Florida’s Slater clinches 11th World Championship

SAN FRANCISCO » Kelly Slater won his record-extending 11th world surfing championship at the Rip Curl Pro Search in San Francisco, sealing the title in the U.S. for the first time.

Slater, 39, guaranteed that he’ll finish atop the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals World Tour rankings by advancing out of the third round of the tour’s next-to-last event yesterday.

The Florida-born Slater, who is professional surfing’s youngest and oldest world champion, clinched the title on the one-year anniversary of the death of three-time winner Andy Irons, his former rival and friend.

“Someone’s looking over us and it’s probably Andy,” Slater said in a televised interview. “What are the chances that I do this on the anniversary of Andy’s passing away? In a way it makes this a lot more special. It’s a way to celebrate my memories of him.”

In a career spanning 20 years, Slater has won a record 48 events on surfing’s elite tour and more than $3 million in prize money. His first title came in 1992.

Slater, who turns 40 in three months, has three wins and two runner-up finishes on the ASP’s 11-event schedule this year with the current competition and the Dec. 8-20 Billabong Pipeline Masters in Hawaii remaining.

“I feel like I’m surfing at the highest level of my career and I feel like I can keep going,” Slater added. “In the past, you would top out once you hit 30, but that’s definitely not the case now. We’ll see what 2012 brings to the table.”

Three Hawaii surfers were eliminated from the Rip Curl Pro Search on Wednesday.

Fred Patacchia lost in the third round to Gabriel Medina of Brazil (15.37 to 5.36), while Dusty Payne and John John Florence were defeated in the second round.

Brazil’s Raoni Monteiro topped Payne 14.66 to 10.86, and Puerto Rico’s Tiago Pires downed Florence 14.33 to 8.60.

[Video] Wapala.tv | Slater claims 11th ASP Surf World Title at Rip Curl Pro Search