Friday, September 9th

The event started at 9.30 this morning under heavy rains, with cross-shore winds blowing. But as expected, the swell had picked up a little and 3 to 4 ft righthanders were breaking on the classic peak of Pantin beach. Sam Carrier (Fra) and Chris Waring (Usa) were the first riders to qualify for next round. It was a difficult wake-up in such conditions but all the staff managed to get the contest underway as fast as possible and the surfers were just stoked to ride such good waves.

Heat 8 of the round of 96 gathered Jordan Smith (Zaf), Romain Laulhé (Fra), Nathan Hèle (Fra) and Dean Mc Coll (Aus). With a big level in the water, the guys seemed really motivated and Nathan Hèle opened the heat with a 7.5 pointer after ripping hard with three flying manoeuvers. Smith answered back-to-back and got first after the twenty minutes had gone. The round went on as the weather was increasing, leaving everyone more peaceful and efficient.

Real action came by the end of the round, when Russell Winter entered the water for heat 14. Taking just enough time to settle at the outside, Russell took off and things went his way. Connecting two sections with huge powered re-entries and flow, the former European champion was rewarded with a 9.7. Confirming his talent, he managed to get a back-up score of 8 points, leaving all his opponents needing a combination of two waves.

Then came the flying machine Josh Kerr (Aus). The Australian set the tone higher than Russel Winter (Gbr) thanks to a perfect reverse backed up with one of the best aerials of the European leg so far. The judges had no choice but to give him the highest score of the contest, a 10 out of possible ten. “This site looks like the countryside in Australia, it's my first time here but for the moment looks like things are going well for me. Those two manoeuvers gave me this good score and I am really excited to hear the swell might be pumping tomorrow. I hope I'll do well here in Pantin”, said Kerr.

The conditions got worse and the organisers had to stop the contest after eight heats of the round of 64. The wind blowing from southwest made the waves get mushy and as everyone is looking forward for tomorrow's swell, it was decided to send everyone home and prepare for the big weekend. I will see you tomorrow, but for the moment get all the highlights of the day on our website. Catch up later mates.

The 2005 ferrolterra Pantin Classic is organised by Oceano Surf Club and Asp Europe, sponsored by Caixanova, the Region of Galicia, Cool Shoe Corporation, Redsand, RadioVoz, the Council of Ferrol, The Galician Departments of Sports and Tourism, the Cities of Valdovino, Cedeira and Naron.