After five “lei days” the Volcom Pipeline Pro finally got off to a macking start this morning (January 28, 2012) in eight to twelve foot surf, but after three hours of competition (seven heats) the waves had jumped into the 15-20 foot range forcing event organizers to call off the contest for the day because it was getting too dangerous.
Kauai’s Stephen Koehne, the top-scorer of the day, ended up with a gruesome gash to the knee that could well see him out of the water for weeks. Regular Pipeline chargers Mark Healey and Tom Dosland took the wipeout beatings of the day, and lifeguard/Pipe specialist Dave Wassel (above) was the overall standout. . . “I pulled into the barrel and next thing I knew I just got shot in the knee by my board,” said Koehne. . . Resident Doctor Leiland Dao said it was a serious injury that required 20 stitches or more to three layers: muscle, fascia and skin.
Organizers say the contest will likely resume tomorrow. Follow the jump for official word. [click to continue…]
After five “lei days” the Volcom Pipeline Pro finally got off to a macking start this morning (January 28, 2012) in eight to twelve foot surf, but after three hours of competition (seven heats) the waves had jumped into the 15-20 foot range forcing event organizers to call off the contest for the day because it was getting too dangerous.
Kauai’s Stephen Koehne, the top-scorer of the day, ended up with a gruesome gash to the knee that could well see him out of the water for weeks. Regular Pipeline chargers Mark Healey and Tom Dosland took the wipeout beatings of the day, and lifeguard/Pipe specialist Dave Wassel (above) was the overall standout. . . “I pulled into the barrel and next thing I knew I just got shot in the knee by my board,” said Koehne. . . Resident Doctor Leiland Dao said it was a serious injury that required 20 stitches or more to three layers: muscle, fascia and skin.
Organizers say the contest will likely resume tomorrow. Follow the jump for official word. [click to continue…]
We’ve barely begun processing Kelly Slater’s new Quiksilver travel clothing/gear/store concept VSTR and already it appears that the brand’s marketing VP Jesse Faen is on his way out and off to the wilds of South America.
The former Insight marketing guy, who had only been at Quiksilver since August 2011, recently updated his Facebook page with the following: “worked at VSTR (VP of Marketing) from Aug 2011 to Jan 2012.” His wall was updated today saying he has “tickets booked, so stoked. We leave LA the 11th of Feb, off to Chile and a whole new chapter of life about to begin.”
Obviously, we have no idea what we (or Faen) are talking about, so anyone with a little more info is encouraged to chime in. Or not.
Today (January 23, 2012) is the opening day of the Volcom Pipeline Pro waiting period, however, the waves are not cooperating and today has been called a “lei day.” In the meantime, check out this collection of Funtitled edits.
Everyone’s favorite WQS five-star event could fire up on Monday, January 23, 2012 as the Volcom Pipeline Pro waiting period starts. This year 112 surfers will charge Pipeline and Backdoor for a shot at $130,000 in prize money.
The surf at Pipeline has been on fire for the better part of January, and Surfline.com – the official forecaster of the 2012 Volcom Pipe Pro, is happy to report that there is plenty more surf to come. . . You can tune into www.volcompipepro.com to watch the live HD webcast of the event, see video warrior stats, up to the minute results, daily videos and more. iPhone users can also download the VolcoMobile iPhone App and stay up-to-date on the live webcast wherever you are, as well as purchase Volcom Pipe Pro Merch and access all features of the full website.
On Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Hurley will debut Craig Stecyk’s new short film Fin at the H Space Gallery in Costa Mesa, Callifornia.
FIN, the first installment in an evolutionary series of digital film shorts, details Stecyk’s method of working with a wide variety of personages in the southern California region and reflects the social and sonic landscapes in which these creators inhabit. People whose work has been documented so far include Von Dutch, Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, Evel Knievel, Dave Sweet, Julian Ness, Tom Blake, Dale Velzy, Tyler Hatzikian, Scott Anderson, Mitch Abshere, Scotty Stopnick, Mike Ness, and Roland Sands. The featured soundtrack is also a nod to West Coast visionaries, with Social Distortion, Breakdown, Tommy Guerrero and Steve Alba and the Powerflex 5 contributing to the project.
Along with the film will be a series of four T-shirts featuring artwork and still photography created during the making of the film. The H Space Gallery is located at 1945 Placentia Ave, Costa Mesa, California. Follow the jump for the T-shirts and more info. [click to continue…]
Glen “Lenny” Folkard, a 44-year-old surfer was “dragged from his board and mauled” by a seven foot long shark on Wednesday, Janaury 18, 2012 while surfing Australia’s Redhead Beach, according to a story in the Sydney Morning Herald.
More than 100 people were in the water when the shark attacked. Witnesses in the surf said Mr Folkard was lying on his board about 20 metros from a large group of surfers when the shark struck about 4.40pm. . . Believed to be a bull shark, it took a large chunk out of Mr Folkard’s thigh as well as his board before dragging him underwater, witnesses said.
After Folkard got free he was able to surface where other surfers reportedly helped him catch a wave in. The man is currently in stable condition with a “deep wound to an upper thigh. For the rest of the story click the link.
A Lake Michigan surfer was “taken into custody” yesterday (Tuesday, January 17, 2012) for surfing, according to a story on ABC 7 News.
Police from the Near North District and Marine Unit responded about 5 p.m. to a report of a man surfing in Lake Michigan off Oak Street Beach in the 1000 block of North Lake Shore Drive, police said. . . Beaches are closed until May 25, according to the Chicago Park District’s website. Lifeguards are not on duty and swimming is “discouraged” at all beaches.
Oh no. Call the cops. A man is surfing. In Lake Michigan for gosh sakes. Oddly, the police didn’t really know what they were going to charge the guy with, but “detectives are investigating.” Don’t they know: Surfing is not a crime.
The search for someone to host a fictional new extreme sporting show called The Gnar Zone has potential to be one of the funniest new webisodes on Youtube. Check it. . .
Ghost Wave author Chris Dixon has written a touching and insightful piece on Surfline.com founder Sean Collins (above with his son A.J. in 1997) for Outside Magazine Online. In the story is titled Surf Prophet Dixon recounts his first encounters with Surfline and his meeting Collins for the first time.
Sometime in early 1995, I visited the spartan office directly across the street from the Huntington Beach Pier—a workplace with one of the best surf views in the Golden State. The place held a jumble of computers, a handful of full-time staffers, and a closet-sized mad-scientists room exploding with a Christmas tree’s worth of wires—a telephone nerve center capable of handling upwards of 200 calls at a time. The single landline phone tied into it held a sticker that said, “Pray for Surf, Or Call Surfline.” . . . Sean told me that he had spent his young life sailing the coastal outbacks from Point Conception to Cabo San Lucas. He lived on pennies for months on end, surfing Baja California and paying for his feral existence by selling photos to Surfing.
Click the link to read the rest of what has to be the best thing written so far about Collins and his mission in life.
