WET AND WILD WITH ROCKIN’ FIG:Pros go up down under

The Assn. of Surfing Professionals World Championship Tour is kicking off in Australia this week. The Quicksilver Pro waiting period has started at Snapper Rocks. It’s been on hold the first part of the week, waiting for a Cyclone swell from a storm off the coast to get it rolling.

The surf’s been in the 2- to 4-foot zone but could get epic if it all comes together. The top dog, eight-time world champ Kelly Slater, is there, rumor has it. He hasn’t really surfed too much in the last three weeks, but he’s got a new quiver of hot boards, and has been on a health-kick diet recently and is ready to start the season.

Last year’s runner up in the world standings, three-time world champ Andy Irons, has been in Oz hanging out the last couple weeks for the wedding of an old friend. He caught the flu recently, but he is still in tune to get a jump-start in the ratings. The locals, Aussies Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson and Dean Morrison, have won there before and are always a real big threat with local knowledge. They held the trials before the championship tour, and the following made the finals:

But it was Aussie rippa Dale Richard who took the win and got the wild card entry.

Some tough heats in the first round include heat two, featuring California’s “Style Master” Taylor Knox vs. “Occy” Mark Occhilupo and new rookie East Coaster Gabe Kling.

Heat five features Joel Parkinson, who many predict could be the one to stop Slates this year, South African Travis Logie and Brazilian Rodrigo Dornelles.

Heat six has last year’s rookie of the year, Santa Barbara’s Bobby Martinez, against Aussie’s Shaun Cansdell and Luke Munroe.

“Rad Man” Taj Burrow, San Clemente’s “Air Booster” Chris Ward and Australia’s Trent Munro will have their showdown in heat seven. The “Man,” defending champ Kelly Slater, will go up against Aussie Danny Wills and the up-and-coming Julian Wilson.

Then there’s heat nine showcasing A.I. Andy Irons vs. South Africa’s Greg Emslie and the dangerous wild card Dale Richards. The win is worth $30,000 and valuable ratings points.

The women’s Roxy Pro, also at Snapper, has already started. Former world champ Chelsea Hedges, last name formerly Georgeson, surfed a very impressive round one heat, scoring 18.40 points out of a possible 20, winning her heat big-time. Also winning was new tour rookie, Stephanie Gilmore, a local gal who won this event in 2005 and is expected to shake up the championship tour ratings battle this year. Hawaii’s 14-year-old sensation Carissa Moore defeated seven-time world champ Layne Beachley, the No. 1 seed, with some great moves and waves. Moore won the trials to take a wild card into the Roxy Pro. Also winning their heats were Aussies Jessie Miley Dyer, Samantha Cornish and Hawaiian Melanie Bartels moving on to round three. More results next week.

The Western Surfing Assn.’s next stop is at the Huntington Beach Pier this weekend. There’s a small-scale combo swell forecasted, so the action should be pretty hot!

That’s it for now. See ya. Fig, over and out.