Today is Friday the 13th, a day of portents and ill omens, according to some. Down here at La Graviere the unluckiest people were the free surfers, who were forcd out of a shorebreak that was throwing out barrels like a meth-crazed beer truck driver. So compelling was the shorey that Joel and Kolohe didn’t come in until halfway through the first heat.

Speaking of the first heat, Bourez and Igarashi inexplicably chose to be deposited to the outside bank way to the north. So while they scrapped around, catching the odd 6-pointer, all eyes on the beach were glued to the shorebreak, where the great unwashed were gorging on deep stand-up tubes. Michel and Kanoa must have wondered what the hell was going on when they heard the crowd erupt but they were both bobbing in clear water. 

The natural order was restored in the second heat when Jeremy and Italo paddled straight out to the heaving shorey and the plebs had to be content with lesser peaks down the beach. C’est bien, let them eat cake! Meanwhile, Pottz repeated that, "if you’re standing on the beach and it looks good, you’re already too late" and sure enough, the shorey refused to deliver to the princes of surf so they spent the full half hour paddling around trying to find that elusive bank that had seemed so productive only minutes before. Vive la révolution!

It seems half the population of SW France has descended on Hossegor to see or be seen. In quiet moments between waves I’ve started playing a game called Shutterbug Skittles. It can only be run about an hour either side of the high tide and it goes like this: you wait for a set, watch the whitewater wash up over the beach and guess which of the 120-odd photographers it will knock over. So far I’ve seen at least five hapless photogs fall, with thousands of dollars worth of equipment going down with them into the brine. I hope they were professionals, because then at least they’ll be insured. I’m not sure if your standard home and contents policy will cover wave damage.

But back to the waves. Round 3 began with heartbreak for Lennox Head’s Stu Kennedy. He’ll need some serious results in the last few events, both in the QS and CT, if he’s to stay in the top league. Particularly if dropping off the CT means he’ll lose that Coopers sponsorship! How many other blokes on the tour can boast a sponsorship from Coopers? How does a bloke go about getting a sticker - or, say, a bottomless keg - from SA’s favourite producer of cloudy ales? If anyone does know, please send me a message.

Now, apart from the world champion title chase and the fight at the other end of the scale to stay on the WCT, there’s a third, perhaps not quite as dramatic subtext to the competition here in France. The battle for Rookie of the Year, while perhaps not as compelling for the average viewer, is a pretty prestigious flag and hard-fought by those involved. Of this year’s crop of first-timers, three or four still stand a genuine chance of coming away with the title. 

Cronulla’s Connor O’Leary started the contest in the lead, but his Round 2 defeat left the door open for the others. By progressing to Round 3, Portugal’s Frederico Morais officially overtook Connor in the race. But he can by no means take his lead for granted, with France’s Joan Duru and the US hopeful Connor Coffin both sitting in the top 20. Coffin dropped the ball somewhat with his narrow Round 2 loss to Caio Ibelli, but Duru is still alive, he even smashed his Round 1 heat with the highest heat score of the comp to date.

That, of course, was until little Johnny TwoJohns took to the water. Fuck, what can you say? The ocean went quiet, forcing the second restart of the morning. Once they got going, Ethan Ewing showed much of the form that took him to a World Junior title and easy qualification at the end of last season. He did nothing, nothing wrong in their heat, but as Jordy observed, "John just went Loony Tunes out there". Ewing’s battle to requalify just got a little bit harder, while the Florence steam train just continues to build momentum at the business end of the season.

The Jordy Train, however, has docked at the station and deposited its passengers at Gare d’Hossegor. His heat against local hope Marc Lacomare followed a similar pattern to several fought out this morning. The big J'Dog seemed intent on surfing his own heat, paddling waaaay off to the north, with Marc sitting tight on the shorey in front of the contest area. While Jordy spent the first half of the heat wandering around, racking up serviceable mid-range scores with turns, Marc simply focussed on the tube - and it was his approach that ultimately paid off. Two barrels, from which he barely scraped his way out through the doggy door, proved enough to pip the South African-who-would-be-king.

For all the talk of destiny, and those WSL ads where Jordy parades in yellow and speaks of "confidence", his stand felt unconvincing. A brittle charade that sought to assure himself as much as the fans that the real story was he and not the guy in second who can pull airs at will and surf Pipeline like no other. After France, TwoJohns will wear the yellow with the momentum swinging his way and the WSL narrative sure to follow.

Leo Fioravanti's passport says he's Italian yet he spends much of the year in Hossegor and he's obviously a pretty popular guy judging by the roar that went up when he hit the beach ahead of his heat against Gabe Medina. Sadly, popular support was not enough to get him home against the 2014 world champ. It's hard to believe that it's been almost three years since Medina's victory, but the form he showed today in taking down Fioravanti clearly demonstrates how much of a threat he continues to be as we head for the pointy end of the season. He's out of the title hunt but the swarthy Medina will gladly assume the role of spoiler.

Ace Buchan’s run ended at the hands of local hero Joan Duru, who pulled off a miracle victory in the last 30 seconds of their heat. He only needed a low five and, sure he’d got it, celebrated by punching himself squarely in the jaw. Sure, ok. There are claims, and subtle anti-claims, but I’m pretty sure that self-inflicted concussions aren’t going to catch on. Or maybe they will. With all the speculation over the future of the world tour, we shouldn’t discount any option at this stage.

They also ran a few heats from Round 4, the second of the nuthin’ rounds, but I won’t go into detail about them here. The sun’s going down over the Atlantic and all this talk of beer sponsorships has given me a bit of a thirst. The swell is supposed to hold in tomorrow and get even bigger on Sunday, with favourable winds throughout, so I expect there will be a couple of big days of surfing ahead. So, until tomorrow… 

//CASS SELWOOD

Round 2 Results (H9-12):
Heat 9: Michel Bourez (PYF) 11.77 def. Kanoa Igarashi (USA) 11.26
Heat 10: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 10.33 def. Italo Ferreira (BRA) 5.60
Heat 11: Caio Ibelli (BRA) 9.66 def. Conner Coffin (USA) 9.50
Heat 12: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 13.00 def. Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 8.80

Round 3 Results:
Heat 1: Owen Wright (AUS) 13.50 def. Stuart Kennedy (AUS) 8.60
Heat 2: Kolohe Andino (USA) 11.80 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 11.23 
Heat 3: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 16.30 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 10.17
Heat 4: Caio Ibelli (BRA) 14.33 def. Frederico Morais (PRT) 9.60
Heat 5: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 14.33 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 5.73
Heat 6: Marc Lacomare (FRA) 14.10 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13.00
Heat 7: John John Florence (HAW) 19.16 def. Ethan Ewing (AUS) 14.50
Heat 8: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.24 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 16.00
Heat 9: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.77 def. Ian Gouveia (BRA) 14.77
Heat 10: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 15.90 def. Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 8.53
Heat 11: Joan Duru (FRA) 12.63 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 12.27
Heat 12: Nat Young (USA) 14.73 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 14.43

Round 4 Results:
Heat 1: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 14.80, Owen Wright (AUS) 12.33, Kolohe Andino (USA) 11.60
Heat 2: Marc Lacomare (FRA) 15.43, Caio Ibelli (BRA) 9.87, Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 9.07
Heat 3: John John Florence (HAW) 18.56, Mick Fanning (AUS) 17.03, Joel Parkinson (AUS) 11.37
Heat 4: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 14.43,  Nat Young (USA) 11.33, Joan Duru (FRA) 8.67