Eleven times world champion Kelly Slater has put on a show in his second round heat this afternoon in beautiful waves at Margaret River.

Slater made the most of the solid swell and offshore breezes early this morning with a “warm up” session at the famed Box location to the north of Surfer’s Point mainbreak.

He went from scoring multiple barrels at The Box to finding a great right hand barrel to start his Round of 48 heat, impressing the judges to score an 8.83 straight up. Slater’s strategy to stick to the right hander continued to pay off as he found multiple scoring waves before again pulling off a carving 360 degree re-entry late in the heat to score an even better 8.93 points.

It was an amazing display from the iconic Slater who seems very relaxed this year at Margaret River. “I got off to a quick start with that barrel and then scored a couple of more good waves so I kind of knew I was going to get through,” said Slater following his heat. “The waves were perfect today, a bit more than double over head and the winds were really good. It is going to turn into a big wave competition later in the week when that swell hits Friday.”

As the Round of 48 is completed early this afternoon, event organisers are expected to run with the non-elimination Round of 24 meaning Slater will surf late again this afternoon. Joining Slater through to the next round are top seeds Owen Wright, Adrian Buchan, Josh Kerr, Bede Durbidge and Taj Burrow. Defending champion Damien Hobgood was eliminated earlier this morning by Aussie surf legend Mark Occhilupo, who continues to enjoy the large surf and his wildcard into the event, progressing through to the next round.