by The Editors on October 4, 2011
The 2011 Quiksilver Pro France got off to a lay day start earlier today thanks to little to know contestable waves, but that doesn’t mean Dane Reynolds is off the hook just yet. No. Officials say there should be waves arriving soon.
“As expected, we don’t have much on offer this morning and have called a lay day today,” Rich Porta, ASP International Head Judge said. “We’re expecting an increase over the next several days and will reassess conditions for a possible start tomorrow morning.”
Lucky for Reynolds he gets to face Owen Wright in Round 1, Heat 5. How’s that for a welcome back? But we’re guessing the “nude beaches and wine” will make up for that. Follow the jump for the full Round 1 heat match-ups. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on October 3, 2011
Dane Reynolds may have dropped out of every event on the 2011 ASP World Tour, but that doesn’t mean he has stopped surfing entirely. As evidenced by this new “sperm whale” edit shot by Michael Kew last week in Ventura County, California surfing’s $23 million man can and does still ride waves.
[Link: Korduroy.tv]
by The Editors on October 3, 2011
For the past week surfers in San Diego have been treated to waves that light-up at night thanks to Lingulodinium polyedrum aka red tide. Loghan Call and Jonathan Keena from Mansbestmedia.com have done an amazing job of capturing the glow with this edit. It’s still nothing close to paddling out and seeing if for yourself, but it will help you understand (be sure to click it fullscreen).
[Link via Daily Mail]
by The Editors on September 30, 2011
Surfer Magazine has created an amazingly beautiful infographic overview of stats leading into the ASP Dream Tour’s stop in France. Here’s what they’re saying:
With the Quiksilver Pro in France set to kickoff the European leg of the tour on October 4, we took a step back from all of the Ke11y hysteria and examined the rest of the tour’s relationship to the venue. And although Kelly and Owen will surely be contenders, we found that Mick Fanning’s 60 percent event-win ratio over the past five years makes him a major player.
Click through for a more detailed look.
[Link: Surfer Magazine]
by The Editors on September 29, 2011
Longtime surf scribe Drew Kampion has written an apparently commissioned biography of O’Neill wetsuit founder Jack O’Neill titled (not suprisingly) Jack O’Neill: It’s Always Warm on the Inside. The book is being published in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of the iconic Santa Cruz brand.
Jack O’Neill began with a vision to create an innovative suit and unknowingly he spawned an entire industry. Today, O’Neill is sold in more than 47 countries and is the number one wetsuit brand in the world. The brand is currently carried in core shops, department stores, and other mass retailers world-wide and is known for high-quality goods for men, women and children. . . “O’Neill has a 60 year history of developing the industry’s best products,” says Pat O’Neill son of Jack and CEO of O’Neill Wetsuits, “the brand was founded on my dad’s passion to be the ‘first in the water’ and we infuse this belief into each product we produce.”
The book, which is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com for $26.40, will be released on October 1, 2011. For more info, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on September 28, 2011
by The Editors on September 27, 2011
Each time Santa Monica, California high-school teacher Benjamin Kay goes surfing he picks up all the trash he finds brings it back to throw away, according to a story in the Santa Monica Mirror. The photo above is just one Sunday’s catch. Now he’s trying to get more people involved with a Paddle Clean-up.
“I’d like to engage the surfing, boogie board, paddle board, kayak, and diving communities in an aquatic cleanup to help us all get on the same page about the reasons for and sources of plastic pollution and build a greater activist coalition,” he said. “I heard a guy in the water yesterday blame beach-going litter bugs for the problem, but the reasons for plastics into our oceans is much more complex than that.”
If everyone does a little. . .
[Link: Santa Monica Mirror]
by The Editors on September 27, 2011
When a baby Great White shark washed up on Venice Beach, California with a hook in its mouth, it didn’t take long for a crowd to arrive. Luckily, the crowd included one man who was not afraid to remove the hook with his bare hands.
Viewer Elvia sent in this video of the rescue, saying the shark became stranded on the sand near the Venice Pier after it latched on to a fishing hook. . . “The rescuers were heroes,” she said, as her camera captured surfers and other good samaritans trying to lead the Great White back to the water.
While it appears that the surfers in the video did very little in the rescue, it was a nice contrast to that horrifying shark fishing video that was going around earlier this month.
[Link: KTLA TV]
by The Editors on September 22, 2011
For the past three weeks we’ve had these two photos sitting on our desktop, but we couldn’t seem to post them. When Keala Kennelly first uploaded the left photo to her facebook page we, like the rest of the world, gasped in horror.
We were amazed that Keala was still able to throw that famous twinkling glare in the face of a terrible injury. Badass, right? At the time we didn’t really care how it happened, we were just glad she was still able to keep those piercing peepers pointed in the proper direction and that there appeared to be no permanent damage.
Today, in an interview with Billabong Girls Team Manager Megan Villa, Keala tells the whole story.
It happened 2 days after the tow day during the AI memorial heat right before the final. It was a pretty regular looking wave. I took off and it kind of had a bit of bump that kept me from pulling into the barrel straight away. I had to make some adjustments and then saw that the next section was going to throw so I bottom-turned and parked it in the barrel. I traveled for a bit, had to negotiate the foam-ball and that may have thrown me off and made me have to draw a higher line than I would have liked. I thought I was coming out but the lip just clipped me in the head and threw me straight into the reef before I even realized what happened.
Strangely, each time we see these photos we can’t get that old Poi Dog Pondering lyric out of our heads: “. . . wear with pride the scars on your skin, they’re a map of the adventures and the places you’ve been.” Click the link for the rest of Keala’s interivew.
[Link: Billabong Girls via @kealakennelly]
by The Editors on September 22, 2011
Last night (Wednesday, September 21, 2011) the San Mateo County Harbor Commission reportedly awarded the Mavericks event permit to Jeff Clark, Cassandra Clark, and Kenny “Skindog” Collins’ Mavericks Invitational Inc, according to a story in the San Jose Mercury News.
If conditions are right, the contest will occur sometime between Dec. 1 and March 30, which gives the group some time to corral sponsors and deliver on its promise to stage an epic surf event that draws thousands of spectators to the coast — but keeps them away from the beach and dangerous bluffs. . . “It’s been a long time coming to get back in as contest director,” Clark said. “We’re looking forward to putting on an amazing event.”
Hopefully, when the sponsors get involved we won’t see a historical repeat. Seems like once down that over-blown road is enough.
[Link: San Jose Mercury News]
