ESPN Surfing

Grant EllisOne of the most famous lineups in surfing.

Jeffreys Bay poses one of the biggest playing fields in competitive surfing. As Michael Tomson once said, tracking a single line, "You start out looking over your right shoulder, and you follow the breaking wave all the way across 'til you're looking over your left shoulder."

The Bay is actually a series of right handers, but one section, Supertubes, is the ignition point that lights up the whole show. Gigantic carves, speed lines, airs and barrels through the Car Park section can all go down on one long wave. Careers have been made and reinvented here. Entire genres of surfing have been defined. Think of a young Mark Occhilupo stealing the thunder away from the entire Free Ride generation with a single blistering backhand performance in 1984. Tom Curren's amazing second wave ever (the first was just a kick out) in 1992, remains one of the most impressive Supertubes rides on film.

And as the history of J-bay has seen single dominators—Shaun Tomson, Terry Fitzgerald, Occy, Curren, Slater—this year's Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay is stacked with former J-bay champions and right point maestros.

Grant EllisJ-Bay's been the locale of many a Slater a moment, and given the show he put on in Brazil, the champ could very easily put himself back in the spotlight in South Africa.

Joel Parkinson can read a point break probably better than he can read English. He first came to J-bay as a rookie in the WQS (World Qualifying Series), and said he was so excited about surfing Supers on his first session, he woke up long before dawn and waited in the bushes for first light. He didn't even know where to paddle out, but ended up following the next guy to turn up, Derek Hynd. As a wildcard, the 18-year-old went on to win the Billabong Pro two weeks later. That was in 1999, and even though a long decade separates the two events, Parko will be paddling out to Supers in the best shape of his life and 670 points ahead of his closest title competitor (Adriano De Souza). Coached by Luke Egan (who was inches away from a title himself during his last year on tour), this will be Parko's opportunity prove that he's got more than dark-horse talent but the big match temperament as well.

Hynd once wrote, "There's no way of beating knowledge and touch at the world's supreme right hander." Point break familiarity seems to be a strong thread in past champs. Gordon Merchant pulled Occy out of Sydney and pushed him into the Goldie's points. Pat Curren, rumor has it, forced Tom into an early switch from goofy foot to regular in order to open more possibilities at Rincon. An original Coolangatta kid, Mick Fanning followed Parko's first-visit/first-win with his own in 2002. He backed that up with another win in 2006 and stepped into an elite class of competitors who've claimed the Billabong Pro more than once. Fanning can match Parko snap for snap at Supers, and he knows how to win it.

Grant EllisOccy and J-Bay, it's like vegemite and jelly.

Before the Hang Loose Pro in Catatrina, and with three lowly 17ths to his name, Kelly Slater told Channel Islands' team manager Travis Lee matter-of-fact, that he'd be winning in Brazil. Rumor is, he's said the same thing about J-bay. He's won the event a record 4 times over nearly twenty years. And if one trait marks his performances at Jeffreys Bay, it's his ability to pull off the biggest moves when he needs them most. The Champ's got a new fire in his belly, and he's not going to make it easy for anyone.

The most talked about match-up of the entire event, however, is a specialty heat between Mark Occhilupo and Tom Curren. Over their well-known rivalry, each of them has beaten the other 8-times. In Curren's column however, is one of the most winning records in the sport, 33 wins over 127 events—a record broken only by Slater's 34th win out of 163 events (Slater now has 41). Curren has also defeated Occy more consistently in the higher rounds and holds three titles to Occy's one. Yet Curren's never competed at J-bay. Occy, on the other hand, put in the longest tour career, and one of his greatest heats at Supers (another redefinition of backhand surfing in a match against Bruce Irons) occurred only four years ago. Since Curren's most definitive J-bay sessions went down roughly 17 years back, he enters this heat as a dark horse. Whatever the outcome, however, spectators will like see quintessential backhand (Occy) and forehand (Curren) point surf perfection. Which begs the question, can one masterful attack really be judged against the other?

The Billabong Pro has held a unique position in the order of Dream Tour events. Sitting at the halfway point, it's been an emotional if not literal indicator of the title race. Supers often delivers it's champion onto the world title stage. With a well of possible spoilers to the surfers mentioned above—Adriano De Souza has made the quarters the last three years in a row; Taj won the event two years ago, and Jordy practically grew surfing the spot—this Billabong Pro is likely to be the most exciting contest of the year.

Grant EllisA win at Jeffreys will put Parko squarely in the driver's seat going into the second half of the year, but he certainly ain't gonna have it easy.