Kelly Slater Wins 11th World Title

Yesterday was a huge day for the surfing world for two reasons: We remembered the loss of one of surfing’s greats of Andy Irons as he passed away a year ago yesterday. And by making it through his round 3 heat at the Rip Curl Pro Search 2011, Kelly Slater took a large enough lead in the points rankings that he was declared the 2011 ASP world champion, making it his 11th time being declared the champ.

What more can anyone say about Kelly Slater? The guy is unstoppable. Even at the ripe age of 39 the dude is still dominating the surf world. How much longer will Kelly continue to dominate? During some of his interviews on the beach after clinching the title, Kelly mentioned that he is considering this being his last year on tour – we’ve heard that before. Regardless of what he does or how he finishes the rest of this year, we want to send a huge congratulations Kelly’s way! Below are some quotes from Kelly, stats on his wins over the years, photos, and the video recaps of his first round heat and the third round heat against Dan Ross that helped him clinch the title.

“It was a scrappy heat, I didn’t win it in the most effortless style,” Slater said. “I’ve had a lot of heats with Rossy (Dan Ross) this year, and he’s real dangerous with a little power so I knew he’d be dangerous and I was nowhere to be found in the beginning of that heat. I was hunting those lefts and they were fading off I was thinking ‘why am I taking off on these things.’ I knew I had to get in on some of those rights. That wave had a nice open face and I thought it’d probably be just enough.”

“This is pretty fabulous. Two days ago in the afternoon it was chunky and small and didn’t look inviting at all. Yesterday was nice and today looks like a nice day in France. I don’t know, this hasn’t sunk in. I’ve been pretty stressed about it and I’m glad it’s over. It’s very fulfilling and there’s personal satisfaction. It feels real nice. I’ve dedicated my life to surfing and competing and to go a whole year and win a world title and have it pay off, it’s really fulfilling. To win on American soil is nice. Everyone’s been so cool and the locals have been so stoked. It’s been a special time. It’s been warm and offshore and a nice little swell. Someone’s looking over us and probably Andy (Irons).”

“It’s sort of weird and I’ve been thinking about a lot of things coming together,” Slater said. “What are the chances of me winning on the anniversary of Andy passing away? It makes it a lot more special for me. It’s a way to celebrate my memories with him and be thinking about him. It’s been on my mind and I wrote a story about him the other day. It’s a time to think back.”

Round 1 Heat: Kelly Slater 16.03, Kai Otton 10.90, Dean Brady 9.97

Round 3 Heat: Kelly Slater 15.13, Daniel Ross 14.40

Make sure to watch the rest of the Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco live at live.ripcurl.com as there are still a handful of rounds and a lot of surfing still to take place. Slater still has the shot at winning the event just like he did last year in Puerto Rico after clinching number 10.

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