Surfing

Melanie Bartels, 26, is a power surfer in the hunt for a Triple Crown title. Currently she is ranked number 10 in the world, but she had to miss a couple contests this because she had no money to travel. See, she has no sponsors.

My sponsors dropped me last year, so I’ve been borrowing money from my mom, my friends, just to make things work,” said Bartels, 26. “It’s a bummer. It’s like the companies all want the younger generation. When you hit my age, that’s too old already, I guess.”

Or, it could be that Melanie just doesn’t look enough like a fashion model. . .

[Link: Honolulu Advertiser]

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A group of surfers gather today at Australia’s Torquay to remember the life of Peter Troy.

PETER Troy was many things in his life. An adventurer who surfed his way around the world. Co-founder of the Bells Beach surfing competition. Instigator of the first Australian surfing museum.

Rip Curl founder Doug Warbrick will be among the crew who memorialize him with a traditional surfers farewell. Troy would have been 70 years old.

[Link: The Age]

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The Kahala Sportwear store in Honolulu’s Ala Moana Center will be hosting Dick Brewer on Thursday, November 20, 2008 from 6 to 8 PM as part of their Talk Story Series, according to a story in the Honolulu Advertiser.

The iconic shaping guru will talk story about his path in life as a master shaper. On display will be a rare vintage Brewer Buzzy Trent model surfboard, #22. . . . Brewer is believed to have made only 88 of these boards; #22 is the beloved board of Dr. Mike McCabe, a former fixture on the Makaha surf scene (who, on the advice of his dear friend, the late Rell Sunn, actually slept with the board in his bed).

Nothing says Mele Kalikimaka like an evening at Ala Moana with Dick Brewer.

[Link: Honolulu Advertiser]

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On Tuesday Sunny Garcia, 38, told the LA Times that he is under no pressure on his Triple Crown hunt to get back on the WCT tour.

I look at it this way. I’m 38 and these guys are 19, 20,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “They’re at the beginning of their careers and I’m at the end. I got no pressure. . . “I’m having fun,” he said. “For me, this is what I love to do. I love competing, I love to surf. I’m here to have fun. I’ve got nothing to prove.”

The LA Times’ Pete Thomas doesn’t believe him. “It’s the right outlook to take into the Triple Crown, but deep down Garcia probably has plenty to prove — to himself.” We wish Sunny the best. The Reef Pro at Haleiwa could start tomorrow.

[Link: LA Times]

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