Slater Wins Pro France

Kelly Slater snagged his second consecutive ASP tour win when he bested wildcard Dane Reynolds at the Quicksilver Pro France this morning at La Graviere. "It has literally been 20 years," Slater said. "I had my first win here 20 years ago and that's pretty crazy."

The win raises Slater from third to second place in the overall WCT standings—and with just three events left in the tour, puts him in the midst of a tight race toward what would be his 12th (!!!) ASP championship.

The finish also shifted the overall standings—kicking Australian Mick Fanning from first to third place (he suffered a broken board and was eliminated in round three), putting John John Florence into fourth, and shooting Australian Joel Parkinson (who finished third in France) into the number one spot overall, in spite of not having taken first at any event this year. All four men still have a shot at winning the championship.

Dane Reynolds, 26, who took on Slater in the final, is not competing in the ASP tour, though he's a legend in the surfing community—Slater himself once called Reynolds the best surfer in the world. "That was a lot of fun out there," Reynolds said. "I just really like these waves and I wasn't really worried about competing or winning the heat... Today was just perfect and fun. Today was a playground, you can't ask for any better than that."

The eighth of 10 events, the Rip Curl Pro, takes place at Portugal's Supertubos starting on October 10.