A certain privately owned entertainment company specializing in event and online streamed content production (mostly surfing sport) has reportedly shut down their production at Western Australia’s Margaret River due to sharks.
Following two separate incidents that occurred at nearby Gracetown on Monday, April 16, approximately 6 kms away from primary competition site at Main Break, the [company] actioned safety protocols and met with a variety of stakeholders for feedback over the past 48 hours before making the decision to cancel the event.
So, guess that’s one’s over. Seems this whole surfing content production business would be much more profitable if they’d simply shoot it TV style on a sound stage somewhere. They could shot a whole season in three weeks and then distribute it online over the year.
If only there were a TV production facility that had perfect waves and no sharks. . . wait, doesn’t Kelly Slater have a ranch somewhere that could accommodate this kind of production schedule? Think of it — surfers would no longer have to travel the world all year. They could stay in one place, get their work done in one month, and then spend the rest of the year free surfing at home. People who wanted to watch them surf could travel to the ranch, buy tickets and watch. Kelly’s ranch could become the Branson, Missouri of surfing. If only. . .
We talked about this a while ago (November 1, 2017 to be exact), but it appears that the day of Kering’s off-loading of Volcom has officially arrived, according to a story on SGB Media.
“In accordance with Kering’s strategy to fully dedicate itself to the development of its luxury houses, Volcom no longer constitutes a core asset and Kering has initiated a disposal process,” the group said in a statement.
Disposal process? Wow. Kering bought Volcom in 2011 for $608 million will Wooly buy it back for $200 million? Could this happen, (please)? We’ll all just have to wait and see.
Billabong is continuing their artistic relationship with Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat to celebrate death, apparently, with the third iteration of their Andy Warhol x Jean-Michel Basquiat x Billabong Lab collection. Dead artists are the easiest to work with, obviously.
It’s official, last night (March 27, 2018) 95.45 percent of Billabong’s shareholders voted to sell the company to Boardriders (the parent company of Quiksilver, DC Shoes, et. al.) for $1.05 a share according to a story in the Daily Telegraph.
The successful offer represented a 35 per cent premium on Billabong’s closing price the day before Boardrider’s proposal was first announced in January. . . Boardriders chief executive Dave Tanner said the deal offered the best value for shareholders, employees, vendors and customers. . . “We are pleased to see that the Billabong shareholders recognised this value, and have approved the proposed acquisition,” Mr Tanner said. . . “We have now cleared a significant milestone, and we are one step closer to creating the world’s leading action sports company.”
So finally Billabong and Quiksilver are nestled together in the loving arms of Oak Tree Capital. What does this mean? Not a whole lot to anyone not financially involved in the deal.
If you’ve been following along, you’ll remember that Captain Liz Clark set sail from California in 2006 in pursuit of a life-long dream of surf exploration via sailboat. She’s been sailing ever since, and now she’s written a book about her adventures and would like to share it with you live at a Patagoina Store near you.
After more than a decade and 20,000 miles of solo sailing aboard the 40-foot Swell, her Pacific voyage has presented her with more fantastic friends, waves, adventures and personal growth than she dreamed possible. Patagonia is inviting everyone out to an evening of stories as Liz reads from her new book Swell: A Sailing Surfer’s Voyage of Awakening. Signed, limited edition copies will be available for purchase.
The events are FREE. For a complete list of all the tour stops, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Lib Tech Surf is proud to announce their new wakesurf line featuring Aaron Witherell’s “Air’n” model! And it looks pretty nice.
As life long surfers, snowboarders, skiers and skaters Lib Tech founders Mike Olson and Pete Saari along with the past and present Mervin Mfg crews have created a legacy of fun times through technological gravity toys. Inspired all along by surfing and aerospace composites Lib Tech surf was able to bring something completely revolutionary to the world of surfing with our proprietary eco friendly, technologically tougher, zero hazardous waste producing Eco Iso constructed boards made right here in Sequim, WA USA. Now we’re taking our state of the art tech to the lakes and rivers with our new wakesurf line!
And yes, we want one because thanks to Kelly Slater and his Wave Ranch we’re all wannabe wake surfers now. For the rest of the story from Lib, please follow the jump.
Yes, aside from being able to create new humans inside their own bodies, women can also ride motorcycles, and snowboards, and skateboards. They can also surf. We should all be past needing these reminders, but it’s always good to see evidence every now and again. Here, let Hana Beaman, Sarka Pancochova, Cheryl Maas, and their friends at Harley-Davidson show you a little of what we’re talking about.
We didn’t watch a lick of the recent surf content generation production in Australia, but we were pleased to see that Julian Wilson and Lakey Peterson were the last man and woman standing and were named the winners of the production. This win apparently puts them off on the right foot for future live streamed surf production endeavors.
On the recent #metoo issue involving surfer girls, their exposed asses, and how their exposed asses are featured in broadcast surf content it should be noted that winner Lakey Peterson wore a bikini bottom during the final while second place finisher Keely Andrew wore trunks.
The world’s best surfer Kelly Slater says that he won’t be performing in the opening surfing content production shoot of the season in Australia this week due to “ongoing rehabilitation” of a foot injury.
“I think the best thing for me to do is withdraw from the event,” Slater said. “My gut feeling has been to use this injury as a platform to overhaul and reset my mind and body. The looming excitement about a new year starting, my foot sort of magically allowing me to surf the past couple of days and a number of other factors had me talking myself back into jumping in as soon as possible against my better judgment. I feel I’ve had a couple of half-hearted attempts these past couple of years fighting injury and desire. The foot injury symbolizes a lot at this point in my career both as an ending and as a beginning.”
We would say that we were going to miss him, but we probably weren’t going to watch the production anyway. We do however wish him the best and hope he gets back on form as soon as possible because regardless of everything else going on in the world we do so love watching him surf.
Santa Cruz, California’s surf Godfather Vince Collier has died of a heart attack while on a surf trip to Mexico last week, according to story in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. He was 57.
Collier was built like a pit bull, and the only thing that matched his raw power and talent in the water was his equally untamed temper and protective nature. During his heyday between the late 1970s and early 1990s, many considered him a menace in the water, a man who would take whatever waves he wanted, who would threaten, and often follow through with, bodily harm to anyone who challenged him. He cultivated a villainous reputation and his tactics, from slashing tires to throwing punches, and his protectionist attitude won him few friends.
Collier reported had a heart attack in San Miguel del Puerto while walking back from a surf session with his partner Denisse Gallagher. He is survived by sisters Reeney Gallagher and Katie Harper, brother Mike Collier and daughters Molly and Leil. Our thoughts are with Collier’s family and friends.
We talked about 
It’s official, last night (March 27, 2018) 95.45 percent of Billabong’s shareholders voted to sell the company to Boardriders (the parent company of Quiksilver, DC Shoes, et. al.) for $1.05 a share according to a story in the 
If you’ve been following along, you’ll remember that Captain Liz Clark set sail from California in 2006 in pursuit of a life-long dream of surf exploration via sailboat. She’s been sailing ever since, and now she’s written a book about her adventures and would like to share it with you live at a Patagoina Store near you.
