Kelly Slater beats Brazil’s Adriano de Souza and wins the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro in Imbituba.

“There were much better waves in the Final than there were for my Semifinal,” Slater said. “Adriano (de Souza) found a pretty good rhythm early on and posted some pretty good scores, but I felt comfortable out there and felt that the waves would come to me if I were patient. Both of my scoring rides allowed me to a bunch of maneuvers and I felt that the scores were maybe a little high, but I haven’t had many good scores this year, so it was bound to go my way at some point.”

Can’t say we’re not stoked. Follow the jump for the entire ASP press release the is posted all over the net.
Continue reading ‘Welcome Back Slater’

Amer Sports, the parent company of Salomon, Bonfire, and Atomic, just lost one of its larger investors as Novator Finland Oy announced today that it sold its entire 20 percent stake in the company to “institutional investors” at a 15 percent discount vs. Wednesday’s closing price, according to a story on Reuters.

Amer Sports shares were 15.4 percent lower at 7.02 euros 0718 GMT. . . Novator sold its 14.7 million shares at 7 euros each through SEB Enskilda.

Doesn’t exactly sound like a confidence building revelation.

[Link: Reuters]

We have to admit, since the former ASG head’s run on the old Sacklunch message boards we haven’t really kept up with exactly what Don Meek has been up to. We know he’s always in the middle of something big, so this latest bit of news wasn’t all that surprising.

In a bid to leverage its advertising sales infrastructure, the parent company of the Los Angeles Times has reached an agreement to sell national print and online ads for the Dallas Morning News, the flagship media division of A.H. Belo Corp. . . “We are going to take advantage of what we have built as a company to give advertisers access to the top markets in the U.S. You add Dallas to Chicago and Los Angeles and you have three of the top five markets in the country,” said Don Meek, president of Tribune365 National Solutions Group.

Newspaper ad sales? Mr. Meek never has been afraid of a good challenge.

[Link: LA Times]

Kelly Slater actually made it out of a round 3 heat against Ben Dunn on one of his own boards in the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro (stop number four on the 2009 ASP WCT). According to the ASP press release it was a “self-shaped, asymmetrical quad-fin.”.

“I seem to be riding a new board every time I go for a surf,” Slater said. “This one I just rode was an epoxy swallow-tail and seemed to go really well in these conditions. I’ve spent the lay days hanging with some friends here in Brazil and having a few fun surfs around town. I’ve pretty much just been cruising and testing out some equipment.”

Reminds us of the old “million monkeys typing” bit. Eventually, something has to work, right?

[Link: Australian Surfing Life]

YoBeat clowns Neff’s boost of the Micheal Jackson death rush with a tribute to DC Snowboards infomercial king Billy Mays.

No one could sell like Billy Mays, so just a day after his tragic passing, YoBeat designed this shirt to celebrate his life and commemorate his legacy. But wait, there’s more. Look stylish and impress your friends! Only 19.95 and if you order now, we’ll throw in shipping absolutely free.

Get them while they’re cold.

[Link: YoBeat]

It didn’t take Neff long to punch out a “commemorative” T-shirt with Michael Jackson on it.

Just a day after the tragedy with Michael Jackson, we created the “Long Live the King” tee for all those lovers of MJ who wish to preserve the life of the King himself. The tees will be available next tuesday for $20 in select retailers around the country. Check back for exact retailers next week.

Wonder if “select retailers” includes Urban Outfitters?

[Link: Neff]

While the Mavericks CEO Keir J. Beadling may have made everything at Mavericks Surf Ventures sound all cool, a post on June 26, 2009 by former Mavericks contest director Jeff Clark paints a little different picture.

The press release issued by Mavericks Surf Ventures this week stating that I ‘stepped down’ and I am ‘passing the torch to the next generation’ is wrong. The reality is that I was ousted as Contest Director by the current CEO. . . .I must also note that, while the company’s news release states that this year’s contest will be held to celebrate ‘the 35th anniversary of Jeff Clark’s first session at the now world-famous break,’ the 35th anniversary is actually next season, in 2010-11. I will not allow the company to use my accomplishment as a marketing tactic. . . .Effective today, I have resigned from the Board of Directors of Mavericks Surf Ventures.

So that, apparently, is the other side of the story.

[Link: Jeff Clark My Word]

Seems Dave Bergthold and the crew at Fuel TV’s Built To Shred are upping the ante and it looks good. A couple of those Junior Jeff Kings look familiar. . . read an interview with the man behind the madness right here.

[Link: Fuel.tv]