The Victorian Tourism Board could easily borrow Queensland's catchphrase but with their own twist: Vicco, sunny one minute, pissing rain the next. The surfing in the first round of the Rip Curl Pro was as sporadic and unpredictable as the weather; intermittent showers followed sparkling sunshine making it hard to know what to dress for. Likewise, heats that were expected to be heart-starters flatlined, and exciting moments came when they were least expected. Competition began at 9:30 in cross-shore 4'-6' waves just after the morning high tide, the contest organisers waiting for the water to drain off the bowl before sounding the hooter. Thirty minutes later the hooter sounded again with Nathaniel Curran on the wrong side of the ledger in his heat with David Weare; the first victim of the round one sudden death format. In all honesty the first couple of heats were dull affairs with the surfers often getting caught too deep, and then bogging rails or falling when they did make the face. Bottle Thompson surfed the first great wave of the comp in heat three, linking three big turns and running it through to a shorey floater. He scored an 8.83 and took out Heitor Alves. Heat four between Phil Macca and Taylor Knox was one of the heats where big things were expected. Most punters expected the spray to be flying in the battle of the he-men. Instead both surfers made mistakes and, as the commentators are so fond of saying, neither managed to 'build a house'. It was a relatively mellow affair and Taylor got by on a generous nine-pointer late in the heat. Dayyan Neve set about laying his foundation in the first five minutes of the next heat, racking up 7 points with a smooth runner through the bowl. His edgework was spot-on and if I was in the box I would've whacked another couple of points onto that score. Dayyan ended up with a pair of 7's  in his win over Marlon Lipke, and while other surfers in round one had higher heat totals he did some of the best surfing all day. For 29 minutes the match-up between Kieren Perrow and Aritz Aranburu was another frustrating outing, this time due to inconsistent waves. The drama fired up in the final minute with the Basque surfer needing 7.5 on his last wave. Fist-pumping theatrics in the shorebreak weren't enough to sway the judges and he dipped out by 0.27 points. The most anticipated heat of the round was between Dane Reynolds and wildcard Owen Wright, and the grandstands filled in anticipation. As is his want Dane went for it straight off the bat, although he was off-kilter and came undone on his first two waves. Wright capitalised and strung together a couple of high scores shutting the heat down early. Though he might be the most exciting surfer currently on tour I couldn't help but wish that Dane would start slower, and build up in his heat. Hell, maybe even build a house. Thing is, heats aren't won on the first wave and if your timing ain't spot on then lumpy Bells ain't easiest place to lay rail or slide the tail. Jordy made it look all look too easy in the next heat against Matt Wilkinson; had me wondering what the hell everyone else was doing out there. He blew up with a 9.00 and a 9.70, both loaded with full-face gouges and comitted lip hits. And call me a first round prophet, but Jordy Smith is going to win this event (that I haven't even seen the top 16 seeds surf yet gives that claim no credibility, but bugger it, I'm putting the call out there) Despite Jordy's effort, Bells can be more conducive to backside surfing when it is lumpy and bumpy. The goofyfoots are able to reef it off the top easier so they can often approach the lip more vertically. This can put them at an advantage...as long as they can also do backside foam climbs when they get caught behind sections (as inevitably happens at Bells). Mick Campbell can do backside foam climbs, and he used 'em to good effect in his win over Josh Kerr. The two surfers have contrasting styles and, while the wind and wonk prevented Kerr from taking to the air, Mick's squared-off attack was better suited to the conditions.// STUART NETTLE