Third lay day in four at J-Bay surfing

A lay day has been called at the World Surf League J-Bay Open in South Africa on Saturday, following the first round of competition on Friday.

Australia's Mick Fanning has cruised through the opening round of the J-Bay Open in South Africa. (AAP)

After an intense day of round 1 action on Friday, another lay day has been called at the World Surf League J-Bay Open on Saturday.

Unfavourable conditions forced organisers to again postpone the competition, with Wednesday and Thursday suffering a similar fate.

On Saturday, it was inconsistent two-to-three foot surf and variable winds at Jeffreys Bay causing the delay.

"The wind came up pretty strong when we went on hold and then died down again," Kieren Perrow, WSL Commissioner said.

"There are still some waves but the consistency is really fading. We won't run any heats today and we'll come back tomorrow. We're expecting the swell to fill in through the day and it's looking like a great day on Monday".

First to take to the water when competition resumes will be world No. 1 Adriano de Souza (BRA) and wildcard Slade Prestwich (ZAF) battling to avoid elimination in the opening heat of Round 2.

Event organisers will reconvene on Sunday to assess conditions and make the next call.

Australia's Mick Fanning cruised through his opening round heat on Friday, with the three-time WSL champion and defending J-Bay Open champion going straight through to the third round after dominating Brazil's Tomas Hermes and South African Michael February.