Eighty-four year-old actor Dick Van Dyke was reportedly surfing in Virginia Beach on his 10 foot longboard when he fell asleep on his board and drifted out to sea, according to a story in the Daily Mail.
‘I went out once and fell asleep on that board and I woke up out of sight of land,’ said Van Dyke, the star of Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. . . ‘And I looked around and I started paddling with the swells, and I started seeing fins swimming around me. I thought, “I’m dead”.’ . . ‘They turned out to be porpoises. They pushed me all the way to shore – I’m not kidding.’
Apparently, dolphins are bigger fans of 60s TV than scientists originally thought.
We learned today from a Scott Hulet story on The Surfer’s Journal that big wave surfer and industry legend Phillip “Flippy” Hoffman died early this morning (November 10, 2010) in Mission Viejo, California. Hoffman had reportedly been battling “unspecified pulmonary issues.” He was 81.
Born in Glendale, California in 1930, Flippy (as the surfing world knows him) was a member of the first wave of California surfers to chase big Hawaiian surf in the 1950s. Along with his roommate, Bob Simmons, Hoffman was the first mainland surfer to take up residence on the North Shore of Oahu. . . Along with his brother, Walter Hoffman, Flippy owned and operated Hoffman California Fabrics, a custom textile house supplying California surf brands.
The Hoffmans are one of the world’s foremost surf families. Flippy will greatly be missed. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. Click here for more info.
Surfers, friends, and family of Andy Irons will gather this Sunday, November 14, 2010 in both Hawaii and Huntington Beach, California to pay tribute to the life of the three-time ASP World Champion.
The family memorial service will be held at Pine Trees in Hanalei Bay, Kauai at 11:00 AM, while a Southern California memorial will be held the same day at 12:30 PM on the South side of the Huntington Beach Pier. Both memorials will be followed by an honorary paddle out to pay tribute to his legacy.
Ireland appears to be delivering another wave into XXL contention according to a story in the Irishtimes.
The latest wave, dubbed “Prowlers” by the hardy crew of Irish, British and South African surfers who first ventured out on it yesterday, breaks on an undersea reef about 2km (1.2 miles) off the west coast. While they are refusing to disclose its exact location, the surfers, including Andrew Cotton, reveal they have been waiting five years for the type of conditions required to surf it.
They’re saying this new spot bumped up some 40-50 foot faces thanks to Hurricane Tomas. Looks pretty amazing.
Kelly Slater didn’t stop with his 10th World Title. Nope. He rolled right on past Taj Burrow in the semi final. Then dominated Bede Durbidge in the final with a perfect 10 on 10 day at the Rip Curl Pro Search Puerto Rico.
Kelly seemed relived that this contest was over, but he was still as gracious as ever on the podium, even thanking the Puerto Rican fans in Español. “This is the only event close to my home,” Slater said. “When I was a kid growing up in Florida I spent a lot of time in Puerto Rico. I surfed a lot of contests at Jobos and Wilderness. So this is like my home away from home. We’re all surfing for Andy and we’re all feeling a special feeling in the water. I want to thank all of you for taking the moment of silence before the heat. And that crazy rainbow out of now where.”
We all have a November week to remember and it’s great that we can finish it off with all these good memories.
Full results and a word from the ASP after the jump.
The world was expecting an epic heat when 38-year Kelly Slater faced Brazilian Adriano DeSouza in the Rip Curl Pro Search Puerto Rico quarterfinals with a 10th ASP World Title on the line. But nothing will ever compare to the explosive reality Kelly Slater delivered. It was almost as if God realized the world needed a boost after what we’d all been through this week.
Kelly was visibly nervous as he paced the competitors’ area before the heat. He surveyed the ocean, spoke with Quik team manager Stephen “Belly” Bell for a moment, then put his jersey on and waded out through the ecstatic Puerto Rican crowd to the water. Once his feet hit the warm water, however, it was full guns blazing.
On the first wave de Souza took a look but didn’t paddle and mistakenly let Slater take it. Kelly dropped in a little behind the peak, pulled in under the lip and got barreled for days scoring a 9.0. While the crowd was still reeling from that wave Kelly paddle back out and into another even longer barrel for a 9.87. And all this happened in the first five minutes of the heat. The whole time de Souza was out the back wondering what happened.
On Kelly’s sixth wave he surfed near world number two Jordy Smith, and Smith was able to give Kelly a high five congratulating the new ASP World Champion as he slipped by. It was a perfect moment, in a nearly perfect heat. And will likely go down as one of the most historic heats in ASP History.
On the podium an emotional Kelly Slater was uncharacteristically tongue tied as he tried to come to terms with his week and his 10th World Title. With tears still rolling down his cheeks he dedicated his win to Andy Irons.
“I just want to send my condolences to Andy’s family,” he said. If it wasn’t for Andy I wouldn’t be in this situation right now. So I really don’t know what to say. I’m a little overwhelmed right now. . . . I want to dedicate this to Andy and to my family.”
It will likely take time for Kelly (and the rest of us) to sort out all the events of this week, but there is one thing: So Kelly, what about that number 11?
[Editors’ Note: This story has been updated with all today’s action]
What should have been the most joyous week in professional surfing history, turned to the opposite with news of the tragic death of Andy Irons. While the weight of that loss is hanging heavy on everyone in the surf world it hasn’t stopped the ASP’s top 24 from soldiering on in the Rip Curl Pro Search Puerto Rico.
Taj Burrow (pictured above) and Dusty Payne kicked off Round 3, but what most everyone is waiting for is Heat 6 when Kelly Slater faces event wild card Dylan Graves and Heat 7 when Jordy Smith faces Gabe Kling. Kelly’s number 10 clinching hangs in the balance. As a reminder, here’s how it looks:
• If Slater finishes Equal 3rd or better, he clinches the 2010 ASP World Title.
• If Slater finishes Equal 5th or Equal 9th, Smith must win the event to send the ASP World Title Race to Hawaii.
• If Slater finishes Equal 13th or Equal 25th, Smith must finish Equal 3rd or better to send the ASP World Title Race to Hawaii.
• Essentially, if Smith fails to finish higher than Equal 5th, Slater claims the 2010 ASP World Title.
[Update 11:06 AM PST: Both Kelly and Jordy won their round three heats and the battle moves on to the quarterfinals.]
Andy Irons’ win over Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, and Cory Lopez in the 2006 Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters may have been one of the happiest days of Andy’s life. Seeing Andy bouncing with joy at the end of this clip has brought us smiles during an otherwise sorrow filled week.
Vanshas just released their freshened up Triple Crown of Surfing app Vans Live. The completely redesigned app is a super smooth upgrade from last year’s version. Vans Live allows iPhone and iPad users to catch all the live action, scoring, photos, surf forecasts, and heats on demand from all three jewels of the Triple Crown (men’s and women’s events) via both WI-FI and 3G.
Only on Vans Live can you follow the 28th Vans Triple Crown of Surfing presented by Rockstar Energy Drink, watching top-ranked pros such as Kelly Slater, Jordy Smith, Mick Fanning, Dane Reynolds and other vie for the coveted Vans Triple Crown of Surfing Title, valuable ASP world title points, and a potential world title showdown at the infamous Banzai Pipeline.
App creator Black Sun Productions has improved nearly every aspect of the since the first version appeared last year (click to see our original review). But our favorite feature (aside from it being free) is the push alert. They allow even the laziest surf fan to know exactly when the events are on. If the contest is live, users will get pinged and that alone is worth downloading the app. Click the link and be ready for the November 12, 2010 start of the Reef Pro from Haleiwa.
Eighty-four year-old actor Dick Van Dyke was reportedly surfing in Virginia Beach on his 10 foot longboard when he fell asleep on his board and drifted out to sea, according to a story in the Daily Mail.
