By now, most surf fans would be aware Mick Fanning struck back to win his first WCT event for ’06 at South Africa’s infamous J Bay after an insanely tight tussle with fellow freakishly talented Aussie Taj Burrow. But what other dramas unfolded at The Billabong Pro?

J Bay is not always exciting to watch. Even though this famous right point break is recognized as one of the best in the world, unfortunately it doesn’t always live up to its reputation. I guess after near perfect conditions for many of the previous Billabong Pros, we can expect to stumble on a bad streak every once in a while, and this year’s waves were lackluster in comparison to years gone by. There were some high scoring rides throughout the contest, but size and consistency was a major problem, causing some of the most exciting J Bay surfers on tour to go down early. Damien Hobgood flew home early to witness his wife giving birth to their first child, but other uncharacteristic losers where CJ Hobgood, Bruce Irons, Bobby Martinez, Bede Durbidge, Dean Morrison, Fred Pattachia and the most surprising of all, Andy Irons, who lost to fellow Hawaiian Roy Powers. Powers said he felt bad beating a good friend and idol, but admitted he’s very happy to win. It was the tour rookie’s second heat win of the year.

Other Billabong upsets were Joel Parkinson and Mark Occhilupo. Parko has the talent and style to be listed on the Jbay Hall of Fame, however, he went down in the 4th to Brazilian grom Adriano de Souza. A close heat that many in Australia debated, with plenty of fans shooting off angry emails to the event’s live webcast in disgust, yet no glory should be taken from Adriano. Adriano is Brazil’s first legitimate hope for a future world title, worthy of praise from those not inclined to appreciate Brazilian styles or attitudes. Occy, whose bottom turn photo was used all over the world to promote the contest, would have led people to believe he was expected to win the event. Though he can be nearly unstoppable on the right day, the 40 year old went down to Huntington Beach’s Timmy Reyes. Timmy, whose style is well suited to right points, is on a bit of a rally lately. His contest results this year had been a 33rd, 17th, 9th, 5th and 3rd. To maintain this upward momentum he would need a first or second. Unfortunately for him, South African wildcard Jordy Smith decisively took him down in the quarters. Jordy also beat Taylor Knox and was only stopped in the semi by future finalist Taj Burrow on his steamroll mission to the top. Jordy is a Billabong team rider and South Africa’s first hope since Martin Potter to reach international stardom - he is often described as a young Parko, and rightly so. Pick up any Billabong video with him in it, and you’ll immediately notice the similarities. Expect to hear a lot more about this talented youngster in the future.

So what happened to Kelly? Well, he surfed with his usual brilliance but was eliminated in the semi by event winner Mick Fanning. Kelly is still number one in the ratings, with Taj Burrow in second trailing by 400 points. As everyone knows how this story ends by now, I won’t dwell on the details, but an in-form Fanning took the lead over Taj in the dying minutes of the final. As Taj sat out the back, a final wave approached with winning potential, however, Taj’s nerves got to him and he fell. Mick now has another J Bay trophy to add to his mantle as well as $30,000 US to play with. Following the contest, rumor has it he flew straight to the Mentawiis to hang on a luxury yacht, relax, surf perfect waves and hang with close friends. We hope he’s hooking into a few well-deserved Bintangs too!