by The Editors on January 4, 2012
The Surf Industry Manufacturers Association is using all the tricks from late night cable TV commercials to sell spots in their four-times a year Boot Camp sessions. For a “Limited Time” only, they are offering four-packs for only $500 each. That is a savings of $200 per package (assuming you’d be sending someone to all four boot camps).
Book your annual passes now to ensure availability–once the 2012 SIMA Boot Camp annual passes are gone they’re gone. Annual passes will be sold in limited number until February 23, 2012
Get your now, now, now before they’re gone, gone, gone. Okay, we made up that last part. For more info in ALL CAPS no less, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 4, 2012
Sedition Surfboards (aka Cheapsurfboards.net.au), a shop on Australia’s Gold Coast owned by Neil Rech, 34, is reportedly selling China produced surfboards for $250 a pop and has understandably caused a bit of a stir in Coolangatta, according to a post on Businessweek.
Rival retailers averse to discounts and upset about local job losses questioned his patriotism, and even threatened violence, he said. . . “It’s quite heavy,” Rech, 34, said of the backlash. After teaching for two years in China before opening a store in Coolangatta, Queensland, “I realized how cheap you can actually get these boards so I thought it’d be a great opportunity to bring them here and sell them to the public cheaper.”
The best part of the whole story is Rech’s response that eventually the China pricing will be better for everyone’s business: “It’s like sticking a fat man on a treadmill,” he said. “First he doesn’t like it, but then he gets into it.” Apparently Rech is a glutton for punishment.
[Link: BusinessWeek]
by The Editors on January 4, 2012
The completely raw, blow-by-blow video clips collected by Simon Saffigna during the huge swell that hit Teahupoo on August 27, 2011 show more than anything else we’ve seen how straight up gnarly that day was and is probably the reason Tehupoo Uncut won a Surfer magazine video award. The DVD is now available of pre-order at Subnoizestore for $14.99 and will be released on February 14, 2012.
[Link: Shaggadelic Productions via Surfline]
by The Editors on January 4, 2012
Longtime La Jolla, California surfer Ted Kenneth Smith, 52, died of an “apparent heart attack” Saturday afternoon December 31, 2011 while surfing his home break of Windansea, according to a story in the La Jolla Light. Smith’s lifelong friend and surf companion said this:
“The way he went out with a lot of love, doing it right there at WindanSea. … I don’t think you could write a better script. … If you have to go, have it happen real quick like that. Knowing he’s a spirit right now, I think that’s an Aloha gladiator.”
A Hydrodynamica post added:
He was one of the kindest and most soulful people I’ve ever known. . . he surfed with style, grace, and power.
A Windansea paddle out for Smith is scheduled for January 15, 2012 at 1 PM.
[Link: La Jolla Light and Hydrodynamica]
by The Editors on January 4, 2012
A 28-year-old Australian surfer was hit by a shark while surfing Tuesday evening (January 3, 2012) at NSW’s North Avoca Beach, according to a story in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Paramedics said the man felt his arm being pulled under his surfboard. . . The man was treated for puncture wounds to his forearm and wrist, and was taken to Gosford Hospital about 9pm yesterday. . . A hospital spokesman said the man was in a satisfactory condition, and doctors would assess his condition today.
According to witnesses, “The shark got on his board and just took a chunk out of his arm. I saw there was blood all over the man’s surfboard. We could see the bone and the arteries so it was really quite deep.” Authorities believe the shark may have been a bronze whaler. Other reports suggest great whites have been patrolling the area as well.
[Link: Sydney Morning Herald and News.com]
by The Editors on January 3, 2012
by The Editors on December 27, 2011
Surfline founder Sean Collins died on Monday, December 26, 2011 after suffering a heart attack while playing tennis in Orange County, California according to a story on Surfline.com. He was 59 years old.
Collins served as President, Chief Surf Forecaster, and Founder for Surfline. Over the past 30 years, he helped develop a sophisticated, proprietary system of wave forecasting — much of which is currently used in LOLA, Surfline’s Global Swell Model. Now, Surfline provides weather and forecasting services to every lifeguard agency in California, the Coast Guard, US Navy Seals, National Weather Service, numerous television and movie production companies, multiple domestic and international governmental agencies and nearly every surf company in the world.
Our thoughts are with Collins’ wife, Daren, and two sons, Tyler and AJ. For more on the life of a truly amazing member of the surfing community please click the link.
[Link: Surfline.com and LA Times]
by The Editors on December 22, 2011
Eric Tarantino, a Monterey, California surfer, who was attacked by a shark in October while surfing at Marina State Beach is now reliving the story for the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
“The first few seconds seem to happen in slow motion,” recounted Tarantino, who had only been in the water for a few minutes when he was attacked about 150 yards offshore at about 7 a.m. on Oct. 29. “I was still half asleep because I literally had just rolled out of bed about 20 minutes earlier. When it happened, when the shark hit me, it was kind of surreal, but I didn’t really feel scared.”
The shark pulled him under and when he finally got free and saw all the blood in the water, that’s when he got scared.
“I managed to get back on my board and started paddling, and that’s when I noticed my arm was bleeding,” he said. “I wasn’t feeling any pain at that point — I’m sure I was already in shock and probably gone into overdrive a little bit. I started paddling in, moving slowly, seeing all the blood in the water and realizing that if he decided to come back and get me, there would be nothing I could do about it. That’s when it became really scary.”
We have to admit–stories of escaping from the jaws of a shark are our favorite shark attack stories and we’re glad Tarantino is still around to tell it. Click the link to read the rest.
[Link: Santa Cruz Sentinel]
by The Editors on December 22, 2011
The Santa Cruz, California surf community gets their ASP World Title tour stop back as the O’Neill Cold Water Classic secures a November 2 – 12, 2012 spot on the ASP Elite Tour calendar. It will be stop number 10 on the 2012 tour.
“We are excited to see a World Tour level event return to Santa Cruz as part of O’Neill’s 60 Year anniversary,” Pat O’Neill, President & CEO of O’Neill Wetsuits, said. “Santa Cruz, with its rich surf history and tradition, is the perfect venue for this pivotal event. Mainland surfing started in Santa Cruz, Jack O’Neill developed many pioneering surf inventions here and it’s been home to the O’Neill brand for over half a century. . . With a World Tour event in 2012 and the possibility of the World Champion being crowned, we expect to see an exciting chapter in surfing history written right in our front yard.”
We’re just happy that NorCal can hold on to a world tour event two years in a row. For the official word from the ASP follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on December 22, 2011
New Smyrna Beach, Florida’s Friction surf and skate shop is using Apple FaceTime technology to “bridge the gap” between online and brick and mortar shopping. Every day, between 12 – 7 PM EST, customers with an Apple device can speak directly with sales people on the floor.
“I’d been implementing social media and in-store / online connections for about a year at my other store before opening Friction,” Friction partner and executive buyer Evan Rebadow says. “To me this is the evolution of a concept where small boutique stores like ours can compete online by offering personal interaction. It’s one thing to read about a surf board on a static website, it’s something completely different to be able to dial us up on your iPhone from anywhere you have service and talk to us one on one about what kind of surf you’re going to be riding it in and how it performs for your skill level.
Seems like a phone call would be just as effective, but then that wouldn’t have caught our attention. Follow the jump for the official word. [click to continue…]
The Surf Industry Manufacturers Association is using all the tricks from late night cable TV commercials to sell spots in their four-times a year Boot Camp sessions. For a “Limited Time” only, they are offering four-packs for only $500 each. That is a savings of $200 per package (assuming you’d be sending someone to all four boot camps).
