by The Editors on February 5, 2014
Yesterday, Wednesday, February 5, 2014 Kelly Slater won the Volcom Pipe Pro ASP 5-Star event at Pipeline. Yes, 2 John Florence was there, Jamie O’Brien and a crew of other hard-charging locals were in it, and the surf was macking (see Bielmann photo above), so it wasn’t exactly like Kelly was playing in the kiddie pool. Mr. Slater was happy with his performance no matter the details.
“This was some of the best Pipe I’ve ever surfed in my life,” said Slater. “There were some really gnarly, intense, kind of vicious waves this morning. It was really doubling up, a new swell, it was a little bit wonky. . . There were a couple waves that I got right in that little sweet spot where you can just barely make the wave. It did feel like there was definitely some room out there to work on things and the opportunity was there because when the wave gets really intense, you’ve got to just totally commit, and you can see if a guys committed or not, and you can choose to be like that.”
Congrats to Kelly. Brazil’s Wiggolly Dantas finished second, and Mason Ho and Adriano De Souza rounded out the top four [click to continue…]
by The Editors on February 3, 2014
Jon Rose and friends are making valiant efforts to get clean water to people who need it through his Waves For Water initiative. Now, Nike is taking this opportunity to upgrade their social conscience (and their Hurley surf division) by participating in World Water Day 2014.
Five groups of Clean Water Couriers will lead missions to five different parts of the globe: Brazil, Haiti, Indonesia, Liberia and Nicaragua. Each team of key advocates will include Hurley Surfers and ambassadors to participate in the distribution of water filtration units. The teams will be bringing with them 1,000 water filters for a single-day activation (March 22, 2014), with capacity to provide clean-water access for 100,000 people. . . “We typically work in a very lean and covert fashion to maximize our efficiency on the ground, but since this specific project is just as much about awareness as it is action,” says Waves For Water Founder Jon Rose. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to bring some of our longtime friends and advocates – Carissa Moore, Rosario Dawson, Rob Machado, Alex Atala, and more – along for the ride.”
From the official word from Rose and Hurley, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 31, 2014
How long before all this RC helicopter drone footage gets boring? Probably next week when every single GoBro is buzzing his Hero 3+ around every corner of the world. Remember the Matrix shot? And all the slider track shots? Have to say, Sterman sure works magic with this soon-to-be cliche radio controlled image capturing trick. Wow!
[Link: Surfer Magazine] [click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 28, 2014
Dragon adds Alejo Muniz to their H20 Floatable Collection.
“I am very excited to start the New Year with a brand that I have always admired and I am looking forward to fun times ahead with the Dragon family,” states World Tour athlete Alejo Muniz.
For the official word from Dragon, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 28, 2014
The Boardroom’s spring 2014 consumer surfboard show being scheduled for May 17 & 18, 2014 at the Del Mar, California fairgrounds will feature a surfboard shaping contest open to absolutely everyone. Well, at least two spots in the contest will be.
For the first time ever two of the six shaping spots in the competition will be chosen via a random draw, opening up the competition to shapers from around the world. Three of the remaining spots go to shapers of Ben Aipa’s choice (tbd). One spot is reserved for the defending champion (Matt Calvani of BING Surfboards). . . “We’re excited about the new format. There are a lot of great shapers out there. It just makes sense to open it up to all of them,” said Scott Bass, THE BOARDROOM event director. “The response (to the new format) has been tremendous. Heck, it’s free to enter, any shaper can enter and there’s a thousand dollars on the line. More importantly, it’s a chance to honor and to pay tribute to one of the all-time greats — Mr. Ben Aipa.”
Guess that means if you’re a foam mower and would like to put your skills right up in front of the surfing world, this is your chance. For the official information, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 23, 2014
When we spoke to Graham Stapelberg at the Agenda Show two weeks ago and asked him how things were going at Billabong, he smirked and said, “I’ve been wearing a lot of hats lately.” Now the comment makes a little more sense. Today (January 23, 2014), the Association of Surfing Professionals announced that the former Billabong Global Vice President of Marketing (and former ASP Tour Judge) is taking the roll of chief strategy officer for the organization.
Stapelberg will support ASP CEO Paul Speaker and the executive team across multiple divisions of the organization as professional surfing enters into a new era of its existence as a global sports league. . . “Graham has exhibited excellence in virtually every sector of the sport throughout his celebrated 20 years of involvement,” Speaker said. “His extensive experience across events, sponsorships, athletes, judging, operations, finances, marketing, media and activations both inside and outside the industry will prove invaluable as we grow professional surfing in exciting new ways. We’re very fortunate to have Graham with us and we look forward to accomplishing great things together.”
Guess it’s now okay for any remaining surfers in the Billabong building to pack up and head out. For the ASP, however, this is another great move in a positive direction. Especially if they hope to replace all those surf fashion sponsorships with money from the real world. For the official word from the ASP, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 22, 2014
On Friday, January 24, 2014 the biggest names in big wave surfing will be making their way to famed Northern California big wave spot Mavericks for this year’s running of the Body Glove Mavericks Invitational Presented by GoPro, and yeah, the swell report looks huge.
Mavericks Invitational Contest Director Jeff Clark stated, “This is going to be a powerful and memorable swell, and we are looking at waves upwards of 40 feet.” The first heat takes place at 8 a.m.
The entire event will be streamed live on mavericksinvitational.com and the finals will be air on “national television” on Universal Sports Network. You didn’t want to get any work done on Friday, anyway, did you? Follow the jump for all the official details. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 21, 2014
We didn’t mind last season’s series of Alana Blanchard’s Surfer Girl webisodes, but after watching two from the new season it seems to be falling a little flat. At first we didn’t know why, but now we’ve figured it out: all the other girls are gone. This year, it’s all Alana all the time. And if you like that, you’ll love this.
by The Editors on January 17, 2014
Crazy, crazy surf at an African spot that no longer exists staring Jerome Sayhoun.
[Link: The Surfers’ Journal]
by The Editors on January 17, 2014
In a show of support for what the financial world still calls a “struggling brand” Joel Parkinson has re-signed with Billabong for what the company is called a “long-term” contract good for the “foreseeable future.”
“I’m over the moon to know I will continue to be partnered with Billabong for many years to come,” said Parkinson from his home on the Gold Coast. “I’ve felt like I’ve been a part of a great big surfing family since I was a scrawny 11-year-old from. When I got my first Billabong team sticker on my board it was one of the biggest moments of my life at the time, and I am happy and proud to still be flying that flag all these years later. It’s been a really good partnership for a long, long time, it’s helped me get to places I could never have dreamed, and I am seeing a lot of good things still to come in the future.”
There are those who would argue that Bilalbong has had trouble looking very far into the “foreseeable future,” but in this case it’s good to know they’re interested in keeping Parko as long as they can. For the official word from Billabong, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
