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…]
by The Editors on December 21, 2011
Flagging, old media, tits and ass magazine Sports Illustrated recently had a contest that would allow fans to pick the best sports moment of 2011 and have it featured on the magazine’s last cover of the year.
Kelly Slater winning his 11th ASP World title was up for that spot, along with a soccer player named Lionel Messia, Yankees player Derek Jeter, but the cover apparently went to football player named Eric LeGrand who was paralyzed when he used his head to tackle a guy returning a kick off and has finally returned to the sidelines in a wheelchair, according to a story in the Orlando Sentinel.
On a snowy Oct. 29, he led the Rutgers football team onto the field for the first time since his accident during the opening moments of the Scarlet Knights’ game against West Virginia. He was surrounded by his teammates and coaches. . . That moment has been voted as Sports Illustrated’s Best Moments of 2011 by the fans.
We’re not really sure what it says about SI’s readership when the world’s greatest athlete gets snubbed in favor of a guy who broke his neck plowing head-first into a kick return specialist. Then again, it’s only print. And who reads that anymore anyway, aside from fans of college football, apparently?
[Link: The Orlando Sentinel]
by The Editors on December 21, 2011
The good news is there appears to be a floor stopping Billabong’s two-day free fall. Yes, on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 shares bounced up 10.16 percent to close at $1.95, according to a story on Business Spectator.
Surfwear retailer and manufacturer Billabong International Ltd has lifted over 10 per cent, clawing back some of its massive losses from earlier in the week.
And though it’s not exactly back in solid terrain, at least the stock didn’t fall below a dollar. That may be thanks to IOOF Holdings 1.1 million share purchase on Monday, December 19, 2011.
[Link: Business Spectator]
by The Editors on December 20, 2011
We doubt there is anyone who types words about surfing who hasn’t made some kind of comment or 10 about Dane Reynolds and what he should or should not be doing with all that raw talent. We’re guilty. Sometimes we start thinking like old high school principals. We see Dane’s crazy, insane surfing skills, his dashing personality, and star power and we believe he has a responsibility to perform on the ASP world tour. Anything less is complete and utter waste of all that potential. Or something like that.
Thankfully, Dane has decided that rather than let all of us “twitter impostors, eggy surf bloggers, overzealous surf photographers” continue to speculate, he’ll just lay it all out in one blog post. It begins like this and includes no capital letters (shift key must be broken):
i’ve been getting some pressure from various people and/or websites to write something, sorta like an official statement concerning my exit from the world tour. my dismount. my pirouette. ‘an opportunity level with your fans.’ that’s what they tell me. people wanna know whats goin on. be up to date. i can understand that. i like knowing whats going on. i like being up to date. . . .one thing to remember is that i have a heart and i have bones and muscle and skin and eyes and teeth. i have emotions. sometimes i act according to emotions. sometimes i think and make a conscious decision. i usually do that. in fact i usually think too much. sorta neurotic. i make mistakes, and i deal with them. i have fears and i have anxiety and i have insecurities and i have vices which i often give in to. social situations enhance all of these qualities. i could probably use some discipline, and lots of things bum me out, but generally i’m happy, and i enjoy making other people happy. sometimes all it takes is a smile. sometimes it takes a lot more than that. i try to be honest. especially with myself. i know that i’m fortunate. i’m sitting here and i have a pulse and i can breath and i hear birds outside and the buzz of the freeway and the suns about to set and it’s a friday. that’s fortune. i also know that i’m fortunate in many other ways. three brands support me and enable me to surf every day and travel and eat and have a house to live in. in return i represent their company in a positive way. i feel like i do a decent job. but that’s obviously up for debate. surfing is my passion in life. i always think about how lucky we are that there’s even an ocean, and its not too hot or too turbulent and it’s not made of acid that burns our skin off. and how lucky is it that the land tapers into the ocean in just the right way so that when lumps of energy approach from a thousand miles away they gently rise up and crash at just the perfect speed so that we can wave our little arms and match their speed and hang at the crest weightless for just a second before sliding down the face. free to ride it in any way you please. and there’s not just one of them. there’s tons of them. they keep coming. all different sizes shapes and speeds. everyday they’re different. endless joy.
As usual, it’s very difficult to argue with Dane because he’s always so honest and witty and, well, right. Click the link to read the rest. We don’t want to put any more words in his mouth.
[Link: Marine Layer Productions via Stab Mag]
by The Editors on December 20, 2011
An Sunday, December 18, 2011, while filming at Maverick’s for a movie on the life of big wave surfer Jay Moriarity, actor Gerard Butler (who plays Rick “Frosty” Hesson in the film) got tumbled through a two-wave hold down and took “five more on the head before being washed through the rocks on the inside,” according to a Frank Quirarte story on ESPN/Action.
Talking to Wormhoudt on the dock, he said they were all sitting on the inside when a large outside set came through, swung way to the south, caught them off-guard and mowed them all down.
Butler was taken to Stanford Medical Center for observation, but was on his feet on the dock before getting into the ambulance. Assuming he’s fine, it was probably great research for his role.
[Link: ESPN/Action and Surfline]
by The Editors on December 19, 2011
Her royal hotness Gisele Bundchen is staring in a new series of ads for designer label Givenchy. In the ads, she and two pouty bros appear rather miffed to be stuck on a stormy beach with surfboards, but no boardshorts nor bikinis. Here are the details from Fashionista.
Like the Versace ads, these were also shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, and they show off Riccardo Tisci’s goth asesthetic perfectly. The beach, usually a sunny and joyful place, gets dark and stormy in Tisci’s hands.
If Gisele wants to surf, guess she’s going to have to paddle out in her undress.
[Link: Fashionista]
