Dane Reynolds makes first WCT Final at The Hurley Pro


  • 04.16.2021

Dane Reynolds Carves into his first WCT Final

HUNTINGTON BEACH, California (Sunday, September 20, 2009) – ASP World Tour sophomore Dane Reynolds (Ventura, CA), 24, finished runner-up to 2007 ASP World Champion Mick Fanning (Tweed Heads, AUS), 27, in his first Final appearance at the Hurley Pro Trestles, launching the young Californian from 20th to 11th on the ratings.

The progressive regular-footer wowed the crowd through the event’s entirety with massive aerial maneuvers and powerful carves while marching through an impressive list of the world’s finest surfing talent on the way to his Final bout with Fanning. After an amazing run at the Hurley Pro, Reynolds was stopped short of his first career victory by the veteran campaigner.

“It was a good time,” Reynolds said. “You can’t win the first one (Final), can you? I got an I.V. before the Final. I was cramping up really bad. I’m not used to surfing this much in one day. Sometimes I surf this much, but not this many heats and it’s different when you’re not milking every section. Trestles is almost like a skate park. It’s just soft enough to where you can push it around, but it’s pushy enough to where you don’t have to work too hard. Unfortunately this event wasn’t great, but it turned on for the last day and it had some good moments.”

The runner-up finish by Reynolds marks his personal best finish amongst the elite 24 surfers in the world and his stunning performance represents a significant confidence boost after an extremely slow start to his season.

“I was starting to feel pretty discouraged because I had three 17ths in a row,” Reynolds said. “That beats you down a bit and it feels good to make some heats. I enjoy competing and today was a fun day.

Reigning nine-time ASP Dream Tour surfer and Trestles legend Kelly Slater (Coco cocoa Beach, FL) was another standout performer at Southern California’s only event on the 2009 schedule, but was unable to find a rhythm in the Semifinal against Fanning.

“I didn’t go out there with any sort of game plan,” Slater said. “I was just trying to feel it out and I kind of read it wrong. The heat before, they had a lot of waves, and I didn’t think priority was really going to matter, but a lot of times, you have priority and there’s pressure to take that first one (wave), and it’s bumpy and the second or third one is real glassy. That happened in Dane’s heat and he got those real good ones, but that’s just the way it goes. I wasn’t really feeling it today anyway. Someday you feel it and you’re on and sometimes not. I kind of struggled through my first couple of heats anyhow.”

Taylor Knox (Carlsbad, CA), 38, also capitalized on the righthand walls of Lower Trestles to earn a solid 5th place finish. Knox battled through the inconsistent conditions on the final day of the Hurley Pro Trestles and Quarterfinals berth moves the veteran campaigner to No. 9 on the ASP Dream Tour.

“I think we were expecting to get some waves like Adrino’s (de Souza) heat,” Knox said. “I knew it was going to go that way after there were no waves after the first 10 minutes. I didn’t think we’d go a whole heat without a set. I just hope we have some waves to surf in the next heat.”

The ASP World Tour will continue this week with the Quiksilver Pro France in Hossegor, which has a waiting period running from September 23 through October 4, 2009.

For Hurley Pro Trestles highlights, photos and more log on to www.hurleypro.com

To watch the upcoming Quiksilver Pro France LIVE log on to www.quiksilverlive.com

Check out all the photos on Surfline.com

  • 04.16.2021