by The Editors on August 19, 2011
Today, (August 19, 2011) you can forget those last ditch efforts of flying to Tahiti, getting a taxi down to the end of the road, and talking your way onto a boat to join the flotilla to catch the boys free surfing at Teahupoo, because thankfully Billabong will be webcasting today’s free surf session live beginning at 1 PM PDT. Can’t think of a better way to spend the those last few hours at work before the weekend.
Click the link below for times in your zone.
[Link: Billabong Pro Tahiti]
by The Editors on August 17, 2011
Kassia Meador coming up for air while plunging Lindsay Lohan into another Roxy wave at Malibu. We’re kind of glad there is no audio on this photo because that “Oh, my gawd” look on Lindsay’s face would be painful to hear, we’re sure.
[Link: X 17 Gallery and Daily Mail UK]
by The Editors on August 16, 2011
Seems like these Nixon WTA watches are getting better and better. For intance, this Teahupoo Magnacon SS watch that goes to the surfer who catches the heaviest wave during the Billabong Pro Teahupoo is worth a reported $10,000 and it features the following:
. . . a custom engraved caseback, a Swiss tide movement, 60 rubies around the bezel, four two-millimeter decorative black diamonds on the dial, and 24 black diamonds on the dial for hour indices.
There are probably people off the street who would paddle out at chopes for a watch like that. And what a great game show that would make. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on August 16, 2011
Burton’s surf division (Channel Islands Surfboards) got a write-up in Businessweek thanks to Dane Reynolds best-selling surfboard shape the Dumpster Diver.
What Reynolds really wanted was to take a standard, lance-like shortboard, cut out the midsection, squash the nose and the tail together, and fatten it up. . . He fished a foam scrap out of a trash bin, and the two repaired to the shaping room. As Smith tells it, the whole time the shaper was planing the foam, he was muttering, “Dude, this is ugly. This is really, really ugly.”
For those who may have thought Dane is getting paid a little too well to be dropping out of J-Bay and Teahupo’o, it should be mentioned that according to Businessweek his ugly boards now account for 15 percent of Channel Islands’ total board sales.
[Link: Businessweek]
by The Editors on August 15, 2011
Brazil’s Ricardo Dos Santos and Tahiti’s Heiarri Williams took the two wildcard spots in the Air Tahiti Nui VonZipper Trials at Teahupo’o. Dos Santos won the trials and Williams (who has won the trials twice before) finished in second place.
“I feel amazing, it’s been a long day of getting barrelled and having fun in front of friends. To qualify for the main event is the best thing that could have happened today, so for that I am so stoked. I’ve been here the last four years and training I don’t know what the conditions will be like next week, but I don’t care. I’m ready,” said Santos.
The waiting period for the Billabong Pro Tahiti begins Saturday, August 20, 2011. For the rest of the details, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on August 15, 2011
Whitewash, a documentary that focuses on African American surfers, will be released on DVD and VOD on October 4, 2011.
The film, which is narrated by Ben Harper and Tariq Black Though of The Roots, reportedly “explores the history of rarely detailed surfing culture within the African American community, told from the POV of black surfers from Hawaii, Jamaica, Florida, and California.,” according to a story on Indiewire.
And yes, the film features Sal Masekela, who (if you saw him surf during the US Open of Surfing) is ripping right now.
[Link: Indiewire and Whitewash]
by The Editors on August 15, 2011
Two weeks ago on August 1, 2011, Outside Magazine posted former Surfer Magazine editorial staff member Brad Melekian’s story on Andy Irons’ death titled Crashing Down to its website. We didn’t link it up then and rather than just let it roll by unchecked, we’re linking it up now.
Most Boardistan.com readers already know the story and while some of the rumors we’ve all heard are confirmed in Melekian’s well-written piece (specifically AI’s evening in Miami), there really isn’t all that much new info here. Still, it’s worth a read if you (like us) missed it when it first came out.
[Link: Outside Magazine]
by The Editors on August 15, 2011
The Jensen’s, a family from Clearwater, Florida who wanted to wrap up their vacation in Cocoa Beach with a couple Ron Jon hoodies, inadvertently became the super surf retailers 50 millionth customer on Friday, August 12, 2011, according to a story on Florida Today.
Mark Jensen became the 50 millionth guest at the landmark Cocoa Beach store as he strolled in with Olivia and her brother, 13-year-old Mark Jr. The honor carried with it a surfboard, a $550 in-store shopping spree and a $2,000 check to be used at any other Ron Jon location throughout the United States. . . “This is unbelievable,” Mark Jensen said, posing for photos with his children as he was handed a surfboard-size ceremonial check for $2,000 signed by Ron Jon President Debbie Harvey. . . “We’re in shock. I’ve never won anything like this,” he said.
Not a bad way to end a vacation.
[Link: Florida Today]
by The Editors on August 15, 2011
San Clemente, California big wave surfer Rusty Long, who was hospitalized on July 24, 2011 after suffering second degree burns to 40 percent of his body while clearing brush from his land in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, was reportedly released from the hospital on Saturday, August 13, 2011, according to a story in the San Clemente Times.
During his acceptance speech for the Waterman of the Year Award at the 22nd Annual SIMA Waterman’s Ball on August 12, Greg [Long] thanked the surf community – on behalf of Rusty and the entire Long family – for all the support and well wishes Rusty received during his stay in the hospital.
Click the link for the rest of the story.
[Link: San Clemente Times]
by The Editors on August 15, 2011
In a review of magazine advertising for the first half of 2011 (January through June) the The Association of Magazine Media is reporting that business is slightly up compared to 2010. But only by 1.3 percent. In the action sports magazine space*, however, Transworld Media is pulling through with gains much higher than the average on every title except Skateboarding and Wakeboarding.
Here’s how the titles look in order of performance based on total advertising pages sold in first six months of the year (click here for past reports):
2011 2010 %Chg
TRANSWORLD MOTOCROSS 500.22 440.49 13.6
TRANSWORLD SURF 407.77 372.29 9.5
TRANSWORLD RIDE BMX 130.25 120.41 8.2
TRANSWORLD SNOWBOARDING 351.08 337.17 4.1
TRANSWORLD SKATEBOARDING 432.24 463.30 -6.7
TRANSWORLD WAKEBOARDING 205.86 222.48 -7.5
*Transworld Media is the only action sports publishing company whose titles are tracked by The Association of Magazine Media’s Pub PIB.
[Link: Association of Magazine Media]
