by The Editors on September 22, 2011
Last night (Wednesday, September 21, 2011) the San Mateo County Harbor Commission reportedly awarded the Mavericks event permit to Jeff Clark, Cassandra Clark, and Kenny “Skindog” Collins’ Mavericks Invitational Inc, according to a story in the San Jose Mercury News.
If conditions are right, the contest will occur sometime between Dec. 1 and March 30, which gives the group some time to corral sponsors and deliver on its promise to stage an epic surf event that draws thousands of spectators to the coast — but keeps them away from the beach and dangerous bluffs. . . “It’s been a long time coming to get back in as contest director,” Clark said. “We’re looking forward to putting on an amazing event.”
Hopefully, when the sponsors get involved we won’t see a historical repeat. Seems like once down that over-blown road is enough.
[Link: San Jose Mercury News]
by The Editors on September 22, 2011
Former European bodyboarding champion and surf camp manager Matthieu Schiller, 32, died after being attacked by a shark near Réunion Island’s Boucan Canot beach on Monday, September 19, 2011, according to a story in the Daily Mail.
One of the surfers, Kamel said: ‘I was waiting for a wave with my feet in the water. We saw the shark and the next thing I knew was that he screamed and raised his arm. . . ‘We then saw a cloud of red blood in the water where he had been,’ he said.
Fellow surfers were at first able to get to Schiller and began moving him to shore when he ended up in the water again. Schiller’s body disappeared beneath the waves and has not yet been recovered. This is reportedly the fourth attack and second death on Réunion Island this year. Our thoughts are with Schillers family and the 1,000 people who gathered at the beach yesterday to celebrate his life.
[Link: Daily Mail and ImazPress]
by The Editors on September 22, 2011
Right on the heels of one of the most amazing surf contests ever comes a little bad news for Quiksilver. Yesterday (September 21, 2011) the stock reached a new 52-week low of $3.44, according to a story on The Street. And what they have to say about the stock is even worse:
TheStreet Ratings rates Quiksilver as a sell. The company’s weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its disappointing return on equity, weak operating cash flow and generally weak debt management.
Ouch. Click here for the complete The Street overview of Quiksilver’s stock.
[Link: The Street]
by The Editors on September 22, 2011
If you’re not following @Boardistan on Instagram here is a little slice of the visual nonsense that you’re missing out on. Click here to download the app for your iPhone, then pull us up and follow everyone we follow. It’s that easy.
by The Editors on September 21, 2011
(Click here for the entire Hurley Pro Trestles photo gallery)
The 2011 Hurley Pro Trestles final between ten time world champion Kelly Slater and Quik Pro New York champ Owen Wright was a stunning reminder of just how perfect, tactical, competition surfing can be mind-numbingly dull. Neither surfer would want to hear it, but watching Slater and Wright surf in a lull-filled final on Wednesday (after seeing them duel at Teahupoo and Long Beach) was a lot like watching grand masters play chess.
The Hurley Pro final was calm, calculated, and free of any major mistakes. Neither Slater nor Wright seemed to want to risk losing, so they played it cool. Consequently, both surfed a nearly perfect heat and we almost fell asleep. As the clock wound down Slater took a wave in and came up the beach under his own power as the entire crowd waited for the judges final word. After a contest hold it was announced that Slater had won by .76 of a point.
Slater complemented Wright’s surfing on the podium:
“Owen (Wright) is tough and he’s been surfing great,” Slater said. “There really are no weak points to his surfing and he’s going to be a standout in every spot. A lot of the guys tried to get him this week and I got lucky in that last exchange. I was taking the first wave of the set under his priority and once I got priority I wanted to wait. It almost looked like there wasn’t a wave after Owen’s. It’s been fun surfing against Owen and surfing Lowers. It’s been a great week and thanks everyone for the crazy support, it’s been wonderful.”
The two best heats of finals day were Slater’s quarterfinal match-up against Josh Kerr in which Kelly surfed like a hungry grom with superhero skills, and Owen Wright and Julian Wilson‘s interference showdown in the semifinal 2. We’ve watched that wave several times and we’re still not sure that the judges made the right call.
Click here to watch both heats on Hurley On Demand, here for our photo gallery, or follow the jump for the official word from the ASP. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on September 21, 2011
Southern California snowboarding kicks back into gear for the 8th year in a row as Bear Mountain presents Hot Dawgs & Hand Rails this Saturday, September 24, 2011.
40 top pros competing for fifteen grand. There will be dozens of brands set up in booth city, enter to win great stuff in contests, check out the scene at the Beach Bar, and buy your winter 2011-12 season pass at a Screamin’ Deal, this will be the very last day to get the best price of the year.
Follow the jump to see what it’s going to look like. We’re sure it’s going to be good time no matter what. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on September 20, 2011
We’re not super informed on all environmental fronts, but there is something so simple, straight forward and pure about the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s mission to defend ocean wildlife worldwide that we almost have to love them. If they don’t like what’s going on they go out and physically stop it.
Now, Sector 9 has partnered with Captain Paul Watson on the design of the Jolly Roger Complete along with two other boards. Here are the stats on the Jolly Roger:
- 7 Ply Sustainable Harvested Maple Cold Pressed New School Shape
- Dimensions: 8.0″ W x 32.5″ L x 14.0″ WB
- 139mm Independent Trucks
- 56mm 101a Park Formula with Abec 5 PDP Bearings
- 0.125″ Sector 9 Recycled Plastic Shock Pads
- 1.0″ Low Pro Hardened Steel Bolts and Full Grip Tape
All that for $159 (click here to buy it). And the best part? A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
[Link: Sector 9]
by The Editors on September 20, 2011
It would appear that everyone wants to get this Hurley Pro Trestles event over and done with as quickly as possible. After blowing through Round 3 and 4 today (September 20, 2011), it looks like the entire contest will wrap up tomorrow (midweek) under San Diego County’s nearly constant grey skies. If Trestles had lights they probably would have tried to end it today.
All that aside, Joel Parkinson kicked all kind of youngster ass today in the three footers, laying waste to Brett Simpson in Round 3, and Julian Wilson in Round 4.
“I was hoping for just a couple waves and we got a couple of set waves each,” Parkinson said. “I watched the first two of Brett’s (Simpson) waves after I got my scores and wanted to stay involved, but I just couldn’t worry or watch. He’s an amazing surfer and beat me in Tahiti so it was kind of good to get one back. We’ve surfed the last three events together and there are those little rivalries that pop up.”
The heat we were most interested in today was Owen Wright vs. John Florence. And it did not disappoint (click here to watch it), or follow the jump for the official word from the ASP including tomorrow’s heat Round 5 match ups. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on September 20, 2011
Looks like the ASP Elite Tour isn’t the only thing John John Florence has snuck onto lately.
We got word from Nixon today that John has been jumped on to the Nixon surf team thanks to a “unanimous” green light from Bruce Irons, Dusty Payne, Josh Kerr, Lisa Andersen, Dean Morrison, Rob Machado, Claire Bevilacqua, Keith Malloy, Nathan Fletcher and Mark Cunningham.
“John John’s a throwback in the surfing world,” states Nixon Marketing Manager, Mike Murciano. “He has dynamic abilities and deep roots in surf. He has the respect and drive to take him to the top. He brings strong, new elements to the team and we are beyond proud to welcome him.”
Follow the jump for all the details. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on September 20, 2011
Laura Lynn Murphey (our favorite half of the DJ duo Heart + Heat) has just joined Bonfire’s product development team.
“We are very happy to have Laura Lynn added to our Portland crew. Her experience and dedication to snowboarding will not only enhance our product line but also add to Bonfire’s legacy of truly being a brand designed, developed and marketed by snowboarders for snowboarders,” says Product/Marketing Manager Amy Eichner.
We agree. Follow the jump for the rest of the details. [click to continue…]
Last night (Wednesday, September 21, 2011) the San Mateo County Harbor Commission reportedly awarded the Mavericks event permit to Jeff Clark, Cassandra Clark, and Kenny “Skindog” Collins’ Mavericks Invitational Inc, according to a story in the San Jose Mercury News.
