Alana Blanchard has a new show on Youtube called Alana: Surfer Girl in which we guess she will parade around in her bikini and give us a sneak peek at all her surfing assets (not that we’re being critical).
In this weekly series launching 10/29 follow Alana, along with her close surfer friends, Leila Hurst and Camille Brady, as they take you on a journey around Kauai, surfing, diving, swimming, and exploring the fourth largest of the Hawai’ian Islands.
The show launches on Monday, October 29, 2012 on Network A. So watch for it (if you can figure the whole Youtube Channel thing out).
It was a sad day for Kelly Slater fans at the Rip Curl Pro Portugal as he was eliminated from the competition by Raoni Monteiro in nearly unsurfable waves that one heat later caused a two-hour hold.
“It’s really hard out there today,” Slater said. “I surfed for 15 minutes after my heat and still didn’t get any good waves. I don’t know what to say, it’s just luck of the draw sometimes. If you get in the right sort of current, or out of the wrong current, and you find a little corner that’s not really a set, maybe you can do something with it. It’s tough, but Julian (Wilson) just got a 10 so say what you want. In 45 minutes (30 minute heat and 15 minutes after), I didn’t score over 3. I’m just a little upset at myself for even bothering. I shouldn’t even have paddled out to be honest. I should have said it’s so bad we couldn’t surf, but Joel (Parkinson) was getting 6s and 7s and they’re probably looking at the clock saying we have to get this thing done. I didn’t talk to Damien (Hardman) before the heat, and I didn’t really talk to any of the surfers. I just sort of walked out and said I guess we’re surfing…my bad.”
Monteiro, however, got a couple waves so it was possible. For the official word from Kelly and the QF match-ups, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
It basically goes like this: drive, surf, drink Corona Extra beer, ride a motorcycle, pull over drink more Corona Extra. Watch the sunset while drinking Corona Extra. Cliff jump, swim, ride a bus, surf, carry your surfboard past a sunset pushing a bike, have another Corona Extra. Because Corona Extra makes everything better. Did we mention this was brought to you by Corona Extra?
Surfline decided to go straight to Triple Crown of Surfing founder Randy Rarick to get his perspective on what the ASP/ZoSea Media deal means to surfers, contests, and surfing in general. It would be difficult to find a wiser, more generous, experienced person in surfing to discuss this. It was interesting to see how optimistic Rarick was about it. Here’s just one of his answers:
I think the timing is right. I think they have the smarts, the drive, and the wherewithal to probably take it to the next level. We don’t have any details yet; we’re meeting in about three weeks to start hammering through those details, but I think they have some connections in the media world that we haven’t been able to tap into. And whether it be ESPN or Fox or NBC, I think you will see the elevation of surfing in the media, no question. By eliminating the specter of the brands having to try to outdo each other, now the brands can focus their energy on using these as a promotional platform and I think these ZoSea guys will bring more money into the sport simply because that’s what they want to do. They want to monetize it, and good for them. Hopefully they get rich on it. And if they get rich on it, that means the tour will improve because it’ll bring in more money, which means more money for the athletes, more money for media coverage. I’m sure some people will bemoan the loss of the soul or the grassroots-ness of the thing, you know, but commercial competitive surfing has always been like that anyway.
We would never disagree with Mr. Rarick, however, after reading the entire interview we were reminded of three things. One, TV doesn’t have the same cultural impact it once had. Two, in the new world of media efficiencies there is very little room for middlemen, and thirdly, once you give it away, it’s very difficult to get it back. But click the link and read the rest before you think too hard on any of that.
Australia’s Jack Freestone slipped into his second Oakley World Pro Junior Championship in Bali today (October 16, 2012) by .06 of a point against Hawaii’s Ezekiel Lau 13.83 to 13.77.
“It’s amazing to follow in Joel [Parkinson’s] footsteps,” Freestone said. “He’s my favorite surfer and we’re both from Coolangatta, so it feels amazing right now. He’s on the Men’s ASP World Championship Tour, that’s where I want to be. So hopefully this gives me the confidence to know that I can get there.”
Spy is stoked to announce that they have someone to manage their elite surf team. It’s Chris Abad.
A respected and experienced pro surfer, Abad brings added authenticity to SPY’s booming eyewear business, which has seen tremendous growth over the last year and a half. . . “If you can’t out-surf Abad, you may be taken off our roster,” laughs Devon Howard, SPY marketing director. “In all seriousness, his former team manager roles, Surf Ride retail experience, and event marketing at SPY this past year make him a natural fit. But he’s more than just another guy with a great resume. Everyone loves Abad—he’s good people.”
Travis Logie (ZAF), 33, took out Damien Hobgood (USA), 33, in Round 2.
Props to anyone who was able to stay up through a full night (at least in the US) of Rip Curl Pro Portugal holds. But finally, as the sun dropped low over the Atlantic, Brett Simpson and Matt Wilkinson finally got into the water to kick off the final four heats of Round 2.
“We’ve been down since 6:30am assessing the conditions,” Simpson said. “Wilko (Matt Wilkinson) and I have been having fun all day as he was here too – we’re friends out of the water, but we were just trying to catch the best waves we can. I had a really good opportunity solidify my lead out there more, but was unable to.”
Simpson slipped through that one, but in round three he’ll meet Gabriel Medina and that could be even more challenging. For the official word form the ASP follows the jump. [click to continue…]
Joel Parkinson used his current ASP WCT World number one position as a launching pad to post the highest score in round one at the 2012 Rip Curl Pro Portugal. It kind of looks like he’s serious.
“I’m here to win,” Parkinson said. “Everyone is. I’ve had a few seconds this year but am keen to put a win on the board. I’m not thinking about the World Title race really. I need to get some wins first before that can become a reality.”
All the favorite (minus Jordy Smith) made it out of Round 2, but there are still four more heats to go. Follow the jump for the official word from the ASP. [click to continue…]
Journalist Fred Pawle talks to Graham “Sid” Cassidy about a deal he nearly landed that was allegedly “the most spectacular offer the sport of surfing has ever seen, one that makes the offer from Californian media company ZoSea, which was accepted amid subdued optimism from within the sport this month, look amateur by comparison,” according to his story in The Australian.
But, in a tumultuous meeting in Hawaii in December 1996, the ASP board voted to request amendments to a contract it had signed with CSI earlier that year. CSI, the goose that had spent that year laying golden eggs, declined. At considerable expense, it walked away. Surfing has never recovered from it.
Nice to look back and claim that a past missed deal that just as easily could have ruined profession surfing was what doomed it, but it is interesting in comparison to the reportedly $20 million ZoSea deal. Click the link to read the rest.
Last Friday (October 5, 2012) the Association of Surfing Professionals sent out a press release (along with the above pretty picture) saying they had “entered into a Term Sheet with ZoSea Media. . . designed to enhance the organizational structure of the sport as well as the direction of professional surfing in the coming years.”
That’s pretty much all the detail we got other than the names of the guys behind ZoSea Media. They are Terry Hardy (right, most well known for being Kelly Slater’s agent) and Paul Speaker the former President of Time Inc. Studios and current Quiksilver board of directors member.
According to his bio on PTTOW! site (an invite-only youth marketing summit he co-founded) Hardy is “a pioneer in youth lifestyle & media [who] has been fortunate to work with the industries leading talent and brands including Kelly Slater, Bam Margera, Tony Hawk, Quiksilver, Roxy, MTV, Sirius/XM, GoPro, Pepsi, Fox, and ESPN.” No one will forget he is also the one who spearheaded the last run at the ASP with his rebel Slater Tour back in 2009.
Paul Speaker (right), on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have much experience in action sports, but his entertainment resume is certainly colorful. Aside from his time at the National Football League in 1995 (where he was “director of marketing and ideas”) he seems to have a knack for showing up just as things are about to fall apart. He arrived at indy film production company The Shooting Gallery in 1998 and left shortly before the Shooting Gallery shut down “without warning” in 2001, according to a story in The Village Voice, for what they described as “several factors, from the slowing economy to the grandiose ambitions of head entrepreneurs Meistrich and his high school friend, Chief Financial Officer Steve Carlis.” Speaker, however, was not mentioned in the Voice story. [click to continue…]
