Shop, eat, surf’s, Tiffany Montgomery attended the Quiksilver shareholders meeting on March 28, 2008 so we didn’t have to. Here are her take-aways. . . wait, she didn’t have any take-aways, just the facts:
Company goals include driving growth in apparel and footwear brands, divesting the equipment business, continuing its initiative to streamline global sourcing, cutting expenses, improving operating profit margins, improving cash flow and reducing debt. . . . Quiksilver now owns 406 retail stores, a $392 million business acounting for 20 percent of apparel and footwear sales last year.
After having a major whinge in the weeks leading up to the event, Kelly Slater finally manned up and crushed the competition at the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach. In as story titled “Kells Bells” Australia’s The Age put it this way.
With three minutes left in the 35-minute final, Slater blasted off the top of a wave, leaving the crowd, commentators and surely the judges, gasping at his spectacular aerial skills. . . “I was really surprised Bede let me paddle up there (to Rincon) by myself,” he said. “I caught a little one (wave) and it wasn’t very good, then looked out the back and there was a really good one, so I went and sat out there.” . . . The “really good one” produced a score of 8.30 for Slater, which combined with his next-best wave gave him a total winning score of 15.63.
We’re just glad to see Kelly hungry and back on the hunt. He makes the ASP tour worth watching, no doubt.
The most famous wave in the world claimed another life on Sunday March 16, 2008, as Joshua Kalai Nakata, 23, of Mililani, Hawaii “apparently hit his head on the reef while surfing at the Banzai Pipline.”
The waves were about 6 to 8 feet at the time, said Bryan Cheplic, Honolulu Emergency Services Department spokesman.. . . . Lifeguards pulled Nakata out the water and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation until paramedics arrived. Rescuers took the man to Kahuku Hospital in critical condition. He died later at the hospital, Cheplic said.
Our thoughts are with Nakata’s friends and family.
Australian newspaper the Geelong Advertiser has run a story today claiming that Kelly Slater decided to surf in the Rip Curl event because of comments from the newspaper’s readers.
Readers and local surfers – including big wave champion Tony Ray – appeared in a video stating why they felt Slater should compete. . . . The message got through, according to the 36-year-old American, who said he changed his mind after watching the video on the internet.
While we’re sure he changed his mind post video viewing, we’re going to guess that there was a lot more going on than pressure from the locals. . . you know, like another title? And, more media incentive money, and the chance to jack with the rest of the ASP top 44.
Apparently, this was a show that aired on Fuel TV last summer. We don’t get Fuel so we never watched it. This is a show about a famous tough guy Kala Alexander and his Wolf Pack crew. Thug life meets the surf. And now, thanks to Hulu.com (the new online TV “network” set up to put iTunes out of business) we can see all the episodes of the world according to Kala.
Goldcoast.com.au has the full rundown of surfing’s version of the royal wedding on the Goldie March 15, 2008, as APS World Champion Mick Fanning married Karissa Dalton.
Despite the lavish setting for the wedding, Ms Osborne said the outdoor ceremony and reception which ran until midnight with a swing band were kept low key to reflect the couple’s down-to-earth nature. “It was just people who were of longstanding support to Mick and Karissa who were at the wedding,”she said. Ms Osborne said the bride looked particularly stunning in her white, designer wedding dress.
So far no photos from any of the surf mags. Maybe the special deal the Fannings made with “a women’s magazine also meant no other media were allowed in for the the ceremony.”
Rocker BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN stunned his musician pal STEVEN VAN ZANDT when he took to the waves to show off his surfing skills – and knocked his front teeth out.
Hard to believe that’s possible. Leave it to the boss.
Just watched this video on Tony Hawk’s Shredordie.com. . . Apparently, Nixon is sponsoring former adult film stars and their cage-fighting boyfriends now (at least with trips to Tavarua).
Vividas Group PLCsaid it has signed an agreement with surf company, Rip Curl Pty Ltd, to stream the Rip Curl Pro surfing event all over the world.
The UK smallcap company added that the deal is part of an evaluation lisence agreement between the companies which will translate into a minimum annual revenue contract of 90,000 aud for Vividas.
Vividas said it believes that the contract will validate the scalability of the Vividas Live streaming technology and that the company will be ‘very well positioned’ to sign similar contracts within the surfing industry and for other live sports events.
