Surfing

Yep. Looks like Grant “Twiggy” Baker got a pretty good one on Sunday, according to a Pete Thomas blog post in the LA Times.

“Obviously this was a historic day for us at Dungeons, not just the size of the waves but also how clean it was and that it lasted an entire day,” said Grant “Twiggy” Baker, who is South Africa’s premier big-wave charger. “This is very unusual and the fact that we got to surf it for 10 hours straight meant we became very comfortable out there and managed to push ourselves that little further.”

That is a man-size paddle. . .

[Link: LA Times]

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The Australian’s writier Fred Pawle just won’t let go of this “rebel slater tour” story. Today’s big story is that the main player won’t return his email.

Pawle says boxing promoter Mat Tinley won’t return answers to emailed questions, Kelly Slater didn’t reply to emailed questions, and Slater manager Terry Hardy “declined to be interviewed over the phone.”

Vans Marketing VP and SIMA President Doug Palladini, on the other hand, had no problem discussing the situation.

He said the rebel threat had helped the stakeholders of the existing tour, administered by the Association of Surfing Professionals, to work together. . . “Using the new competition to make the ASP tour stronger is the best possible outcome of the current challenge,” he said. “The brands that represent the tour are meeting now to discuss a priority of must-haves for 2010. I am not at liberty to discuss specifics at this time but fans can rest assured that the 2010 tour will see strong improvements.”

Some of those improvement include fewer surfers on the tour, according to ASP CEO Brodie Carr. But not until 2011. The person who put the entire Slater tour concept into the best persepctive was Hawai’ian Triple Crown’s Randy Rarick .

“I started adding up the numbers and thought, it doesn’t work,” he said. “I don’t see someone can sell enough advertising to merit this kind of outlay. Conceptually it sounds good but when you put it on paper the costs are astronomical. These guys are talking major, major bucks. I don’t care if they’re talking to Nike or whoever, they’re not going to put that kind of money up because they are not going to see a return on their investment. . . “I think the reality of financing this thing is just not coming together as they had hoped. I don’t think the money is there.”

And if anyone would know about surf event sponsors’ ROI, it would be Mr. Rarick.

[Link: The Australian]

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The Maui News has just noticed that Kai Barger, 19, has been doing pretty well lately in the world of surfing and they’re telling their readers in story titled, Barger Riding Wave Of Success.

Kai Barger has been on a surfing cloud nine since graduating from King Kekaulike High School last year. . . The 19-year-old Haiku resident hopes the dream continues when he competes at the $145,000 Sooruz Lacanu Pro in France. The holding period for the Association of Surfing Professionals World Qualifying Series contest starts today. . . Barger’s dream run started when he was featured on the cover of surfing’s legendary publication, Surfer magazine, last October. In January, Barger won the $64,000 Billabong ASP Junior World Championship in North Narrabean, Australia, defeating Judson Andre of Brazil in the final. . . Barger continued his dream year in May, winning the $10,000 Oakley Junior Pro at Lower Trestles, Calif. . . .Then last month, it was on to Huntington Beach, Calif., the self-proclaimed ”Surf City USA” and the home of the U.S. Open of Surfing. . . Barger surfed four heats in overhead surf to win the junior pro.

Click the link for the rest of the story.

[Link: The Maui News]

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Don’t act surprised. Jamie O’Brien defeated Made “Bol” Adi Putra to win the Rip Curl Cup Padang Padang Invitational. Apparently, there were boat loads of barrells. . . .click here for a Surfline slideshow.

[Link: Rip Curl Asia and Surfline]

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Surfrider.org’s Matt McClain explains why he does the work he does in Good Magazine‘s The Water Issue with a story titled Wave Goodbye.

However, the more I studied the ocean, the more attuned I became to the peril in which we have placed it. I now work full time to protect our seas, waves, and beaches. I do it to honor my father, a native Hawaiian who introduced me to the sea when I was very young, and to honor all the others who have come before me. I do it for the benefit of those who will come after. But most of all, I do it to in some small way repay all the gifts that Mother Ocean has given, and continues to give.

“Well said,” we say typing one-handed while wiping a tear from our face.

[Link: Good Magazine]

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