail Dumpster Diver

Or maybe he’ll just ride is 5′8” MTF Altered. Good Chance.

What’s your weapon of choice?

Check out all the photos on ESPN.

High-res image available for complimentary download at: (Copy/Paste URL)

http://www.aspworldtour.com/photos/QGC08/slater147quik08GCsr_n.jpg

Pictured: Kelly Slater (USA), 38, former nine-time ASP World Champion and current ASP World No. 6, will return to Snapper Rocks for the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast as he hunts down an unprecedented 10th ASP World Title.

Credit: © ASP / ROBERTSON

COOLANGATTA, Queensland/Australia (Monday, February 22, 2010) – The Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast presented by Land Rover, Stop No. 1 of 10 on the 2010 ASP World Tour, will commence its waiting period this weekend, ushering in the greatest assemblage of surfing talent in history with 15 ASP World Titles being represented amongst the 48-man draw.

Kelly Slater (USA), 38, former nine-time ASP World Champion and current ASP World No. 6, will return to the singlet this season, challenging for an unprecedented 10th ASP World Title against the world’s best surfers in the world’s best waves. Coming away with an ASP Dream Tour win in Brazil last season, Slater made a mid-year challenge for the crown, yet fell short of the Australian onslaught.
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