To those who thought the Quiksilver Pro New York would be a dismal, flat, failure this photo of Josh Kerr with his tail four feet out over Long Beach in round 1 is about as big a “I told you so” as Quiksilver’s Bob McKnight could have asked for. And with hurricane Katia powered surf set to build through Thursday it looks like New York could see some epic ASP World tour action after all.
Other than the waves there weren’t many surprises. Follow the jump for the full report.
This morning we sent out a mildly insulting tweet to let our followers know that the Quiksilver Pro New York had indeed kicked off with round one action. We mentioned that the waves were what “one would expect in New York.”
We were kind of expecting some of our East Coast followers to be pissed. But no. As only New Yorkers can do they fell all over themselves explaining how todays waves were really good and that it’s normally much, much worse. @philoSURFical went as far as calling us “wave spoiled cupcakes.” Okay, NYC surfers. You win. You have the worst waves in the world.
Luckily for all of us, this week has been blessed by Hurricane Katia (which is backing off a little, but still a Category 3) meaning the waves will likely be truly world class great for the finals later in the week.
The day after Irene stormed through New Jersey (August 28, 2011) a few Belmar Beach surfers decided that they couldn’t just watch all those waves go by unridden so they did what any surf starved Jersey boys would do: they made a run for it.
Laura Enever, Tyler Wright, and the girls roll up and send the boys packing in the short film LunchBreak by Fran Derham, according to a story in the Tweed Daily News.
“First Love gave us the idea to make a more drama-based film. It’s a four-minute short film, normally in surfing films you don’t get many story lines. It’s just music video after music video.” . . Ms Derham said the film will hopefully appeal to a mainstream audience and not just to the surfing elite.
Has a bit of an outsider feel, but definitely worth checking out.
The massive swell that hit Southern California over Labor Day weekend have already claimed the life of one surfer. Russ Yamada, 42, of Torrence, California was reportedly found “unresponsive near his surfboard” in the water at San Onofre at approximately 4:35 PM on Friday, September 3, 2011, according to a story in the North County Times.
He was taken to Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in San Clemente and declared dead. Waves up to about 8 feet were breaking on southwest-facing beaches yesterday.
Our thoughts are with Yamada’s family and friends.
“This acquisition represents a significant step for both Kooey and West in our strategy designed to accelerate growth in both businesses,” said Nikki Silverthorne, Director and Designer of Kooey. “We are now focused on seizing the opportunities in both local and international markets that this transaction has created for us. We are looking forward to delivering on the promise of this acquisition to build both brands exponentially and with speed.”
Kind of cool that the brand will remain a Western Australian company. Follow the jump for all the details. [click to continue…]
A 21-year-old bodyboarder was killed by what was believed to be a white pointer shark today (Sunday, September 4, 2011) while riding waves with a friend in The Boneyards near Bunker Bay in Naturaliste, Western Australia, according to a story in WA Today.
Sergeant Anderson described those who pulled the victim from the water as courageous. “You’ve got to take your hat off to the young fellow who was surfing with him and his mate for bringing [the victim] ashore, the nature of his injuries was significant, it’s not something that even volunteer rescuers or emergency services like to see,” he said.
According to witnesses quoted in the story the bodyboarder was bitten in half at the waist. “”They were saying they were just two metres away from him. “From the waist down, it was just all gone.” Our thoughts are with the man’s family and friends.
Daniel True, 19, went out for a surf Friday (September 2, 2011) at Florida’s Shark Bite Bay Ponce de Leon Inlet and was in four feet of water when felt something hit his let.
Officials say True made it back to shore and received medical attention. He then drove himself to the hospital where he got 34 stitches.
Hurricanes really seem to bring out the sharks. . . or is it the surfers?
Florida, Florida, Florida. Add Shane Lancaster, 19, of Keystone Heights to the list of surfers bitten by a shark while surfing Florida’s sunny beaches.
“The water was probably up to my belly button and I slid off my board. And as soon as my foot hit the sand, (the shark) grabbed ahold real quick and it was gone,” Lancaster said. . . “It wasn’t like I was screaming,” he said of the pain. “It was scary and shocking, that’s all.”
After a trip to the hospital and some stitches Lancaster was back home and feeling okay.
Lifeguards closed two miles of San Diego, California beach today (August 31, 2011) after a shark was reported sighted just south of Children’s Pool in La Jolla, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
About 2 p.m. Wednesday, three men in their 20s who were on boogie boards reported seeing a 12-inch tall dorsal fin at the beach off Casa Reef, just south of Children’s Pool in La Jolla, San Diego lifeguards said. . . The animal was swimming just past the surf break, said lifeguard Lt. Nick Lerma.
San Diego’s Mission Beach has reportedly been closed twice in the last week after sharks where reportedly spotted in the water there.
We have to agree with one of the quoted surfers who said: “It’s the ocean. There are sharks in there, whether we see them or not.”
