Daniel Bobis, a 32-year-old high school surf coach from Long Beach, New York who was in Sumatra with his wife reportedly went missing Sunday, July 24, 2011, according to a story in the My Fox Ny.
“It was just a day like any other here,” Bobis’ pal Brian Lonergan, 32, told the Post through tears. “Danny had just taken a wave before me, I was further outside. I noticed as I came through that I couldn’t see him and a few minutes later his board washed up on the shore.”
Bobis and Lonergan were surfing out of Krui Damai Bungalow surf camp. Lonergan, Bobis’s wife Rachel and camp owner Jason King reportedly spent the day searching for Daniel, but did not find him. Divers have reportedly joined the search. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, especially with his wife Rachel.
After a rough week with a terrible start, an epic middle, and a rainy finish the Billabong Pro J-Bay turned out exactly like it should have. Jordy Smith won his second title by edging two-time winner Mick Fanning, and Joel Parkinson moved into the lead in the ASP title race rolling in to Teahupoo.
“It’s been an incredible week for me,” Smith said. “All the support of the people at Jeffreys Bay, Garth (Tarlow), Steve (Smith), my girlfriend Lyndall (Jarvis), my mom and dad and everyone else. It’s been a really special week for me and I’m so happy right now.” . . .“Mick (Fanning) has surfed amazing all week,” Smith said. “He’s always an inspiration and he’s right there with everyone in the hunt for the title. Today’s a huge win for me. Last year, it was very emotional. To back it up this year just feels really, really good. It’s huge for my confidence and I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.”
If would be so nice if classic J-Bay would show up for the completion of the Billabong Pro and according to Surfline a “solid SSW swell will continue to build through the weekend.” In the meantime, the final six heats of Round 2 were completed today with Brett Simpson and C.J Hobgood among the six guys who were sent home. Michel Bourez on the other hand grabbed the day’s highest heat score on his “Firewire.”
“That was a really good heat for me,” Bourez said. “My Firewire is working really well. I’ve been riding it since I arrived in J-Bay and it seems to get better with each surf. It was an important heat for me. I’ve been building confidence since my injury in Rio and I’m hoping to break through Round 5 at this event.”
Sounds like Michel is getting his sponsor lingo down well. For the rest of the official word from J-Bay and the heats coming up in Round 3 follow the jump. [click to continue…]
When we fell asleep last night the Billabong Pro J-Bay was on hold for a 7:30 AM call. And they went with the first six heats of round two. While contestable waves may have been a bit of a surprise, the results were not. Everyone advances or was eliminated as expected. Ace Buchan had the score of the morning with a 15.80 in his Heat 6 victory over Cory Lopez.
“It’s challenging out there with the inconsistency,” Buchan said. “We’re always in a tough spot when faced with less-than-stellar forecasts, and I think the guys understood that we had to get out there and battle one another. It might not be equal for all heats in a round or all rounds in a contest, but at least it’s equal between each guy in the heat.”
And yes, Kelly Slater missed his heat and is rolling into retirement hunting down perfect waves around the world.
The surfer with the highest heat score at the 2011 Billabong Pro J-Bay is going to get this $10,000 Nixon Watch. Not a bad incentive. After the first round of the event it appears that Jordy Smith is currently leading the WTA with his 16.87 over Sean Holmes and Adam Melling in Round 1, Heat 5. Follow the jump for more details. [click to continue…]
After 41 years in the “surf industry” Bird Huffman decided that he’d rather do a surf shop his way, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune. As most know, the result was Bird’s Surf Shed.
[Bird’s] vision for what surf shops should be was at odds with an industry he believes is increasingly focused on the bottom line and giving little back to the surfboard shapers who sustain it. Faced with an assault on his values, Huffman did something few in this uncertain economy would dare do: He left a comfortable job to open a new business. Equal parts museum, community meeting place, library and surf shop, Huffman’s unique shrine to surfing recently opened and is nearly complete.
If you haven’t checked the Surf Shed it out already, click the link.
The Billabong Pro J-Bay kicked off today (July 15, 2011) and not surprisingly the standout from the first round was home country hero Jordy Smith. In fact, he did so well we didn’t even miss Kelly “Tavarua Trooper” Slater.
“Sean (Holmes) is obviously a very competent surfer at Jeffreys and Adam (Melling) was Runner-Up here last year so I definitely wasn’t taking the heat lightly,” Smith said. “They both got really good waves and I had to make do with what was left. It’s not classic J-Bay, but even when it’s like this, it’s still a pretty good wave. . . I don’t really feel the pressure to perform,” Smith said. “I’ve got my little program here with my friends and I’m just focusing on getting waves and surfing well. I’m happy to be through to Round 3.”
Staying up all night to watch this event is seriously annoying, but we’ll get used to it. Follow the jump for the official word from the ASP. [click to continue…]
The Roxy Pro wrapped up in Biarritz, France today with two winners: Stephanie Gilmore proved her winning ways are not over yet by taking her first event of the season, and Hawaii’s Carissa Moore clinched the 2011 ASP Women’s World Title.
“Today was unbelievable because so much has gone down,” Roxy Pro winner Gilmore said. “In my perfect world somebody would be crowned world champ and I would take the win and that is what I dreamt about. It feels so good. I missed it so much this year. I am so happy right now.”
Moore was obviously happy about her first (of what could be many) world title wins.
“It feels amazing to make all these finals and win the title,” Moore said. “I have been thinking about this for a long time since I was a little girl. Just to be here right now and being world champ is pretty crazy, and Roxy put-up a great event. I dreamed of surfing at this level my whole life since I was a little kid and I don’t think you can ever expect or anticipate the feeling.”
Stephie didn’t get her fifth consecutive world title, but at least she won an event this season and it was against the new world champ. Not a bad day at all. Follow the jump for the official word from the ASP. [click to continue…]
AR4T Gallery is presenting Karlee Mackie vs. Drew Brophy as the latest in the galleries Boys vs. Girls: The Summer of Love. It opens July 29, 2011. The summer of love is “a celebration of friendship, music, warm days, long nights and all other things that inspire the conversation between male and female artists to skip a beat.”
On Monday, July 11, 2011 the crew from Santee, California based Wavejet was at the Oceanside harbor showing off their new water jet powered longboards. Forget paddling with your arms, or standing and paddling with a paddle. Now we can all just flip the switch to on and let the surfboard do the paddling for us.
If Wavejet really works (which is difficult to tell from the video) all those with physical limitations (and those too lazy or fat to paddle for more than a minute) will be able to catch waves no problem. We can’t wait until these things are zipping around the line-up dropping in outside the SUPers. Follow the jump for more photos. [click to continue…]
