{"id":21530,"date":"2011-02-15T17:06:36","date_gmt":"2011-02-16T01:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=21530"},"modified":"2011-02-16T09:45:44","modified_gmt":"2011-02-16T17:45:44","slug":"asp-breaks-over-back-in-the-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=21530","title":{"rendered":"ASP: Break’s Over, Back In The Water"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Smith6265Snapper10Kirstin<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s easy to make surfing on the ASP Tour<\/a><\/strong> sound like a vacation. How hard could it be to surf a few heats in 11 of the best breaks in the world? But when when you consider that the 2010 tour ended on December 16 and the 2011 season begins on February 26 for the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast<\/a><\/strong> it becomes obvious that there really is no off season on the ASP Tour. None.<\/p>\n

But Jordy Smith<\/strong> isn’t worried. He’s reportedly “coming off an extended stay in his native South Africa where he has been recharging for the upcoming season, testing out new equipment and becoming mentally and physically prepared for taking on the world\u2019s best.” Extended stay? Maybe for people used to living nowhere longer than four weeks at a time being home for seven weeks qualifies as an “extended stay.” But Jordy is ready:<\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoyed spending Christmas and New Year at home,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt’s been eight years since I last spent the holidays in South Africa. So I made the best of it down in Cape Town with my mates and Blake, my filmer from the USA, and also spent time with my family in Durban.\u201d . . \u201cI have being testing a bunch of boards, just feeling them out regarding different thicknesses, as I have lost eight kilograms this summer working out, surfing and training with my friends.\u201d Smith said. \u201cI have put a lot of time in spinning, jogging, core work and just eating right. Cape Town offers so many different surf breaks at this time of the year, so I have been spending time surfing them up and down the coast and capturing great footage for my new movie.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Apparently, Jordy is lean, he’s tan, he’s rested and he’s ready for his first world title. Strangely, we’re not sure we’re ready to watching surf contests again. But we’ll probably get over that in about nine days.<\/p>\n

Follow the jump for the rest of the release (which oddly includes no quotes from Quiksilver’s number one surfer Kelly Slater <\/strong>but we’re still hoping for a surprise.)
\nGOLD COAST, Queensland\/Australia (Wednesday, February 16, 2011) \u2013The world\u2019s best surfers have converged on Australia\u2019s Gold Coast for the opening event of the 2011 ASP World Title season, the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast presented by Land Rover, which will take place from February 26 through March 9, 2011 at the world-renowned breaks of southern Queensland.<\/p>\n

Utilizing the high-performance pointbreak of Snapper Rocks as the primary venue, the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast has the ability to go mobile to several nearby world-class waves, offering the ideal forum for the ASP Top 34 to open up their respective 2011 ASP World Title campaigns.<\/p>\n

Jordy Smith (ZAF), 23, 2010 ASP World Runner-Up, is coming off an extended stay in his native South Africa where he has been recharging for the upcoming season, testing out new equipment and becoming mentally and physically prepared for taking on the world\u2019s best.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoyed spending Christmas and New Year at home,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt’s been eight years since I last spent the holidays in South Africa. So I made the best of it down in Cape Town with my mates and Blake, my filmer from the USA, and also spent time with my family in Durban.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have being testing a bunch of boards, just feeling them out regarding different thicknesses, as I have lost eight kilograms this summer working out, surfing and training with my friends.\u201d Smith said. \u201cI have put a lot of time in spinning, jogging, core work and just eating right. Cape Town offers so many different surf breaks at this time of the year, so I have been spending time surfing them up and down the coast and capturing great footage for my new movie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finishing Runner-Up at the 2010 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, coupled with his incredible run amongst the world\u2019s elite last season, Smith has firmly established himself as a major contender at the opening event of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing that comes to mind regarding Snapper is that it\u2019s one of the best rip, tear and slash waves around,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThis wave offers so many ways that one can surf it. In the past three years, I have seen so many different version’s of surfing, all surfers taking a different approach to Snapper. I feel one has to surf it tight in the pocket and look for the tube. As the wave draws off and runs down the sand bar, it offers a big range of huge maneuvers to be had. There are so many talented surfers, wildcards and new guys from the World Rankings who will be all showcasing themselves in this event. All and sundry will want to come away with a win, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taj Burrow (AUS), 32, 2010 ASP World No. 4 and perennial ASP World Title threat, has moved from strength-to-strength in the off season, scoring excellent surf in a variety of locales.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve had such a good start to 2011,\u201d Burrow said. \u201cI’ve started training earlier and harder than any other year and I’ve also scored the best waves of my life! A trip to P-Pass and a freak cyclone swell in Western Australia have me grinning from ear to ear! Can’t wait to jump in the water at Snapper. I’m so excited about surfing right now!\u201d<\/p>\n

Defending Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast winner, Burrow\u2019s affinity with the event venue is world-renowned and the electric natural-footer will look to repeat last year\u2019s early season magic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to win contests for sure,\u201d Burrow said. \u201cI want to surf fast and loose and do a lot more airs in my heats. Snapper is amazing, so happy to have taken down the event last year. It’s such a high performance wave. I love it when the sand is packed in there and the bank is groomed for getting piped and doing wild turns!\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeremy Flores (FRA), 22, closed out the 2010 season in sensation fashion, claiming the Billabong Pipeline Masters on the North Shore of Oahu. The young Frenchman opted to stay and train in Hawaii during the off season to better prepare for the year ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cI stayed in Hawaii until February and the waves were incredible,\u201d Flores said. \u201cWe got some crazy sessions and I was lucky to have a house to train with all the boys there too. \u201cI really enjoy being there and surfing heavy waves, and the life style really reminded me of where I’m from. I wanted to cry when I had to leave!\u201d<\/p>\n

The ASP Top 34, comprised of the world\u2019s best surfers, are breaking boundaries daily in terms of high-performance surfing. No one knows this more than Flores, who acknowledges the need to enhance his own repertoire in order to stay current amongst the world\u2019s best.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m just concentrating on still improving my surfing and training a lot,\u201d Flores said. \u201cI feel more confident surfing when the waves are perfect for sure now, but I have to keep working on some new moves and big lines and find a good quiver. I think it’s all about having magic boards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his young age, Flores has extensive experience in and around the Gold Coast, having travelled here annually for the past several years. His reverence for the region, coupled with his newfound confidence amongst the world\u2019s elite make him a man to watch in the 2011 ASP World Title season.<\/p>\n

\u201cSnapper is the funnest wave,\u201d Flores said. \u201cI have been surfing there since I was so young. You can really do big turns on it, big carves and when the banks are good you can get perfect long barrels. Hopefully Kirra is on and the comp moves there. I remember back in the day watching the World Title events there and it looked incredible, barrel after barrel. The level is so high today on tour. They are all amazing surfers that I look up to. I’m just going to enjoy watching all the heats. It’s going to be exciting for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast will run from February 26 through March 9, 2011 and will be webcast LIVE via http:\/\/www.quiksilverpro.com<\/p>\n

Running in conjunction with the men\u2019s event will be the Roxy Pro Gold Coast presented by Land Rover, the opening event in the ASP Women\u2019s World Title season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s easy to make surfing on the ASP Tour sound like a vacation. How hard could it be to surf a few heats in 11 of the best breaks in the world? But when when you consider that the 2010 tour ended on December 16 and the 2011 season begins on February 26 for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21530"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21530"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21558,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21530\/revisions\/21558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}