So, Jeffreys Bay Is an Air Wave Now?

In the lead up to the Corona Open J-Bay, the waves were pumping.

Surprise, surprise.

With another challenging forecast, the WSL green-lit the Mens Opening Round yesterday in 3- to 4- foot surf. Fun, for sure. But nothing like the 6-foot groomed walls that dominated the warm-ups.

With the waves looking much different on Day 1, so did the surfing.

Gone were the long drawn out bottom turns and swooping arcs we saw in the freesurfs, replaced instead with shorter snaps, down-the-line lip slides, and a bunch of big airs.

Yep, you read that right: J-Bay is an air wave now. At least it was yesterday.

In Yago Dora's opening round heat, needing a mid range 7 with a minute left, he took off on a closeout, pumped a few times, and launched a massive full rotation, easily greasing the landing. The score? A 9.27.

Reading the comments on the clip from the WSL, many are complaining that Dora "wasted the wave" and/or that one air shouldn't be scored that high.

Well, those people have obviously never ridden a surfboard.

Dora's air was one of the best ever done at J-Bay, on a day when above-the-lip surfing was completely called for, considering the light sideshore breeze, broken up lines, and soft crumbly sections.

And from what we've heard: All of the surfers and coaches in attendance thought the score was justified. And, well, we'd say those opinions matter a little more than the keyboard warriors.

Sorry, Instagram commentators.

After Dora set the benchmark score for the day, others, including Italo Ferreira and John Florence, used above-the-lip surfing to take home the win. Click play above for all of the highlights.

With bigger and better surf on the forecast, hopefully we'll see classic J-Bay return.

And with it, classic J-bay surfing.

Corona Open J-Bay Men’s Opening Round Results:
HEAT 1: Joao Chianca (BRA) 11.50 DEF. Seth Moniz (HAW) 10.17, Barron Mamiya (HAW) 6.37
HEAT 2: Rio Waida (INA) 14.10 DEF. Ethan Ewing (AUS) 11.67, Caio Ibelli (BRA) 9.17
HEAT 3: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 16.17 DEF. Liam O’Brien (AUS) 8.26, Kelly Slater (USA) 7.44
HEAT 4: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 15.27 DEF. Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 14.33, Adin Masencamp (RSA) 9.43
HEAT 5: Yago Dora (BRA) 16.27 DEF. Connor O’Leary (AUS) 13.53, Ian Gentil (HAW) 10.40
HEAT 6: John John Florence (HAW) 15.27 DEF. Italo Ferreira (BRA) 14.34, Callum Robson (AUS) 3.70
HEAT 7: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 14.00 DEF. Matthew McGillivray (RSA) 13.67, Ryan Callinan (AUS) 12.93
HEAT 8: Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 12.07 DEF. Jordy Smith (RSA) 9.10, Jack Robinson (AUS) 6.93

Corona Open J-Bay Men’s Elimination Round Matchups:
HEAT 1: Ethan Ewing (AUS) vs. Adin Masencamp (RSA)
HEAT 2: Connor O’Leary (AUS) vs. Callum Robson (AUS)
HEAT 3: Jack Robinson (AUS) vs. Kelly Slater (USA)
HEAT 4: Barron Mamiya (HAW) vs. Matthew McGillivray (RSA)
HEAT 5: Ryan Callinan (AUS) vs. Seth Moniz (HAW)
HEAT 6: Caio Ibelli (BRA) vs. Jordy Smith (RSA)
HEAT 7: Italo Ferreira (BRA) vs. Ian Gentil (HAW)
HEAT 8: Liam O’Brien (AUS) vs. Kanoa Igarashi (JPN)

Corona Open J-Bay Women’s Opening Round Matchups:
Heat 1: Molly Picklum (AUS) vs. Caitlin Simmers (USA) vs. Gabriela Bryan (HAW)
Heat 2: Carissa Moore (HAW) vs. Lakey Peterson (USA) vs. Sarah Baum (RSA)
Heat 3: Tyler Wright (AUS) vs. Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) vs. Johanne Defay (FRA)
Heat 4: Caroline Marks (USA) vs. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) vs. Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW)

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