"They woke me up after the first division, I went 'Oh, this is serious here'," overall winner Taylor Knox said after his single-fin defeat. "But at the end of the day you get to go back to the Four Seasons and live in the lap of luxury so you really can't get mad at any point."
Plus, the surf at Sultan's Point was about as far away from a three-to-the-beach grindfest as the Maldives are to Huntington Beach. Clean, head-high righthanders provided a perfect canvas for both California regularfooters to duke it out. (Knox qualified for the Grand Final by taking both the twin-fin and the thruster divisions. Curren secured his final's berth with a win in the single-fin and a runner-up in the twin.)
HIGHLIGHTS:
With a six-surfer field filled with former world champs and hard-nosed, long-time tour vets, the friendly event eventually relit some competitive fires.
Two-time ASP World Champ Damien Hardman knocked off three-time ASP Champ Tom Curren last year for the 2012 victory but Curren appeared on a mission this time around and opened up with a win in the single-fin division. Knox and Curren skated to first and second respectively in the twin-fin match. While "Iceman" Hardman pipped Curren in the thruster division's semifinals but couldn't surpass Knox's form in the three-finned final.
"It was good to make the final, but I ran out of puff in the end up against Taylor," said Hardman. "He was surfing probably the best he's been all event and it's pretty hard to raise the bar when someone is getting nines and tens. I did my best, but got beaten by a better man on the day."
The cumulative points ultimately pitted Curren against Knox in the Grand Final and the pair of Californian's each posted two excellent scores while remaining on their thrusters.
"I got a couple at the start and was thinking 'I'm in a good position here', but as I'm paddling back out, there's Tom sitting in the barrel," said Knox. "I had to use my priority because I knew he had taken the lead. I held myself back and waited it out for that set wave right at the end."
41-year-old Knox is eight years younger than Curren, but neither took each other lightly.
"I'm really stoked to have made the final," said Curren. "The waves came today and the weather was nice but I had a bad start to the heat. I was able to come back with a good score and at least the final was a close finish so I can't complain. Taylor was in-form all event. He's been surfing strong and with a lot of power. In these conditions especially, he is really hard to beat."
QUOTES:
"It's weird, on the surface it's not that serious, but there is an undercurrent that it is serious. You feel like you are always looking over your shoulder and everyone has their guard up. We aren't hassling each other like we used to do back in the '90s but everyone definitely wants to win." - Damien Hardman
"The guys are a little bit more into it than what I expected. I thought it was going to be a groovy, little fun event but they care. They really care." - Taylor Knox.
"Never underestimate the competitive spirit of these guys. They don't want to lose, especially to a girl. It doesn't matter how many world titles you have." - Layne Beachley
OVERALL RESULTS:
1st Taylor Knox
2nd Tom Curren
3rd Damien Hardman
4th Pedro Henrique
5th Tom Carroll
6th Layne Beachley
Source from Surfline
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