An inconsolable Andy Irons has again fallen victim to his Jeffrey's Bay hoodoo, bombing out to South African wildcard Sean Holmes at the Billabong Pro to loosen his previously vice-like grip on this year's world surfing championship.

The 24-year-old Hawaiian was heading straight for the airport at nearby Port Elizabeth after failing to make the most of booming 2.5 metre waves at the famed Supertubes break, falling to his fourth consecutive loss in the third round at J-Bay.

"I surfed a bad heat," said Irons, whose defeat let Australians Joel Parkinson, Mick Fanning, Taj Burrow and Kieren Perrow back in the world title race.

"I got voodoo-ed. Everyone's cursing me and saying I'm going to lose. Now it's happened. J-Bay is a great wave but there's no luck here for me. I'm over it.

"I'm really bummed right now. I just want to get out of here, get the first flight I can and go home."

Holmes held a slender six-point lead with five minutes remaining but the jaw-dropping swell temporarily vanished, turning Supertubes into a lake and forcing Irons to take a wave that was never going to be worth enough points.

He finished with 13.5 points to Holmes's score of 14.66.

Earlier, America's six-time world champion Kelly Slater disappeared inside three classic tubes on one wave to post the first perfect 10-point score of the event.

On a bitterly cold, rainy morning, Slater defeated Coffs Harbour's Lee Winkler - and set up a much-awaited clash in the fourth round against Australian veteran and J-Bay expert Mark Occhilupo - thanks to his faultless negotiation of a big right-hander peeling down the outside section of Supertubes.

Slater went completely out of view for at least five seconds on each of his barrels, finishing with 19.5 points from a possible 20. He caught his last wave so far that he didn't bother returning to the contest site, walking home instead still wearing his red competition singlet.

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