Steve Pike

LOOKS like no Code Red conditions will descend on the Billabong Pro Tahiti this year.

Predictions for the event, which ends on August 26, are marginal, with small, wonky surf.

This is nothing like the crazy seas in 2011 when the event was called off by organisers and authorities banned surfing at the notorious coral slab, Teahupoo, which means “place of skulls” in the local language.

Last year, Mick Fanning took the event in cranking 6’+ surf.

Organisers have pushed hard to run as many heats as possible.

The event window officially opened on Thursday, and by early yesterday morning they had already run all of Round 1 and a large chunk of Round 2, probably because the waves looked to die away.

The 2-4’ swell looked really fun – makes you think that most of us could enjoy a few little backhand barrels like that – and nothing like those gut-curdling, death-defying monsters that instil awe and terror in surfers the world over.

Kelly Slater escaped having to fight through Round 2 with a come-frombehind wave in the dying seconds of his Round 1 heat against event wildcard, Hawaiian Ian Walsh, and young American Brett Simpson. Slater backdoored the tube, did a big round-house hack, followed by a quick snap off the top to secure just enough to edge ahead of Walsh.

South African Jordy Smith, who sits at No 4 on the world rankings, easily won his Round 1 heat to score automatic passage into Round 3.

Unfortunately, the rest of the period looks grim, with head-high waves all week, capped with the possibility of a mild 4’ windswell by next weekend.

It has been noted that when the surf is big and gnarly as it has been over the past two years at one of the world’s heaviest breaks, the winners would come from veterans like Fanning, Slater, Parko and the Hobgoods. However, with the small surf we could be looking at a member of the younger brigade, including John John Florence, who was in South Africa recently to score that epic Monday at Dungeons.

On his backhand, Jordy will revel in the conditions. Hollow waves with fastbreaking walls will be the springboard for the young guys to launch an all-out aerial attack.

After the big-wave mayhem in Cape Town of late, the clean blue peaks of Teahupoo look tame for once.

ASP/KIRSTIN GO BIG! Mick Fanning gets a deep barrel in the Billabong Pro Tahiti last year. The event at the infamous Teahupoo ends on August 26.