Adriano de Souza (BRA), 25, current No. 6 on the ASP WCT, will be a force to be reckoned with at next week’s Hurley Pro at Trestles.
LOWER TRESTLES, California/USA (Thursday, September 13, 2012) – At the midway point on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour, the Hurley Pro at Trestles is positioned to significantly set the tone in the hunt for the 2012 ASP World Title.
Stop No. 6 of 10 on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour, the Hurley Pro at Trestles will run from September 16 – 22, 2012 and is forecast to receive a solid south swell next week for the world’s best to battle in.
Adriano de Souza (BRA), 25, currently ranked No. 6 on the ASP WCT ratings, is well within the hunt for this year’s ASP World Title race and will look to consolidate his position at next week’s Hurley Pro at Trestles.
“The race for the world title is very close this year,” De Souza said. “Mick (Fanning) made it much more difficult for everyone with his second win of the year last month in Tahiti, but a result at Trestles can put me back in the hunt so I am hoping for a good showing.”
A recent resident of Southern California, De Souza will hope to utilize his newfound experience at the break to his advantage.
“I have been living in California for three years now and Trestles is one of the spots I surf a lot,” De Souza said. “It’s great to have such a high-performance wave available to train at, but most of the guys on tour have a lot of experience there. Patrick Gudauskas is a local and Taylor (Knox) and Josh (Kerr) live close by. Everyone on tour has surfed the spot before and everyone is capable of getting a big result.”
A common theme amongst the world’s best is the importance of reliable equipment at a wave like Lower Trestles. De Souza has opted to incorporate boards from local shaper Matt Biolos in amongst his extensive quiver of Darren Handley crafts for this year’s event.
“I have been getting a couple of boards from Matt (Biolos) but DHD (Darren Handley) is my primary shaper,” De Souza said. “It’s good to have different equipment as it motivates me to get in the water more and try different boards. I have a bunch of good boards from Matt and Darren and am excited for the contest to start.”
De Souza will face Brett Simpson (USA), 27, and compatriot Jadson Andre (BRA), 22, in Round 1 of the Hurley Pro at Trestles.
Owen Wright, 22, current No. 7 on the ASP WCT ratings, was in a slightly different position last season when the Hurley Pro at Trestles culminated a three-Final run that saw him go toe-to-toe with the world’s best surfer. However, an Equal 3rd in last month’s Tahitian event could be a momentum builder for the progressive goofy-footer heading into the back half of the season.
“This years title race is very exciting and everything is still very close,” Wright said. “I think it will be determined in the next few events who will be contending for the title at the end of the season. This event normally tells you who will be in the running and who is in form. I think a good one to look out for is John John Florence – if he is still in the running by Pipeline, he will be deadly and hard to beat. For myself, I’m looking to find some similar form to last year around this time and I feel I’m starting to find it after Teahupo’o. I am looking forward to performing my best in the next leg of events.”
Wright finished Runner-Up to reigning 11-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 40, at last year’s Hurley Pro at Trestles, and has put in off season sessions out at the venue to hone his instincts.
“I spent a lot of time surfing here during the US open and I feel that this has giving me some extra confidence at knowing which wave to pick,” Wright said. “This wave is such a perfect wave that everyone on the world tour should feel comfortable. I’m particularly interested in seeing how Kelly goes in this event.”
Wright will take on Miguel Pupo (BRA), 20, and Yadin Nicol (AUS), 26, in Round 1 of competition.
Surfline, official forecasters for the Hurley Pro at Trestles, are calling for:
Sunday will start off in small, but very contestable, Southern Hemisphere SSW swell (190-210) from a storm that recently moved through the western and central South Pacific. This storm was much better aimed at South and Central America so we’re not expecting super consistent or large surf, but waist-shoulder high waves will show at Lowers. Those waves ease on Monday.
As expected, Tropical Storm Kristy has formed today and is forecast to strengthen slightly in the next 48 hours as it moves on a west-northwest track. Unfortunately, Kristy will be moving over progressively cooler waters just as it enters the SoCal/Trestles swell window early Friday morning, which will cause her to steadily weaken. At this point we are not expecting a significant swell from Kristy, but could see a rather weak, short period pulse later Sunday afternoon and Monday in the knee-waist high range. Stay tuned, this will depend heavily on the exact track and intensity of Kristy in the next couple days.
Going further out, what will very likely be the largest swell of the waiting period will show during the middle of next week and is being set up right now by a slowly weakening storm centered roughly 5000 miles due south of Southern California. This storm has generated 30-40 knot wind and seas of 25-30 feet over the past couple days, well aimed at Southern California.
New long period south swell (175-190) forerunners will gradually build in through the afternoon on Tuesday the 18th, with a peak in swell on Wednesday the 19th and easing swell on Thursday the 20th. Fun size leftovers would then take over by Friday. Fun chest-head high surf will show later Tuesday afternoon through Friday morning at Lower Trestles, with larger sets running a foot+ overhead and possibly a bit bigger on the peak days Wednesday and Thursday. We’ll also have a secondary, much smaller, SW swell showing at roughly the same time that will help a bit with overall consistency. Stay tuned, this storm still has some life left and we’ll be refining this forecast over the next few days.
