Kelly Slater is on fire. Stephanie Gilmore is beginning to fly despite her broken wing, and not surprisingly Mick Fanning is the faster surfer in the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast so far. Oh, and Taj Burrow (pictured above) had the second highest heat total of the day with 16.67. In the Roxy Pro Tyler Wright took the day’s high score with a 17.96. Go figure.
Follow the jump for the official results and spin from the ASP. [click to continue…]
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The ASP 2011 World Tour is officially underway right now at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast.
Click here to watch it live (Julian Wilson, Ace Buchan, and Heitor Alves are in the water) or follow the jump for all the round one heat match-ups.
[Link: Quiksilver Pro] [click to continue…]
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Check out the red carpet and some clips from the ASP World Surfing Awards last night. Not gonna lie. Those surfers are some beautiful people.
[Link: Quiksilver Pro]
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Transworld Surf editor Chris Cote is apparently looking for a new side gig in the salty snack food industry. Where exactly? With Ashton Kutcher’s new potato chip company PopChips.
Kutcher is looking for someone to follow him around, do some Tweeting, interview people at events and basically act as PopChip’s Vice President of Pop Culture. The job pays $50,000 for the year and according to this video, Chris Cote says he’s the man for the job.
[Link: Pop Chips VP]
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Yesterday, on Steve Job’s 56th birthday, Apple announced an updated line of Macbook Pro computers. And what did they feature front and center? A photo of Billabong’s Laurie Towner charging Teahupoo. Apparently, someone at Apple has their priorities straight.
[Link: Apple]
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Stab Magazine was nice enough to transcribe Kelly Slater’s entire acceptance speech from last night’s ASP World Surfing Awards at the Gold Coast Convention Center in a story titled The King’s Speech. As Kelly is one of the most eloquent, insightful surfers who has ever lived we’d say it is well worth a read. Here is a little slice:
It’s been a magical occasion for me to win this title, in a lot of ways. Y’know, there’s the challenges, the obvious challenges. When I was getting back on the tour after taking a few years off, there was a lot of doubt whether I’d be even in a shot for the title. So at this age, I just turned 39 years old, and half of you guys out there, even to my face, make fun of me for being that old (laughs). It’s funny, ’cause it’s like you see all these changes happen in people over the years, and when I got on tour I was kinda the hated little kid and now I’m like, the loved old guy by all the older guys that used to hate me when I was a little kid. ‘Cause they’re like, “You’re keeping the dream alive mate (in his best Australian accent), for all us old guys.”
Follow the jump for the official ASP press release or click the link for Kelly’s speech.
[Link: Stab Magazine] [click to continue…]
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Friends and family of NSSA co-founder and USASA founder Chuck Allen, who died on Valentine’s Day, will gather at the Huntington Beach Pier on Sunday, February 27, 2011 at 1 PM (PST) for a paddle out in his memory, according to a post on the NSSA website.
Huntington Beach Pier was a favorite surf break of Chuck’s where he coached the National Champion Huntington Beach High School surf team for many years. One of his greatest achievements was leading the USA Surf Team to a gold medal at the 1984 World Championships which was held in Huntington Beach. Chuck’s contribution to surfing, snowboarding and the entire action sports industry is unparalleled. His wisdom and inspiration has touched the hearts of many.
Click here for his Los Angeles Times obituary or follow the jump for more information on the paddle out and where condolences can be sent. [click to continue…]
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Kelly Slater is going to surf at least the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast presented by Land Rover at Snapper Rocks (February 26 – March 9, 2011). No surprise. It is his sponsor’s biggest event. And no different from most years, Kelly is rolling in with his trademarked, time-tested, media friendly ambivalence.
“The waves at Snapper wake me up enough for motivation but I’d love to get another win at the Quiksilver Pro,” Slater said. “Either a great way to go out or to start another campaign! I can’t honestly answer that (my plans for the year) right now. I’ve thought about doing a farewell aloha tour and saying bye to the tour and I’ve thought about retiring after this event for real.”
But he can’t retire before the Quik Pro New York, so he might as well charge it, right? There are really only two possibilities for Snapper. If he wins, he moves on to the next event to see how he does there. Then on to the next and the next and eventually it will be October. The tour will be in Portugal and he’ll lock up number 11, because it’s one better than 10. Then all the old guys can wear their Ke11y shirts with pride and the discussions for 12 will begin.
If, on the outside chance Slater goes out early at Snapper then he’ll be in a serious “can’t-go-out-like-that” position and will need to spend the next couple events battling his way back to a respectable retiring position. Either way we’re all in for another epic first half of the tour no matter what kind of head trip Kelly wants to lay on us. And that’s just the way we like it.
Follow the jump for all the official ASP details including Round 1 heats for the men and the women. [click to continue…]
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A 32-year-old surfer at Three Rocks, Saint-Gilles on France’s Reunion Island lost his leg in a shark attack on Saturday, February 6, 2011, according to a story on Underwater Times.
Several surfers in the water at the time of the attack said they heard the man scream for help. The victim reportedly had his leg torn off at the knee. He was said to be conscious when he was evacuated by emergency personnel to the hospital.
This is reportedly the first time there has been a shark attack at Three Rocks.
[Link: Underwater Times via Surfline]
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Tonight (February 16, 2011) “smoking hot pro surfer” Alana Blanchard will be on Fuel TV’s The Daily Habit to apparently “catch up on bikinis and her upcoming return to the WCT,” according to Fuel TV.
We’ve never read anything about her “bikini work” before, but a quick look through Rip Curl bikini catalog brought us right up to speed. For Alana’s real fans we recommend the “full-screen” option.
[Link: Rip Curl via Aloha Update]
[click to continue…]
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