The Association of Surfing Professional’s CEO Brodie Carr sits down with Surfing Life’s Chris Binns in Hossegor, France to discuss the rumors of the Kelly Slater Tour and about meeting with former boxing promoter Matt Tinley and Kelly Slater’s agent Terry Hardy. Brodies bottom line:
There are two schools of thought in surfing. One is that it needs to go more mainstream, the other is that what we have is pretty special, and going more mainstream is going to cannibalise that. You have to find the sweet spot in the middle so we don’t wreck what we have, so we’re not quick to jump away from what we already have unless it’s going to be great. We’ve taken 30 years to build the sport to what it is today, and yeah, the surf brands have been great and have made this what it is, as much as the surfers, so it would be irresponsible of us to make a decision quickly. We don’t want to rush anything, we want to take our time and assess everything and make sure we’re making the right decision for the sport, ’cos otherwise we might not be able to turn it back again.
While we tend to agree with “the other,” Carr’s level headed, logical responses to the questions show why he’s in the position he is. Read the rest for all the details.
Surfer Dylan Crawford got knocked from his board by something in the water while surfing Kawaa Beach on Hawai’i’s big island on Thursday August, 6, 2009, according to a story on KGMB9.com.
“The next thing I know, I realize, okay there’s a large animal next to me,” he said. “I was right next to it for a second, basically touching it. And when it submerged, it pulled me down on top of it.”
The 8-foot tiger shark too a big chunk of the nose of his board when he left.
Michael Oblowitz’sSea of Darkness screens tonight (August 7, 2009) at 8 PM at the Malibu Film Festival . The festival kicked off last night with the Jesse Billauer’s documentary Jesse’s Story. Click here for more info.
Right wing California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher has reportedly invited Barney Frank and his partner Jim Ready, to come surfing in Huntington Beach, according to Politico.com.
Rohrabacher said he broached the idea with Frank at a function not long ago, after Ready had told him of their shared interest in hanging ten. The congressman heads the three-person Congressional Surfing Caucus, which includes fellow California Republicans Brian Bilbray and Duncan Hunter. . . Frank’s office confirms that the Massachusetts Democrat and his partner have accepted Rohrabacher’s invitation, but nobody will say much more than that.
Nice idea, Dana. Huntington Beach could use a few more. . . happy surfers.
NBC8 filmed crazy footage from the North Shore of Oahu of just how fast a shark gets going when it’s after something. The Blacktip ignored to surfers in the water to go after the fish, which is something shark expert Randy Honebrink says they usually do, according to a story on KHNL.com.
Analyzing the video, Honebrink says the shark is probably a Blacktip. . . “It’s definitely not a tiger shark,” he said. . . Tiger sharks are larger and more dangerous than a Blacktip. . . “I can’t think of a single case where there’s been a confirmed Blacktip bite on a person in Hawaii,” said Honebrink.
Check out the video and you’ll see what raw acceleration looks like. We’re just sitting ducks. . .
Hell, why not. Check it out tonight (August 6, 2009) at The Lido in Newport Beach. We’re guessing Danny Qwock, Preston Murray, et al. will be there, too.
On his blog The Adventure Life Steve Casimiro, the former editor of Powder magazine and now West Coast Editor of National Geographic Adventure, has written an essay on how wonderful it is that so many people are out in the line up on $100 Costco surfboards.
Now, for a fraction of what you’d spend sending your kid to a surfing camp, you can have a board on call. Because they’re cheap and ultra-durable, you don’t have to worry about them getting lost, stolen, or damaged (my sister in law lost hers off the roof of her car on the freeway—it didn’t get a scratch). Even for adults, too, the Costco board is a great option for learning–though not a true longboard, it’s plenty long enough to get you in and on a wave. And if you discover surfing isn’t your thing, so what–it’s only a hundred bucks.
Can’t say we disagree, actually. Follow the link for the rest of Steve’s logic.
This morning (August 5, 2009) a shark was sighted at Australia’s Bells Beach “chasing another surfer in waters close to shore,” according to a story in the Geelong Advertiser.
Pete, who was surfing at the famous break . . .said many surfers started yelling to clear the water after the shark was sighted. No-one was injured. . . .About 20 minutes after the sighting Pete said some surfers were returning to the water.
Chris Cutri is an assistant professor in the communications department of Brigham Young University. That may seem like a strange place to make surf films, but being a little land-locked hasn’t stopped Cutri from turning out two solid surf films. His latest, Hanging Five, is showing Wednesday August 5, 2009 at the La Paloma Theater in Encinitas, California. Chris says:
I find that I’m interested in the peripheral elements of the surf culture. My second surf doc, Hanging Five follows five extremely talented artists and examines their work. It also tries to discover why the surf culture produces and supports the arts. The artists: Andy Davis, Tyler Warren, Julie Goldstein, Wolfgang Bloch, and Alex Knost.
The Association of Surfing Professional’s CEO Brodie Carr sits down with Surfing Life’s Chris Binns in Hossegor, France to discuss the rumors of the Kelly Slater Tour and about meeting with former boxing promoter Matt Tinley and Kelly Slater’s agent Terry Hardy. Brodies bottom line:
