As the swell rises...

The morning session was still pretty slow out there this morning, but as the tide drained out to the horizon, there were signs of a promising new swell on it's way. The armada has mobilized and the event has been called on. 11:15 start, with the plan to run through Round 4 by the end of the day. There are few heats in the draw that are looking as sweet as sugar on paper. Heat 2, Taj Burrow vs Timmy Reyes is gonna be a duel. Fiesty regular footers both with a big bag of tricks. The bigger bag is with Taj, so he's getting our pick to advance. Heat 4 is a rematch from Round 4 Bells featuring the event's last two winners, Damien Hobgood and Kelly Slater. Classic match up. Frontside vs. Backside, and it's a really hard one to call. It's tough to bet against Kelly in any conditions, but the fact that we're even mentioning it should give you our thoughts on who will take this heat...DAMO. Heat 6 with CJ Hobgood and Chris Ward is equally matched and set up to be a sick sparring match as well. Great talent and equal Cloudbreak experience between em. Clifton James is possibly too technical, and facing the waves could give him the advantage in the little barrels, as well as making the faster sections. No surprise here....CJ. The final match up to really take note of on paper is Pancho vs. Parko. Both backhand, and both very polished power surfers. The turns could really be what sets this heat off. Of course the judges are gonna love barrels, but one of these guys will put up a big score just with turns. Pancho's hungry for a big result. Parko's #2 in the world. We're taking Pancho and will be looking for him to go one better into the semis too. Log on, and enjoy. Webcast is up and running and it's looking like a fun day for some Top 44 shredding at Cloudbreak. Vinaka!