Next Stop: Tahiti
The Billabong Pro in Tahiti hasn’t been Mick’s happiest hunting ground for results. With just one final series in 8 visits and just 6 heat wins in his other 7 starts. This is not a place I would normally pencil Mick in a counting result for Mick each season but…
I am out to prove that this place is good for Mick, but most times it has been very cruel to him… With an average result in Tahiti of 17.13, this is triple what his average result is at most locations on tour. His average finish on the Gold Coast is 9.56… his Bells average is 5.82… his Brazil average is 4.41 and J-Bay average 8.38.
Mick finished 9th in Tahiti in 2009. © ASP Images
Tahiti has been a location that has had lots of low-scoring heats over the years, but on the other hand, it’s had a lot of high-scoring heats as well. Mick has been on the receiving end of a couple of high-scoring heat losses, and not by the surfers that you would expect to post such high scores. Only 28 times in ASP history the combined heat totals of both surfers has exceeded 35 points, twice Mick has lost heats here in Tahiti in those sorts of heats…
2005 was an epic year with Slater posting a perfect score in the final. In that season there was some of the highest ever heat totals ever posted. And Mick’s exit from the event came by way of Brazilian Paulo Moura who posted a 19.40 career high to beat Mick’s 17.06. Nobody saw that comin’.
Going back and having a look through Mick’s results here in Tahiti, only once has he had a bad heat, or been badly beaten in a heat and that was from a local wildcard in 2006. Every other year he has been ousted in a high scoring encounter or by less than one point. Mick surfs Teahupoo well, he just hasn’t had a lot of luck with his heats.
2009 he lost by 0.03 to Tom Whitaker in round 3 to finish 9th…
2008 he lost round 1 by 0.10 and lost round 2 by 0.83 to be 33rd…
2007 he was runner up to Damien Hobgood in the final by 0.40… 2nd…
2006 he went out to local wildcard Williams in round 2 by plus 4 points and finished 33rd…
2005 Paulo Moura posted a career high 19.40 to beat Mick 17.06 in round 3 for 17th…
2004 He lost in round 4 to Luke Egan by 0.11 for 9th…
2003 Beau Emerton posted a 18.37 to beat Mick 16.87 in round 3. 17th…
2002 He lost to Damien Hobgood in round 3 back in the three wave era.…
In 2006 Mick was defeated by a wildcard. © ASP Images
MILESTONES TO GO DOWN IN TAHITI 2010
Mick has a milestone pending… He is 2 finals heats short of 100 finals heats… He has been in 46 finals campaigns from the 89 events he has surfed on the Dream Tour. 46 quarters… 31 semis… 21 finals (= 98) .and he has won 12 events.
Mick wins one in every 7.42 events he surfs in, and makes the finals of one in every 4.34.
Adriano de Souza will surf his 150th Dream Tour Heat in his second heat in Tahiti.
Tom Whitaker needs 2 more heat wins for his 100th heat win.
Dane Reynolds needs 1 more heat win for his 50th heat win.
Jordy Smith needs 3 more heat wins for his 50th heat win.
11 Years of Teahupoo World Tour Events; 11 Winners and 11 Runner-ups - 1999-2009
USA Mainland 11 finalists for 8 Wins and 3 Runner-ups
Australia 6 finalists for 1 Win and 5 Runner-ups
Hawaii 3 finalists for 1 Win and 2 Runner-ups
Brazil 1 finalists for 1 Win
Tahiti 1 finalists for 1 Runner-up
Highest Individual Heat Scores Posted @ Teahupoo
There has been 38 scores over 19.50 posted in all event history, 11 @ Teahupoo.
20.00 - Kelly Slater Final – 2005
19.93 - Kelly Slater Round 3 – 2004
19.93 - Damien Hobgood Quarter Final - 2005
Slater has 11 of the 38, 4 in Tahiti, 2 @ J-Bay, Japan, Trestles, Fiji, Pipeline and Gold Coast 1 @ each venue…
Highest Combined Heat Score @ Teahupoo
There has been 28 combined heat totals over 35.00 posted in all event history, 8 @ Teahupoo
2006 Tahiti Round 4 … 38.20 .. Fred Patacchia Hawaii 19.60 def Damien Hobgood USA 18.60
2005 Tahiti Quarter … 38.17 .. Damien Hobgood USA 19.93 def Fred Patacchia Hawaii 18.24
2005 Tahiti Quarter … 37.77 .. Kelly Slater USA 18.93 def C.J Hobgood USA 18.84
2005 Tahiti Final … 37.50 .. Kelly Slater USA 20.00 def Damien Hobgood USA 17.50
My Top 10 of all-Time in order @ Teahupoo 1999-2010 - 12th event this year…
It’s not just about average results or event wins, but longevity, win ratios, and consistent results.
1- Kelly Slater (96-??) 3 wins .. 2 x 3rd @ 7.67 ave result.
2- C.J Hobgood (99-??) 1 win .. 2 x 2nd .. 1 x 3rd .. 3 x 5th @ 7.55 ave.
3- Andy Irons (99-??) 1 win .. 2 x 3rd .. 1 x 5th @ 8.27 ave.
4- Damien Hobgood (00-??) 1 win .. 1 x 2nd .. 2 x 5th @ 10.00 ave.
5- Bobby Martinez (05-??) 2 wins @ 9.00 ave.
6- Cory Lopez (99-07) 1 win .. 1 x 5th @ 9.44 ave.
7- Taj Burrow (99-??) 0 wins .. 2 x 2nd .. 1 x 3rd @ 15.18 ave.
8- Mark Occhilupo (99-07) 1 win .. 2 x 3rd @ 16.56 ave.
9- Nathan Hedge (00-06) 0 wins .. 1 x 2nd .. 1 x 3rd @ 11.71 ave.
10- Luke Egan (99-05) 0 wins .. 1 x 2nd .. 2 x 5th @ 11.43 ave.
Good luck Mick…
Aloha
Mike Newman
RAS Surfing Stats