San Francisco - Exactly one year after the passing of A.I. (the driving force behind Slater’s comeback) Kelly clinched an unprecedented 11th world surfing title. With the first world title ever won on American Soil, KS10 just evolved into KE11y.
After cruising through a breezy bumpy first round, the winds switch off-shore for his second round bout against Aussie Dan Ross. The rifling barrels were shutting down on surfers all morning and his heat was no exception. After a few closeouts, he threw down some of his signature snaps for a come-from-behind victory over Rossy by a single point.
As Kelly delivered his victory speech, world #2 Owen Wright posted the highest wave scores of the event. A respectable response for losing the title race by the second year pro.
The second oldest guy on tour was chaired up the beach for something that we’ll never see again. Statistical probabilities like winning his 11th title on 11/11/11, and dangers like Dusty’s shark sighting enhanced the drama. But the only special coincidences came when he clinched on the one year anniversary of AI’s passing.
A moment of silence for Andy Irons
Kelly published a story this morning about the heavy experiences he and Andy went through.
“I’ve been asked for many opinions and interviews about Andy Irons and the situations and decisions that lead to his early departure from our world. It’s not something I take lightly. I have my own opinions about not only Andy’s choices and how he ultimately got to the place he did”
Read the whole passage on The Initertia
The Rip Curl Pro Search cemented its claim to hosting a historical series of events with their “floating license” to hold a world tour event in a different location each season. The critics of this year’s big city venues are eating their words with the epic conditions we’ve seen in during this year’s world title race.
And of course people were already asking about his race for #12 during his acceptance speech.