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…]
They don’t have Dane Reynolds but now DC Shoes can add Mitch Coleborn to the surf team where he will join Craig Anderson, Ry Craike, Clay Marzo, Marc Lacomare, Mark Healey, Reef McIntosh and Dillion Perillo.
The 24 year-old Australian native started surfing at the age of 10 in Maroochydore on Australia’s Sunshine Coast. Coleborn burst into the international surf scene in 2007 after winning back-to-back events and taking the 2007 Australasian Junior Ratings title. You may also recognize Mitch for his notable part in the most forward thinking surf movie to date, 2009’s Modern Collective.
Stuart Smith, 48, the owner of TriBeCa, NYC’s Bikini Bar Surf Shop reportedly fell nearly six floors to his death from the rooftop garden above the shop’s 148 Duane St. location just after midnight on Sunday morning (July 10, 2011), according to a story in the NY Daily News. A passerby reportedly found Smith in the street.
“We believe it was accidental,” a police source said. . . The shop specializes in custom surfboards and includes a tiki bar serving espresso and Hawaiian desserts.
Our thoughts are with Smith’s friends and family, especially his wife Aileen Oser.
The new attraction is named after the legendary big wave surfer and Hawaiian lifeguard. He was lost at sea in 1978, paddling out to find help as a crew member aboard the capsized Hokule’a voyaging canoe. . . Present for Sunday’s opening festivities were pro surfers Shane Dorian, Kelly Slater, Clyde Aikau, Eddie’s wife Linda Ipsen, and other members of the Aikau family and representatives of the Eddie Aikau Foundation.
The restaurant, which is open for lunch and dinner, will feature “Contemporary Hawaiian Cuisine” according to Executive Chef Scott Lute. Sounds like a dinner worth the drive.
What seems like the longest wait on the ASP Dream Tour is almost over. Only seven more days until the boys fire it all back up for the 2011 Billabong Pro J-Bay. The waiting period begins July 14, 2011. As a reminder the current top five looks like this: Adriano de Souza, Joel Parkinson, Kelly Slater, Taj Burrow, and Jordy Smith.
Vans by Thalia Surf Shop is hosting a Captian Fin Co. show on Thursday night, July 7, 2011 featuring food, drink, art, photographs, and surfboards created by Andrew Doheny and Alex Knost. The party begins at 6:30 PM.
