Natural disasters are devastating, people get hurt, killed and swept out to sea. What happened on the 17th May in Rio de Janeiro was exactly that.
It began as a sea breeze that seemed to get stronger without anyone noticing. Before the day was out, gale force winds were causing havoc, surf pro's from all over the world were being caught out by the ferocity of the gusts. Some had obviously not seen the forecast. For me though the writing was on the wall. By the following day, the storm had manifested into a full blown hurricane that touched down at Barra da Tijuca. The biggest crowd in surfing history turned up to watch what would happen. It would seem that Bede Durbidge either did not see the forecast or chose to ignore it. Hurricane Toledo was one of the most unstoppable forces that I have ever seen to date.
So I am of course talking about the Billabong Pro Rio and the unstoppable force that was Filipe Toledo. Having watched the final, I found myself absolutely blown away with Toledo's performance. Taking nothing away from Bede Durbidge (who was apparently also in the final) but they were in different classes. It was like watching a VW bus racing a Formula One car, basically an unfair race.
What could Bede have done about it? Nothing! Short of kneecapping his opponent, there was nothing he could have done. Bede surfed as well as he could in the conditions, but against an on-form hurricane in its home country and in conditions in which it thrives, there was nothing to do. It was RIP Bede from the moment Toledo stood up on his board.
Lets look at the perfect 10.
I am not sure anyone can argue that. I am not an authority on airs or wave scores but I know a few people that are and they are all sat in the judges booth. Enough said.
So what does this mean in the big picture? The WSL rankings now look like this:
- Adriano de Souza BRA 26,250
- Filipe Toledo BRA 25,700
- Mick Fanning AUS 20,950
- Josh Kerr AUS 17,450
- Nat Young USA 16,500
- Owen Wright AUS 16,150
- John John Florence HAW 15,500
- Julian Wilson AUS 15,450
- Taj Burrow AUS 15,200
- Bede Durbidge AUS 14,200
Where are Kelly and Parko? It seems that the staple top 5 have been dashed against the wall by this Brazilian storm that came racing out of the blocks early at Snapper Rocks and has gone on a rampage in the first 4 events this year.
Can the storm continue on to Fiji or will it dissipate, who knows but I will be tuning in on the 7th June to find out.
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