Nice to relive the magic of winter with Forum’s Vacation and Pat Moore’s stunning “double-ender” part, now online in its entirety. And remember kids, doing Tequila shots takes its own tax.
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The Billabong Rio Pro is on and live from Arpoador (the secondary site) in what has been described as “two-to-four foot waves.”
“With unfavorable waves at the primary venue of Barra Da Tijuca, we’ve opted to utilize our back-up location of Arpoador today,” Rich Porta, ASP International Head Judge said. “We’ve got contestable conditions here and are planning on getting into both men’s and women’s competition today.” . . Kicking off today’s action will be the women’s trials and immediately following will be men’s Round 1 action, which will see Josh Kerr (AUS), 26, Bede Durbidge (AUS), 29, and Jadson Andre (BRA), 22, do battle in the Billabong Rio Pro’s opening heat.
Click here to watch it live or follow the jump for the official word from the ASP and complete Round 1 heat match-ups. [click to continue…]
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Twenty-year Billabong veteran Derek O’Neill has been removed from his position as the CEO of the surf wear giant and the board has moved Target MD Launa Inman in as managing director and chief executive, according to a story in the Australian.
Billabong chairman Ted Kunkel, as as recently as February refuted rumours that the board planned to dump Mr O’Neill, thanked the outgoing CEO for his service but said that the board had decided the company needed “new leadership and skill sets for the next stage of its development”. . . Mr O’Neill, a lifelong surf fanatic who opened Billabong’s European business at the age of 26, will leave the company today.
Inman, a former chief executive at Target Australia, will start work on May 14, 2012 with a fixed salary of AUS$1.3 million a year with up to “$1.3m in short-term bonuses, plus long-term incentive payments of up to 47 per cent of her salary.” In related news, Paul Naude, the president of Billabong USA North America has been promoted to president of the Americas.
We guess the biggest question is, does Ms. Inman surf?
[Link: The Australian]
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Wondering where Penny Skateboards came from? So were we. That’s why it was great of founder Ben Mackay to kick it all down for us on Vimeo.
From his humble beginnings to the challenges of breaking into the industry, Ben tells in his own words how early lessons in life had inspired him to chase his dream in helping to bring the “fun” back into skateboarding.
Seriously, that’s one of our favorite skateboarding stories. Click play and hear it again.
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Nixon is kicking off their 2012 WTA (Winner Takes All) series at the Billabong Rio Pro, which starts tomorrow (May 9, 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The Nixon WTA is a winner-takes-all event along three stops of the ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) World Tour and one ASP Men’s 6-Star event during the 2012 season. Challenges in The 2012 Nixon WTA will range from Biggest Air, Highest Heat Score, Heaviest Wave and the overall Triple Crown Winner.
The winner takes home this $10,000 Nixon 51-30 Nixon tide watch. This may be the stealthiest looking WTA watch ever. Follow the jump for the official word. [click to continue…]
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With the LA City Council’s recent attempt to crack down on hill-bombing skateboarders, the LA Times has been the repository for comments from general citizens who applaud the work of the council. Our favorite was from Edward Golden of Northridge, California.
Skateboarders should have been reeled in a long time ago. Their total lack of accountability should have been lawfully addressed from the start. . . They menace the citizenry and disturb the peace in residential neighborhoods and vandalize city property by relentlessly pounding curbs, streets and you-name-it in an endless pursuit of becoming the next Tony Hawk.
It’s never a real discussion until someone mentions Hitler Tony Hawk. Apparently, Golden is the real “caveman poet” of skateboarding.
[Link: LA Times]
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UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science is kicking off a new skateboarding exhibit called Tony Hawk | Rad Science on May 26, 2012. The exhibit is promoted like this:
How can a visit to a local skatepark demonstrate important physics principles? On Saturday, June 2, the world’s most famous skateboarder and exhibit namesake, Tony Hawk, brings the gravity defying answer to Berkeley in a . . . tag-team demonstration with Berkeley physics professor Joel Fajans. . . “Tony Hawk is famous for skateboarding, and UC Berkeley is famous for science,” said Gretchen Walker, Associate Director of the Lawrence Hall of Science. “This is a great match, like centripetal force to a kickflip.”
The exhibit runs all summer and is included in museum admission. Mr. Hawk and friends will only be there on June 2, 2012 and to see them you have to buy an event ticket. Click the link for more info.
[Link: Lawrence Hall of Science]
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Big man about design Aaron Draplin has created a line of T-shirts especially for Patagonia that feature a nice mix between their logo and Draplin’s tried, true, red, white, and blue-collar American stylings. They’ve been out for a while, but we just noticed them.
In classic Draplin fashion mentioned the shirts on Twitter like this:
“Had a @Patagonia jacket in high school! Saved for it. Super nice. Was proud to roll up the sleeves for them.”
We’re glad he did because they’re the most attractive Patagonia shirts we’ve ever seen. The above Ts are the Outline Logo, the GPIW Equipment, and the Diamond C. They retail for $35 and are available online right now.
[Link: Patagonia]
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Rob Machado has launched his first photography exhibition at Encinitas, California’s Bliss 101.
“I’ve been interested in photography for years, always taking photos on my surfing trips, but one of my favorite places to shoot is my hometown area in North County,” says Machado. “Because Bliss 101 supports local artists and the community, it’s a great fit to launch the exhibit of the images I’ve taken throughout the years.”
Nice to see Machado branching out. And the photos look good.
[Link: U-T San Diego]
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Thanks to an “injured heel” Kelly Slater, the World Champion and current number one in the ASP World Championship Tour points race, has announced that the will not be able to surf the Billabong Rio Pro.
“I injured the inside of my left heel in Java and then re-opened it again the following week at Cloudbreak,” Slater said. “It became infected and I flew to Australia to get it treated and stitched in hopes of making it to Rio, if not for Round 1, at least for Round 2. I’ve been in the water since getting it stitched and while I can go straight, I can’t do turns at all right now so I’ll have to pull out of Rio. It’s unfortunate, but I’m just going to focus on healing up as soon as possible right now. Good luck to all the competitors in Brazil and I’ll be watching online.”
Slater’s absence will make the ratings race that much more interesting rolling into the Volcom Fiji Pro on June 3, 2012. The Billabong Rio Pro waiting period starts tomorrow (May 9, 2012). Follow the jump for the official word from the ASP. [click to continue…]
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