Writer Thad Ziolkowski, whose memoir On a Wave reportedly tells the story of a “disenchanted, unemployed English professor” who goes surfing in Queens only to be reminded of his youth as a surfer in Florida, had a few words for the New York Times today about Quiksilver’s upcoming New York Pro surf contest.
In an editorial titled: New York’s Urban Aloha he had the following to say about a large West Coast fashion brand invading his personal peak.
Imprinting the Quiksilver brand on New York’s burgeoning surf scene makes perfect sense from a business perspective, but the corporate siren song threatens to sour the mood of surfing in New York, which for the moment remains a bastion of surf spirit. It’s a spirit that companies like Quiksilver claim to value but have in fact helped degrade elsewhere, peddling a vision of surfing’s blithe, blue allure that studiously omits the ugly realities of overcrowding that such marketing abets.
Leave it to the New York Times and a writing professor to use 990 words to say: “locals only.”
The next time you’re on the island of Tavarua, and think you’re just killing it at Restaurants, don’t remember this Riley Blakeway footage of Kelly Slater. It would likely ruin your whole trip.
Get-N Classic, Volume 1, the Vans surf film that premiered last week at Newport Beach, California’s Lido Theatre is now available for free download at Vans.com. The film features Joel Tudor, Nathan Fletcher, Pat, Tanner and Dane Gudauskas, John, Ivan and Nathan Florence, Dylan Graves, Alex Knost, Andrew Doheny, Kalani Chapman and Jason “Ratboy” Collins.
Filmed and edited by Graham Nash and Reagan Ritchie, Get-N Classic, Volume 1 captures this unique juncture in surf history and chronicles the travels of the Vans Surf Team as they have crossed the globe in search of surf and adventure.
Any film that kicks off with a Surf Punks song is fine by us. Download a copy of Get-N Classic for smartphone, iPad, iPod, or in full high-res by clicking here.
Three Mexican nationals had almost made it to the US Open of Surfing to watch Kelly Slater win his quarter-final heat against Taj Burrow when their 25 foot panga was spotted by lifeguards on Sunday morning, August 7, 2011, according to ABC7.
The small panga carrying three Mexican nationals was on its way to Huntington State Park about 8:30 a.m. Sunday when lifeguards spotted it and called authorities. . . The trio was arrested on suspicion of drug possession, smuggling and attempting to enter the United States illegally. . . The 25-foot boat, which was reported stolen in Mexico, was towed to Newport Dunes and impounded as evidence.
All they wanted to do was party with the rest of Southern California and to think–they apparently brought their own weed.
When a 16-year-old beach goer nearly buried himself alive in a Newport Beach, California sand pit collapse on August 2, 2011 who was there to catch the rescue on video? Ghetto Juice Magazine’s Skip Snead, that’s who. He was also there to provide the video to the Associated Press and give an eye witness interview. Ghetto Juice covers Newps like no one else.
After being on fire all week, Kelly Slater stopped at nothing to carry that flame on into a victory over Australian Yadin Nicol at the US Open of Surfing (his first since 1996). As he has several times during this event, Slater paddled out into an 8.5 on his first wave and then went to work on a shockingly unresponsive Yadin Nicol.
With five minutes to go in the final, Nicol had still not even taken off on one wave. Then, two minutes later, Nicol finally took off on a closeout, popped a little ollie and jumped off his board. It appeared to take an act of will for Nicol to get a second wave to avoid a complete shut out.
Kelly Slater was his normal confident self following the heat. “Well, I guess Yadin wanted me to win. He didn’t catch any waves,” Slater said. “But, I was feeling frustrated for him. The big ones were close outs. And he was sitting a little too far outside to get the smaller ones that I picked off. I got the 8.5 to start and he knew he had to get a big wave to start. So he was trying to be patient.”
Sadly, the ocean never came through for Nicol and he suffered what so many surfers before him have–a complete unraveling in a heat with the best surfer who has ever lived.
If Nicol had to blame the heat on one thing it would be Slater’s opening 8.5. “That sucked for me. Whenever someone opens up with a big score you have to wait,” Nicol said. “I think I waited a little too long. If someone had told me at the beginning of the week that i would get second and even get the chance to surf with Kelly at the end of the week, I would have said beat it. So I’m pretty over the moon.”
Complete results and official word from ASP after the jump. [click to continue…]
Australian Sally Fitzgibbons wanted an ASP World Title this year, but Carissa Moore took that away from her. None of that seem to bother and exuberant Fitzgibbons as she capped off the season with her first US Open of Surfing win (her third tour win of the season) against 16-year-old Lakey Peterson.
After riding up through the crowd Fitzgibbon could barely contain her bliss. “It’s an unbelievable feeling to get chaired up the beach with this sea of people,” Fitzgibbons said. “To get three wins this year was very special. I didn’t get the title, but I kept improving.”
It was an interesting week in Huntington Beach for the women, but Fitzgibbons kept on the drive. “The conditions have been challenging,” said Fitzgibbons. “We managed on the smaller days. And today was just about connecting the dots and stepping it up. I’ve been coming here for five years seeing people get chaired up the beach. And it is as amazing as it looks.”
We can only imagine. Follow the jump for full results and the official word from the ASP. [click to continue…]
Brazilian wildcard Filipe Toledo, 16, slipped in ahead of Kolohe Andino to take the Junior Men’s title while Santa Barbara’s Lakey Peterson, 16, dominated Malia Manuel, Laura Enever and Coco Ho to steal the Junior Women’s event at the US Open of Surfing on Saturday, August 6, 2011.
“I feel like this win puts my name with the rest of the Brazilians like Alejo (Muniz) and Miguel (Pupo),” Toledo said. “I’m going to go back to Brazil and do some ASP contests and hopefully I can do well.”
Lakey was obviously stoked.
“It’s amazing to win this event,” Peterson said. “I was looking at the trophy before I paddled out and I was like ‘I want that thing so bad.’ Nike does such a great job and I’d like to thank them for putting on this event. It’s been an amazing day. The final wasn’t really serious, we were all laughing and cracking jokes, it was really fun.”
Today, Kelly Slater showed the Huntington Beach, California crowds at the US Open of Surfing that he can and will bend the ocean to his will. In the Round of 12, Heat 2 Kelly paddled out in his heat against Taj Burrow and Tanner Gudauskas, turned around and got barreled like no one had all day. Then he did it again on his second wave, and on his third he boosted this air up and out for a total of 18.77. The highest heat score of the day.
“I saw some barrels before my heat so I went out there to try and find some and I wanted the airs because the wind is perfect for the airs on those rights,” Slater said. “There are some fun peaks. You try not to peak too early in these events and if you have a really good heat like I just had, you kind of readjust and know that you can’t always go to that level of scores.”
For the rest of the heats and the official word from the ASP, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
In a deserted lot tucked in behind a small warehouse in the soft, flabby, belly of Costa Mesa, California’s velcro girdled waistband, Globe International set up shop to host a massive party and world premiere of their newest motion marketing project the surf film Year Zero.
With revelers dropped off by the bus load and a taco truck with lines ten deep, the deserted back lot became a swirling mass of Orange County’s finest professional and civilian partiers, along with more than a few pro surfers.
The premiere got off to a pretty rough start. After a countdown, the lights dimmed, and the film began with a scene shot in the middle of California’s Joshua Tree littered high desert. Muscle cars faced off on a dusty strip of lonesome highway. Then as the titles rolled, the power went off and the film stopped. Twenty minutes later, Globe got the film running again and the crowd glimpsed five more minutes of video including explosive freesurfing from Taj Burrow. Then the video froze and everything stopped a second time.
This is the part where we left the party. Having no interest in standing by as the technical collapse of an epic film threatened to ruin all the hard work Globe put into the party, we checked out early. Our mistake. We’re sorry. Forgive us.
On the drive home the tweets began pounding in: Sal Masekela said: “Just watched the Globe Surf Movie. 16mm time machine of forward moving joy. Joe G and Scott Soens should be proud.”
Super action agent Circe Wallace kicked in: “The post apocalypse Year 0000 is some next level s#÷!. Joe G. Making Globe look good and CJ is not messing around. Buy it-No Pirate it!”
Guess, we’ll have to wait for the download. In the meantime, follow the jump for all the photos. [click to continue…]
Writer Thad Ziolkowski, whose memoir On a Wave reportedly tells the story of a “disenchanted, unemployed English professor” who goes surfing in Queens only to be reminded of his youth as a surfer in Florida, had a few words for the New York Times today about Quiksilver’s upcoming New York Pro surf contest. 
