It has been a while since Aritz and Kelly had a battle with the jerseys on. The GOAT won their last heat together back in 2015 at Hossegor. Aritz is a nomadic free surfer these days while Kelly being Kelly has been living in Indo for over a month, deciding when he wants to get back on the CT horse.
On Sunday, the surfers found themselves once again going wave for wave, this time at Kandui with no jerseys on. It was as big as Kandui can handle with opportunities for double overhead barrels for those daring enough to paddle out. Amongst the surfing elite, Kandui has long been considered one of the biggest drawcards in the Mentawai region. The ledgy entry and notoriously fickle end section allow the world’s best to show off their barrel-riding chops.
Kelly and Artiz, both virtuosos in the barrel, traded some wild rides in an intense session at the heaving, Indo left. The proudly Basque free-surfer probably got the nod in this particular head-to-head. Aritz masterfully pig-dogged his way through Kandui’s hollow clutches and scored the wave of the session. Riding longer equipment than Kelly, Aritz chipped in on a flexing, double-overhead drainer, got a quick pit on the opening section, before going in for seconds in a stand-tall stance.
Bravo Artiz, that’s a 10.
There was no real loser at Kandui, however, as Kelly also found himself in some dreamy pits. He may have won the free-surfing contest if he made the near-impossible final section of his first wave in the clip. Meanwhile, there is still speculation around his plans for J-Bay.
Big-wave surfer Nic Von Rupp was a couple of days late for the Kelly and Aritz rumble, which was unfortunate given Nic’s appetite for girthy barrels. The swell stuck around long enough for Von Rupp to pick up some of the scraps. Check out his crafty, frontside barrel approach to Kandui.
