Yes, it’s sad that there aren’t bigger crowds at women’s surfing events, but it is nice that women’s ASP top two will stick around to chair an even winner up the beach. That’s what Stephanie Gilmore and Sally Fitzgibbons did for California’s Courtney Conlogue after she prevailed over Hawaii’s Malia Manuel in the finals of the 2012 Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic at Dee Why on Saturday.
“I’m speechless right now!” Conlogue said. “It’s been two years on the ASP Women’s World Championship Tour where I kept losing in the Quarterfinals. Then today after winning my Quarterfinal I just tried to go and win the thing. Malia (Manuel) was surfing great in the Final, even though the waves were tricky. I’m really stoked to have won this event! I love Steph (Gilmore) and Sally (Fitzgibbons) and to have them chair me up the beach was absolutely amazing!”
A 28-year-old surfer was bitten on the hand while surfing last night (Thursday, April 19, 2012) in Melbourne Beach, Florida, according to a story on Florida Today.
He was paddling out when he felt something grab his left hand. He looked into the water and saw a shark of unknown species that he estimated to be five feet long. Reflexively, he pulled his hand back. . . The man attempted to drive himself to the hospital, but pulled into the Wendy’s parking lot near the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Miramar Avenue and called 911.
Sustainable Surf’sMichael Stewart and Kevin Whilden get profiled in Forbes Magazine for their work is attempting to green up the toxic surf industry.
The San Francisco social entrepreneurs aim to create an industry certification standard for environmentally friendly surfboards to give surfers, from pros to weekend wave warriors, a scientifically sound green choice. Surfboards are just a $150 million business in the U.S., but for Stewart and his San Clemente-based cofounder, Kevin Whilden, the iconic symbol of the sport is a Trojan horse to make the $7 billion surf industry and the lifestyles of millions of surfers more sustainable. “If we can green up the surfboard then we can green up surfers,” says Stewart, 42, a lifelong surfer who has spent his recent career evaluating the carbon footprint of everything from Motorola cellphones to Volkswagens.
South African professional bodyboarder David Lilienfeld, 20, died while riding waves with his brother and some friends at Caves (Near Kogel Bay) after getting hit by a reportedly four to five meter Great White shark, according to a story on News24.com.
Lillienfield was brought ashore by bystanders and friends, but was confirmed dead at the scene by rescue personnel. . . Following the incident, witnesses claim that up to 6 sharks could be seen in the area.
Our thoughts are with Lilienfeld’s family and friends.
“The action sports landscape has grown and changed dramatically since we launched the Dew Tour in 2005. The multi-stop series format was what the industry wanted and needed then. The Dew Tour changed the industry forever, taking the sports to a whole new level. The new Dew Tour, which will include three major events across Beach, City and Mountain venues, represents what the athletes and industry want and need today,” said Wade Martin, President & CEO, Alli Sports. “We believe our partnership with Mountain Dew represents one of the most unique, integrated relationships between brand and property in all of sports. This partnership extension and the new approach we created for the Dew Tour together with Mountain Dew, the athletes and the industry, truly underscores that.”
The new tour will feature stops in Ocean City, Maryland; San Francisco, California; and Breckenridge, Colorado. For the official word, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
A large sewage spill in San Diego County reportedly flowed right down the Tijuana River and into Imperial Beach on April 4, 2012 and no on notified anyone of the spill, according to a story on NBC San Deigo.
The spill was caused by a software malfunction in the treatment plant, an engineer for International Boundary and Water Commission told NBC San Diego. . . Raw sewage and runoff water spilled in the plant for three hours before any of the workers realized, the plant’s engineer said. . . The spill flooded parts of the plant’s system, which filters about 25 million gallons of Tijuana sewage. As a result of the sewage spill, the filtration system shut down, allowing that water to flow unfiltered into the Tijuana River.
Officials said they didn’t report the spill because the water that got out was “actually cleaner than the water that’s in the river,” county spokesman Gig Conaughton. No so said surfer and sewage taste tester Anthony Marsh. “It’s like a really raspy taste, and you could see the foam and the brown in the water.”
ActionWatch, the “action sports industry’s premier source for market intelligence,” has formed a joint venture with Australasian Surf Business Magazine to provide market intelligence from the independent surf retail channel to the Australian surf market.
“The experience we have gained developing the ActionWatch program in the U.S. makes us much more efficient with launches in other countries,” said ActionWatch co-founder Cary Allington. “We’ve wanted to better utilize the infrastructure we have developed by expanding into other countries for a long time, but we needed a perfect partner. It is clear to us that ASB is the perfect partner for us in Australia.”
Four-time ASP World Champ Stephanie Gilmore downed current ASP World Champion Carissa Moore 15.76 to 15.06 to win stop three on the ASP Women’s World Tour, the TSB Bank NZ Surf Festival on Saturday, April 14, 2012.
“This is by far the best start to a season I’ve had in my career,” Gilmore said. “To have three Finals straight off the bat, I’m kind of tripping out. It’s really cool. That was a really close final, I’m sure it could have gone either way. I watched Carissa’s (Moore) wave from behind and she did that huge first turn and then raced to the next section, but if she did another turn straight away, I’m sure she would have gotten the score. I’m glad it went my way though.”
Yes, it’s sad that there aren’t bigger crowds at women’s surfing events, but it is nice that women’s ASP top two will stick around to chair an even winner up the beach. That’s what Stephanie Gilmore and Sally Fitzgibbons did for California’s Courtney Conlogue after she prevailed over Hawaii’s Malia Manuel in the finals of the 2012 Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic at Dee Why on Saturday.
