Boardistan

The quarterfinals and finals of the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast will go down today beginning at 1:30 PM PST (7:30 AM March 9, local time), but some of the most most savagely contested heats in ASP history went down in Round 5 as five of the ASP’s top ranked surfers fought to get back in the game after losing their morning Round 4 heats.

Kelly Slater, Jordy Smith, Taj Burrow, Adriano de Souza and Joel Parkinson all found themselves out of the winners slot on Tuesday morning. After four heats of Round 5, however, Kelly slipped past Ace Buchan, Taj Burrow pulled out the highest heat total of the event so far (19.06) to edge Adriano de Souza, and Jordy Smith snuck past Parko in the last minute of the final heat of the day.

Jordy Smith (ZAF), 23, 2010 ASP World Runner-Up and Runner-Up at the 2010 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, kept his dreams alive tonight with a sensational come-from-behind victory over local standout Joel Parkinson (AUS), 29, in Round 5. Needing a big score in the dying moments, Smith took a wave off of Parkinson’s priority and secured the 7.50 out of a possible 10 and the win. . . “I’m really stoked right now,” Smith said. “Finally something good came. I had a bummer of a morning and I was kind of down after losing my first heat. He (Parkinson) always beats me and I’ve looked up to him forever. I don’t know what to say, I’m rattled right now.”

Click here to watch the heats on demand (we suggest Taj vs. Adriano and Jordy vs. Parko) or follow the jump for the official word from the ASP. [click to continue…]

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This weekend, March 11-13, 2011, 44 schools will compete at the Huntington Beach, California Pier in the National Scholastic Surfing Association’s California State Championships.

The NSSA State Championships presented by Nike 6.0 will be held in surfing’s most famous stadium on the south side of Huntington Beach Pier. Competition will begin on March 11th with the College Championships. Competition will resume on March 12th with the High School Championships and continued on March 13th for the Middle School Championships, additional College preliminary rounds and all State Championship finals.

Click here for the official schedule or follow the jump for all the details. [click to continue…]

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With 14 minutes to go in the final of The Roxy Pro Gold Coast and Hawaii’s Carissa Moore, 18, in the lead Australian Tyler Wright, 16, dropped in on a epic, heaving Snapper barrel. She stalled, pulled in, and was slotted for nearly 25 meters. Just as it appeared that Tyler was on her way to a perfect 10 and a shot at taking control of the heat, master competitor Carissa Moore, using her priority, dropped in directly in front of Tyler and shut her barrel down saving her win in what many are calling the best women’s surfing final in history.

Wright kicked off the 30 minute final with confidence. She made two turns before realizing it was the wrong wave. Directly behind her Hawaii’s Carissa Moore blasted down the line to a rocking 9.17 first wave score solidly putting her foot down on the heat. Wright spent the rest of the heat playing catch up. Without the competitive instincts driving Moore to use her priority so well, Wright could have won the heat. But Moore was there regulating with a wisdom well beyond her years.

From the podium Moore was happy, but apologetic about the priority stuffing she delivered to Wright. “I just had a really good time out there,” Moore said. “Tyler was surfing really well. I think if I hadn’t dropped in on her on that barrel I would not have won. Sorry I had to do that to you.”

Wright did not seem to mind. “That final was probably once of the best finals I’ve ever had,” she said. Carissa surfed amazing. It was really fun out there. To be in the final in my first event in my rookie year was pretty great.”

Suddenly women’s surfing is as exciting to watch as the mens. Thanks to all the women who charged.

Follow the jump for full results and the official ASP version of the day. [click to continue…]

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Volcom has released their official judgement for Santa Cruz’s Zoltan Torkos’ Friday kickflip and the word is “No.”

Sighting official Rule #3: “The kickflip must be a real air ‘above the lip’ – No backwash, No chop hops, or anything in the flats or below the lip of the wave,” the judges have said no cash for Zoltan.

Here’s their official word:

With that said, Zoltan’s kickflip is clearly below the lip and not a real air. Zoltan has pulled the first kickflip on a surfboard, but the $10,000 still remains up for grabs. We called Zoltan with our decision and he replied, “I’m not here to argue against your decision, but I am here to revolutionize surfing.” . . We are stoked on Zoltan and his reaction to our call. He wants to dedicate his kickflip to the memory of his lost friend Carl Reimer, and he says the money is his and he will keep trying for the $10K. Making a kickflip on a surfboard IS possible, Zoltan proved it. We anticipate seeing the winning kickflip in the near future.

We’re not going to argue with the VeeCo either, but if that video had been shot from the water we’re guessing Mr. Torkos would have had a much stronger case and most likely $10,000. Watch it again and let us know what you think.

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